Page 240 of Blackwood

That snake scared him more than any of us ever could and Bella saw it. Filed it away and weaponized it. Sabine cradles Celeste like she’s holding royalty and steps back into the shadows.

Bella stands tall, smooths her hands down her top, and claps once. Light. Chipper. Fucking terrifying as hell.

“Alright! Here’s what we’re going to do,” her voice is pure mockery. “Think of this as your confessional. Your last rites. Your come-to-Jesus whatever the fuck you want to call it.”

Vince squints, confused. “What are you talking about?”

Tex huffs a dark laugh from behind me. Clearly, they’ve played this game before.

Bella doesn’t miss a beat. “Tex?” she says sweetly, holding out her hand like she’s inviting him to dance. He quickly steps up and takes it.

“You wanna be the priest tonight, or should I?”

Tex grins, wicked. “Oh, I think I’ll be the priest.” He spins her once and dips her low like they’re on a dance floor. “You sit and enjoy the show instead, Bells.”

Bella’s smile grows. She turns and walks toward the wall, boots echoing like gunshots against concrete. She grabs a metal chair and drags it slow and loud, scraping all the way across the floor until it screeches to a stop in front of Vince. She flips it around, straddles it backward, knife still in hand, and just watches him.

Cade moves up beside me, his arms crossed tight. He’s trying to stay calm, but he’s breathing through his nose like a goddamn bull.

Sabine slinks up on my other side, Celeste curling around her arm like liquid muscle. She leans in close and whispers in my ear, “You’re gonna love this part, chéri.”

The snake hisses, low and steady, like she’s whispering secrets just for me.

Sabine chuckles darkly. “She likes you. Sees your darkness, but she’s intrigued by your soul… wants to know it.” She leans in closer still, and murmurs something low in French Creole. I don’t understand all of it, but one word cuts clean:l’ombre. The shadow.

Tex steps up behind Vince, places both hands on his shoulders, fingers digging in like steel. “Vince, we gather you here tonight for your final trial,” he says, voice cool but loaded. “Now’s the time. Is there anything you’d like to confess?”

Vince’s breath rattles in his chest. His eyes bounce from Tex, to Bella, to the snake, to Sabine, and back to Bella. Then he snaps. “You fucking psychopathic bunch of lunatic freaks!”

Sabine tsks, clicking her tongue in disapproval. “Wrong answer, chéri.”

She sets Celeste on Bella’s shoulders. The snake slithers up and over, draping itself like a scarf across our girl’s collarbone, curling at her throat. Bella doesn’t move. She just reaches up and runs her fingers down Celeste’s spine like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Vince trembles. Palms sweaty, face pale, bleeding and broken.

Bella leans in. Sweet. Soft. Fucking adorable.“Now, Vincent, I think you can do better than that.”

Vince startles. “What do you want me to say?” he snaps, voice cracking.

Tex circles him like a shark, calm but deadly.

“The truth, Vince. The truth about it all.”

Vince blinks, confused, like he doesn’t know which truth they mean.

“We want you to confess what you had planned for Bella. What you and Carlos said to make Zeke black out in a fit of rage that night in Miami?”

I can feel Cade tense up beside me, his chest rising like he’s bracing for an impact he already knows is coming. Bella must feel it too because she leans back slowly in her chair and locks eyes with Cade.

“I’m okay, sweetheart,” Cade says, voice low but steady.

She nods once, then looks back at Vince. “Go on.”

He starts mumbling. Rambling nonsense. His eyes flick to the snake, then to the blood drying on his shirt. He’s unraveling. He can’t focus on anything other than Celeste wrapping around Bella’s shoulder.

“Lex, baby.”

“Yes?” I answer, already stepping forward.