Chapter 264 The last threat

Chapter 264: Chapter 264 The last threat

_Rowena’s POV_

My legs wouldn’t hold me anymore, I slid down against the wall of the room, my back scraping against the bumps, and I just sat there, breathing hard.

The poison Kyle gave me was working through my blood again, and I could feel it getting worse. My fingers were numb, my vision kept blurring at the corner, like someone was smudging the world with their thumb.

Kyle stood a few feet away, watching me. He didn’t look worried at all. He looked calm, almost bored, like he was waiting for something simple to finish.

"You’re slower than I thought you’d be," he said. "I’m supposed to give you the second dose an hour ago so you just die and I leave this cursed city. Most people would already be gone by the amount you’ve consumed. But of course, Rowena Ashthorne isn’t a normal person wolfess.”

"Why," I said instead, ignoring his stupid talk.. "Why are you doing this?”

He crouched down so he was closer to my eye level. "Because you’re not useful to me anymore, Rowena. You killed Dickson back then like you didn’t know he had a family.”

“He was harming people under my family’s name!”

“Just shut up. He was helping them. You’ve served your purpose, and you’ve killed him, which I’m actually grateful for because now I can take out his stupid son and take over the organization.” He grinned, his eyes lighting up “And you? you’re just a loose end, and loose ends get cut."

I tried to push myself up using the wall, but my arm gave out. I slid back down. Kyle laughed, like this was funny to him.

"Don’t bother," he said. "You’re not walking out of here."

I looked at him and tried to find the man I used to think I knew. There was nothing left of him. Just someone cold, someone who had been planning this for longer than I wanted to admit.

I hated how I didn’t catch him in the act. If there was anyone smart enough to catch his lies, it was Celeste and me. But we didn’t. Kyle was too smart, and convincing.

"I’ve been struggling my entire life, left my career just to work for Dickson and his son because of money. They’ve used me to finish off some dirty work, and I’ve remained nothing but a puppet. But thanks to you, I won’t be a puppet anymore.” he said, standing back up. "I’ll kill you, flee from here and kill Drake. That way, I’ll take over what was rightfully mine, and live however I want.”

His face changed at that, just slightly, like the words landed somewhere he didn’t expect. Then it smoothed back over.

"Doesn’t matter telling you all these when you’ll end up dying," he said. "None of it matters now."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small blade. It wasn’t large, It didn’t need to be large. My heart started slamming against my ribs so hard I thought he’d hear it.

"Also, I liked you somehow, and whatever I’m doing isn’t just about revenge anymore," he said. "This is just about finishing what I started."

I put my hand over my stomach, I didn’t even think about doing it. It just happened, my palm pressing flat against my abdomen like I could shield what was inside me with nothing but my hand. Kyle noticed. Of course he noticed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Rowena." He tilted his head. "You just did something. What was that."

I didn’t answer, I pressed my hand tighter, like that would help, like that would do anything at all against a blade and incoming syringe. My mind was racing through every possible way out of this room and finding none of them. The poison had taken my strength. I couldn’t shift because Kyra wasn’t with me anymore.

I couldn’t even stand.

Kyle stepped closer, studying me now with a different kind of attention. "Your pregnancy is early, so do not worry. Your child will die peacefully too.” His eyes moved from my face to my hand and back again. "You didn’t even know until I told you.”

I said nothing, but my silence answered for me.

“It’s a harmless pup, Kyle. Are you really going to kill a child because of your stupid revenge?” I asked calmly.

Something shifted in his expression, for a second I thought maybe, just maybe, it would stop him.

Maybe there was still enough of whatever left in Kyle to hesitate over a child. But then he smiled, and it was worse than anything he’d said so far.

"That actually makes this easier," he said. "Alaric’s true heir. Sitting right here in front of me."

"Don’t," I said. My voice broke on the word. "Kyle, please."

"You never said please to me before," he said. "Not once, in all the weeks I knew you. Interesting what a knife does to people."

I tried to crawl backward, away from him, but the wall was right there and I had nowhere left to go. The mirrors around us threw back a dozen versions of him standing over a dozen versions of me. I couldn’t tell anymore which reflection was real and which one was just glass.

"You won’t get away with this, you know that. Have you heard of Virella and Theodore?" I asked, because it was the only thing I had left. Words, just words.

"I already have," he said. "They’re very stupid and slow, so do not worry. Also, nobody knows I’m here. Nobody knows you’re here. By the time anyone finds this place, I’ll be gone, and so will you."

He crouched down again, close enough that I could literally smell the blade. My whole body was shaking, from the fear for my child, from the effort of trying to keep my hand pressed against my stomach like it meant anything.

If it wasn’t for the poison, I would’ve taken Kyle straight. He was no match for me.

"Any last words?” he asked. "For the few days we spent as friends."

I thought about Alaric at that moment. It was a shame he didn’t even get to know that aBrielle wasn’t pregnant and I was the one carrying the real pregnancy.

"Alaric would definitely find you," I said. "No matter what happens to me. He’ll find you."

Kyle’s hand tightened around the syringe as he put the blade away. "Maybe," he said. "But he won’t find you in time."

He pulled my arm and injected the syringe in.

I closed my eyes and thought of Alaric’s name, over and over, like saying it enough times in my head might somehow reach him through the walls or through whatever was about to happen next.