79
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“Intruders!” Genevieve’s voice thundered up the stairwell, followed by the sharp echo of her boots against stone. I didn’t have to turn around to know she wasing after us. Cassian’s hand tightened on my arm, pulling me forward as we broke into a run.
Shouts rang out in the corridors ahead. More footsteps joined the chase, the sound multiplying until it felt like the entire pack was on our trail. Over the noise, I heard Genevieve bark an order, clear andmanding.
“Kill them! Kill the intruders before they reach the exit!”
Cassian nced over his shoulder, his expression hard. “I can handle them.”
“No,” I said, forcing him to look at me. “I’ll handle the Luna.”
That made him slow for half a step, his eyes narrowing at me through the shadow of his hood. Without a word, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small object, pressing it into my palm. It was smooth, round, and cold.
“Throw it at them,” he told me. “That’s all you need to do.”
I closed my fingers around it, and he gave a single nod. “Meet me at the exit.”
Then he turned and broke away down another passage. I didn’t watch him go. I kept moving toward the exit, the pounding of Genevieve’s steps growing louder behind me.
When I finally looked down at what he’d given me, I froze. It wasn’t the ck incendiary sphere he’d used before. This one was green, the surface faintly glinting under the light. Recognition hit instantly. This is Poison.
I stopped running.
Almost immediately, Genevieve’s figure emerged from the shadows at the far end of the hall, her hair pulled back, her shoulders squared. She slowed when she saw I’d stopped, her lips curling into a cold smile. Behind her were two others that I recognized as warriors,
“You’re brave,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain. “If you think you can walk out of here alive.”
kept my hood low, letting the fabric hide my face. For now, she didn’t know who she was talking to. And I intended to use that.
I closed the gap between us in seconds, the dagger hidden against my side. Genevieve’s stance
<b>79 </b>
55 vouchers
shifted immediately, she was ready to fight, her weight bnced, her shoulders turning to meet me head–on. She’d been trained for this. I knew if I went at her straight, she’d drop me before I could get a strike in.
So I didn’t.
Just as she moved to counter, I flicked my wrist and hurled the green orb at her feet. It burst open mid–air, releasing a thick, greenish cloud that spread faster than I expected. The sharp, acrid scent burned my nose instantly. I heard Genevieve choke on her first breath, and her hands shot up toward her face. The mist wrapped around us, clinging <i>to </i>skin, hair, and clothes.
It attacked the eyes first, turning sight into a blur of color and shadow, then the rest of the senses followed. Hearing dulled, bnce wavered. Even the one who threw it wasn’t spared… unless they were like me.
Immune.
The thought shed in my head, this wasn’t just a weapon. It was the kind of thing someone could use to take themselves and their enemies in one move. Ruthless.
Behind Genevieve, the two pack members who had been trailing her staggered, coughing hard. Their eyes were red, watering, their movements sloppy as they tried to shield themselves. I went for them first.
The first one barely registered my approach before my dagger slid between his ribs. I yanked it free and turned on the second, who was already on his knees. He tried to push himself up, but I drove the de into his throat, ending it fast.
It was over in heartbeats.
Then, I turned back to Genevieve. She’d stumbled out of the thickest part of the mist, but not far enough to escapepletely. Her eyes were shut tight, her breath uneven. She’d inhaled enough to make her cough, her hand gripping the wall for bnce.
I closed the distance until I stood just a few feet away from her. Slowly, I reached up and pushed back my hood.
Her eyes were still shut, but when she finally forced them open, blinking through the blur, she froze.
“…Atasha?”
I didn’t answer. I just stared at the woman who’d spent years pretending to be my mother, the same woman who stood by and watched while others made me their target. I had been blind to it for so long, it was pathetic.
11:16 wed<b>, </b>
“A–Atasha? It’s you?”
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I took a slow step toward her. The faint green tint on her lips told me enough, she’d inhaled the poison and her body wasn’t recovering quickly.
“Atasha, what are you doing…? Did you just harm your own pack? Your own mother?”
That stopped me for only a moment.
“You are not my mother,” I said tly.
Her brows drew together. “What? What are you talking about?”
I tightened my hand around the hilt of the dagger as I took another step closer.
“Atasha–you-” For a moment, something flickered in Genevieve’s eyes. Not fear, something colder. It was ruthlessness and before I could react, she lunged at me.
My back mmed against the cold stone, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. Pain red up my spine, but before I could even raise my arm, a sharp, tearing agony ripped through my side.
I looked down in disbelief, Genevieve’s hand was on the hilt of a knife, already buried deep in my flesh.
She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t flinch as she stabbed me with all her might!
Her body pressed into mine, pinning me to the wall. Her lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “So… you already knew.”
She twisted the de.
White–hot pain shot through me, stealing my breath. My knees buckled, but her arm kept me upright, the knife grinding against muscle as she drove it in harder.
I felt the warmth spread across my ribs, the wet sound of blood spilling against my clothes. My mouth filled with the copper taste of it, and a thin stream slid from the corner of my lips.
I forced my eyes up to meet hers.
Genevieve’s gaze held no remorse, only that same calcting coldness I’d seen my whole life without realizing what it really meant.
“You think a little poison and a dagger make you my equal?” she hissed. Her grip on the knife tightened, pressing the steel deeper until my back arched against the wall from the pain.
Every nerve in my body screamed, but I didn’t look away.
I met her stare, letting her see that even bleeding out, I wasn’t afraid.
“You are not my mother,” I repeated.
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55 vouchers
“Of course I’m not,” she sneered, her voice dripping with contempt. “You think I’d ever im a wretched thing born from a cursed bloodline as my own? Pathetic.” Her smile sharpened. “And now that you know… I’ll make sure you die here.”
I let out a short, coldugh. Die? Even if I wanted to, my body wouldn’t let me. In one swift motion, I pulled the smaller dagger strapped to my leg and drove it straight into Genevieve’s neck.