Kaiser
* * *
I frown. “It’s our engagement party.”
“You don’t think I’m a threat.” She runs a finger around the rim of her wineglass. “That’s why my father isn’t here. You think he’s a threat to the Vesuvios?”
“The Vesuvios told us they wouldn’t come if he were here.”
“Ah. But I’m just the daughter. No one’s afraid of me.”
I am. I’m afraid of what you’ve become. “This truce is important. It will keep you safe.”
“Hmmm. There’s no such thing as safe. Everyone dies, Kaiser. You know that. You’ve killed enough.”
I stiffen. It’s not the reminder of my past that hurts. It’s the careless way she tosses it out, like she doesn’t care if it hurts me. “You’re pushing me away. Bella, I’m not your enemy.”
“Of course not. You’re my future husband.” Her voice is flat. No emotion. It’s like she’s numbed herself to everything. All her beautiful, wild emotions, she snuffed them out. It’s like seeing a garden destroyed.
Don’t do this, I want to plead with her on my knees. Don’t become like me. I know what it’s like to be numb to everything. To watch the world around you like it’s a movie filled with happy people and wonder what it would be like to feel things again. You are meant to burn bright. My light burned out long ago. I might as well be in the grave but not you. Never you. You are so full of life.
I don’t want this darkness for you.
I open my mouth, but the words stick in my throat.
She turns away. “Take me back inside. I need to powder my nose.”
I escort her to a small bathroom and hold her glass of wine. As soon as she disappears, I pour a vial of sleeping potion into the wine and swirl it until it dissolves.
Then I wait, feeling like the walls are closing in around me. This mansion is huge, but the hallways are narrow and covered with awful paintings. A big wooden clock ticks down the seconds. It’s almost midnight.
The senator is coming up the stairs, heading for his study, where we’ll meet the Vesuvios.
Bella exits the bathroom just as he passes.
“Senator, I just have to thank you for a lovely party.” She sounds like someone else. A stranger.
“The pleasure was mine,” the senator says.
She moves closer to him, offering her hand. That’s when I notice… she’s no longer wearing gloves, and the ring I gave her sparkles on her ring finger. “Wait—” I say, but she’s already shaking his hand. I move closer, and the senator makes space for me. “And here’s your jealous fiancé. I remember.”
“Senator,” I say. I glare at him until he releases Bella’s hand. I can’t kill him. St. James will have my head.
“This way,” I tell Bella. I’m to take her to a private room and give her a sleeping draught that Atticus prepared.
There’s so much riding on this meeting. We can’t mess this up. But I have the feeling that I already have.
My cell buzzes with a text. St. James and Damien have arrived. They’re waiting in the study with the Senator.
I walk Bella into the room. A library with a low couch.
“It’s time. The Vesuvios will be here soon. I need you to drink this.” I hold up a glass of wine. We agreed that we’d drug her tonight because she’s a wild card. And the way she’s acting now? I’m missing something. I need to figure out what it is before it’s too late.
She takes the glass and swirls the wine, studying it like she knows what’s in it.
I feel like Judas. Except Judas betrayed his love with a kiss, and I can’t even kiss her.
She drains the wine in one long gulp.
