Chapter 11 #2
What the fuck was wrong with this family?
But with all the pieces seemingly shifting their positions on the board, Nadi now had all three siblings with doors open to her.
And her specifically. Mael’s offer was tempting enough on its own.
But now? She would be positioned exactly where she needed to be to continue dismantling the Nostroms from within—with Lana’s blessing and Mael’s protection.
Raziel was now clearly the poorest choice. The wrong choice. The one holding none of the cards in his hand and yet believing he was bluffing them all.
Fuck.
“Why would you do this if you suspect I’m not who I claim to be?” Nadi asked, setting her tea aside. “If you know I likely came here for revenge of some kind? How can you be so sure it stops with him?”
Lana sighed, a theatrical sound that did nothing to mask the very real cynicism beneath it.
“Because I’m sick of playing my family’s games.
Sick of being the pretty face, the bargaining chip, the Sweetheart Mistress.
” She practically spat the title. “I want to play my own games. Wield my own power. And I’m willing to buy my supporters by any means necessary. ”
“And I would be one of those supporters.”
“Yes. But you would be beside me as my partner, not some subordinate. Whoever you are, you’ve impressed me.
” Lana’s smile returned. “With your talents, and my resources, we could reshape the whole metropolis. Whatever you’re after, whatever my family did to hurt you—I can guarantee I wasn’t a direct part in it. ”
No. She hadn’t been. Lana’s only sin against the Iltanis was one of blood relation. Lana had plenty of crimes of her own—flesh trading most notoriously—but nothing against her own family.
It was tempting. Moons, it was tempting. A clear path to completing her mission, without the complication of her growing feelings for Raziel. A way to justify everything she’d done, everything she’d sacrificed.
“And what would you gain from this arrangement?” It was a struggle to keep her tone curious rather than suspicious. “Volencia seems well on her way to removing Raziel without any help.”
“For all her cruelty, Mother is too sentimental.” She sighed.
“Fine. All good business relationships are built on a little bit of trust. I’m searching for freedom, ‘Monica,’ like I suspect we all are in the end.
” Lana’s face briefly showed something that looked almost like genuine emotion.
“A chance to step out from dear mother Volencia’s shadow.
To be more than just the pretty daughter who sells flesh and spreads her legs for political advantage. ”
The raw honesty in her voice was startling. For a moment, Nadi could almost believe her. And maybe she did.
Then, Lana’s mask slipped back into place, the vulnerability gone as quickly as it had appeared. “So, do we have a deal?”
“I’ll need to think about it,” Nadi replied cautiously. “This is… a lot to consider.”
“Of course.” Lana’s smile was understanding, though her eyes remained calculating.
“But don’t think too long. Our window of opportunity is narrow.
” She stood, signaling the end of their meeting.
“Oh, and Monica? If I were you, I wouldn’t mention to Raziel that we spoke. He can be so possessive of his toys.”
Nadi rose as well, forcing herself to smile through gritted teeth. “Thank you for the tea, Lana. If he knows where I was, I’ll tell him I was giving wedding advice.”
“Naturally. Hopefully, mine ends better than yours.” Lana gestured toward the door. “I’m sure you can find your way out.”
The drive back to Raziel’s home gave Nadi time to process what had just happened. Lana knew that she wasn’t the real Monica Valan. That she had infiltrated the Nostrom family for some purpose of her own. Who and what she really was, still remained a mystery, at least.
And instead of exposing her, Lana wanted to use her.
It aligned perfectly with Nadi’s original plan—kill Raziel, work her way through the rest of the family, avenge the massacre of her clan. She should have been elated at this unexpected opportunity. It was perfect. Flawless. Let Raziel kill Braen. Then, kill Raziel.
She couldn’t have asked for a better setup.
Instead, she felt hollow.
The car pulled up to Raziel’s manor, and she stepped out, nodding absently to the driver. As she walked toward the entrance, her thoughts continued to tumble over one another.
Could she do it? Could she kill Raziel now, after everything?
He murdered your family, she reminded herself harshly. He laughed as your mother died.
But the Raziel who had held her last night, who had surrendered control to her, who had looked at her with something so close to vulnerability… he seemed like a different man entirely from the monster of her memories.
Shaking her head, she pushed through the door, determined to find some quiet corner where she could sort through her thoughts.
Instead, she found Raziel waiting for her in the foyer, his expression unreadable. He took her to his office, shutting the door behind them so that they could speak in private.
“Where have you been?” he asked, voice deceptively casual.
“Lana invited me over,” she replied, seeing no reason to lie about that much. Even if Lana had warned her otherwise, Raziel’s driver would already have told him where she had been. “Wedding preparations.” She knew she had to give him more than that. “Supposedly.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “And was it?”
“No.” She sighed, suddenly exhausted by all the deception. “But I didn’t learn anything useful, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He studied her for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether to believe her. Then, apparently satisfied, he nodded once.
“I have news,” he said, changing the subject. “We’ve confirmed Braen’s location for the next three days. He’ll be staying at his house on the west end of the metropolis since we… disrupted his apartments above The Poisoned Serpent.”
“The perfect opportunity for our assassination,” she observed. She tried to recall what she knew about Braen’s home. “It’s a pretty big property, if I remember correctly.”
Raziel nodded grimly. “Trafficking fae is banned by all vampiric councils. The ledger you stole from him is proof positive of his activities. I would have had more proof, but when I had one of my men go into the basement to take a few of his captives as insurance, he found they were already missing.” He shot her a cold look.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you? ”
The woman from the Wild Nadi had seen running through the chaos.
So, she had been successful. Or at least, up and to a point.
That was, if Braen’s men hadn’t been under orders to dispose of evidence if there was an issue.
Therefore, her answer wasn’t a lie. She had no conclusive knowledge. “I don’t.”
He let out a hum. It seemed he believed her, at least well enough.
“I will send a letter to Braen informing him that I have evidence of his lucrative side-hobby and threaten to expose him to the council of all the vampire elders if he does not meet with me. It would destroy the Rosovs if news came out. He will come.”
“That, and your previous history together, and I think you’re right.” Nadi left the door open for him to explain more of his complex past with Braen.
It seemed he was uninterested in taking the bait.
He took his hair out of the tie at the back of his neck, running his fingers through the gleaming black strands.
“I’ve been working with Ivan to finalize our approach.
With any luck, we’ll have him isolated. It’s on his turf, which I don’t like.
But the odds we get him off his family grounds without guards are much lower. I would rather have him unguarded.”
She couldn’t help but be distracted by the confident set of his shoulders, the fluid grace of his movements. He was beautiful, in the way that predators often were. Deadly and magnetic all at once.
This is a man who killed your family, she reminded herself again.
But he was also a man who had suffered. Who had been shaped by cruelty into a weapon. A man who, despite everything, had shown her glimpses of something almost like tenderness.
“What’s troubling you?” Raziel asked suddenly, turning to face her. “You’re unusually quiet.”
“Just thinking about what’s ahead.” It wasn’t a lie.
He moved closer, studying her face with an intensity that made her want to look away. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
It wasn’t a question. She forced herself to meet his gaze steadily.
“We both still have our secrets, Raziel.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Anger? Hurt? It was gone before she could identify it.
“True enough.” He took a step back. “But secrets between allies can be dangerous.”
“Is that what we are now? Allies?” She couldn’t keep the bitter edge from her voice.
He tilted his head, regarding her curiously. “What would you call us?”
Impossible. Wrong. A travesty. A nightmare. “Messy,” she said instead.
A smile ghosted across his lips. “An understatement if ever I heard one.”
He moved to his desk, spreading out several papers—more maps and floor plans, she realized. “Come. Help me plan our approach to Braen. The sooner we deal with him, the sooner we can move against our true enemies.”
True enemies. True enemies she was debating siding with.
She crossed to stand beside him, glancing over the documents. Despite everything, despite the turmoil in her heart and the offers weighing on her mind, she found herself drawn into the tactical discussion.
This, at least, was familiar territory. Planning. Strategy. The clinical approach to ending a life.
Far easier than confronting what she truly felt for the man standing beside her.
And the real question was… would one life be ending tonight?
Or two?