Chapter 41
Bella
The bell rings, startling me out of my thoughts.
The Giant faces me, looming on his side of the ring. He’s got two pentacles tattooed on his cheeks.
“Hi there.” I bounce and give a little wave. “I’m Bella.”
The Giant squints at me, confused. He looks around, as if to say, “Is this for real?”
The Bulls are screaming for my blood. “Hit her! Kill her!” And worse. There’s a whole crowd of them, excited to watch me bleed. And die.
I smile at my opponent. His back stiffens automatically. He doesn’t understand what’s happening, and my behavior is weirding him out.
Good.
“Shake?” I hold out my hand. There’s a second while he hesitates, and I wonder if the Vesuvios figured out how I killed the senator.
But then his hand engulfs mine. I’m dripping sweat already. Shit, I hope the poison sticks.
We shake slowly. His fist is the size of my head.
Don’t let him hit you, Jaeger said. One blow will cave my skull in.
I try to step back, but the Giant’s still holding me. He looks me up and down, a bit mesmerized.
I’ve got a lot of skin on display.
“What happens now?” I say in a little girl’s voice.
“Now you die.”
Shit. Okay.
Your best offense is a good disguise.
I lick my lips. “I’m scared.”
“It’s okay, little girl. It’ll be quick.” He’s staring at my chest.
With my free hand, I tug at my bra top. “It’s hot in here.”
“Take it off.” The Giant leers at me.
He wants a public peep show. Gross. I don’t have to fake a tremor in my voice as I ask, “What will you do to me if I do?”
He clamps a hand on the back of my neck. I stiffen, leaning back, but he draws me forward, the way Kaiser does. No, no, it’s wrong. I don’t want anyone else touching me like that.
I’m shaking as he grips my head in one huge palm, forcing my chin up. He lowers his face. He’s going to kiss me.
No! Only Kaiser does that.
I fight, but he’s already mashing his lips against mine.
So I bite his lip.
He roars, jerking back.
I spit in his face. He releases me, surprised. He wipes the spit off the bridge of his nose and scrubs at his eyes.
Then backhands me across the ring.
I go flying.
I slam into the ropes, and they snap me forward. I hit the floor, tasting metal.
Fuck.
Fuck, that hurt.
I blink, dizzy. Fuck me, why did I let him hit me first? That was a terrible idea. He didn’t even punch me. Just a casual slap and he could’ve killed me.
Someone’s shouting. I see Angel’s desperate face. “Get up, Bella,” she mouths the words, but there’s no sound. Well, if there is, I can’t hear it.
The taste of blood is overwhelming. Fuck, did he knock out a tooth? I let my jaw go lax. Blood fills my mouth, along with the bitter taint of something else—the poison I’ve ingested. My gift to anyone who dares to try to fight me.
But fuck, I might be in over my head.
I rise slowly, trying not to jostle my skull too much.
The Giant is strolling back and forth on his side of the ring. Glaring at me. Why didn’t he finish me?
I look past him into the stands. The crowd’s on its feet, screaming, but I can’t hear them over the ringing in my head.
And Dominus is there, smiling. The fucker is smiling.
I have to win this.
Dominus signals to the Giant, and the big man turns and lumbers to me. I don’t move; if I run, I might pass out, and my plans are for him to touch me as much as possible, anyway.
“I’m going to fuck you up, little girl,” he snarls. “Gonna tear off your head and—”
“Right, I get it. Gross.” It hurts to talk, but I can’t help it. I don’t want to hear him talk about all the awful things he wants to do with my body.
I should thank him for making it easier to kill him. But I don’t know if I’m going to win.
The Giant reaches out and snatches me off my feet. The move jars my sore body, and the pain takes my breath away. His hand clamps around my throat, tightening, squeezing. Cutting off my air. I’m choking, my feet kicking in the air.
He raises me above his head. If he slams me to the floor, it’s all over. I open my mouth and let a stream of blood trickle into his eyes.
He opens his mouth, roaring. He tosses me away, and by some miracle, I land on the ropes and not the platform or the concrete beyond the fighting ring. The cords cut into my side—owwwww—but I slide to the ground. Something twinges in my ankle. I’m hurting. I’ve probably broken something.
But I’m still in one piece. And I’m sweating. The poison’s coming out of my pores.
The Giant is scrubbing at his face, covered in my blood. It’s probably beginning to burn.
He spits a few times, but it’s too late for him. I’m in his system now.
I step forward. He swings for me, but it goes wild. I duck it, cackling. This is fun! The Giant staggers, still rubbing at his eyes.
The crowd falters, realizing something’s wrong. Their chosen champion isn’t fighting like he should.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” I ask. “Hogweed and manicheel sap. It burns. Causes blindness.”
Dominus is on his feet. “Finish her,” he shouts in a rasping voice.
I smile at him with my mouth bloody.
The Giant wipes a hand over his mouth. His eyes are swelling up. His throat will be next.
I wipe some sweat onto my palm and run past him, slapping his arm. His left, then his right.
He swings for me out of habit but misses.
I dance in and miscalculate. His slap knocks me across the ring again. I fall to the ground, laughing. My face aches.
I spit blood into my hand. Blood and part of a tooth. So, he did break one.
But the pain is so far away. Adrenaline is my friend, keeping the pain at bay, fueling me.
The Giant is twitching, frowning. He’s rubbing his skin now, trying to reach everywhere I touched him. Red handprints—my handprints—stand out on his huge muscles. The poison is working.
“Bella, no,” someone bellows.
It’s Kaiser. He’s woken up.
He’s still surrounded by a group of masked Fraternitas men, who are holding him back. He bellows, fighting. One of his arms breaks free for a second before they grab him again.
Damn, I got the dose wrong! I’ve got to end this before he tears across the room and tries to fight. He’s swaying like he’s still half-drugged.
I grin and wave, then realize I’m covered in blood, so I blow him a kiss. It only seems to rile Kaiser up more. Oops.
Jaeger punches him in the face, and he goes down.
Yikes. I wince.
I’d better end this.
The Giant is touching his face like he doesn’t understand what it is.
“Does it feel numb? That’s another symptom,” I inform him. “Let me tell you something. It doesn’t take much poison to kill a grown man. You think you’re invincible, but the bigger you are…”
He swings for me, and I easily evade him.
“The harder you fall.”
I feint a punch to his dick, and he doubles over to protect his crotch. Both hands cover his groin area, so I jab my fingers into his eyes.
He shouts in pain, and I spit in his mouth.
Then I back away. It’ll be over soon.
The Giant retches, but nothing comes up but air. His airways are swelling, too. I dosed him with everything I could.
His head lolls back, red-tinged tears streaming down his face. His eyes are bloody. Ooh, that looks bad.
The end is near. Which is good because I’m swaying on my feet. My head is throbbing.
But I’m still riding a wave of adrenaline, floating high above the pain.
“Let’s face it, you underestimated me. But everyone did.” I lean in. He tries to swat me like a fly, but his hand falters. “You thought you were stronger than me. But there are many forms of strength.” Oops, I’m monologuing again. But I can’t resist. “Tell me now… how does it feel to be weak?”
He groans. The poison inside must be like putting a blowtorch to his insides.
“Poor baby,” I croon. “Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”
He’s shivering. He curls into himself. His hands stiffen into claws.
“Three, two…”
He takes a step. He tries to take another, but his foot won’t move. Bloody foam pours from his mouth.
“One.”
The Giant crashes to the ground.
The Bulls are on their feet, shouting foul play, but the rest of the crowd drowns them out.
Angel climbs on the ropes, pumping her arms over her head. She’s leading a chant.
It takes me a second to hear what they’re saying.
“Fraternitas! Fraternitas!”
Oh, hell no.
I put one foot on the fallen giant and pump my own fist into the air. “My name is Belladonna Bosco,” I shout. “I am the Poisoner. And this is what I do to my enemies.” I point to the fallen giant.
I notice the crowd has moved back from the sides of the ring, giving me space. Good. It’s about time people know how dangerous I am.
“Bell-a-don-na,” I shout my name until Angel takes up the chant. “Bell-a-don-na.”
“Bella, Bella, Bella!” the crowd screams.
“That’s right,” I whisper. “That’s me. Fear me.”
The Bulls are still there, but Dominus is gone. Fled. His champion is down.
I am the champion.
I open my arms and accept the people’s adoration and fear.
They know who I am. They know what I can do.
From now on, they will think twice about messing with me.
I am the greatest supervillain who ever lived.
Kaiser
Bella stands in the center of the fighting ring, beautiful and terrifying. The room is swimming, and my head is throbbing. She definitely poisoned me. And Jaeger punched me.
But I can’t tear my eyes from her. She’s got her hair up all cute again. Dyed bright pink. Her face is a bloody mask, her eyes wild. She’s propped her foot on a huge fighter, who is face down in a pool of blood.
It’s definitely her. That toxic combination of excitement and murderous glee.
“Let me go,” I growl to my brothers.
They hesitate, but Jaeger barks at them to do it.
“Secure the room,” I tell Jaeger. “Get everyone out of here.”
He nods, and I turn slowly to face the ring. I take a step and stumble.
Jaeger reaches for me, and I push his arm away.
I will crawl to her if I have to.
Jaeger shouts at the people, clearing them out. The rest of Fraternitas spreads out, shoving people to get them to leave.
I limp forward like I’m moving through mud. My body has healed—Atticus made sure of that—but whatever Bella drugged me with is still in my system.
But time slows, and everything fades out of existence when I look at her. If it takes me an eternity to get to her, I will count it a blessing because it means more time to bask in her presence.
I step up to the ring, and she sees me. “What are you doing? You idiot. Let me help you.”
I sag on the ropes and let her fuss over me. “You don’t have to be strong all the time. You can ask for help.”
She’s glorious. The ring lights are hot on my skin, but she outshines them all.
“You could’ve died,” I growl.
“No. Well, maybe. But I didn’t.” Her lips and chin are bright with blood. So is her chest. It might not all be her blood.
The swelling on the right side of her face, though, tells me the Giant got at least one good hit in. He hurt her. I’d kill him and desecrate his body if she hadn’t already destroyed him so thoroughly.
“I could kill my brothers for allowing this—”
“I didn’t give them a choice. And Jaeger and Atticus helped me. Atticus figured out a way to poison the Giant before he even set foot in the ring.” She grins. “We made a plan. It was dangerous, but I had help.”
My legs feel weak. I’m hanging on the ropes. She brushes her hand over my new hair growth, and goosebumps rise on my back.
“You fought for me.” My throat is closing. I have to force the words out. “It was supposed to be me, but you took my place.”
“Of course I did. Come here.” She helps me climb through the ropes, into the ring. I’m getting stronger just by being in her presence.
Her poison hums under my skin.
“Bella,” I reach for her, then remember she’s poison. “I wish I could touch you.”
“You can.” She wipes her face, cleaning some of the blood away, but the bare skin of her arms is still slick and shiny. “I used poisons you’re immune to.”
“What?”
“Atticus and I talked, and we think my blood did something to you. Not the sleeping potion—we made that up special. But… you’re immune to me, Kaiser. You and no one else.” She grins, showing bloody teeth. “Touch me, Kaiser.”
I let my fingers brush her jaw. Her cheek is red and puffy where he hit her. “He could’ve killed you.”
“Nah. I’m a supervillain.”
I fall to my knees. It feels right, being on my knees in front of her. “You fought for me. No one’s ever fought for me.”
She passes a hand over my head again. “You’re not alone anymore, my beautiful cauliflower.” Her lower lip juts out, trembling. “You were going to leave me. I couldn’t let you leave. You promised me a lifetime.”
“I know, baby. I’m sorry.”
“I love you, dammit.” She touches her throat, where she’s still wearing the black ribbon. “I love you.”
“You can’t,” I say, my throat closing. I don’t know why, but it’s hard for me to believe someone like her could love someone like me. “I’m not… You can’t love me.”
She bares her teeth at me and leans in. “Challenge accepted.”
It hits me then. She really loves me. Would do anything for me. Even sacrifice herself.
“I love you,” I say in a rush. Because I can’t give her what she deserves, but I can give her that. I can give her all of me. “I need you, Bella.”
Her hand hovers in the space between us. I can’t take it anymore.
“Baby, please, please touch me. I need you, please—”
“Kaiser.” She cups my face, and I gasp. Her touch doesn’t hurt. It feels good.
I grip her hips, keeping her close to me. I stare into her dark eyes. “My beautiful poison. Will you marry me?”
She leans in and lets her lips brush mine. I close my eyes. Her touch is heaven.
“Yes.”