Page 98 of Servitude to Serpents

I’ve never believed in things like fate, but sometimes, the universe demands your attention by shoving signs up your ass with no lube, whether you want to see them or not. That’s how it feels when Stuart tosses the thick paper envelope down on my desk, stamped with the seal featuring an open book pierced through with a dagger, its hilt the all-seeing eye.

An invitation from Tyet.

A private ball.

Stuart eyes the revolver placed in front of me. “It seems, for all their connections, Tyet hasn’t figured out who sunk their yacht that night.”

I barely hear him, my eyes unseeing on the envelope, but I canfeelher, sopping wet and trembling in my arms. The way she sobbed into my chest, her nails scoring me—she clung to me because she knew I would keep her safe.

But she was wrong.

Even my connections at Bloom came up with nothing.

I lost her.

I fucking lost her.

She was wrong to love me, but her downfall came with that trust.

I’m a snake, after all.

I ignore the man in front of me as I hit my com. “I want a full squad briefed on the layout of Tyet’s entertainment hall by the end of the week. Meet me in the war room in fifteen.”

He nods. “Welcome back, Sir.”

But I’m not.

I’m on my way out.

Chapter thirty-eight

To own is to… Reclaim

Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

Icheck my watch, readying myself for war as I enter the lavish venue four hours late. Tyet was smart to change locations last second, but stupid to do so without the same level of security detail. It was three days ago when we finally received word that Pup was in the wind, the bathhouse that now lays in cinders,residents included, having sold her to a flesh trader that operates outside of Mexico. That was when the only lead went cold.

She’s gone.

I watch my men and women mingle, filtering through the guests like clockwork, like they were born here, doing exactly what they are now. If this was any other event, if I was here for any other reason, under any other circumstances, it might have filled me with pride. Barns gives me a subtle nod as he passes me, pushing a cart of food…among other things, should I need them.

Should Iwantthem.

The sound of piano fills the large ballroom, waving in and out of the chatter. Itmakes the ache in my chest deepen with each note, carried out beautifully. Even so, it doesn’t touch the way she played for me, the way she melded her damaged soul with melody. The alcohol slips down my throat, and I’ve long since stopped feeling the burn. My eyes scan the party for the man who fed me that information all those years ago, the man who then sold it to the authorities.

We seem to find each other at the same time, the rat fuck smirking as he lifts his drink to me across the room. I incline my head, readying myself. That steady strum of adrenaline that comes in moments like this kicks up as it courses through my veins. I let my glass clank loudly on the serving tray of a passing waitress, my fingers twitching to touch my watch when I watch his dark eyes slide to something in the front of the ballroom, then back to me.

My fingers halt, inches from the bringing forth the end of Tyet.

The end of Serpents.

Something…knowing, cunning, and all too smug filters in his dark gaze. The piano kicks up, the music haunting as it flows, a dark cloud in a room full of smiles.

My heart stills in my chest, my head whipping toward the front of the room as a throng of people gather around a white and gold grand piano, around the tiny figure seated on the bench, a flash of cascading blonde hair showing when someone shifts. My heart shudders to a stop in my chest, my lungs following suit. Relief, agony, rage, and so much fucking regret are enough to still me, to silence the room, save for the delicate woman seated on the piano bench.

When I look back to Harun, it’s to find him slipping out the back door. It’s the perfect shot, and the smug fucking look on his face tells me he knows he’s giving it to me.

But he’s giving me her too.

---