Page 45 of One Dark Kiss (Grimm Bargains #2)

FORTY

Rosalie

I m holding a cup full of apple-scented herbal tea in a palatial mansion with a woman I d like to shoot in the head.

She is all class in a pretty pink dress as she drinks delicately.

I d go for her, but the two armed men on either side of the door to this rose-decorated sitting area give me pause. They can shoot me easily.

How is your tea? Lillian asks politely.

I want to punch you in the face, I respond.

She laughs. I can see what Alexei adores in you.

Well, gosh, I was really hoping for your approval. Even so, I do eye the tea.

Drink it, she orders.

Instinct stills my movements. The woman wants me to drink this way too badly, and I love apple anything. She would ve discovered that fact by conducting a simple background check into my life. What is your plan for me?

My plan? We ll wait until Alexei gets here.

Obviously. What do you want at that point?

She lifts a delicate shoulder. I m going to have to shoot him. She giggles, sounding like she s back in junior high. I don t normally like to do the dirty work myself.

That s good to know, I say, adrenaline flooding my veins so quickly, my ears tingle. I take it you re planning on killing me, too?

Of course, she says congenially. I don t have much of a choice.

I figure we ll have to set up something nice.

I m thinking that Alexei discovers that you killed Blythe Fairfax, and then he kills you because he actually loved her.

Then I have to defend myself and shoot him.

Something like that. She waves a hand in the air as if the facts are inconsequential.

We ll figure something good out. Don t you worry.

I just stare at her. You re truly evil. I say it almost thoughtfully, but honestly, this is just too much.

She chuckles, looking beautiful in a cream-colored suit, her hair a pretty blond and her makeup perfect. She did a good job of fooling me with the gray hair and frumpy outfits. Now she appears to be in excellent shape. That s not very nice. Now drink your tea. I made it with dried apples.

Nope, I say, noting she hasn t tried hers, either.

Chicken. She glances at the tray on the table in front of her. The set is beautiful, with amethysts encrusted in both the cups and the pot. I look toward the two guys at the door. Their expressions remain blank, so they obviously don t mind her planning a couple of murders.

I think through my last week and it hits me. You were in my office.

I truly was, she says. I think we had a nice visit, don t you?

I study her and try really hard not to lose my mind. I remember her dropping her purse on the desk. You took my paperweight. I blink twice. Did you kill Blythe Fairfax?

Oh no. That was a bloody mess, she says almost chidingly. I did take the paperweight, of course, but Marty over there is the one who, you know.

Bludgeoned Blythe to death, I say slowly, looking at Marty. He s the guy on the left who appears to be in his late twenties with a full beard and several scars across his forehead, and he doesn t blink. Not even once.

Yes. Lillian pushes a plate of cookies toward me. Would you like a cookie? They re a nice apple oatmeal mix I created just for you.

You first.

She sits back. Well, I guess you re not as dumb as I thought.

I glance at the innocuous cookies. She s trying to poison me? I m trying really hard not to throw up on her at the moment. I scrub a hand over my eyes. Why did you kill Blythe?

My initial thought was to set up Alexei, she says. But this turned out better because now he has a reason to kill you. Don t you see? I love it when the universe gives me a helping hand. Manifestation really works.

Reality finally hits me. Wait a minute. My hand starts to shake, so I place the cup on the saucer, where it clatters noisily.

She frowns, but no wrinkles show in her forehead. It must be quite a bit of Botox.

I can t think. My mind spins. When you stole the paperweight, you also took my letter opener.

I did, she says cheerfully, crossing her legs.

I gag. This is unthinkable to me.

She frowns again. If you throw up, I m going to shoot you.

Or rather, she looks over her shoulder at Marty.

Have you shot. Maybe just in the shoulder or a kneecap or something.

I should keep you alive until Alexei gets here.

Madness swirls in her eyes and she smiles again.

You should really try the cookies. They re phenomenal.

I gulp and sit back in my chair. You took my letter opener.

I already said I did. Now she sounds exasperated, but I am not sure I have the words.

Did you kill Hendrix?

Her jaw tightens. He gave me no choice.

Oh my God. I turn and start to heave.

Stop that. She throws a cookie at me.

I rapidly breathe in several times, barely preventing myself from throwing up. She fooled me so perfectly with her sad eyes and gray hair. In fact, she looks thinner in this outfit, even. You killed your own son?

She pales, but only slightly. Hendrix was caught on that video throwing the knife into the pond—trying to frame Alexei.

He was arrested for planting evidence and impersonating a police officer.

She sips on her tea again as if we re just talking about the weather.

He gave me no choice. Our family had enough bad press when Alexei went to prison.

Of course, I did bribe the judge and both attorneys to make that happen.

I mean enough is enough. You would ve done the same thing.

I most certainly would not have. Oh my God, you are freaking evil. I try to concentrate. You knew that Alexei took out David Fairfax.

I did know that, but he hid the murder weapon so well. It s never been found.

Fear prickles along my skin. So the knife that Hendrix threw into the Fairfax pond seven years ago ...

She tugs on a bright amethyst earring. You re rather slow right now. Hendrix dressed as a police officer, entered the house, and took a knife from the drawer. Honestly, it wasn t even the same type of knife. He dipped it in the blood on the floor and then tossed it in the pond outside.

Wait a minute. It wasn t the same type of knife?

No. Nor were Alexei s prints really on it.

I can t breathe. So you bribed the coroner and somebody at the lab?

Of course.

My chest actually hurts. Hendrix worked for you at risk to himself. How could you murder him?

Hendrix wasn t that good at charging the crystals, she says, waving a hand. So I didn t see any other solution.

I just look at her for several long moments. If she wasn t talking, I would think she was normal and not an evil archaic bitch. So you took my letter opener to frame me?

Or Alexei, she says. That was my original plan, but like I said, this has turned out so much better.

How can she be calm about this? Her logic is so flawed. I look at the platter of cookies and wonder if I can get to it in time to bash her in the head before Marty shoots me. But with Hendrix dead, nobody can charge the crystals. Does she plan to abandon Hologrid Hub?

Oh, honey, if Alexei has followed my orders today, the amethysts should be charged for a couple weeks. By then, I ll be able to charge them.

I open my mouth but nothing comes out, so I have to try again. You don t have a connection to the crystals, remember? You can t charge the gems. Has she completely lost her mind?

No, but I will have a good connection soon. She licks her lips like a cat who s discovered a cream-filled bowl.

I tilt my head. Wait a minute. I remember the prenatal vitamins that she dropped onto my desk and a horrible thought runs through my mind. You re saying that ...

Yes, she says. Alexei s father and I used in vitro for both Hendrix and Cal. I have several more viable embryos on ice with his very strong and talented DNA, and it s time to use them. I m not getting any younger, you know.

I flatten my hands on the table. How am I going to steal the guns from both of these men without getting shot? I have to get out of here before Alexei does something stupid and tries to rescue me.

So you re pregnant? I ask softly. With Alexei s half siblings? How does this make any sense?

Not yet, she says. I go in tomorrow for implantation.

My doctor wanted me to take the prenatal vitamins for two months first, but I m going to tell you a secret that most people don t know.

When I was pregnant both times with Sokolov babies, I was able to charge the crystals.

She giggles. You have no idea the power that goes through your entire body when you re able to do that.

Her eyes light up as if she s telling me about the best experience ever.

I feel sick.

She sighs. I m going to have the doctor implant three this time, because we only did one each time before. So if I have three, surely one of them will be able to harness the crystal power someday. I ll just do my best while I m pregnant.

I frown, trying to follow any sense of logic in her. Okay. So say you give birth to triplets, but then you re not able to charge the crystals any longer while they re just babies. Have you completely lost your mind?

She slaps at my hand playfully. The ability actually lasts for a good five years after the pregnancy.

It does? I m intrigued even though I don t want to be.

Yes, she says. Last time, anyway, and I was only pregnant with one child. Who knows? It might last fifteen years this time. If not, triplet five year olds can do the job. She taps her finger against her pink lips. Or I can get pregnant again, I guess.

Everything inside me freezes. I don t think I ve ever been in the presence of evil before right now.

There s a ruckus and then the doors open. Two men shove in Alexei and then they retreat before shutting the door. He looks at both of the guards and then at me.

Are you okay? he asks, his voice gravelly.

Physically I am, I say. Emotionally I m going to be fucked up for quite a while. I might as well give him the truth.

He looks at Lillian and then stands in the middle of the room, his legs braced.

Power fills the oxygen around us, along with a terrifying tension.

His eyes are a darker black than I ve ever seen them, but there s something different about him.

His shoulders even seem wider, and wild muscles ripple beneath his clothing.

I see you charged our servers, Lillian says, smiling.

I did, Alexei says.

She claps her hands. I knew you wouldn t be able to resist. I have tons of guards around this entire property, and there s nowhere for you to go now that you re here.

You have no backup, and we both know it.

Being a romantic myself, I thought you might want to say goodbye to each other.

She pulls a nine millimeter out of a pocket on the side of her skirt.

I push away from the table and stand, throwing my napkin on my teacup. You have a gun? I glance at the tea and cookies. I thought you were trying to poison me.

I was. There seemed something poetic about that, she muses. I figured everybody would think Alexei tried to poison you if anything was found in your system. She glances at the gun. I ve never watched anybody die from poison. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Unbelievable. She killed Hendrix and had Blythe murdered, I blurt out in a rush.

Alexei looks like he turns to stone as he focuses fully on Lillian. You murdered your firstborn?

Her browse draw down slightly. I ve always done what needs to be done to save this company.

She s going to have in vitro with three babies tomorrow, I say, wanting to get all the truth out so he understands everything. So she can charge the servers.

For the briefest of moments, he looks vulnerable. You killed your own son? he repeats, and then his face hardens again.

I m done talking about this, she says. Do you want to die together or separately?

I hold up a hand. Tell me you brought your men. I mean, the mob.

He shakes his head. No. There s nobody coming.

Just then, twin pings echo through the window next to me, and both guards go down. Lillian shrieks and lifts her gun. Another ping echoes, and blood spurts from her head.

Glass shatters and something hits me in the temple. Darkness swirls around me, and I feel myself falling. Pain lances along my cheekbone as I hit the ground. My vision is gone. Terror slithers through me.

A ruckus echoes around me before a series of explosions rend the atmosphere. I smell fire, but I can t move or open my eyes. More gunfire cracks through the air, followed by the sound of pounding footsteps.

Rosalie. Rosalie wake up.

I know that voice. It s dark and it s mine. Then I feel a kiss, his mouth on mine, and my eyelids flutter open. I reach up and slide a hand through his thick hair. His eyes open on mine, and he releases my mouth, leaning back.

Rosie?

I blink. The side of my face feels wet. I try to touch my face, and he holds my hand back.

You ve been cut, glass right in the temple.

Here you go. Felix runs inside with a washcloth. This is cold. We have to bring down the swelling right now.

Alexei gently places the washcloth against my head and helps me sit up.

Doc? I ask, looking up. What are you doing here?

Percy runs inside with a semi-automatic weapon over his stooped shoulder, followed by Wally and Kenny. Soon all seven of my boarders are in the room along with Garik, Alexei, and a few men who look Russian.

What in the heck just happened? I ask weakly.

Alexei shakes his head. You wouldn t believe me if I told you.

Percy moves closer. You okay? Wally and I shot through the window. We didn t mean to hurt you.

You took out both guards? I m still dazed.

Yeah. The seven of us descended on the place right about the same time as Garik and his force, Percy says. We almost shot each other, but it worked out.

The world is not making sense.

Alexie sighs. I didn t have time to call in the mob, but these guys were already ahead of me.

I look at Alexei, then I glance back at my seven elderly men. What do you mean you descended on the place? How did you find me?

Percy has the grace to blush. We keep a tracker in your shoes.

Excuse me? I say, and then wince as pain lances through my head.

Wally nods. Yeah, we always have. We ve been worried about you, and boy it was a pain in the ass putting trackers in all those new kitten heels you bought. He gives Alexei a look.

Alexei looks right back.

This is a complication of which I had not expected. I grab Alexei s hand. I love you. Thought you should know.

He leans down and kisses me again. I love you as well, Peaflower.