Xavier leaned back in the hovertaxi seat, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded as the skyline of Astraeus blurred past. The city pulsed with neon and filth, but for once, he felt… light. Not happy—fuck no—but light.
He muttered under his breath, "It's 'cause I hated Leonardo the least… that I killed him first."
He tilted his head to the side, staring out the glass as towers zipped past like frozen lightning bolts. "Guy didn't even have a hobby. No spine. No real ambition. Just a parasite, clinging to whoever was climbing fastest. And when that person stopped climbing…? Jump to the next. Snake. Leech. Fuckin' disgusting."
A chuckle escaped him. He closed his eyes for a second, replaying the expression on Maximilian's face—the shock, the betrayal, the horror—and then Dominic's too, standing there like his world was crumbling apart. Xavier's grin widened.
"Not gonna kill Maximilian yet," he whispered to himself. "He's my golden pig. Still got some juice left in him."
