Page 13 of Dance of Madness

No matter. Right now, I’ve got blood to spill.

The accused is dragged in, flanked by two Court guards. He’s young, fairly clean-cut, and makes the usual show of bravado, struggling and hurling threats.

If he only knew. His little tantrum barely ranks in the bottom twenty percent of what I’ve seen. Trust me, I have seen sometiradesin this Court.

I lean forward, elbows on the table, and study him from behind the snarling face of my wolf mask as he’s shoved to the ground in the middle of the stone circle. When he looks up at us, all the macho bluster from a few seconds ago melts away.

Yeah, five dudes in creepy-ass blank black animal masks sitting in an underground cathedral looking like something out ofEyes Wide Shutwill do that.

“Riku Kaito,” Nico says solemnly from behind his Raven mask, “you stand accused of breaking a blood marker—a sacred oath that forms the very foundation of the underworld we all call home. We exist in a world of broken laws, but a blood marker is the one law we must not break, because without it there is chaos.”

Yeah, I’ve heard this a couple hundred times at this point.

Nico clears his throat and then glances toward me.

Time to play.

“You came to New York,” I say slowly, “to oversee Mori-kai operations. You were entrusted with territory, men, and given discretion to act as you saw fit.”

He nods quickly. “Y-yes," he stammers. "I-I was. I still?—”

“You were caught,” I cut in, “communicating with the Red Lanterns, a rival Triad syndicate.”

His mouth opens, then closes again. Fear curdles in his eyes.

“You plotted to sell Kenzo Mori out. Whether it was for power or money,” I shrug, “it doesn’t matter. Because now you stand accused, ready for adjudication.” I turn toward Carmine. “Hound?”

“Guilty.”

The Raven is next. “Guilty,” he echoes his brother.

“Guilty,” I say in slight sing-song voice, my lips pulling into a grin behind the mask. It’s almost time for my favorite part.

The Bull grunts another “guilty”, followed by one more from The Stag.

I’m grinning as I turn to face the prisoner again.

“You have been adjudicated and found guilty by this Court.”

Riku is shaking as I stand from my throne and slowly step off the dais, walking around and stepping into the stone circle with him.

“Now, you have a choice…” My arm indicates the table full of goodies. “Fight?”

Please say it. Pick the fucking dueling pistols, you fucking prick. Do it.

“Or…flight?”

I turn and point to a stone archway across the floor, with ominous shadows and flickering candlelight beyond it.

The labyrinth.

Every guilty person who is sentenced by the Court is given this choice: they can choose to fight and pick their weapon. Or they can chooseflightand try to outrun one of us through the labyrinth.

Unsurprisingly, flight is my favorite. Although those dueling pistols…

“Wh-what’s in there?” he croaks, staring in horror at the archway.

“Possibly a way out?” I shrug. “Possibly your death?”

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