Page 52 of Consort of the Crime Queen

He's defected to Nero's side.

I drive my heel into the side of his knee with all my strength. He grunts in surprise and buckles, grip loosening. I whirl to sprint for safety, and I make it as far as the night garden, but he's right behind me. With a triumphant snarl he snags a handful of my long hair, wrenching me violently back into his chest. I let out an agonized scream, and he tries to smother it, cursing when I bite his hand.

"Dammit, hold still!" he growls, and slaps me hard across the head, patience fraying. "I'm not here to hurt you, understand? But Nero is taking Elysium tonight, one way or another."

I'm seeing stars from his slap, but I scream again in defiance and claw at his restraining hands, ignoring the tangled hair ripping from my scalp. We crash backward into the bushes in an awkward tangle of limbs, branches whipping at us both. Tony hauls me up and pins me bodily against a tree, hands around my throat, squeezing hard. Darkness creeps into my vision as he cuts off my airway and a primal panic closes in.

"You just need to keep quiet, kid," he croons, as if gentling a scared animal. But all the while his hands grow tighter.

I buck and gurgle futilely, strength rapidly fading as the night grows darker and darker, consuming me utterly…

Then Tony's eyes blow wide, body jerking oddly. His strangling grip slackens and I gasp hard for air. Wet warmth splashes over my cheek. I drag in ragged mouthfuls of sweet air as Tony staggers back, hands clutched to the sudden gaping wound beneath his ear. Blood, black in the silver light of night, spills over his fingers.

"You should have made sure you killed me, Tony." Hadria's voice slices through the shadows just before she does the same to his neck once more. I watch in shock as she rips her dripping blade back out of Tony's throat in a graceful crimson arc. Tony collapses, gurgling wetly, limbs flailing as he lands among the lilies, painting their white petals scarlet.

The world spins and I'm falling to my knees, half in exhaustion and half in joy. She's alive! Hadria is alive…

She's with me before I hit the ground, wrenching me roughly to her. Our mouths meet in a frenzied collision. I cling to her desperately, heedless of Tony's hot blood soaking us both. I need physical proof she's real. Whole. Here.

We break apart gasping. Hadria's hands brace my shoulders almost painfully, her gaze burning into me. "Are you alright?"

"He told me you were dead," I say, fighting back tears. And then I forget all about myself as my hand moves on her back, finding a large, wet stain as she winces. "Oh, God—you're bleeding, you're hurt—" I stammer urgently.

"Tony stabbed me in the back—literally and figuratively," she says, wriggling so that I can't touch her wound.

"But Hadria?—"

"Don't worry about me, are you okay? I saw him strangling you and everything went red. I wish I'd made it a cleaner kill. I didn't mean you to see…well, quite as much as you've seen during your time here."

I let out a laugh, of all things. "Are you kidding? I'm thrilled he's dead." I give a shudder. "He always gave me the creeps. The way he looked at me…like he was pondering the best ways to kill me."

Hadria stares at me. "You never told me."

"Last time I mentioned a guy staring at me, you had him killed," I point out. She looks blankly at me. "Remember that guy Vinny? At the safe house? You told him if he looked at me again he'd lose his eyes. And then later, you…"

"I what?"

"You had him killed," I mutter.

This time, Hadria is the one to laugh, and it startles me. "Oh, Sunshine. I remember who you mean now. Vinny D'Amelio, one of the recruits…I never had him killed."

I frown. "But I heard you. You told the rest of the Syndicate not to touch me, unless they wanted to end up like Vinny."

She's still grinning. "Aurora, my sweet little sunbeam, I kicked him out of the Syndicate. That's all. He'd only been with us for a few weeks and—obviously—he wasn't the kind of person I wanted in the Syndicate."

"Oh!" I breathe out. I'm actually relieved to hear that. "I did think it seemed…kinda harsh," I admit. "Although I really am glad you killed Tony," I add.

Hadria's grin fades fast. "So am I," she says, and the tone in her voice makes me shiver a little.

"Your shoulder," I start again, but Hadria shakes her head impatiently.

"Later, we can worry about that later!" She presses a pistol into my hand with an air of grim ceremony. "First, I need to end this war, once and for all. Nero is here. And I swear to every demon in hell, he will not leave Elysium alive."

I grip the cool, heavy metal, drawing courage from its lethal promise. She twines her fingers through mine and pulls me close again to kiss. When she breaks away, she presses her forehead to mine. "Let's send my brother back to the hell he crawled out of."

I match her predatory smile with one of my own. Nero will regret coming here tonight—for a brief moment, before he never feels anything ever again.

I've never felt more powerful, more alive than in this moment…or more dangerous.

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