Page 81 of The Sins That Bleed
Earlier that evening…
The plan had come together quickly,after Valeska got us all together to read the letter and show us the pictures; we agreed we needed to go into this together. Nico nearly flipped a table. He’s never been outwardly violent and it took me by surprise, he must be really into Sunny.
It had surprised me that she even told us about it, and after hearing her read out those vile words Alaric had written to the woman I love, I wanted to kill him myself. But I’ll have to settle for putting him away for a long, long time.
I should be happy, this is everything I’ve been working toward, my entire career has been building to this moment but now I have so much more to lose. I might not have found my sister, but I did find the other half of my tortured soul and if anything happens to her, if I lose her, there won’t be much left for me in this world.
We’d agreed that Valeska needed to look like she would go through with the plan, she needed to convince him that she’d go through with marrying him while we staged his scene withouthim knowing. I’d called in some undercover agents who would be close by and in the restaurant, replacing some of the patrons who’d booked.
This fucker was going to force her into marriage in front of a public audience so that she could do nothing about it. The idea to put a bullet between his eyes pops in more frequently than I care to admit. I should be flying the flag for a clean arrest so we can nail him at trial, but men as slimy as him always have a card up their sleeve that lets them get away with it.
Everyone has a limit—apparently Valeska is mine.
With our plan set, we split up so Valeska can arrive on her own, but we will be there, not long after she arrives, close enough that she can alter the way we look to everyone else so nobody recognises us. It’s risky and I don’t really know how it works, but it’s the only plan we have. There’s no way I am letting ma reine walk into that situation with nobody watching her back.
We’re seated a few tables down. Watching Alaric saunter in with his henchmen and putting his hands on my woman was excruciating. If Nico hadn’t physically held me down by placing a firm grip on my thigh, I’d have blown our cover immediately.
Until I hear him say my sister is here, then there’s nothing that can hold me back.
Not even Nico.
I see red, and I explode.
“What the fuckis he talking about, Valeska, where is my sister?” I bellow.
Alaric laughs at me and I rush him only to be stopped, not by his men, but by Valeska. Her hand is on my chest as she steps into my path, blocking me from the man that has taken everything from me as she somehow slipped past his men.
“Don’t do it, Rai, this has to be clean,” she whispers.
“Someone better tell me where she is before I turn this restaurant inside out, I don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire!” I can’t calm down, I go to move around Valeska’s hand, but she holds firm.
“Well, Valeska, do you care to share the information with him, or should I? Oh, I do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there should be no secrets between lovers. I wonder if your love will be strong enough to survive such a devastating blow.” His eyes sparkle with glee and I hate how much he is enjoying this.
My chest heaves with unspent anger as my eyes flick to Valeska’s, but she isn’t looking at me. She’s looking to the side, and I follow her gaze to the table I was sat at—everything around me turns to white noise, my heart beating an unsteady rhythm of hope and fear.
Time seems to slow as I scan the area she is looking. I don’t see anyone other than Sunny and Nico, and my confusion grows. Surely, I’d recognise my own sister; it may have been years and she’d be well and truly an adult now, but I’d know her anywhere.
Wouldn’t I?
Doubt creeps in, I start to turn back toward Valeska to demand that she spit it out when Sunny takes a step away from the table toward me. All the times I had felt like there was something familiar about her play out in my mind. Her face shifts until her eyes are an electric blue, exactly like my own, her hair turning a dark brown like my mine.
She looks like me.
“Azara?” I choke out.
Her features shift back to how she looks today. Valeska must have adjusted it in my mind for me to finally see that she’s been in my grasp all along. I whirl on the woman I thought I loved as the betrayal slices through me, slashing every inch of me over and over again until I’m in ribbons.
“How fucking could you?!” I cry, tears building in my eyes.
I know now isn’t the time to be falling apart, I need to finish the job, but I am beyond devastated and hurt. I step back from her, no longer able to stand her touch. The resigned look that graces her features confirms everything I need to know about her.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”
“The fuck it wasn’t! You kept this from me, all this time, you, oh fuck…you turned?—”
A large hand on my shoulder makes me pause. “Not now, we’ve got a job to do.”
Nico’s words are quiet and he squeezes my shoulder. he’s trying to reign me in before I expose the real monsters in this world. She turned my sister into a fucking vampire, but as much as I want to kill her for that, I won’t expose them.
