“I have all the players on the board. I even have your little Penelope. What a treat that girl is. You know what they say about crossing a scorned woman.”
Reyna’s stomach sank even further. Penelope. Hell hath no fury. Of course, she hadn’t just turned…she’d turned coat, too.
Harrington smiled at their shocked silence. “Checkmate.”
Beckham’s fury simmered, but this was a no-win scenario, which meant that they had no options left.
Harrington won. He fucking won.
All of this for nothing. Losing Brian for nothing. Putting her life on the line for nothing. Elle burning for nothing.
Her eyes snagged on Beckham. There was love. Endless, eternal love in those eyes. And an apology. For fucking up. For walking her into this. For not being able to fix all of it.
She’dmade this plan.She’dwalked them all into it. It was her fault, not Beckham’s. He hadn’t wanted to risk it, and she’d been so headstrong she hadn’t stopped to consider the real possibility that Harrington could win.
Their rebellion was just and righteous. Theyhadto win.
And yet…there was no hope that they could escape this. If Beckham moved against Harrington, he’d destroy everything he loved. And Harrington had another match. She was no longer one of a kind to him.
But her mind snagged on that.
A little old lady. He’d said that. No…sneered that. He must be drinking from her to be so healthy, but she couldn’t be providing everything he needed. He wouldn’t have tried to negotiate with Reyna if he truly didn’t need her. In fact, he wouldn’t have bothered with any of these charades if he hadn’t needed Reyna.
She thought around that fact, looking it over from every angle, assessing its worth, and then made her decision. Her hand slipped into the pocket of her dress, and she removed the gun hidden against her thigh. Harrington’s eyes snapped to the cool metal clutched in her hand.
“What are you doing?” he demanded furiously.
Then she chambered a bullet and put the gun to her temple. “You’re bluffing.”
His eyes widened. His hands fluttered at his side as if he wanted to snatch the gun from her hand.
“Just try,” she dared him. “See if you can get to me before I pull the trigger.”
“I already said that I don’t need you,” he said angrily.
“Youdoneed me. You wouldneverbe so incredibly wasteful when a perfectly good blood type match is available.”
“You know nothing.”
“You exposed your queen.” She spat back at him the words he’d said to her in Visage all those weeks ago. “You should never leave your queen unguarded. The game isn’t finished.”
Harrington’s smug expression evaporated. She didn’t dare look at Beckham. She couldn’t look him in the eye for her next gamble.
“You let Beckham walk out of here alive and promise never to search for him, and I’ll come with you now,” Reyna finally said.
“No,” Beckham cried.
“You think you can bargain with me?”
“It’s the only deal I have to offer. My life for his.”
“Reyna, don’t do this,” Beckham begged. “Your life is worth more than mine.”
“We can agree on that at least,” Harrington said.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Beckham. She kept her eyes on Harrington. “I’m waiting for an answer.”
“I watched you for weeks, my little queen,” Harrington said. “I know you are a survivor. You value self-preservation above all else. You won’t pull that trigger, and you will come with me regardless.”
