Page 99 of The Serpent's Bride
She stared at him flatly, part of her hoping that maybe he’d drop dead by that method alone if she looked at him just right.
“That would be a yes.” He began to spoon what looked like a raw beef and vegetable salad onto another piece of bread. “So. Who did I kill? Who did I wrong that you would go so far as to sneak into my life as mywife,sleep with me, carry on such an enormous ruse, and betray your own kind in order to put a knife in my back?”
Silence.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful little murderer.” Raziel sighed and placed the toasted bread down. “You really have to understand—your game is over. You’ve lost. How this ends is entirely up to you, however.”
“What do you mean? You’re going to kill me.”
“I could. That is definitely one of the outcomes I have in mind, yes.” He glanced at the real Monica. “But this is a curious situation. You must be asking yourself…if I knew, if I have known for some time now, then why haven’t I killed you yet? And, therefore, I ask in return—why haven’t you killedme?Or at least attempted to. There have been plenty of moments when I underestimated you, and you had your chance.”
She stared at him flatly. She wouldn’t give him that information. Though, she was curious as to why he hadn’t killed her once he knew what she was.
He sighed. “Of course, for me, killing you now would be exceptionally clean. I could kill you both, throw you into the ocean, throw her corpse into the pit in the castle’s chapel. The sacrifice is complete. My new wife is dead. Nobody need ever know there were two Monica Valans.”
The real Monica wailed into her gag, weeping.
“Let her go. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
“It was an entertaining challenge trying to find her. Luckily, money doesn’t buy you intelligence. She stayed in the metropolis and started spending that nest egg you gave her. It drew attention. And that made her easy to find.” Raziel picked up the beef and toast and ate it. He chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “You really should eat, darling.”
“I’ll answer your questions if you let her live.”
“The fact that you think you’re in any position to cut deals with me is positivelyadorable.”He began to make himself another snack. “No, you will answer my questions if you want to have any hope of her surviving this at all.”
She stared at him flatly.
“Very well.” Putting down the toast, he stood from his chair and moved to Monica. He reached for the restraints on one hand. “I wonder how she’ll like it when I command her to eat her own fingers on toast.”
“Stop! Stop.” Nadi wanted to scream. Squeezing her eyes shut, she put her hands over them. He was right. She’d lost.
She heard him sit back down in his chair. “You played the game extremely well, if it’s any consolation, darling. I almost overlooked all of the strangeness—Iwantedto. But didn’t you think I’d notice how you tasted?”
“I hoped my glamor would keep it hidden.”
“Ah, so youarea shapeshifter. I had hoped this wasn’t a one-time illusion of yours. To your credit, you fooled me incredibly well.” He hummed thoughtfully. “But now, I’m extremely curious as to whatexactlyI am married to. Let’s start with that, then, if you’ll tell me nothing else. Show me your twisted, disfigured face.”
Nadi stared down into her lap. She’d lost. It was over. What did she care if he saw her face? What did she care if he found her a hideous, disgusting fae? He was her enemy. She’d done terrible things in an attempt to kill him, and she’d failed. She knew itwas the most likely outcome when she had set out on the whole endeavor. But she’d tried. And she could die honorably knowing that.
“Come now, I’m sure I’ve seen far more grotesque things in my years. Stand up and show me what you really are.” Raziel smirked at her over the edge of his wine glass.
“I…can’t stand, in my real form.” Having an eight-foot fish tail made standing rather impossible.
“Fascinating! Now I’m even more curious.” He laughed. “Then get up, sit over there, and show me.” He picked up the gun on the table and pointed it at her. “Now I am picturing you as some terrible viscous blob.”
With shaking hands, Nadi stood and walked to a bench on the deck some five feet away and sat down. She refused to cry. She would meet his disgust with hatred of her own.
This was the monster she had come to kill. And now, he would send her to the void. Soon, she’d be at peace, one way or the other. And she could meet his revulsion with defiance.
Raziel stood in front of her. “Go on.”
Taking a deep breath, she held it, and slowly let it out. And dropped her glamor in front of a vampire for the first, and likely the last, time in her life.
Raziel had not known what to expect from his fae murderer. His little assassin, his spy, his infiltrator. The one who had snuck into his bed, who had been let so close to him. The one he delighted in taking to his bed, even as he knew what she really was.
He’d known since the bullet had been pulled out of her that something was amiss with “Monica Valan.” But the pieces hadbeen there all along, now that he knew the answer to the puzzle. But how many times had she had the opportunity to kill him, yet she hadn’t?
How many times had she looked at him with a desire too raw to be a lie?
