Kenzie is a spy?
But the small stab of betrayal evaporates when I take in how frightened she looks.
Oh, no.
I shove away from the table to try and stop whatever is about to happen, only for Leon’s voice to stop me short.
“Sit and watch,” he orders.
The mental leash snaps, and I sink back in my chair, unable to look away. It feels like I’m watching them in slow motion. Need is saying something to Kenzie, but I can’t hear them through the shield. Kenzie’s horrified eyes find mine as something flashes behind her. Her frightened expression freezes as a spurt of bright red liquid sprays across the room.
Blood.
It dribbles down her chest, and the light slowly fades from Kenzie’s eyes.
Need takes a step back, still holding her steak knife, which is now dripping blood onto the floor. It stains her white robes, the floors; it’s everywhere.
Kenzie falls to the ground, twitching once before her movements still completely. The scent of iron fills the room.
No one says a word. The only sound is the thudding of my heart.
She’s dead.
Need walks through the pool of blood, looking completely unbothered as she returns to her seat. She cuts a slice of meat with the same bloody knife and daintily pops it into her mouth.
My scream is lodged in my throat. The leash is stopping me from letting it out.
There’s a ringing in my ears.
She’s dead.
She tried to help me, and now she’s dead.
Someone else is dead because of me.
“Vivian, do pay attention,” Leon instructs, and the leash snaps yet again, forcibly drawing my focus back to the others. Everyone else is unfazed, and they continue eating.
“As I was saying, we have grand plans for you, Vivian,” Need continues, as if the last two minutes didn’t just happen. She looks annoyed when she notices my hands clenched under the table. “It’s good manners to eat when you are invited to dinner.”
I blink at her, wondering how she expects me to eat when I cansmelldeath.
Leon frowns at my untouched plate. “Eat. All of it.”
The leash tugs. The food tastes like ash.
“What is your report on Sin and the darkling?” Need asks, sounding mildly interested.
I think I might be in shock, but the question has my breath catching in my throat.
“Will he be a problem?” Rydon asks, raising a brow.
Leon leans back against his chair. “We made it abundantly clear that Vivian is choosing me.”
I almost choke, and try to hide my reaction with a cough before reaching for my water. Leon is either way more delusional than I thought, or he's straight-up lying to Need. Both options seem equally likely.
Leon gives me a slight glare. “Still, he refuses to let her go. He noted he’ll be back in two weeks to collect her.”
As the words leave his mouth, his stare takes on that familiar, feral possessiveness, causing an involuntary shudder to roll through me. Leon’s worst trigger, by far, is hearing that I don’t belong to him.
