Page 66 of Dragon 7

I swallowed.

Those are the twins. They’re scared.

I knew it the same way I knew the basement was on the east side of the Bamboo Garden building. The same way I knew what Yoichi was and that he was bound by an ancient secret. The way knowledge had been arriving in me since I opened my eyes—whole, unexplained, and certain.

Hiro's boys. What will he say when he finds out? Is he ready to be a father?

Tension gathered at my shoulders.

Two of my men walked in front of me with their hands resting on their guns.

Four more walked behind.

Yoichi stayed on my side, but kept space between us.

Deja looked at me. “So this bitch has been trying you over and over and you haven’t checked her?”

“Apparently not enough.”

“So then you know what you have to do now?”

“Yes.”

“You need me to—”

“No. I’m doing all of this myself. I have to.”

We stopped at the door.

My men in front stopped too. The lead one looked over his shoulder and waited.

The cold concrete bit up through the soles of my bare feet. The red ritual robe hung soft around me. Reo's soul pin sat at my collarbone.

Hmmm.

I touched the pin.

The babies cried and stopped, and I just. . .knew the nurses were soothing them right now and the twins somehow were soothing each other by squeezing each other’s tiny hands, and that they’d need an incubator.

Fuck. I have to see them, but first this. . .

I nodded to the lead guard. “Go ahead.”

He opened the door and held it for us.

We all walked in.

Inside Kiko's room, two more guards stood at attention by the bed. They turned the moment the door opened, and their hands moved to their weapons.

Once they saw me, their eyes went wide and their hands came off their guns at the same time.

Yoichi walked to the edge of the bed.

Both guards stepped back and stood against the wall.

Kiko and her entourage had been talking. They stopped when we entered.

Kiko was propped up against three pillows in a hospital bed that didn't belong in this part of the island. Her face was pale and damp. Her hair was matted along her forehead. A silk white robe hung off her soaked at the collar with sweat.