3. A Magician’s Truth
Chapter three
A Magician’s Truth
Moni
This unknown threat of dread loomed ahead, thick and suffocating, like walking into a room without light, not knowing if there was a hole in the floor or blades in the floor or a killer waiting in the corner to grab you.
Stay calm.
The low hum of the helicopter’s engine vibrated through my body.
How are Lei and my sisters doing?
My heart ached for them but I also knew that I had to focus.
Leo was insane and always thought a good twenty steps ahead of everyone else. This was no time to wander about Lei and my sisters, I had to make sure I remained alive to see them again.
As the helicopter rose off the helipad, I leaned back in my seat and gripped the leather armrests.
This is really happening.
I thought back to that moment on the dance floor earlier tonight. Lei had pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me. Those big muscles flexed against my body.
The music thumped in the background but all I could feel was the electric connection between us.
When his lips brushed against mine, the world disappeared.
“I love you, Moni,” he had whispered, his voice full of emotion.
“I love you too.”
I blinked that memory away and put my focus back on Leo.
He sat beside me calmly rolling a joint with Yan’s finger on his lap. “Have you sampled a good bit of the East’s weed?”
“A little bit but mainly I’ve been busy.”
He grinned, probably knowing that he was part of why I’d been so damn busy. “Well. . .this is a new strain. They call it Tiffany. After the color.”
“Tiffany Blue?”
He nodded, his fingers expertly twisting the blue-tinged paper. “You ever hear about why they called the color that?”
“No.”
“It’s genius branding. The world’s most iconic color. Tiffany trademarked it—tied it to their name, their packaging, their products.” His voice was smooth, almost casual but there was something about the way he talked about it that made me sit up and listen. “Charles Lewis Tiffany knew what he was doing. Turquoise was popular in Victorian times—brides loved it, gifted it. He capitalized on that, turned it into a symbol of luxury.”
I imagined this Charles Lewis Tiffany sitting in his plush, mahogany office. I could see him taking a small, innocuous box and wrapping it with that distinct blue paper—a color that mirrored the endless depths of an ocean.
I could even see ripples of delight spreading across the faces of countless brides as they unwrapped their gifts.
“It’s all about branding.” Leo brought me back to reality. “You tie something to your name and it becomes part of your identity.”
I shivered at the intensity in his eyes.
There was no doubt that Leo was brilliant, but there was a ruthless edge to him too.
It felt dangerous and exciting all at once.
“You want a Tiffany box? You can’t just buy one.” Leo shook his head. “You can’t just walk in and ask for one, no matter how much money you have. That box is only given with something they sell. And that’s how they made it coveted.”
“I see.”
His hands moved swiftly, rolling the joint tight. “It’s like how I branded the East. We don’t just let anyone in, do we? We have rules, exclusivity. People want in because not everyone can get in. It’s the same idea.”
He finished rolling and held it up, admiring his work.
The joint had a faint blue tint, almost glowing in the soft moonlight.
“I like Tiffany's. The color, the box, the idea. It’s all about making people want something they can’t have.” He looked at me. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
The hum of the helicopter was almost soothing now.
Below us, the city stretched out as a vast sea of blue and silver lights twinkling in the night.
Leo placed the joint between his lips and lit it.
Seconds later, he took a deep drag, held it for a moment, and then exhaled slowly.
To my surprise, blue smoke curled around him.
“Very nice.” He handed it to me.
I hesitated. “No, thank you.”
“You’ll need it.”
“Why?”
“My lessons are hard ones but the ones I will give in this helicopter should be enjoyed with a nice joint.”
“Okay.” I reached out, taking the joint between my fingers. The air around us seemed to still as I brought it to my lips. I took a slow drag, feeling the warmth fill my lungs.
He watched me the whole time as if assessing my every move.
The first thing I noticed with this Tiffany strain was that the flavor was sharp, with a slight sweetness that lingered on my tongue.
The strain was good, too…strong.
Jo is going to love this.
I tried to hand it back but he shook his head. “Take another hit.”
I obliged.
Smoke filled my lungs.
He leaned back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head like a man settling in for a story. “At first the Four Aces’ color was white. Then, I changed it to black but that didn’t stick in my mind either.”
Song frowned. “I liked when it was black.”
“Yeah, but there was no vision with black.” Leo smiled. “Back when I first formed the group, there was no color, no symbol. We were just a bunch of guys—thieves, murderers, outcasts, selling guns to whoever would buy them. I had a vision. I knew we needed more than just violence and weapons. We needed identity . Something that would set us apart, make us legendary. Something like Tiffany Blue.”
Leo stared off in the distance. “I bought a bracelet for my wife in Tiffany’s. It was my first expensive gift. I got it after a big gun sale. I was so. . .proud to be able to walk in that store and get her something. However, I never knew that moment would change my life.”
“How?”
“When I saw that color on the box, I knew what I had to do for the Four Aces.”
I exhaled smoke and handed it to him.
He took the joint back from me and inhaled deeply.
Thin clouds of smoke drifted toward the helicopter ceiling.
“Charles Lewis Tiffany took something that was just a shade of paint and turned it into a status symbol. It means something now. People see that color, and they think of luxury, of exclusivity. It’s not just about the jewelry; it’s about the experience . That box isn’t just a box. It’s a promise of something greater.” Leo winked. “You get a Tiffany Blue box and you know you’ve made it. And most of all, you know your husband or boyfriend isn’t cheap.”
“I see. So you wanted to bring that same sort of marketing to the Four Aces?”
“Exactly,” he passed the joint back to me. “I created a legacy.”
I took a slow drag.
“Blue is the color of loyalty, of calm control. It’s the color of the sky, the ocean. You look at blue and you feel steady. Safe.” Leo held up one finger. “But it’s also cold, unyielding. It has an edge to it, like the ocean in a storm. It can be serene but it can also drown you and drag you to your death.”
I widened my eyes.
“That’s what I wanted for the Four Aces. I wanted us to be the calm in the chaos. The ones who could move through the storm, untouched. Unshaken.”
I glanced out the window again, down at the city bathed in that same glowing hue. From this high up, it felt like we were floating in the middle of a sea of blue light.
“And now. . .” Leo continued. “Every part of the East, every corner of this territory is tied to us. The color blue runs through the streets, the walls, the clothes. It’s in the blood of the people who live here. It’s our identity. And that identity is power.”
Those words settled in my mind.
The helicopter banked slightly and we flew further away.
I checked behind us and could barely see the Palace.
My stomach twisted.
We’re so far away from Lei and them now. . .
I looked back down.
Tons of houses appeared with blue-lit windows that glowed like jewels scattered across a velvet night.
“Leo?” I inhaled more of the joint and then lifted my view up to him. “What are the lessons going to be about?”
“Going to be?” Leo laughed. “The lessons have already begun. Every word out of my mouth, you must take mental notes of.”
“Okay.” I handed him the joint.
He grabbed it. “Understand this.”
I watched him.
“The truth is how you look at it.”
“The truth?”
“Yes.” Leo flicked the joint, ash fell onto the floor. “Idiots have black and white minds with no gray. No color. Just wrong and right. Yes and no. Good and bad. They look at something and instantly come up with what they think it is, judging it immediately.”
“Instead, they should take their time?”
“Yes,” Leo grinned. “You don’t immediately decide the truth when you hear something, read something, see something. . .you wait. You be patient.”
“And what do I wait for?”
“The whole picture.” He placed the joint between his lips, inhaled and then pulled it away. “You take the journey.”
“The journey?”
“There’s always a journey to the truth. It's never just laid out for you.” He pointed at me with the joint. “And lucky for you, you’re the only one around the Diamond Syndicate with formal education although one could argue that Dima is a walking university.”
“He is smart.”
“Very much so.”
“So. . .”
“Yes, Monique?”
“Why did you kill the cat?”
Leo chuckled. “Why do you ask?”
“Well. . .” I considered everything he said. “If the truth is a journey and it isn’t just right in front of me, then. . .you didn’t just kill the cat to only make Dima remain there with Rose.”
Leo turned to Song. “Do you see that? I told you she was smart.”
Song didn’t seem impressed at all as he leaned over, grabbed the joint from Leo’s hand, and began smoking.
“I will get to your answer about the cat. Don’t worry.” Leo picked up his daughter’s finger and pointed it at his head. “But, not until you understand my first lesson.”
I widened my eyes. “Okay.”
“Remember this. The eyes and brain are easily fooled so one must make choices with their heart, gut, and flesh.”
“Flesh?”
“Nerves.” He tapped Yan’s finger against his chest. “Never make a decision based on what you see or think, focus on how you feel . Always ask yourself, does it feel right? What does your heart say? What does your gut say?”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. I dated this fraternity guy once in college, and… he had, you know, a nice family, a nice car, and he was good-looking. But something just… never felt right in my stomach whenever he came around.”
“Your body knew?”
“Yeah, so. . .I just never went out on another date with him. My friend thought I was insane.”
“Did you ever find out what was wrong with him?”
“Months later, it came out that he was raping women.” I shivered. “He had five victims. Apparently, he always did this on the third date, liked to bite them and. . .”
“He sounds disgusting. I wish I had time to kill him.”
“He’s in jail.”
“Jail wouldn’t stop my blade. If anything, it would make his death easier.”
I blinked.
Song continued to smoke.
“People think I’m a monster.” He wagged his daughter’s finger. “But they’re wrong, I’m a magician.”
Well. . .I don’t know about that.
“A magician works with illusion and tricks.” Leo twisted the finger between his fingers. “And I want you to be a magician now too. In fact, that will be the only way you will survive in the East. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“You’re a woman, so they’ll always see you as weak. You’re Black, so they’ll always see you as an outsider. You can’t fight, so to them, you’ll just be someone they know they can knock down. Maybe even kill.”
The words hung in the air between us, thick with meaning I wasn’t sure I was ready to grasp yet.
Song handed me the joint.
I took it and for some reason. . .I glanced back out at the city and realized that the helicopter had already made it to the gate.
The dragons guarding the East appeared even more magical at night. Their golden and blue scales shimmered in the moonlight.
They seemed even more majestic now, as if they were alive, watching over everything that Leo had built.
I saw tons of Four Aces down there too barricading the way as if waiting for Leo to appear.
I’m sorry, baby. We’re flying out of the East instead.
The dragons glared up at us from below, fierce and unyielding. As we passed over them, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were watching me, waiting to see if I were strong enough to survive all the things that would come my way in these next twenty-four hours.
Leo spoke. “You must be a magician with the best sleight of hand.”
As we flew lower, closer to the gates, the dragons’ sapphire eyes glowed with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.
I was leaving Lei behind, even if only for a night, and the thought felt like a knife twisting in my chest. I couldn’t shake the image of him, the pain in his eyes, the tears that had slipped down his face when we said goodbye.
He didn’t want this.
He didn’t want me to go with Leo but we had no choice.
And, I had to see this through.
Whatever it was Leo wanted to teach me, whatever twisted game he had in mind, I had to survive it.
I’ll be back, baby. Don’t worry. Just focus on taking care of my sisters and training.
Leo spoke, “Monique, if you want to truly survive in the East after I die, then you must have a reputation that is fiercer than even mine .”
The dragons coiled around the pillars with such grace and power.
I took another drag from the joint, letting the smoke settle in my lungs as I stared down at the dragons. “How would I do that?”
“Never leave a meeting without spilling blood.”
What the fuck?
I put my view on him. “You just said I couldn’t fight and that’s facts. I can’t fight like how everyone does in the East.”
“But you can shoot. Song and I have witnessed you take out game in impossible ways in Serenity Forest. Thirty squirrels in one night.”
“Chloe wanted chicken wings because she was tired of deer. Squirrels taste like chicken if cooked right.”
“We watched you shoot down a bunch of them running on branches fast.”
“That was because I was hungry.”
“Well now. . .get hungry for power because with it, you have protection for not only you, but Lei, your sisters, and everyone else.”
I considered that. “Never leave a meeting without spilling blood.”
“That’s right. And I’m not just talking about violence. I’m talking about death.”
I shivered. “I-I can’t kill anyone, Leo.”
“I will teach you.”
My bottom lip shivered. “No.”
“You spill blood and the ones that are alive will witness this and their eyes and brains will see a monster.”
“I can’t kill. . .”
“If you’re a monster, then they’ll forget that you’re a woman or an outsider. They’ll forget you can’t even fight. They’ll just shiver and run.” Leo reached out to get the joint from my fingers. Yan’s finger was back on his lap. He sighed. “Monsters get what they want anytime they fucking want it. Monsters rule.”
I trembled. “That’s why you killed the cat.”
Laughing, Leo winked at me. “That’s why I killed the cat.”
I frowned.
Leo shrugged. “Did I want to kill the cat? No. It was cute and innocent but when I come, I kill. They must know it and when I walk into a space, I make a list of the things I can kill before I leave. Blood must be spilled.”
A cold chill ran through me. “You knew you were coming to the cookout tonight and you knew you would kill someone. . .regardless of anything.”
“The cat seemed like the easier target to not completely ruin the cookout too much.” Leo looked down at Yan’s finger. “I knew blood had to spill at the tea ceremony too, just to keep the reputation alive but. . .I had no one I could kill because it was you, Lei, my sisters, my nephews. . I considered killing the news people but I knew it would ruin the significance of the moment so. . .”
“You brought Yan’s head to further your reputation as a monster.”
“Were you horrified?”
“Very.”
“And everyone else was horrified too?”
“Without a doubt.”
“But here’s the other reason I killed the cat. Dima wanted unity for the Syndicate right now. Einstein pushed his own agenda at the cookout and Dima went along because it served his purpose too.” Leo scowled. “But the East is busy. My son. . .he has a lot going on so. . .someone had to give them a message to leave my son the fuck alone.”
I shivered. “So. . .regardless of what Dima did you were going to kill Barbara Whiskers?”
“He was lucky he brought her. When I heard days ago that he was bringing that reporter, I’d planned to kill her. I had a little outfit too for her dead body. I planned to set it up just right and let her body hang over the DJ booth.”
I almost pissed myself.
Leo shook his head. “Anyway, Dima brought this on himself. He should know better than to surprise my son. You do not come to the East unless we invite you.”
“But. . .I feel like Lei and I had it together like. . .Dima and him talked and were cool—”
“No, Monique. A behavioral change only happens through emotion. You must push that emotion in them to change their behavior. And the emotion I always choose is pain and fear.” He took another hit of the joint. “I bet Dima won’t come uninvited again especially with anyone that he loves.”
Fuck.
I looked back out the window and saw that we were not only far from the East, but we were leaving Paradise City. “Where are we going now?”
“You still don’t know?”
“No.”
“Where would be a good place to have the final battle?” He laughed. “Mount Utopia. Of course.”
Oh shit.
I sighed. “That’s why you wanted Lei to train there?”
“I wanted him to be used to fighting with the challenge of elevation and the rugged territory. I heard from my spies that he had a decent fight with Duck on Mount Utopia, showing that he was more than ready.”
Song spoke. “And Lei even battled with Rowe Street Mob on the side of the mountain, killing Banks’s men super-fast. I saw the footage.”
Leo beamed with pride. “I believe he’s more than ready but taking you tonight. . .well. . .”
And then that hit me too. “Taking me would solidify is anger to kill you.”
“It would.”
“So this isn’t just about giving me lessons? It’s about further motivating Lei.”
“Which is your second lesson. Never ever do an action in the East for only one purpose. Have at least three purposes attached to it.”
“So there’s a third purpose to why you have me?”
He nodded. “You’re such a good student.”
“What’s the third purpose?”
“You’ll learn soon.”