Chapter 21 #2
Too smooth. It was far too smooth. As if someone had deliberately laid out a trail, guiding us straight to Victoria.
"You're right," I said quietly. "This could very well be a trap. Someone wants us to believe Victoria is the mastermind, but she might just be..."
"Just a pawn," Layla completed my thought.
We were silent on the phone for a few seconds.
"I've been wondering about something," Layla said hesitantly. "When exactly did she figure out I was Layla? I have never met her."
"You're right, you didn't," I said, carefully reviewing the timeline. "After you went over that cliff, Victoria returned to the pack and met my father. He approved of her, which is why on his deathbed he demanded I marry her."
"Kayden, behind all of this..." she finally said, "there must be something bigger. Be careful."
"I will," I said, catching the scent of something far more dangerous than I'd anticipated. "You and Kai stay in your room. I—"
Sharp knocking erupted.
Not polite knocking. Urgent, frantic pounding.
"Alpha!" Evan's voice came from outside. "Miss Victoria is here, she—"
Before he could finish, the door burst open.
Victoria rushed in, hair disheveled, eyes swollen and red, tear tracks streaking her face.
"Kayden..." Her voice trembled. "We need to talk."
"Layla, I'll call you back," I said quickly and ended the call, sliding the phone into my pocket.
"Victoria, calm down," I said evenly. "We can sit and discuss this properly."
"Discuss this properly?" She laughed—a shrill, broken sound like a wounded bird. "Now you want to discuss things with me properly?"
"Kayden Blackwood, do you have any idea what I sacrificed for you?"
Victoria was laughing and crying simultaneously as she advanced toward me.
"Kayden, how could you marry someone else... I gave everything to the promise you made! Learning etiquette, learning estate management, and learning how to be the perfect Luna. I turned down every suitor because you were the only one in my heart."
"But you..." Her voice fractured. "You threw it all away for that woman."
"So the exposure—that was you?" I asked, carefully watching every micro-expression.
"Yes!" She practically screamed it. "All of it! It was all me! I hate her! I hate Layla Gray! I wanted to destroy her!"
She confessed too quickly.
The thought flashed through my mind. Too immediate. Like lines from a prepared script.
"And Lucas?" I continued probing, concealing my suspicion. "You hired him, too?"
"Yes!" Victoria said. "I spent every penny I had saved to get him to photograph her!"
"I wanted to ruin her reputation, to make her unworthy of you!"
Again, instant admission without hesitation. She was following some kind of script.
"What about the vampires?" I asked suddenly. "Last night's attack at the hospital—you arranged that too?"
Victoria's expression froze for just an instant, but I caught it.
"Yes!" she said, her gaze flickering.
She was lying.
The vampire attack—that wasn't her doing. Or more precisely... she hadn't contacted them directly.
"Victoria," I softened my tone, trying a different approach. "If you tell me who you're working with, I can protect you—"
"No one!" Victoria suddenly shrieked. "It was all me! I just hate her!"
She pulled a dagger from somewhere and lunged at me, the blade aimed straight for my heart.
I sidestepped, caught her wrist, and twisted hard—the crack of breaking bone. The dagger clattered to the floor. Victoria crumpled, clutching her mangled wrist, a keening wail escaping her lips.
"Tell me," I crouched before her. "Victoria, before you do something irreversible—tell me. Who made you do this?"
She looked up, eyes brimming with tears.
"Kayden, you were right all along." Her voice shook. "The exposure, Lucas—that was me. I just hated her so much, hated that she took everything that should have been mine... So I—"
She suddenly pulled a small glass vial from inside her clothes.
No!
I lunged to grab it, but she was faster. Victoria threw her head back and poured all the black liquid down her throat.
"No!"
I seized her jaw, trying to force her to spit it out, but the black liquid had already slid down her throat.
"Damn it! Healer!" I roared toward the door. "Get the healer!"
Footsteps thundered down the corridor.
Victoria's body began convulsing, her limbs jerking uncontrollably. Black blood spilled from the corners of her mouth, mixed with white foam.
"What did you take?" I gripped her shaking body. "Victoria, spit it out!"
"Too... too late," she whispered, her voice fading, eyes losing focus.
The healer burst through the door and immediately dropped to his knees beside her.
"The toxin is too potent..." He shook his head. "Alpha, she won't last three minutes..."
"Use an antidote!" I roared. "Try everything!"
"We don't know what poison this is," the healer said helplessly.
I looked down at Victoria in my arms. Her face was rapidly turning blue-purple, the light in her eyes dimming moment by moment.
"Why did you do this?" I demanded. "Victoria, tell me why."
"I'm sorry..." Her lips trembled, black blood still flowing. "Kayden... I-I just... Loved you too much..."
Loved me?
No. Her eyes were wrong. In those dying eyes—it wasn't me she was seeing. It was as if she were looking through me at someone else entirely.
Her lips moved again, as if trying to say more. I leaned close to her mouth, but there was only the whisper of escaping breath.
Until Victoria's hand fell limply to her side. Her head drooped. Her eyes remained open, tears frozen in them.
No sound remained.
The healer checked her pulse, then shook his head. "Alpha... she's gone."
I released her. Victoria's body slumped to the floor. Morning light streamed through the window, falling across her pale face.
She was dead.