Page 73 of The Dragon 2

Hiro rubbed his eyes. “This is insane, even for you, Kenji. You’re destroying our own arsenal?”

“To disarmhimand make our father think we are weak when we are very much strong,” I smiled. “The Fox can’t protect himself without weapons. He’ll never see it coming because those weapons are just as much mine.”

Reo added, “so he won’t suspect us.”

“He won’t and once the Fox and his loyal men are disarmed, we move in withFrenchweapons, ones that we will hide upon our return to Tokyo. We will strike fast, quiet, and fucking lethal.”

Hiro didn’t look exhausted anymore. Instead, he appeared like he’d just got a large cup of espresso, “then, we’re here to get weapons from the French?”

“A plane load of them at least but hopefully three plane loads.”

Hiro blinked. “And what will the French want in return for all those weapons?”

I gazed out of the window. “We will see.”

Chapter thirteen

The Butcher’s Opening Act

Kenji

Every time we came to Paris, the Butcher slit the city’s throat for me. What a glorious throat it was—velvet-wrapped, gold-veined, still humming old arias of empire and blood.

Tonight, we met at the Palais Garnier.

Even from the street, it looked like a scene out of an artist’s poetic hallucination—glistening columns, glowing marble staircase.

Statues of muses and monsters watched from above as our convoy arrived.

We left the vehicle and headed forward.

The grand doors parted.

We entered.

Me. Reo. Hiro.

The Fangs and Claws followed.

Our shoes struck the marble with a rhythm that didn’t belong to this century.

Above us, chandeliers burned—Baccarat crystal trembling with light and the memory of monarchs.

A string quartet played in the Grand Foyer—Debussy, perhaps. Or Saint-Saëns. Beautiful, but haunted.

Music floating through gold.

The air shimmered with decadence and wasn’t just perfumed. It clung—floral and warm—brushing the back of my neck.

I adjusted my dragon cufflinks, and the pearls glinted inside their golden jaws.

In the lobby, men in tuxedos and women in gowns moved through the space. As we continued forward, they parted for us and their laughter dimmed and their conversations paused.

In this house of kings, the civilians sensed the predators had arrived.

We moved deeper into the main lobby, taking position near the grand central column.

I turned to Reo. "What will be playing tonight?"