Page 239 of Blackwood

“Answer me, Vincent,” she says sweet and deadly.

He gulps, trembling. “I-I didn’t mean—”

“Sabine?” Bella calls out without looking away from him.

“Yes, baby?”

“Can you bring Celeste here for me?”

“Of course, child.” Sabine steps forward, and God help me, she’s smiling like this is some sort of Sunday brunch. She places Celeste right into Bella’s waiting hand.

The creature coils around her slow, smooth and ominous, like it knows it’s part of the performance. Part of the punishment. Celeste curls up her arm, across her shoulders, down her waist, claiming her like the darkness does.

And somehow, I’m hard. Terrified? Sure. Turned the fuck on? Absolutely. Nemesis. Fuck, that costume was perfect. Our girl is vengeance.

Bella crouches again, face level with Vince. “Vincent,” she murmurs. “If you think you can talk to my man like that we’re going to have a real problem.”

Then she drops Celeste right onto his lap. Vince loses his fucking mind. Screaming. Thrashing. Pleading. But he can’t move, he’s tied too tight. Celeste slithers slowly across his thighs, unbothered by his movements.

Bella watches it all. Unmoved. Like a queen watching the consequences of her wrath play out in real time.

I hear Cade shift behind me. He’s getting tense. His breathing’s uneven. He’s hanging on by a thread.

I glance at Bella, my voice low. “Baby… maybe Tex should take Cade back to the car.”

Tex steps in like a loaded weapon, getting right in my face. “What did you say, Lex? You don’t get tell her what to do. She is in charge here. What fucking part of that do you not understand?”

I don’t flinch. Don’t blink. I’m not afraid of him. But I am trying to protect the man Bella loves. Hell, the man we love, because this shit’s only about to get darker.

Bella steps between us, placing a hand on Tex’s chest. Her touch is soft, but her presence is iron. “Tex, it’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

He nods and takes a step back.

She turns to Cade. “Cade now’s your chance. Do you want to stay? Because from here on out it’s only going to get worse. Vince isn’t leaving this building.”

Cade takes a step toward her. “Sweetheart, I want to stay. I told you, darkness and light. All of you. I love all of you. I’m in. Forever.” He pulls her in and kisses her like it’s the last thing tethering him to this world.

Sabine lets out a low, delighted chuckle. “Ooooh, chérie… you one lucky lady.”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Vince is still losing his damn mind in that chair. Celeste is wrapped around his torso, squeezing with slow intent. Her body gleams under the low light, thick and coiled, her tongue flicking in and out like she’s testing the air for fear.

And she’s finding plenty.

“Get it off me! Get it the fuck off me!” Vince screeches, squirming, legs kicking against the chair legs.

He’s sweating like a pig, tears streaking down his blotchy face. The same face that once smirked through a deal to buy our girl. The same hands that hurt her family. The same monster who made her little brother bleed from the inside out. Now he’s being judged. Not just by us. But by something primal.

Bella stalks back to him, every step she takes toward Vince, he flinches harder, like he knows damn well his life expectancy is running short.

“Now, where were we?” Bella tilts her head at Vince, then looks to Sabine with a polite smile. “Sabine, would you mind taking Celeste off our little friend here?”

Sabine nods, amused. “Of course, baby.”

Bella’s eyes stay locked on Vince. “But just so we’re on the same page,” she adds, her voice dipping into something cold and final. “From here on out, if you lie or if you call me any names, you don’t get my knife. You get Celeste.”

Vince stiffens like a fucking corpse reanimated. He nods fast, eyes darting toward the snake as Sabine slowly unwraps her. He’s shaking. Not from the blood. Not from the blade. But from her.