Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
“It’s time,” Father Francis intones.
Kaiser leans down to turn my face toward him. “It’s time I make you mine,” he murmurs to me. “Forever. My chosen one. My elita.”
“This is it?”
“This is it. I’m claiming you.” He cups my sore cheek. His brow furrows as he swipes his thumb gently over my swollen skin. He looks so upset by the fact that I’m hurt that I want to comfort him.
“I’m okay,” I murmur. I turn my head, kissing his palm. “Let’s do this.”
“The sacrifice has already been made,” the Devil rasps. “Blood has been spilled. You are already bound by blood and death. After this ceremony—”
“Wait,” I blurt out. The sound echoes in the cavernous space. All the skull masks tilt my way, and I can feel their silent disapproval. I’m probably the only person in the world who dares interrupt the Devil. “Sorry. I know this is probably a bad time. But, uh, I have something to confess.” Crap, I’ve messed up this beautifully sinister moment, but I have to get this off my chest. I hover my hand over Kaiser’s arm. “You won’t like it.”
“Tell me,” he rumbles. “But if it’s about hunting down Dominus, I’m in. I’ll do it for you. We all will.”
“No, it’s not about that. I actually was going to leave Dominus to my father. My father’s still alive, you know.”
A murmur runs through the Fraternitas’s ranks. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the men raise his mask. It’s St. James, and he’s rubbing his face like he has a headache.
Kaiser kneels to take my hands. “What is it, Bella?”
“Um… so… I’ve been poisoning you.”
“I know.”
“Yeah, no, it wasn’t what you think. I wasn’t trying to kill you with the poison. This time.” Hecate, help me, I’m making a mess of this.
Kaiser has a patient look on his face. “Is this about the candles?”
“No. Not the candles. This is a poison you don’t know about.” I talk faster, trying to speedrun through my feelings. “See, oxytocin can be used as a fertilizer and some samples got shipped to me by accident and I thought it would be good to make you fall in love with me. So I made a sort of aphrodisiac lotion and rubbed it into my skin and—”
“I know,” Kaiser says.
“And I think it made you love me… but it’s not real…” It takes me a second to hear him. “Wait, you know?”
“Yes. I figured it out. Atticus tested everything in your room when you were in a coma.”
“Oh.” I look around. In the front pew, a masked man raises his hand at me. “Hi, Atticus.” I turn back to Kaiser. “You knew.”
“Yes. You weren’t exactly subtle. You labeled the lotion “Love Potion Number 9.”
“But—” I’m trying to catch up. He knew, and I didn’t know, but now I do… and where does that leave us? I’m confused. “I made you love me. This isn’t real.” He has to understand I manipulated his feelings. This is why I had to tell him right away; I can’t stand that I tricked him. “This is just what the potion made you feel—”
“Bella. No.” He gathers my hands to his chest, holds them there at his heart. He takes a moment to gather his words while I try not to fidget or look away. “I want you to hear me.” He waits until I meet his gaze to say, “From the beginning, you were my poison. Even before we met. It wasn’t anything you used on me. You were in my system the moment I laid eyes on you.”
I shake my head. I don’t believe it. I can’t. I did all these tricksy things to win, and now I’m devastated because what Kaiser and I have might not be real.
“Think about it,” he says softly. “You haven’t wanted to touch me since your coma. Any effect of the love potion wore off long ago.”
Finally, I get what he’s saying. He’s right. I haven’t used the love potion on him in over a month. “It wore off,” I repeat slowly.
“Yes.”
“But… tonight you were willing to fight for me, sacrifice for me.”
“I was. I am. Because I love you.” He steps closer, drawing me into the circle of his strong arms. “It wasn’t the aphrodisiac, Belladonna. It was always you.”
It’s too much. I start hyperventilating, but he rests his hands on my back. I feel him, and it feels good.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he murmurs, kissing the top of my head.
“I still want to do it,” I confess. “I want to keep poisoning you. I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know. It’s okay. You can still poison me if you need to, okay? I can take it.”
I sigh, half slumping against him, drinking in his delicious scent. I finally feel calm again. I could stay like this forever, but all of Fraternitas is watching us right now.