“Alexa!” A whispering gasp shoots from the offender’s mouth, the sound decidedly feminine in nature.
Rounding on the perpetrator, I see Nala reaching to help steady me. Her fingers linger on my shoulder and she grins. It’s a surprise she’s here, and I take a moment to study her. Deep red satin covers her body, draping alluringly to the floor. The sweetheart neckline shows off her beautiful figure, and each nail is painted red to perfection. While the dress covers her feet, I know she’s wearing tall heels, the shoes lending her at least three extra inches compared to my own stature.
“You’re here.” She says it happily, like we’re at some high school reunion. I give her a tight smile, unsure how to act in her presence and more than worried about being recognized since she literally just said my name aloud. Reaching up, I make sure my mask is secure. “Don’t worry.” She waves a hand in front of her face. “No one will recognize you. Great mask by the way. Super cute.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask, running my hands down my dress to straighten anything that might have shifted when I stumbled.
“At the event of the year? Everyone who matters is here.” Suspicion races through me at her thoughtless response. She’s here. Out in the open. After siding with me. She’s going to get herself killed.
“You’re taking quite the risk.” Shifting my gaze around the gathering, I realize that no one is paying attention to us, and I relax minutely, aware that there’s no imminent danger right now. My plans are still safe.
“As are you,” she says. I can’t fight her on that point, so I shrug instead.
Neither of us ask what the other is doing. I’m sure it’s because neither of us wants to answer.
“Here.” Thrusting a drink in my hands, she releases the stem of the glass. “That’s on me.” She gives me a sheepish smile.
“What’s this for?” I look at the neon blue color and wonder what’s in the martini. It’s the opposite of the plain champagne that I had earlier. Red grenadine garnishes the bottom of the glass, almost looking like a thick drop of blood.
“Consider it an apology for my nearly running you over.” She waves it off but continues to stare at me. I’m not sure if I‘m supposed to say something else, but I’m not in the mood for talking.
Nala’s friendship feels different from the easy way the guys make me feel. It feels awkward and forced.
Instead of overthinking it, I take a tentative sip of the drink to appease her, hoping she’ll move on. I have a job to do, and I’m about to get drunk on whatever girly drink she’s acquired for herself and let down my guys by being too buzzed to finish the job properly. This assassination requires stealth, speed, and cunning that I would never be able to achieve drunk.
“Mmm, that’s good.” I motion to the glass, looking for a place I can now set it down, hoping that the social part of my evening is over.
Clearly, Tylin could have given me a few lessons on eloquently dodging small talk.
“Not going to finish it?” she says sweetly. Too sweetly.
I narrow my eyes at her as I feel a numb tingle flare up in my stomach, working its way outward. I stumble toward her on my heels as I try to keep myself upright. The sconces on the wall and the colors of the stained-glass start to swirl together as the room begins to spin.
“What the hell?” Each word is a fight to get past my lips, and I feel my throat constricting as I try to gulp lungfuls of air.
“The first rule of being an assassin; trust no one.” The sickly sweet sing-song tone of her voice is the last thing I hear as she repeats my words back at me. A strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me tightly into a masculine side.
“You never should have challenged Armond.” The deep voice is one I recognize, and even though my vision is growing black around the edges, I try to pull at his power. I have no idea what good laser eyes will do me, but I won’t turn my back on a free dose of power. My muscles melt to nothing and I go limp in the brute’s hold. Swinging me up into his arms, I hear the two of them making excuses to the people around us about my having had too much to drink as they slip through the crowd under the prelude of helping me. My head tilts back, giving way to the poison that I know is coursing through my body.
The last thing I see is Tylin concealed in the shadows on the balcony, talking wildly into some kind of watch.
Alive. Stay fucking alive.
I don’t know if I’m talking to him or to myself, but I decide it’s both. And that’s the last thought I have before the world shuts down and everything fades to black.
Twenty-Nine
Devil in the Details
“Well done.”Everything is garbled, and my head aches as I come to. I never expected to still be alive, but I assume I am from the earthy smell of dirt and the feel of cool grass tickling my arms and the back of my neck.
This can’t be good for the thousand-dollar dress I’m in. Susan would be so disappointed in my carelessness with this gown. But she’d probably be more than happy to sell me a replacement.
I can tell I’m lying on the ground somewhere and there’s at least two other people with me. I try not to stir, working to gather as much intel as I can before I give myself away.
“She was an easy mark. Never even saw me coming.” Glee drips from Nala as she speaks, and it takes everything in me to keep myself still. The backstabbing, evil, conniving bitch! So much for friendship.
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. She’s been working with Armond this whole time. What the hell is her angle? None of it makes any sense unless she’s looking to be the ‘teacher’s pet’.
