“Where are your notes?”
Venay chuckled, and it was then that I realized my mistake.
Two of my fingers inadvertently found the chain around my neck and began rubbing the metal between them.
“Where do you think?” She let out a horrific cackle. “He’ll use you first. He needs you, but not forever,” Venay purred—uncoerced—no doubt in connection to my silence.
Kade tore the door back open. “Time to finish up. Give her the memory eraser and let’s go!”
“I need more time,” I begged, but knew there was none. The urgency in Kade’s voice was a warning not to test our luck.
Sawyer fiddled around in his pocket, pulling out a small bottle of yellow, curdled liquid.
I took a step back, giving myself a moment to process all of the information that was forced upon us.
Sebastian took residence by my side. “You did good. We can always do this again and get more information out of her.”
Sawyer moved to the front of Venay, using his free hand to pull her jaw apart. “Open up, bitch,” he snarled, dumping the contents down her throat and then holding her mouth shut so she couldn’t spit it out.
I watched her throat move as Venay swallowed, then she instantly started to cough—choke, rather. Her face turned even paler than her normal tone, before deepening to a shade of blue.
“Um. Guys? Is that supposed to happen?” I spluttered, taking a step away as Venay tossed her neck back and forth and began to foam at the mouth.
She wasn’t breathing…
“Huh…That's not what happened when she gave it to Kohen,” Sawyer realized. He passed the empty vial between his hands.
Venay's head shook vigorously, drool splattering onto the floor. She tried to stand up, but with her hands and ankles still tied to the chair, all she did was scrape the seat back.
“Give me that bottle,” Sebastian demanded from Sawyer, outstretching his hand.
I watched in utter shock. No, no, no. This was not how this was supposed to go. I wanted to do something, but I was frozen in place.
Venay’s eyes turned dark as blood began to drip out of them like tears. She wailed, trying to speak until Sawyer shoved a rag in her mouth, silencing her to any wandering ears.
“Are you sure that was the right vial?” I asked Sawyer, my eyes and lips wide with terror.
“I swear that was the one she used for Kohen.” He ran his hands through his hair, roughing it up with his stress.
Sebastian started digging through the cabinet of herbs and medicines. He pulled out two other bottles that held a yellow liquid. “It could have been one of these. I think we gave her the wrong one.”
Our heads shot towards the door as it burst open, sending my flight-or-fight response into overdrive.
“What’s the hold up?” Kade hissed, then his golden eyes bulged. “What in the gods' names did you do to her?” His tone changed as he yelled in a whisper. “Did you poison her?”
“Seems like it,” Sawyer said nonchalantly with a shrug.
“Fucking gods,” Kade muttered, moving towards Venay and untying her wrists.
She gripped her lanky fingers around his wrist, staring into his eyes with a look of pure agony and terror. Soon enough, her grip went slack as her chest stopped rising with her breaths.Her head rolled to the side, landing loose atop her pale boney shoulder.
My hand met my mouth with a gasp, the pure shock setting in.
The three men in the room seemed completely unfazed. They just stared at her lifeless body for a second before getting right to work, cleaning up the mess we’d made. Sawyer worked to untie her from the chair while Sebastian began wiping the blood from the floor.
Though my feet were glued to the ground, my legs chattered so fast that I had to fight to stay standing.
My breathing hitched, snagged on the shock factor of what happened. Slapping a hand to my chest, I began to fiddle with my necklace again, using the cool chain to self-soothe.
