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“Gizmo?” I call, the panic clawing at my chest. “Come here, girl.”
Gizmo’s head whirls around. Her tiny paws slash and scratch as she tries to wriggle free. Brutus grins and holds her by the scruff of her neck, the knife pressing into her fur. I see long cuts on his arm from where she’d got him. “Fancy something as tiny as this spilling so much blood? It reminds me of you, Claudia. I knew from the moment Julian placed a screaming baby into my arms that you were born to be the queen of bloodshed.”
“Born to be a queen?” Claudia scoffs. “You didn’t believe that when you buried me alive.”
“And yet, here you are, still breathing, proving me right.” Brutus inclines his head. “You have me surrounded. You want your revenge, and I respect that. You want to get even for what I did to dear Julian. His brand still marks my skin, you know. His punishment for daring to question the great Imperator.” His voice rises to a singsong pitch. He sounds completely out of it. “You might even believe you won’t face consequences, but I know the truth truth truth. All the ugly secrets daddy never told you. Before one of your trained monkeys spills my blood, allow me to make you this offer.”
“Not interested.” Claudia tosses her hair, and it’s such a classic Mackenzie move it makes my heart clench.
“You will be. I’ve taken the empire Julian built and made it great beyond his wildest dreams. My brother was an admirable leader, but his insistence on ludicrous rules and moral codes meant he’d eventually be conquered by more unscrupulous men. He placed this mark on me and yet I’m the most powerful man in Emerald Beach. I did him a favor by conquering him first. I saved his legacy. What use is his moral code in a criminal empire?” His whole body jerks with loud, barking laughter. He’s fucking out of it. “You of all people understand me. That is why you should rule as my queen.”
The temperature in the shack drops ten degrees. Silence envelops us as Brutus’ words hang in the air. My gaze flicks to Claudia’s stony face, her icicle eyes shining in the darkness. Behind her head, I fancy I see a shadow moving, a flash of golden light, but it’s gone in an instant.
My skin prickles with unease. Claudia said it right when she revealed her secret to us that she was stealing Mackenzie’s house because she wanted to get out of her crime family.
So why is she hesitating?
Why is there a flicker of interest in those icicle eyes?
The silence stretches for an eternity, while I watch my beloved kitten tear Brutus’ hand bloody trying to escape. Tears prick in my eyes. Please, get loose and come to me. Give me a clear shot.
I never thought I could even threaten someone with a gun, but now I don’t care about destroying my future. This bastard has my cat. I itch to pull the trigger and let loose on his smug, drug-addled, kitten-hurting face.
But I can’t risk hitting Gizmo.
So I wait.
I wait for Claudia to decide my fate.
When Claudia speaks, her voice drips with malice. “You think this is some great, magnanimous offer you’ve bestowed on me? You’re pathetic. You’ve lost your empire. That’s why you’re hiding in this shithole.”
“Hiding?” Brutus cackles. “Oh, baby girl. Sweet, innocent baby girl...”
“Don’t call me that.” Claudia’s voice is death itself. “You crossed the Rubicon when you killed Daddy, but you misjudged your die roll. The homo sacer may have faded, but you’re still a dead man walking. The Triumvirate wants you gone. Why would I tether myself to a loser like you? You only want me because my name will give you the legitimacy you need to hold on to your throne. You’re right about one thing, Brutus. I am a queen. And I don’t need a man to rule over me, especially not one who turns on his only brother and touches innocent children.”
Her breath rasps over those final words, and I see. I see her truth blazing in her eyes, the secret heart she’s kept locked away even as it burns her from the inside. I see this man has taken a piece of her he had no right to take, and that even though she’s waited and bided her time for this moment of her revenge, she’s not here for herself.
She needs to claw his eyes out, to open his chest cavity and lay his organs bare, to drench herself in his blood until it washes away what he did to her. But she won’t move because of Gizmo. Because of Noah and Gabriel and Antony. She’s here because she will take Brutus’ power before she allows him to hurt the people she loves.
She’s here because of me.
For the first time, I see Claudia.
I feel the rush of her formidable love washing over me.
I taste her wicked strength on my tongue.
In that moment, I truly believe she is a queen – beautiful and invincible.
There’s a hissing sound as a blade kisses the air.
Brutus howls – a broken, inhuman sound.
He drops Gizmo as he’s flung backward. My baby girl somersaults across the dirt, lands on her feet, shakes herself off, and trots over to me.
“Mew?” She looks up at me with those big eyes, completely unharmed, inquiring about the food situation. Relief floods me as I pick her up, feeling her tiny heart thundering in her chest. I sit her on my shoulder and turn back to the scene.
Brutus is sobbing and gibbering as his body convulses with pain. A blade sticks straight out of the center of his hand, through the scar of the sword and vine, pinning him to the wooden post. He’s trapped. He cries as he tries to pull the blade out, but it’s buried up to the hilt and the blood gushing from the wound makes it impossible to grip.
