Chapter 122: The Perfect Victim
FIA
"Was it?" My voice softened. "Was everything really fine? Or were you just not paying attention?"
"Fuck you." She turned and stord toward the pool. I thought she was leaving. Thought this was over.
But she grabbed a pool chair. Lifted it. Started to swing it toward .
The Oga scread.
I dove to the side. The chair missed
by inches. It crashed into the ground where I’d been standing. tal scraped against stone.
Elara grabbed for it again.
But this ti, I did not move out of fear. I moved with intention.
Her fingers barely closed around the tal before my hand wrapped around her wrist. A simple twist. A sharp pivot of my foot. Her body turned with the force whether she wanted it to or not. The chair slipped from her grip and clattered harmlessly to the ground.
She stumbled forward with a shocked breath.
I stepped in close.
"Did you forget sothing?" I said. My voice was quiet. Calm in a way that made her flinch. "This whore took defense classes. Real ones. Not the pretty Luna etiquette nonsense you grew up with."
Her mouth opened but nothing ca out.
"Since you want to be a classist pig who is blind to her father’s sins, let
tell you sothing." I leaned in. My breath warm against her ear. "I might be a bottom barrel Oga. But I am the mate and bride to your cousin. I am Luna. Ruling Luna. It does not matter if you were born and bred and classified a certain way. You will still bow to this whore."
I reached up and wiped the last streak of spit from my cheek with two fingers. Slowly. Deliberately.
Then I sared it through her perfect hair.
Elara froze. Her eye twitched. Just once. It was sharp and preached of violence nonetheless.
I smiled.
"There it is." She murmured. "The person you showed my father. The real you. I knew the sweet innocent weak little act you put on was nothing but a mask. This is who you are."
"Okay?"
The single word seed to throw her. Her face reddened. Her hands clenched tighter at her sides.
"You filthy creature." Her voice cracked. "You will not last here. I promise you."
"Or maybe," I said, "it is you who will not last here."
That landed. I saw it hit her. Saw the panic flicker in her eyes before rage swallowed it up.
She lunged.
Her palms slamd into my chest. She shoved with everything she had.
Then familiar feeling tugged
in my guts and I suddenly saw Cian in the corner of my eye.
He hadn’t been there before. His entire body was tense. Ready to leap. Ready to tear soone apart.
I could have caught myself. Easily. My training and instincts scread at
to balance. To turn the fall into a step. To stay standing. To remain in control.
But Elara needed a taste of her own dicine. She needed consequences. She needed witnesses.
Everyone loved a victim. I had seen it a million tis. Even Hazel had played it a thousand tis. If she had spent her whole life pretending she was one, it has to feel good.
Right?
So I let go.
I smiled at her.
Then I let my body fall.
The world tilted. Sky beca water. Water beca sky. My hair whipped back. The cold air rushed past my face.
I kept my eyes open the whole way down. Watched Elara’s face shift from rage to horror as she also notices Cian. I watched her realize what she had done. What it looked like. What he would see.
The splash was loud. Cold water swallowed
in a single rush.
It shocked my system. Drove the air from my lungs. My dress billowed around . Heavy. Dragging
down.
But I did not panic.
I floated there beneath the surface. Suspended. The world above was muffled. Distorted. I could see shapes moving. Blurred figures against the bright sky.
Cian’s roar followed. Raw and vicious. It cut through even the water. I felt it in my bones. In the bond that connected us.
He was furious.
Perfect.
I kicked toward the surface. Broke through with a gasp. Water stread down my face. My dress clung to my body. My hair was plastered to my skull.
I blinked water from my eyes and looked up.
Cian stood at the pool’s edge. His chest heaved. His eyes were wild. Feral. He looked like he wanted to rip sothing apart with his bare hands.
Those eyes were locked on Elara.
She stood frozen. Her face was pale. Her hands still extended from where she’d pushed . She stared down at
in the water with wide eyes.
"I did not an..." Her voice shook. "She..."
"You pushed her." Cian’s voice was deadly quiet. "I saw you push her."
"She provoked ."
"I do not care." He took a step toward her. Elara stumbled back. "You put your hands on my mate. You pushed her into the pool."
"Cian, she..."
"Leave." The word was a command. Absolute. "Now."
Elara’s mouth worked but no sound ca out. She looked from Cian to . Back to Cian. Tears gathered in her eyes.
"I said leave! Before I do sothing I regret."
She turned and ran. Her footsteps echoed against the stone. Then faded.
Cian was at the pool’s edge in seconds. He knelt down. Extended his hand.
I swam toward him. My movents slow. Deliberate. When I reached the edge, I placed my hand in his.
He pulled
up with ease. Water poured off . Pooled at my feet.
His hands went to my face. Cupped my cheeks. His eyes searched mine. Looking for injury. For pain. For anything wrong.
"Are you hurt?"
I shook my head. Water dripped from my hair onto his hands. "I am fine."
"She hit you." His thumb brushed across my cheek. Where Elara had slapped . "I see the marks."
His rage kept hitting new limits.
"I hit her back."
Sothing flickered in his eyes. Surprise maybe. Or approval. "Good."
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