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-Cinder

“Oh my Gods,” Silla gasps. “That’s the day after tomorrow. Why didn’t she mention it on the phone call?”

“I don’t think she wanted Charming to know,” I murmur. “Cinder seemed really off when you were speaking to her. I just don’t know if she expects you to come alone.”

“I’m sure she does, which is another reason she didn’t say anything,” she groans. “This is gonna suck.”

“It’ll suck tomorrow,” I remind her. “Go to sleep, you’re already halfway there.”

Playing with her hair, I help her fall back asleep, humming a song that Sidney’s aunt used to sing to us when we were little. The woman was tough, but fair for the most part.

I wait a few extra minutes after her breath evens out before tearing out of the room to find the guys.

“Cinder is out of her damned mind if she thinks Silla isn’t going armed,” I growl, handing the note to the first person I see, which is my brother.

“Motherfucker.” He sighs, reading out loud for everyone. “Can’t we inject a tracker into Silla’s body?”

“Not without her consent,” Sidney says sadly. Damn, I love his psycho ass. “I wish she wasn’t going to be in so much pain when she goes to see her. Although, the tea I gave her to make sure she wasn’t able to hold a pregnancy after the rapes means that she probably will end this period faster. It’s why her body is pushing her so hard.”

“I can’t wait to murder them all,” I growl.

“Speaking of, I need your opinion on what you think about using foxglove as our poison of choice for this,” Sidney says.

“It depends on how much you’re giving the person, and when you want it to begin to work,” I tell him. “It could begin to affect people between thirty minutes or two hours. I’m unsure how long Ayden will be needed at the castle with Gray and Silla. Strychnine begins to work even faster. What is your target time to be out of there?”

“I would like to be out of the castle in under two hours,” Gray grunts. “Our appearance is to be almost forgotten by the time people begin to get sick.”

“What about ricin?” Ayden asks, biting his lip. “It won’t begin to work until four hours after being ingested. It’s also difficult to detect, outside of the bitter taste some people experience. We would need the cook to be in on this so that they’re able to mask the taste, while ensuring that we don’t ingest it.”

“Your food needs to be prepared separately,” I murmur. “The exact same meal, hold the poison.”

Isaac chortles, making me giggle. “Life is never fucking boring, that’s for damn sure.”

“Nope. I’ll take the crazy if it means Silla is safe, we get the girl, and the evil step-sister is dead as a doornail.” I shrug. “We have less than two days before she needs to go to the castle, so let’s make sure we’re making moves to get people into the castle as early as possible.”

“I texted Falcon,” Sidney says. “He said he’ll call me after he’s done speaking to his people. He’s giving them the bare minimum in details outside of their job, so that no one can betray us. It’s unlikely, but—”

“We’ve learned our lessons well.” I sigh, touching where my brand is. Thank the Gods Ayden suggested tattooing over it. It’s made my day to day ablutions much easier, and I can deal with seeing myself naked again. “I’m going to go watch Silla sleep. I know it’s creepy—”

“I do it all the time,” Sidney reminds me. “I think we probably all do. I don’t give two shits what it makes me.”

“Simps for our girl is what it makes us,” Isaac smirks. “Give her a kiss for me. I’ll be up a little longer.”

“Same, I want to speak to Falcon with Sidney. I can’t believe he’s in line to be the heir to the throne,” Gray says in awe. “Charming never really seemed as if he wanted the throne. He’s always liked to party, he fucked his way through a long line of women before deciding Cinder was his beloved.”

“They can’t stand each other from what I can see,” Ayden rumbles.

“They had to have liked something to begin with,” I mumble. I’m exhausted, and half wave at them as I walk to the bedroom. I’ll deal with it tomorrow, I just want to snuggle with my girl tonight.

GRAYSON

We’re in for a long night, and I’m a little jealous as I watch Andyra walk into the bedroom to sleep with Silla. Hell, she may just end up watching her and that’s a gift that I won’t take for granted ever again.

“What is Cinder up to?” I grumble. “She just spoke to Silla today, why wouldn’t she tell her that she wanted to see her? Is this some kind of trap?”

“The queen didn’t look too pleased with her husband.” Ayden sighs. “We can’t get onto the grounds, but let’s suggest to Falcon that we get a guard on post that’s loyal to the Underground. It can be someone who is already employed by the Queen if needed. I just want eyes on our girl.”

Sidney’s phone rings and he grunts, “Hello? Yeah, we’ve been waiting for your call, but Silla and Andrya went to bed already.”