15. Blood and Loyalty
Chapter fifteen
Blood and Loyalty
Moni
Once I stepped inside that tent, the scene unfolded fast before me.
Each detail was vivid and sharp.
Closest to me, a dozen Chinese men sat around a rectangular table, moving Mahjong tiles here and there, completely caught up in their game.
The low hum of conversation at that table died down the second I crossed the threshold.
To my right, three men reclined on cots, reading books. One looked up, then tapped the other, and their focus shifted and locked onto me.
Beyond them, the space opened into some sort of makeshift military camp, alive with motion and purpose, despite the tension that now thickened the air.
Clusters of men huddled around low tables, sharpening blades and swords.
Another group sat cross-legged on the ground, murmuring in low, clipped tones.
A few more practiced martial arts stances far in the back.
But what really grabbed my attention was the group of five men barely twenty feet from me, huddled near a standing board covered with photographs.
What the fuck?
My breath caught in my throat when I recognized who were in the photos. They were images of me, Jo, Chloe, TT, and Lei. Each picture had been seared into the board like a twisted shrine of my life, of everything I had fought for.
Naw. Fuck that. They were plotting about killing my sisters or something?
That was all the motivation I needed.
By now, every pair of eyes had snapped to me, and their expressions shifted from curiosity to something far darker.
My heartbeat roared.
Hot searing adrenaline pumped through my body in a frantic surge that left my vision ringing.
This is it. No more doubts.
Movement came at the table.
I put my view there.
This big guy at the table—a tall, wiry man with a scar trailing from his temple to his jaw—cocked his head, and a smile formed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Next, he glanced at the bag in my hands, then met my gaze with the cold precision of a predator.
Yeah. He looks like he would kill me if given the chance.
Anticipation crackled in the air.
In fact, I absolutely felt the room shift, like a wild animal pausing before the pounce.
Remember what Leo said, aim for the ones who move first.
I set my jaw.
And if no one says anything. . .then get them to say something.
I glanced back at that board with pictures of me, Lei, and my sisters. Those men now glared at me.
Yeah. Fuck them too. Putting my sisters up there. How did you get the pictures? Naw. I don’t play that.
Every muscle in my body screamed for release, for action.
I cleared my voice and steadied myself.
One of the men on the cots, put his book down, leaned his head to the side, cracked his neck, and rolled his shoulders.
Alright, man. You’re preparing? Come on over here. Fuck around and find out.
I flipped off the leather bands on my holsters so I could easily grab my guns later. “Good evening.”
No one spoke.
“I’m Monique. The Mountain Mistress.”
Someone snickered.
Yeah. I know. That sounds cheesy. I just started becoming a monster an hour ago. Give me a break.
I set the bag on the floor. “My understanding is that you used to serve Yan, but now. . .”
The man cracked his neck again and then rose from the bed.
I looked at him. “Now you serve me .”
One of the men by the board of pictures yelled. “Never, outsider!”
Without flinching, I yanked open the top and upended the contents. The bag’s fabric slumped as its grisly cargo tumbled out, one by one.
Heads rolled across the floor.
It was all lifeless expressions fixed in grotesque masks of terror.
Eyes staring into the void.
Blood pooled quickly, spreading like a scarlet tide, soaking into the creases of the floor and trailing crimson streaks like macabre brushstrokes.
It was so much blood that some of it began to reach the edges of boots and cots, drawing gasps and shifting feet as men recoiled.
The coppery scent filled the tent.
Some men’s faces paled as recognition probably dawned. They knew these faces—their comrades, their brothers-in-arms, men they had fought beside and shared laughs with. And since Leo said these guys were monsters, some of them probably had been afraid of these guys.
Now, they lay discarded and defiled on the floor.
And it looked like I’d taken them down one by one, cut of their heads, and carried them up to the mountain to deliver them.
I had to admit.
Leo was right.
This was quite an illusion.
Okay. That’s done. I don’t have a witty saying. . .shit. . .I can barely keep my vomit down. This is disgusting.
Meanwhile, the silence twisted into something jagged and frayed.
So many were still in shock from the heads.
Now what?
I stood tall, letting the chaos simmer and build.
My heartbeat was a steady thrum against my ribs. Each head was a message, and each man knew it.
Alright. Let’s get this over with. . .somehow. . .
I met the gaze of the man nearest to the board of pictures. “Your turn! Come and get me!”
For a second, there was only the harsh sound of breathing, a beat before the storm.
Then chaos erupted.
“Kill her!” one of the men roared.
Oh shit.
I had my hands on the guns but I didn’t take them out just yet.
The five men by the board raced my way.
Jesus Christ they are fucking FAST!
Even more adrenaline roared through my veins.
I yanked out my guns.
The five men closed in the space so quick, I almost ran out of there.
With them barely now six feet away, I fired the first shot.
The bullet tore through the shoulder of the man closest to me.
He staggered back.
Blood sprayed in a fine arc that painted the faces of those next to him.
Two lunged for me.
Freaked out, I ran in the direction of the Mahjong table.
One guy flipped over the table and headed for me.
I shot at him two times and missed.
Tiles and wood splintered.
Then, I fired again and got him in the forehead.
He dropped to the floor.
Several men yelled out something I didn’t understand.
A man grabbed my shoulder and slung me to the ground.
“Ah!” I crashed to the rough surface, but the guns didn’t leave my hand. I pulled the trigger not even seeing who I was shooting.
Strangled cries echoed back and three bodies thudded onto the floor beside me.
I must have got them.
I didn’t wait to see who it was or who else was heading my way. Instead, I rolled my ass back, jumped up, and raced off.
There was an empty cot up ahead.
Then, a fucking dagger zipped by my face almost sliced off my nose.
OH MY GOD!
I fired in that direction, aiming at chests.
Two more men crumpled.
This is going to be impossible!
On my left, a man wielded a curved sword and swung it my way.
I got him in his crotch and rushed off, only catching his screams of terror.
Something sliced at my cheek.
I pivoted, narrowly dodging whatever it was.
Then, I tripped over something, boots or a bag. Next thing I knew I was screaming and tumbling toward a cot.
My side hit the metal.
The wind was knocked out of me.
For a moment, everything was a blur. Bright flashes of pain sparked behind my eyelids as I fought the dark fog threatening to cloud my mind.
I tasted blood in my mouth and realized I had bitten my tongue during my fall.
Then, I heard the footfalls of the men closing in on me.
Get up!
Suddenly, a gruff voice cut through the haze of pain. "This Black bitch is mine!"
A burly man barreled towards me with his face twisted into an ugly grin as his hand shot forward, palm open. He meant to grab me by the throat.
With a surge of adrenaline, I pushed past the pain and rolled off the cot just as his fingers closed around empty air.
He stumbled past me, caught off guard by my sudden movement, and crashed into the cot face first.
Oh shit!
I quickly scrambled to my feet, gripping the guns tightly in my hands and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
His body jerked back with the impact.
The grin that had been etched onto his face was replaced with an expression of surprise.
Someone punched me in the back of the head.
I stumbled forward, spun around before I could recover and fired twice. The bullets boomed like thunder in the enclosed space.
Screams filled the air as more men rushed at me.
I ran off to the left, fired again, and got a man in the knee. He collapsed with a shout, knocking into a man next to him.
Up ahead, there was a stack of crates.
I sped up.
Once close, I got behind them for cover and fired out a few times.
Bodies fell.
And then silence.
Sweet.
Calm.
Silence.
Jesus. . .
My breaths came in ragged gasps as I crouched behind the crates, and my heart slammed against my ribcage.
The tent was quiet, punctuated only by the groans of the wounded and the shuffling of feet as men shifted.
Alright.
I steadied my breath.
What do I do now?
I peeked out.
Bullets and guns might not have been the Four Aces’ weapon of choice, but the glint of steel was in all their hands. Knives, swords, and spears—all gleamed in the dim light, brandished by men who now stayed back and didn’t charge forward.
I don’t know what to do next. How the fuck am I going to get out of here? It’s more of them than me.
I glanced to the left and realized in pure horror that I had shot a good bit of men.
There was a trail of them either groaning in pain or dead.
Oh. Not bad. . .
I blinked.
Is that why many haven’t just come over to the crates to kill me?
Apparently, outnumbered or not, people still didn’t want to possibly get shot in the head. And I’d surely shown them tonight that I could hit my targets, even while being attacked.
I gazed back at them, now assessing the armed men.
I’d killed the bolder guys that had been by the board of pictures, the angry reader, and the Mahjong players.
Right now, many of the guys I was looking at were the men that had been polishing weapons and further in the back of the tent. And. . .some of their hands were shaking in fear as they held their weapons.
Are these mainly the followers? Did I kill all the leaders?
I took them in some more, and they watched me with wary eyes as if. . .they knew what I was capable of now, and terror had finally found its way into their hardened faces.
So. . .I may have a chance. . .
Two men, bolder or perhaps more desperate than the others, stepped forward. Their swords gleamed under the dim lantern light.
They moved slowly.
Cold dread slithered down my spine.
Here we go again.
I didn’t dare check how many bullets I had left.
The space began to close in around me as the two men advanced.
“Come on.” I muttered, raising my guns.
The men saw that and began to race my way.
I squeezed the triggers.
The guns roared in my hands, the violent recoil vibrating through my arms as the bullets tore across the room.
One man went down, and his chest exploded in a shower of red; the other merely stumbled, a vicious snarl twisting his face as he continued his advance.
My next bullet slammed into his chest.
He stumbled and his sword clattered to the ground.
He dropped next.
And several of the still standing men took steps back.
Not forward.
O-kay. . .
Then, it was just silence again.
Terror-filled silence.
It stretched thin and taut across the room.
Many of the men gazed at the fallen bodies.
Horror rippled through the crowd.
To my surprise, more men took cautious steps back. A few on the right darted their eyes from me to each other, as if daring someone else to make the next move.
Okay. They’re scared so. . .I can use this because. . .honestly I have no idea how many bullets I have left.
My chest heaved as I stepped out from behind the crates.
The room swam with the smell of iron and death.
My legs threatened to give out, but I forced them to stay steady, to stand tall.
Show no fear. . .speak. . .uh. . .in a bold way and. . .be a monster. Illusion. Magic. Umm. . .that’s it.
I held out my guns to the side and sneered at them. “I have as many bullets as there are men in here!”
More men backed up.
Oh shit! That worked! Will I really be able to bullshit my way out of this?
Slowly, I swept my gaze across the room, meeting every pair of eyes that dared to look back. “Do you want to die? Or do you want to serve? ”
A murmur passed through the group, the shuffling growing restless.
I took a step forward, and the room seemed to shrink back, like the men were shadows retreating from the light.
They’re scared. . .Thank you, Jesus.
I swallowed. “I understand that you loved Yan.”
I paused, watching the various reactions. Some of the men looked down, clenching their jaws while others remained stoic, their gazes hard and intense.
I continued, “And I know you may be angry. But Yan is dead, and. . .you’re alive. And that matters. It matters to your family, to all you love. Yan is dead. They are alive.”
A few men shifted uneasily.
The tension was thick enough to strangle.
“Serve me and you live.”
What the fuck does that even mean? Like. . .are they going to be living with me now? Or do they go back?
I swallowed. “If you pick me, understand this.”
What do I say? What do I fucking say?
Tension gathered in my shoulders. “I. . .will not take any disloyal people around me.”
Okay. That made sense.
I lifted one gun and pointed to the decapitated heads. “Do you see how I deal with disloyal people?”
The men looked.
Some faces paled, others hardened, but all were silent.
I could see the gears turning in their heads, weighing their options. Serve me, their enemy, or die here and now.
“I’m fucking loco !”
Why did you say that in Spanish? Just stick to English.
I let out a long breath. “So. . .I don’t want to kill any more of you, but. . .I will if I have to.”
My heart pounded.
A silence fell over the tent once more.
It dragged on painfully, until at last one of them stepped forward.
He was a younger man, probably no older than Jo, with a fresh scar on his cheek and a hardened look in his eyes.
Oh no. Do I have to kill him?
I gripped the gun tighter.
He dropped his weapon and sank down to one knee. "I’ll serve you, Mountain Mistress."
What?
Others followed suit. One by one they dropped their weapons, got to their knees, and bowed their heads in submission.
Okay. . .
But there were still many that stood and watched me.
I’m close, but not close enough.
A minute passed and then, slowly, another man fell to his knees, and within moments, others followed with a ripple of submission sweeping across the tent.
Shock stiffened my spine.
I hadn’t expected it to work—not like this, not so soon. The sight of them kneeling before me, blood-splattered and weary, filled me with disbelief.
However, the reprieve was short-lived.
A shout broke through the calm, and three men burst from the back.
Damn.
Weapons raised they charged at me.
Instinct took over.
I aimed, fired, and didn’t think.
One man dropped as his body jerked from the bullet hitting his chest.
Another lunged, and I got him in the head.
The last man barely had time to swing his blade before I sent him crumpling to the ground.
The tent returned to deathly silence again.
I glanced down at the new dead bodies and swallowed.
I’m a monster. . .
I went numb.
Leo fucking did it. He made me. . .no. . .I did it. . .
And if anymore came my way, I would kill again.
I looked up and frowned. “Who else?”
At first, no one moved.
But then after a minute or two, the few who had stayed standing lowered their eyes and stepped back as if distance would save them from my wrath.
I took a shaky breath.
Their gazes darted between me and the bodies sprawled across the floor.
Finally, one by one, those who hadn’t yet dropped to their knees finally did. Their weapons clattered to the ground in submission. The tent shifted from a space of chaos and blood to one heavy with submission and shock.
Say something and then get the fuck out of here.
I swallowed, willing my voice not to tremble. “You made the right choice.”
My vision blurred a little and I swayed feeling dizzy.
I let out a long breath. “Loyalty to me means life. Betrayal means death.”
I swept my gaze over them. “Remember that.”
No one lifted their bowed heads.
Okay. Now get the fuck out of here before they realize you’re just as terrified as them.
My vision blurred again for a few seconds.
What’s wrong with me?
Exhausted, I began to limp away.
Thank God they continued to stay on the ground because I damn sure didn’t look like some fearless leader right now.
A trickle of blood slid down my cheek.
Movement caught my eye.
My breath hitched as I turned my head and gripped the gun.
One of the dead men—I’d shot clean through the chest—sat up, and his lifeless eyes locked onto mine.
Huh? How is that possible?
Blood gushed from the gaping wound, staining his shirt and pooling at his feet.
No.
Like some. . .zombie. . .he got up and began walking my way.
My heart stuttered, fear unlike any I’d felt before gripped my chest.
“What—” The word died on my lips.
Just go. Leave.
I continued limping away, but much faster.
In front of me, another corpse shifted, a man whose skull had been shattered by my bullet. He rose to his feet like this grotesque puppet. Blood and green liquid ran in rivulets down his face. And he began walking too.
“No.” I quickened my steps. “This isn’t real.”
The dead men were silent, yet they followed me.
I glanced back wondering if anyone else was seeing this. But the remaining living men still remained on their knees with their heads bowed.
I have to get out of here.
The tent spun around me.
I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the haze clouding my vision.
After the fourth blink, I looked back and the dead men were back on the ground, motionless. Their bodies lay exactly where they had fallen, as lifeless and cold as before.
It was all in my head. They never sat up or walked my way.
I took a shuddering breath.
My hands trembled so hard that I could barely keep my grip on the guns. My pulse thundered, a wild, erratic beat.
I’m losing my mind?
I was so close to the tent flap.
All I could do was focus on leaving. I would not glance over my shoulder again. I didn’t know what was going on in my head.
Had the blood and death pushed me beyond the brink?
I can’t go crazy. . .
Soon, I stumbled out of the tent.
The crisp, cold air was a cruel shock after the stifling heat inside, but it did nothing to ground me. My limbs felt heavy, disconnected, as if I were moving underwater.
Relief surged in me—momentary and fragile—before my knees buckled.
What if now. . .I end up. . .crazy?
And then I just. . .began to fall forward, exhausted and in shock.
The world spun as the ground rushed up to meet me, but I think it was Leo who caught me and wrapped his arms around my shattered soul.
I closed my eyes and shivered. “I-I’m finished.”
He lifted me up completely and carried me forward.
I could hear his footsteps.
“L-leo?” I blinked, the images of the dead men rising still fresh in my mind, a nightmare that felt too real.
"Yes, Monique.” Leo’s voice was so close which told me that it was definitely him carrying me.
“I saw some of the dead men. . .rise.”
His body stiffened around me.
“They began to follow me. . .the dead ones. . .”
“And what did you do?”
“I kept walking forward.”
“Good.”
“But. . .”
“Yes?”
“A-are the dead men. . .still following me? P-please check.”
He went silent for almost a good minute before answering. I felt the tension in his grip, the way his muscles coiled as if ready to face whatever horror had followed me out and then he spoke, “They’re not following you anymore.”
I let out an exasperated breath. “O-kay.”
“Do not worry about that anymore.”
My body shivered uncontrollably. “I’m losing it.”
“No. You just have a good soul. A bright light. The visions were about guilt and the loss of yourself.”
“But. . .” I wouldn’t open my eyes because I knew tears would spill if I did. “I don’t want to go back to Lei and my sisters crazy.”
“You won’t.”