Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I move to the back room and unlock the door before stepping inside. The air is warmer here, humid from the filtration system that keeps the tank stable. Soft blue lights glow from the large glass enclosure along the wall. I tap gently on the thick glass that houses my Chironex fleckeri, more commonly known as Australian box jellyfish, the most venomous creature in the ocean. Several translucent bodies drift lazily through the water, almost ghost-like under the aquarium’s lights. Their bell-shaped tops sway softly as they move, delicate and beautiful in a way that makes people forget what they are until it’s too late.
Each one has dozens of tentacles trailing beneath it, thin and nearly invisible, unless you’re looking closely. Along those strands are thousands of microscopic needle-like cells called nematocysts, designed to inject venom the moment they touch the skin. The venom attacks the heart, the nervous system, and the skin simultaneously. In the wild, some people go into cardiac arrest in under five minutes. It’s a fascinating hunting mechanism.
I open a small container beside the tank and grab a handful of shrimp. The jellyfish’s diet is simple—mostly small fish or shrimp, and tonight, shrimp will do. Dropping them into the tank, I watch as the jellyfish react. Almost instantly, their tentacles unfurl. One of them draws closer, the long strands brushing the shrimp before curling around it with quiet precision. Within seconds, the food is trapped and pulled slowly toward the bell, where digestion begins. It’s silent, efficient, and most of all deadly.
I lean against the counter, watching them. An old friend from school is the reason I have them. She became a brilliant, painfully ethical toxicologist. At first, when I asked her about obtaining venom samples, she’d refused. She’d told me it was too dangerous and illegal. Plus, there would be too many questions. But money has a way of changing people’s definition of impossible. And when you throw enough of it at someone, it becomes incredibly hard to say no.
Leaving the jellyfish, I go to my bedroom to change into a pair of jeans and a black top. I then step into a pair of bright-red heels—my killing heels, to be precise. Grabbing my purse, I put the pre-filled needle in there before I leave. Usually, my plans are more thought out and calculated, and I would study where my victim lives and understand their habits, but like the situation with Bailey, anger is what pushes me. I always told myself I wouldn’t be that girl, but here I am being exactly that girl.
No one fucks with my sister and gets away with it.
Least of all a fucking man.
I drive to his house in my sister’s car because my Ducati is too loud and obvious. I sit and watch for a few hours before I see his wife leave the house. I didn’t check to make sure they don’t have kids before I drove over here, but thankfully, from the two-seater sports car she drives, they don’t.
He’s standing on the porch when she drives off, and he offers her a wave before going back inside and closing the door. Grabbing my purse, I make sure I have a tight grip on it as I cross the road, then head straight up the driveway and to the back of the house.
There are no security cameras in sight, which is lucky. I stand at the back door, listening to him talking on the phone through the open window nearby. Glass clinks, and I hear the pour of liquid. He’s talking some shit about the Forsaken Society and its members. My attention spikes at hearing about them again, and I try to catch more of the conversation but it’s muffled because he’s moving away from where I am. I wait for him to take a seat at the dining room table so his back is to me.
“They want new members,” he says. I don’t hear what the other person says, but Marcus groans as he continues. “They hunt; you’d love it. Have you ever experienced something like that before? Hunting someone in the forest as they run for their fucking life?”
I press myself closer to the window so I can hear better. “He’s the Lord, so you have to impress him. There are rules,” he says, and I hear the glass clink as he places it down. “No, of course he’s powerful,” he utters. “So am I, but he has influence in places we could only dream of. He has the power to make me the next president if I wished.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I silently scoff at his words. Big dreaming, especially for a soon-to-be dead man.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll text you the meeting place. Don’t be late.” He hangs up, and I wait for the sound of his footsteps to disappear before I open the back door. Luckily for me, it’s unlocked, and I slip in silently.