Page 43 of Queen of Wrath

Who is he seeing? Emma or Lea?

His shoulders relaxed, and his whole demeanor deflated. “I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else. You looked just like—” He looked like he was about to be terribly sick, but he was quick to right himself. “Please accept my deepest apologies, Emma.”

Zane backed away into the crowd, keeping eye contact with me as he did so. If I knew Zane as well as I thought I did, he wasn't about to leave this be so easily. If he had the slightest inkling that I was still alive, he wouldn’t rest until he found out the truth.

“That was a close one. Sorry about that, Lea.” Emory turned back to me and smiled.

“My name is Emma. Don't call me anything else.” The feeling of his lips, his touch, his body pressed against mine, still lingered, but the rage boiling in my blood saw those good sensations pushed to the back of my mind.

I turned to walk away from him, but his words stopped me.

“I wonder if that's really what you want. Don't you miss being seen as the person you are? Or did you forget altogether who that is?” he whispered into my ear.

The rush of his breath caused the stray hairs to tickle my neck as they brushed against the sensitive skin there.

I glanced over my shoulder, and shot him a look that would make most men back the hell off. Though, I doubted he was that sort of man.

“If you're ever tired of pretending to be someone you’re not, you know where to find me.” Emory was still wearing a self-satisfied smirk, even as he bowed his head at me before walking away.

Who is Emory Blake, and how does he know who I am?

The last thing I wanted now was to still hang around this festival. This had been a bad idea from the start.

Maybe I should just go home. No one would notice.

Then I remembered, I still had the vial of the sabotage potion on me. I had transferred it into these robes on the occasion I would get the chance to sneak back into Facility B.

On the night of the festival, the coast will be clearer than ever…

15

DIESEL

One of Diesel’s Potionists pleaded for his life.

“Sir, we’ve had reports pouring in all day! I don’t know how this could have happened! I watched the entire process from start to finish, the same way that I always do.”

“If I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw you with your family yesterday at the festival. So how were you watching to make sure nothing went wrong?” Diesel’s voice was calm, but it seemed to terrify the skittish Potionist even more.

When his tone turned indifferent like this, it meant he wasn't contemplating anymore. He had already decided what his next move was. Diesel reached out his hand and grabbed the head of the petrified man before him.

His claws extended and dug into the Potionist’s skull. His screams intensified. With the simplest little squeeze and a pop, the man went silent.

Diesel shook the blood from his fingers and sighed. “I don't care how it happens, I want this mess cleaned up,” he said to his men, and he didn’t mean the blood and gore at his feet. “This didn’t happen because of an error made by anyone here. This was sabotage. Someone came here last night, knowing it would be unsupervised, and tainted my whole supply. Someone I’m going to make sure pays dearly for this.”

Whoever did this, they are very skilled in the art of potion-making, and did a thorough job in tainting every single drop of what I have.

They ruined everything!

Diesel’s head was practically fuming. It took all of his strength not to shift. He knew if he did, he would end up destroying the entire city.

But the more he thought about it, the more he concluded that some mayhem was exactly what was needed…

“If I were a betting man, I’d say the rebels had likely something to do with this,” Diesel went on speculating, cruel and predatory looks spreading among his men at his words. “After this attack, I think it’s fair to return the favor by finally shaking them out of their hidey-holes, don’t you agree, boys?”

16

JAX

---