Morgan blinked hard, certain his eyes were lying to him.
The man Lily had called Uncle Marco, whose blood had soaked the marble floor only seconds ago, was changing before his eyes. The torn flesh along his ribs was knitting itself together. The swelling in his arm lessened. Even the blood stopped flowing, as if ti itself had taken pity on the man and turned back.
Morgan looked to Lily. Then back to Marco. Then again to Lily.
"What the hell..." he muttered under his breath.
Lily didn’t answer. She was already on her feet. Her eyes swept the hallway ahead, scanning for movent, traps, or the next sign of resistance. She didn’t need Morgan’s questions. She didn’t need his disbelief. She needed to focus.
She needed to make sure her father was safe.
As she stepped away from Marco, she took in the details of her childhood ho. Not just the destruction, but the little things that had sohow survived. Near the base of the staircase, a potted lemon tree sat in a cracked ceramic planter. To the right, ivy trailed along a lattice mounted to the wall, still green and untouched by the fire. Orchids blood on a corner table where a lamp had shattered, their delicate petals undisturbed.
Her father’s obsession with keeping the house alive had always seed strange when she was younger. He had insisted that every hallway needed sothing green. That life belonged everywhere, even in a place once built on blood and bullets.
Now those very plants made her feel like she was standing in an arsenal.
She raised a hand slightly, focusing her breath. She didn’t need to dig deeply to feel the life energy around her.
She could feel it buzz against her skin. So much life filled this house. Living roots beneath the floor. Vines crawling in the walls. Saplings just beginning to stretch their limbs in decorative pots.
Perfect.
It wasnt just her weapons that she could use. She could use all of her abilities, including magic. She closed her eyes again and focused as a small magical circle appeared in front of her.
Morgan felt like his jaw was loose when he saw a green wolf cub appear from the glowing circle in front of Lily. He was beginning to doubt what was fake and what was real.
The wolf cub shook itself as it stepped out of the circle, as though it had been pulled from a river. Its fur shimred with life, soft and leaflike, with glowing veins of erald running down its legs. It looked up at Lily with eyes that pulsed with the sa energy that danced along her fingertips.
Lily knelt beside it and gave it an affectionate pat on the head.
"Welco to the real world Moku~!" she purred to him. The wolf leaned into the petting, its tail wagging affectionately before Lily slowly retracted her hand and stood up.
Morgan stared, unblinking. "You... you summoned that? From where?"
Lily stood again, not sparing him a glance.
"He’s my little Moku. He is my pet."
"That doesn’t answer my question!"
But Lily didn’t elaborate any further.
The hallway ahead filled with voices.
"...check the west wing next. Can’t let any more of those traitorous dogs slip out."
"I heard they caught the old man alive. The elders are going to make an example out of him."
A group of five erged around the corner, weapons drawn, their uniforms a mismatch of gang colors and old estate gear. Their faces twisted with smug satisfaction.
They froze when they saw Lily.
"Well well," one of them said, eyes narrowing. "The Young Miss, still breathing. Never thought you’d co back to this place. And look at that, dragging the Forr Head’s lapdog and a at-headed bodyguard around like they’re worth sothing."
He gave a nasty grin. "You’re just in ti. Maybe we’ll deal with you before the elders get to your daddy. Shouldn’t have turned his back on tradition."
Morgan’s hand clenched into a fist, but he didn’t speak.
Another man laughed, eyes fixed on Lily’s chest. "Always wondered what the Young Miss would be like. Bet she screams real pretty."
"You don’t get to say that," Luna growled, her fingers wrapping tight around her axe.
But Lily raised her hand to stop her.
Her face was unreadable. Cold. Too still.
She looked straight at the leader.
"Did you kill anyone?" she asked.
The n exchanged glances. Then they laughed.
"Of course we did. Anyone dumb enough to defend that coward got what was coming. Probably killed a dozen between us. One of them tried to beg, can you believe it?"
Lily’s gaze sharpened. The air around her shifted.
"An eye for an eye," she said softly. "A tooth for a tooth. A life for a life."
The laughter faded. Unease crept in.
"You are not righteous. You are scum."
She raised her hand again.
"Die for ."
The plants nearby stirred.
Saplings rooted in decorative pots cracked and split. Their trunks stretched like sinew, warping into long, sharp spikes. In a breath, the wooden spears shot forward, piercing each of the n from every angle.
They never had ti to scream. Limbs snapped. Chests burst. Blood splashed across the walls.
Their bodies hung in the air like grotesque ornants, suspended by the very life her father once filled this ho with.
Morgan took a step back. "God..."
Lily didn’t look at him. "Walk."
He swallowed hard, forcing his legs to move.
Luna lingered for a heartbeat longer. Her eyes didn’t leave the bodies.
She knew what vengeance looked like. But this wasn’t just vengeance. This was judgnt.
And as she followed Lily, silent and steady, she couldn’t shake the thought gnawing at the back of her mind.
She was showcasing the very sa nature her father did his best to suppress. Nature wasn’t always so nice. Lily was usually equated with being a lazy cat...but at the end of the day she was still a tiger.
An Apex Predator who knew how to hunt and how to kill.
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