CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Raina
Everything I’m not.
I’m the sparrow sent to attack.
For Lennox.
For Ruby.
For every girl this wicked brotherhood has hurt.
And to get my father his rightful crown.
The doorman calls Noel before letting me in. I expect the fucking prick will make me wait, but I’m ushered right through security. The elevator ride up to the penthouse feels like forever as my heart pounds. Every tick of the numbers overhead tightens the knot in my stomach.
The vial of poison hidden in my bra feels heavier than it should.
It’s not just any venom. Rhys found a dealer selling strong, fast-acting neurotoxins with a bitter almond aftertaste.
The kind you only survive if you take an antidote.
That’s hidden under a different boob and must be ingested no more than two minutes after the poison hits the stomach.
My stomach.
A gaggle of guards greets me as the foyer door opens. One of them gives me a once-over and radios to Noel that I’m here. Then another frisks me. The vials shift from the contact, but so long as these guards don’t strip me naked or overtly grope me, I should be fine.
The guard skims his palms across my breasts and makes a fist between my legs. “Are you tight, slut?”
I push away the idea of being violated. This isn’t me. They still think I’m Levin Berisha’s helpless daughter who has to marry Noel and will put up with this bullshit.
“Do you think your kyre wants your hands all over his fiancée’s tits?” I ask.
The guard grins. “He plans to pass you around to us. Just sampling the goods.”
My stomach turns. “Careful. I bite.”
“ Kyre likes that,” he whispers, and something flickers in his eyes. “He knew you’d come back. Prepare to get punished.”
I hide my relief that Noel thinks I’m here to fall back in line with his original plan.
“Wait here,” the guard grunts, disappearing inside.
My hand brushes the underwire of my bra, checking that both vials are still snug.
Noel appears moments later in the entryway wearing black sweats and a white T-shirt. He’s got bare feet, bed head, and morning breath.
His smirk is as greasy as motor oil. “I was wondering when my little failure would come back.”
I smile tightly. “Just keeping you on your toes.”
He grabs me by the wrist and drags me down one of those corridors I noticed the last time I was here. Next, I’m pushed into his bedroom. No warmth. No pretense. Right to the punishment phase.
Shit.
“Don’t you ever disappear on me again,” Tahiri barks.
“My best friend was raped,” I say, backing up. “I was comforting her.”
“If she’s a slut like you, she deserved it,” he scoffs.
Anger flares in my chest. “If he had a dick as small as yours, it’s no wonder he had to rape her.”
“Cunt.” Noel backhands me across my face.
My vision craps out for a second from the sharp sting, but I stay standing .
“The next time you fucking speak to me like that, I’ll break this jaw so you can’t talk. Or eat,” he snarls, grabbing my face.
I don’t wince. I can’t.
He shoves me backward, and I hit the floor hard.
“Stay there,” he snaps. “I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
Noel proceeds to kick me, punch me, pull my hair, and yank my arm until I’m sure it’s dislocated again.
Fuck.
All while yelling something incoherent.
The blinding pain has dulled many of my senses. I wasn’t expecting this .
The arrests are set to happen in the next few minutes and I’m running out of time.
Rhys knows where I am. But if I don’t emerge after the knights are arrested, they will storm this place for me.
I just have to survive. For Connor. He won’t forgive himself if I die.
And Valdrin might end him for letting me get killed.
Noel lifts my dress and drags down my underwear. He tosses them aside and sneers, “Now, the real pain begins.”
But salvation comes in the form of a voice from the hall where the guards wait their turn.
“ Kyre !” one yells. “Black Fang is on the phone. Says it’s urgent.”
Black Fang! No. He’s giving Noel a heads-up.
Tahiri growls something incoherent and storms out of the bedroom. I roll to my knees, my heart hammering. With the arm not screaming in pain, I slip the poison vial from my bra and pop the cap with trembling fingers.
This is it.
I tip it back and let the fluid pool on my tongue. The taste is metallic, laced with cyanide’s signature almond flavor for a deadly kiss. I press the vial back between my breasts and wipe my lips.
If I don’t get Noel to kiss me in the next two minutes, they’ll be burying me and not him.
He storms back into the bedroom seconds later, snapping his phone shut. “Fucking Irish think they can outmaneuver me.” His eyes narrow when he sees me still on the floor. “Get up.”
I don’t move quickly enough. He grabs my arm roughly, yanking me to my feet. Stars pop out behind my eyes as he pulls me against his chest. His nose wrinkles watching my mouth, and I take my shot.
I use my good hand to grab a fistful of his shirt and crush my mouth to his, shoving my tongue past his thin lips. Noel goes rigid at first. Caught off guard.
Then he kisses me back, greedy and punishing, his hands digging into my hair. “Fuck, I knew you’d be a hellcat for me. I’m gonna love beating you then fucking you hard and senseless while you bleed and cry.”
He’s about to say more, but he pauses. His tongue juts from his mouth, and his lips roll in and out. He tastes it. His eyes flare wide as the bitter almond sinks in.
“You bitch!” he hollers.
I shove him back and run into the bathroom. I can break the mirror and use the shards as a weapon if I need to. With the door locked, Noel kicks it, roaring my name.
Shaking, I dig into my bra’s other cup for the antidote vial. I just have to swallow it and then wait for Noel to die.
But, oh my fucking God. It’s not in my bra. It’s gone .
My fingers fumble uselessly, and panic slams into my chest. My legs start to tremble, and everything is a blur.
Noel screams from the other side of the bathroom door, his voice growing weaker. It starts getting hard to breathe, and I see spots before my eyes.
Then chaos erupts in the front foyer.
Shouts .
Gunfire.
Broken glass.
Was that a battering ram?
I hear boots slapping against the marble floors and deep voices howling orders.
“FBI! DOWN ON THE GROUND!”
Noel is being raided by the goddamn Feds. That wasn’t the backup plan. One of the knights must have given up the fucking kyre !
I stumble from the bathroom, not seeing Noel. Feeling dizzy, I drag myself toward the bedroom door. I can barely see. Air forced into my lungs feels like shallow bursts. The almond taste is everywhere.
In the hallway in front of the bedroom, Noel is on his knees. Blood is leaking from his nose, and his face is gray. He’s surrounded by shouting agents. But he’s staring at me .
He knows I poisoned him.
Our eyes lock.
His are filled with hatred.
Mine are fading.
He’s dying, and I’m not far behind. I take one step toward him and everything goes black.