She let her shoulders curl and eyes grow enormous with fear.
“You cannot sir, you would not...” Voice shaking, she cowered.
His eyes dilated, her fear an aphrodisiac. But then he went off script. Expecting her to go limp and compliant in his arms, his hands forced themselves beneath her skirts. One taking hold of her ass, the other plunging beneath thin lace, scraping against the softest skin. The feeling of his fingers, hisnailspulled her from the glacial, immoveable depths of fear holding her body captive and plunged her back into the flames of wrath.
And with that, several things happened all at once.
The most important of which was Elysia Parker exploding through her porcelain mask. Shards and fragments of the doll she had been flew like shrapnel through the air. Composure broken, she found a vicious, vengeance-bent version of herself waiting to emerge. The Crown-welded collar and leash lay demolished, brittle pieces scattered on the floor.
Chains gone, something ancient came to life within her, lips snarling, teeth bared. She wished she had claws to rip through sinew and skin. Without claws or fangs, she was left with her hands. Hands that had struck Kava’s Shadow a thousand times. Elysia drove her fist up and into Scarzan’s gut, dark victory urging her on when his mouth gaped at the impact. Hands gripping his shoulders, her knee was a battering ram between his legs. He toppled sideways on the lounge pillow, denting it as he fell.
Mouth agape, still choking for air, his dark eyes were wild, but she didn’t care. Her manicured fingers grabbed his jaw, nails digging in like half moon knives. She could barely feel his skin, or the throbbing frenzy of his pulse. Her eyes were on his mouth, jaw pried wide by her hands. She didn’t care if he bit her fingers clean off.
She grabbed his drink and then hers, holding his head back as she poured them straight down his throat. Tears streamed down his face, gin spraying as he choked and spluttered. But she slammed his mouth shut, his teeth cracking loudly. Dropping the glass, she plugged his nose, refusing to let go even as he failed like a flaccid worm.
“Swallow it,” she demanded. She sounded like a demon.
But he complied, and a hot rush flooded through her. She’d done it. He’d drunk the damn poison. He would be?—
“The number of times I’ve imagined divesting every last drop of air from that man’s body.” Topp’s voice was a strained rasp. But he only shook his head wistfully, like he wished it could havebeen him to poison the bastard. Deft hands closed the gauzy curtains, blocking any curious eyes.
“And here you are, my sweet little liar, fulfilling my every unspoken bedroom dream.” He paused as if in question, his deep voice rumbling. “Thisisforeplay, isn’t it?” A dark grin spilled in her direction.
Elysia’s hands fell immediately to her sides. As if that would hide what she had done. Like he hadn’t just seen her in a reverie of rage, assaulting a foreign diplomat. Trepidation prickled up her spine, and she eyed Topp warily.
She never knew what he was going to do. He was becoming more and more unpredictable. And it was a problem. Her heart rate calmed, though. Sounds of the party slowly returned, instead of the noiseless static that had overcome her.
She faced Topp, giving her back to Scarzan, who was still a coughing mess. There was no hiding what she’d done. He’d walked in on her forcing the undead gods knew what down a man of political power’s throat. And that same man would be dead within minutes, the rest of the party taking ill soon after. It wouldn’t take a genius to solve that mystery. She squeezed her hands into fists.I need to get out of here.
Sometimes the truth was more powerful than any lie.
“He attacked me. Tried to, tried to—” Her voice failed, arms automatically wrapping her body like a shield.
The irreverent flirtation cleared from Topp’s face, his understanding quick even with her few words. He was familiar with Scarzan and his transgressions.
Hands flexing, his eyes grew electric amidst the soft dark of the gauzy tent. Suddenly he looked bigger than he was—but it wasn’t the thick muscles under his dark olive shirt, or the width or height of him. It was the feeling of a storm crashing against your window at three in the morning, violent and ready to breakthrough the glass. The feeling grew until it felt like rain and lightning might burst from above. “Youtouchedher?”
The prince took a single step. A saunter almost. Confident and unrepentant of what he was about to do.
But Scarzan was already moving, having taken advantage of their brief distraction. Bloated hands wrapped around Elysia’s throat, his thumbs crushing into her windpipe.
Poison-laced spittle sprayed onto Elysia’s face with each of Scarzan’s words. “You fucking cunt.”
His fingers squeezed tighter, lifting Elysia clear off her feet. Panic surged like a tidal wave as she lost her breath. The woman he’d murdered at the House flashed through her mind. She’d been found bruised and mottled, her neck the broken stem of a bloodied rose.
Elysia’s vision grew fuzzy, Scarzan’s face going in and out. Her head snapped to and fro like a rag doll. But Gage’s fierce bark shouted at her like a lifeline.
How do you break the hold? Elysia, show me you know how to break the hold!
Her eyes flung open, Gage’s words ringing in her mind. Gritting down, she gathered the last of her energy and thrust both hands up. Scarzan swore roughly, his wrists breaking away from her neck.
And Topp was right there not even a second behind, plowing into him, taking the canopy down as they hit the floor. Layers and layers of gauze fell around them. A shroud of death, fanning out around the two men like a dark corona.
No one noticed the nimbus of death, though. Not when Topp’s hands were busy breaking the marble floor with the back of Scarzan’s head. One large hand over the rat’s face, he pounded it down.
Over and over and over.
The muscles in his back shortening, then lengthening as his shoulder came down hard and fast. It was rhythmic. Blood pooling and spraying out in flecks. Scarzan’s eyes had long since gone blank, the light snuffed out within them. But Topp persisted. Like he couldn’t stop.
