Page 78 of Heartless Lord
I pressed my forearm against his throat to obstruct his breathing. “Did you come here tonight to drug her so she wouldn’t scream or fight back when you murdered her?”
“No!” he choked out, frantically shaking his head. “I wasn’t going to do it. I would never hurt her. I’ll forfeit my spot.”
A humorless laugh burst out of my mouth. “You don’t get it. There is noforfeiting. You either complete this task, or they kill you.”
“What?” His body sagged against the wall. “They never said anything like that.”
“You really expect a secret society like the Serpents & Daggers to tell you everything? Do you think they’d allow you to walk away?” I released him and stepped back. “Maybe you can find another girl who looks similar and convince them she’s the one.”
His green eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “I can’t kill some innocent girl.”
I scoffed. “You stabbed that woman in the initiation ritual just to become one of us, a Lord. What’s the difference?”
Micah jammed his hand through his blonde hair and cursed. “I-I didn’t have a choice. And she didn’t die. It was a trick.”
“This is no fucking trick.” I shoved the bag of pills into my pocket. “You have three options, Preston. One: you try to kill Lexi, and I slaughter you. Two: you return to the Lords and tell them you failed, which will result in your death.”
He swallowed hard, his entire body quaking. “What’s the third option?”
“You can vanish without a trace and hope like hell they never find you.” The chances were slim but not impossible if you had the right resources.
Micah blanched. “I can’t just disappear. What about my family? What about my life?”
“You won’t have a life if you stay, and your family will lose you either way.” I gripped his jacket and yanked him forward. “Those are your choices. You’re lucky I’m giving you any.”
His brow furrowed. “Why are you? If they find out you helped me, won’t that put you in danger?”
If the Lords or any of the Ascended discovered I sabotaged a sanctioned murder, they’d display my head on a stake at the next meeting.
And then they’d send someone else after Lexi.
So why the fuck was I doing this? Why was I risking my life to not only protect Lexi but to offer Micah a solution other than death?
I didn’t have the answers.
“Those are your options. Pick one. You have a few more days to complete your task, so hurry, the clock is ticking.” I released him and allowed the caged monster within to float to the surface. “But if you choose to go after Lexi, know I won’t hesitate to slit your throat.”
True fear shone in the Neophyte’s eyes, and for the first time, he appeared more afraid of me than the Domnus, or even the Grand Domnus.
“What are you going to do about Lexi?” he asked. “They want her dead.”
A chill slithered down my back like a ghostly hand.
Micah was right. Getting rid of him only delayed the inevitable. But no one knew her identity.
Not yet.
And Bass had no doubt lied to the brotherhood about her. He sure as fuck wouldn’t want them to know he murdered a girl and had us dispose of her body.
So I could keep Lexi relatively safe as long as no one realized she was the mystery girl who knew too much.
If they found out?
We’d both end up six feet under.
CHAPTER 26
A DEVIL FROM THE PAST
