Chapter 36
Kaiser
When I come too, I’m face down in a pile of rubble.
These fuckers brought a rocket launcher. What do they think they’re going to do? Destroy the house until only the safe room is standing? I wipe dust from my face and crawl out from under the destroyed wall. Gotta get to Bella.
But when I get to the safe room, the door is standing open. No! Where could she have gotten to?
I weave through the rooms, grit crunching underneath my boots. I stop and snatch up a fallen gun. There’s no time to mess around.
“What the fuck is going on?” someone shouts. I hide out of sight, barely breathing as I listen.
“Sir,” the soldiers snap to attention. “We’re tasked with hunting down the target, Bell—”
“The bitch. I know. And you fucked it up. Dad sent me. I’m supposed to be in New Rome, making the Poisoner choke on his own vomit.”
New Rome? Dominus must have sent another strike team to take out the Poisoner. I hope Argos still has ears here. Otherwise, I need to end this fight fast so I can alert my brothers that the Poisoner needs help.
They probably already know. If I were Dominus, I would’ve had the strike team hit two locations at the same time.
This newcomer is either Sal or Frankie, one of Dominus’ sons. “You’re telling me that it takes all of you to get one little girl?”
“She has a bodyguard.”
“A bodyguard. One man? One fucking man? Fucking Fraternitas. Where is she?”
“The target is in the safe room—”
Music crackles on the loudspeakers, and the loud music Bella likes to play for her plants blasts through the house.
“What the fuck is that?”
“Sir, I believe it’s from Turandot, an opera by Puccini—”
“I fucking know! My nonno loved this shit. I wanna know why I’ve suddenly got front row seats to a fucking opera.”
“It’s coming from the conservatory. Behind the house.” A radio squawks, and the man reports. “It’s the girl.”
“Right, let’s go get her. Remember, we want her alive.”
The team lead orders the forces to split into two teams, one to go through the house, one to go around back. “We secure the safe room along the way. Let’s go.”
Bella isn’t in the safe room. I bet she’s in her greenhouse, thinking her plants will save her.
But there are dozens of men headed her way. I can’t let them take her. But I don’t know how I’m going to kill them all without starting a firefight that kills us both.
Bella
“Nessun dorma” blasts from the speakers as I stand in the middle of my plants, spotlit by the floodlights. I’m still in my ball gown, so I’m feeling classy.
There’s movement outside the greenhouse, men approaching the back door behind me. And in front of me, there are muffled voices at the kitchen entrance. I’m surrounded. Just like I planned.
The men open the doors, their guns trained on me. They move closer, advancing slowly. Their sight lights dot my back and chest.
I stand very still.
Shhh, my flower. You have to be quiet, my mother told me long ago, with a finger to her lips. Remember, Mama loves you very much.
I lie in wait, but this time I’m not trapped. I’m the bait.
The music cuts off—one of the men must have cut the line. They don’t get close to me, not yet.
One of them speaks into his microphone. “Sir, we’ve got the target on lock… yeah, she’s just standing there. Unarmed.”
“Let me see this.” A few moments later, a man elbows his way through the pack of armed men to the front. He’s mostly bald and stocky, with a ruddy tone to his skin. He reminds me of a bull.
“Hi there,” I say and give him a cheeky wave. “I’m Bella. What’s your name?”
He looks me up and down, and likes what he sees. Good. I need him to let down his guard. “Name’s Sal, doll.”
“Salvatore Vesuvio?”
His eyes narrow. “Yeah.” He motions his men to creep forward. “You’re coming with us.”
I don’t move. I want as many men inside the house and greenhouse as possible. “Livia told me about you.”
“Oh, yeah? What’d that bitch say?”
“She said you were bad.” I shake my head, giving him a cute little pout. “A bad, bad man. She told me you and your brothers killed my mother. Is that true?”
“How the fuck should I know?” He’s still cocky, but he’s frowning, like he can’t figure me out. “I killed a lotta people.”
“Mmm. So have I. ”
He mutters some curses. “Get her.”
“Lower your guns,” I say. “I’ll come quietly.”
Sal shrugs, and a few of his men lower their guns. “You’ll come with us either way.”
Then I utter the code phrase. “Shoshonna Bosco won’t stand for this.”
Kaiser
I move with the soldiers to the back of the house, picking a few off on the way, dragging them into the shadows, and breaking their necks. I strip one of the corpses, grabbing a set of goggles and a flak jacket, and leave the bodies lying under the trees.
But by the time I get to the greenhouse, I’m too late. Bella’s in the center of the room, lit up like she’s on stage. She doesn’t look afraid, but she’s surrounded by gunmen. I seriously wonder about her sense of self-preservation sometimes.
I watch through the windows as she talks to Sal. I can take out a few more soldiers, but I’ll never reach her in time. I’ll have to wait until they grab her, and then kill them.
Why did Bella offer herself up on a silver platter?
Then Bella says loud enough that I can hear from outside, “Shoshonna Bosco won’t stand for this.” Invoking her mother’s name. Why?
There’s a click and a whir. Some machinery turning on. The men inside look around. A second later, water rains from the ceiling. A heavy downpour from the sprinkler system.
That’s when the screams begin.
I run toward the back door, using my hands or the knife to take out every soldier who stands in my way. I have the jammer on still, but it’s not foolproof. I don’t want people to start shooting.
When I get to the back door, I pluck out the men trying to get in. I kick out one’s knee and punch the other until he goes down. More men rush toward me, screaming. But they’re not coming for me. They’re trying to get away.
“It burns!” they shriek. “It burns!”
I stand aside as they run past me, clawing at their faces.
What the fuck is going on?
The soldiers are down, fallen where they stood, blanketing the floor. The lucky ones die fast with mouths open in silent screams. The unlucky ones are still writhing and twitching, blisters forming on their faces.
The air feels like razor blades, slicing my throat. I cough, throwing up an arm to shield my eyes. My eyes burn like they’re being seared in my skull, but I can’t look away from Bella.
She’s still standing in the center of the greenhouse. Her hair is soaked, plastered to her face and bare shoulders, and she has a triumphant smile on her face. She looks like the supervillain she wants to be.
Something moves behind her from the ground. It’s Sal, raising his arm. He’s got a gun. He’s squinting through the swelling on his face, taking aim at Bella.
No!
I race toward Bella through the poison rain, praying I won’t be too late.
Bella
Liquid poison slicks my hair and coats my face. The compounds in the acid rain affect the lungs, skin, and heart. If I weren’t immune to all of them, it would definitely burn. The shape of a man blurs in front of me.
There’s a loud crack like thunder but too close. The noise shatters my hearing.
Then I see Kaiser throw himself in front of me, only to fall. The shock hits me like a bullet.
He was shot.
“No,” I cry. Kaiser is face down on the ground between me and Sal. Sal is propped up on his left arm, gun in his right. Blisters bubble on his cheeks as he bares his teeth at me.
I’m screaming. I race over to Sal, snatching a pot off a worktable. The rest of the planters go flying, ceramic shattering on the stones.
Sal fires again, but I’m already on him, rage coursing through me.
I smash the pot on his head, and Sal’s body sags.
I kick the gun away and grab his hair to pull his head back.
Blood covers his face. His hands rise to defend himself, but he’s too weak from the highly concentrated poison.
I pull out a vial of hemlock from my pocket and rip off the top.
I force it into his mouth, pouring the liquid down his throat and slamming the vial past his teeth until it shatters and he chokes on glass.
I let him fall to the ground, convulsing.
It won’t take long for him to die. I feel like a Valkyrie.
But then I remember Kaiser.
He’s still face down on the floor where he fell after being shot. He’s not moving. The poison rains onto his bare arms and the back of his neck. “Oh no, no, no, no.” I bend over him, blocking the rain with my body. “Stop,” I scream. But the rain keeps falling.
I’ve got to get him out of here. I grab his right arm with both hands and start dragging him out of the greenhouse. He’s so heavy, each inch takes an eternity. But I finally get him outside. Away from the poisonous rain.
He’s not breathing, and his face is raw and blistered.
Fuck, I did this.
I rip open the vest he’s wearing, my hands coming away blood-soaked. “Hecate, help me.” There’s so much blood. From the bullet wound? He was wearing a vest, but he must have been hit.
And if the bullet doesn’t kill him, the poison will. I don’t know what to do. There’s a balm I can use to help his skin, but what about his lungs? The compound is designed to kill fast. Papa and I agreed we would use it as a last resort. I didn’t make an antidote because I’m immune.
Kaiser coughs, and the sound stabs my ears. He groans, coming too. “Shh,” I say. “Just rest easy. You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay.” But he coughs again, and blood and sputum froth at the corner of his mouth.
“You were shot.”
“No, knife. Stabbed.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about. “I’m sorry.
” I lean over him. I want to touch him, but I can’t.
His skin looks like someone rubbed it with sandpaper.
Even his eyes are bleary and red. Bloodied tears drip down his face.
“It wasn’t supposed to go like this,” I tell him.
Except that’s a lie. I wanted to unleash the poison on everyone.
Things went down exactly how I wanted them, too—except Kaiser got hurt. “I didn’t want you to be hurt.”
A shadow rears up over us. I throw myself across Kaiser. Our enemies found us, and it’s all over.
But then someone calls, “Bella?” It’s not the Vesuvios. It’s someone in a demon mask. He pulls it off, and I recognize my future brother-in-law.
“It’s okay, Bella.” Jaeger crouches next to me. The light glints off his long hair. I realize I’m shaking, holding onto Kaiser like he’s my lifeline. More Fraternitas members melt out of the woods. “It’s okay,” Jaeger repeats. “We’re here. Everyone else is dead. You’re safe.”
The battle is over. Dominus has lost a lot of men and another son. I should feel triumphant.
But Kaiser is barely breathing. He’s hurt because of me. I want to die.
It’s my fault. Don’t leave. Don’t leave me.