Page 80 of The Serpent's Bride
After showering and doing her hair and makeup, she picked out an outfit from the closet. Something that said she was Raziel’s possession and wife, but nothing that would upstage Lana. After all, it wasLana’sparty andLana’shome that she was visiting, even if the party was being thrown in “Monica’s” honor. A crimson dress that clung to her curves—Monica’s curves—but didn’t reveal too much skin or give away too much of the goods.
She kept her hair down, except for a few locks that she twisted into a braid at the back of her head. Then she fitted a red rose into it, one that had survived the wedding with only a small patch of charring. A nice reminder to anyone who noticed the detail.
Slipping on a pair of black stiletto shoes and a black coat, she headed out of the room. Raziel was waiting for her by the door, his expression grim. Hank stood nearby, and she didn’t miss how the guard’s gaze locked immediately onto Monica’sassets.
Meanwhile, Raziel didn’t even glance at her as she walked up. She knew he heard her. His vampiric hearing would have pickedher up, even if she weren’t wearing ridiculously loud stiletto shoes on a marble floor.
“You look like we’re going to a funeral not a luncheon.” She tucked her hands into her pockets. “Keep this up, and I’ll start to think you don’t like your siblings very much.”
Raziel huffed a quiet laugh but said nothing as he walked toward the expensive black car that was idling in the driveway, waiting for them. Hank was staying behind, likely to watch the house.
The chrome of the car was recently polished and shone even in the clouded sunlight of the dreary day. Not great weather for a garden party, but great for vampires who didn’t much love the sunlight, she figured. She wondered what the plan was—Raziel had alluded to something. Following after him, she climbed into the vehicle—a servant held the door for her,hedidn’t—and sat in silence in the back as they drove.
Vampires were weaker in the sunlight. Which meant gathering at a garden party—even in overcast weather—would make them vulnerable. She didn’t know if she’d have time to take advantage of such a situation in the future, but she took note of it.
Hubris was a curse all vampires seemed to suffer from in spades. She would have to find a way to wield that to her benefit if she wanted to dismantle the Nostroms from within.
Raziel was staring out the window, his expression dour. Furrowing her brow, she glanced at him, and then to Ivan, who was driving the car.
Something told her that this “garden party” was going to bemiserable.
It gave her time to mourn her bad plan of sneaking into the Nostrom family to kill them all. She had figured her performance with the Iltanis would have bought her a few weeksat least. But it seemed his mother was keen on getting rid of her quickly.
That was a detail that would be good to know. It changed her approach. “Whose idea was it to schedule the trip in two days?”
“Mine,” came his simple, curt reply.
Wincing, she turned her attention out the window. “So you’re ready to be rid of me, huh…”
Silence.
Why did that actuallyhurt?The sudden emotional sting made her laugh. Resting her forehead against the glass, she couldn’t help it. Shelaughed.
That finally got Raziel to look at her with an arched eyebrow.
“Sorry. It’s just…such a farce.” She shook her head. “You never wanted to marry me. I never wanted to marry you. And yet I’m sitting here with wounded feelings.” She laughed again. “It’s ridiculous.” Looking back out the window, she sneered at her faint reflection in the glass that wasn’t even her own face. And he didn’t even realize how much of the truth she was really telling him. “I actuallycare.”
“There’s a great deal of upheaval on the way,” he said. “With the destruction of the Iltani family, the balance of power across the city is going to shift. I want this matter between us resolved before the battles begin. Even then, most of my men will be staying here. I have permission to take only two bodyguards with me.” Raziel’s tone was unreadable. Matter-of-fact.
“Why just the two?” That would be Ivan and Hank, surely?
“Mael needs the others to secure the mayoral election. Certain parties need to be…pressured. Others, protected. So our manpower is going to be thin.” Raziel sighed heavily. “I only get to keep the two with me.”
Now that it was clear she was working on a shorter timeline and with a hitlist consisting of just one man—Raziel—Nadi’s position had changed a great deal. She was no longer gatheringreconnaissance. It was no longer aboutpositioningherself within the family in order to pick them off carefully without drawing suspicion.
Now it was about making sure she could take Raziel out with a good escape route for herself. And when one could breathe underwater and had a fish tail, where better than a boat at sea?
Ivan, Hank, Raziel, and “Monica” would be the only passengers on the yacht besides the crew. That made things far more accessible, as far as dispatching Raziel went. But it’d make her a lot happier if there were onlyoneguard on board.
Wheels started to turn in her head about how to rid herself of either Ivan or Hank. The decision on which one of them to kill was immediately clear. Hank, for three reasons—one, he was a third Ivan’s size. Two, he’d rubbed her the wrong way from the first moment she’d set foot in the house. And three?
He hadn’t stopped staring at “Monica’s” body like a dog staring at raw meat. That made him averyeasy kill.
Staring out the window, Nadi let the conversation dissolve into silence as she started to work out her plan in her head. This would work. Raziel had given her just the piece of information she needed. Maybe it was because when all you had was a hammer, everything looked like a nail…
She smiled.
But it was adamngood-looking nail.
