Page 84 of Alluring Darkness
“You think I’m joking?” I demand.
“No. I just think you’re delusional.” A sharp glint creeps into her green eyes. “Because if you ever threaten my brother again, I will kill yours.”
“Like you tried to do with those sandwiches?” I scoff and shake my head at her. “Did you really think they would be stupid enough to eat them?”
“Of course not. That’s why I put the poison on the wrapping paper instead.”
Coldness explodes through my chest, and deafening silence rings in my ears.
Raina flashes me a vicious smile. That smile that makes her look like a goddess of death. “Their skin absorbed the poison the moment they took those sandwiches from me.” She shrugs. “It should be making its way through their bodies as we speak.”
Rage and panic and terrible fear slam into me like a lightning storm. I made her think that I was going to execute her brother yesterday, so I wouldn’t put it past her to take revenge for that. And she is insane enough to actually go through with it and kill three people without batting an eye. Cold sweat trickles down my spine. If she actually follows through on this and kills my brothers, I won’t be able to survive it.
My hand shoots out. Grabbing her by the throat, I slam her up against the wall and hold her there so high that her toes are barely touching the ground. “If your poison kills them, I will torture your brother to death.”
She doesn’t even try to fight back. Doesn’t even try to get my hand away from her throat. Instead, she just looks back at me with that fucking death goddess grin on her face. “But your brothers will still be dead too.”
I tighten my grip on her throat, cutting off her air completely. She doesn’t panic. Only continues holding my gaze.
Fear and panic rip through my soul. All I want to do is to just snap her skinny little neck, but she’s right. If I kill her, or her brother, she won’t give me the antidote.
Using every ounce of willpower I possess, I release my grip on her throat and let her drop back down fully on her feet. But I don’t step back.
She brushes her hands down her shirt before looking up at me again and arching an eyebrow. “So, are you finally ready to have an adult conversation?”
The fucking insolence of this girl…
I work my jaw a couple of times before managing to growl, “Yes.”
“Good. Alright then, first things first. I didn’t actually put poison on the wrapping paper.”
For a few seconds, I can’t process her words. So I just stand there and stare at her, dumbfounded.
“Or any part of those sandwiches,” she continues.
“You didn’t?” I blurt out at last.
“No. So your brothers are not poisoned or hurt or dying. They’re completely fine.” She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “I just wanted to make a point.”
Relief crashes over me like a tidal wave. Staggering a step back, I draw in a deep breath to calm my thundering heart. Raina just stands there, watching me.
Once that terrible storm of fear and panic has drained completely from my body, other emotions take their place. Like fury, for tricking me into thinking that my brothers had been poisoned. But I’m also impressed. Really fucking impressed, actually.
Cocking my head, I study this dangerous woman before me. I have never met anyone like her. I have never met someone who challenges me the way that she does. Someone who doesn’t shrink back in fear but instead steps up and hits back with equal insanity.
“And what point would that be?” I ask at last.
“That if you touch my brother, I will poison yours.”
“I thought I made it very clear last night that you do not threaten my family.”
“And this is me making it clear that you do not threaten mine.”
Another wave of grudging admiration pulses through me, but all I say is, “Connor tried to shoot me.”
“No.” She holds my gaze with serious eyes. “Someone had tampered with his rifle.”
I snort. “Yeah, right.”