Codename: Aconite Chapter Fifty-Seven

Codename: Aconite Chapter Fifty-Seven
FLASHBACK 3 DAYS AGO
“Follow through, and the deal stays. Reneg… and you both die,” Sathariel warns as he gets up and steps back.

I roll onto my front, slowly propping myself up on my hand and knees, groaning as I clutch my chest, discreetly untucking my locket from under my shirt and using my hair to shield myself. I quickly open the locket and let the capsule fall into my hand. I take a breath, coughing to mask the sound of my clasping the locket shut as I slowly rise to my feet, swaying a little as the ache in my skull makes my head spin.

I slip the capsule between two fingers as I finally lock eyes with Silas, who hasn’t said a word. His eyes are frozen, watching my every step as I slowly stalk towards him.

“I bet you regret telling me you trust me now, huh,” I say smugly, earning barely a glimmer of a reaction from him as I try to convey a silent message to him. He said he trusted me with his life, I just hope I don’t let him down. I haven’t had a chance to test this out on a human yet…

“Where the fuck was my deal? Where’s my chance to bargain, Raul? Lamar, whatever your fucking name is!” Silas screeches in indignation, but there’s something in his tone that feels forced, like he’s doing this for effect.

Sathariel shrugs, “First come, first served. Besides, I like her more.”

Silas begins to struggle as I position myself behind him, sliding my arm around his neck, my hand passing over his mouth as I slip the capsule inside and get him into a headlock. I tighten my grip around his neck, my lips against his ear and I swear I can feel his pulse racing against my lips.

“Bite down on the capsule. Trust me,” I whisper as low as I can into his ear.

I apply enough pressure to his neck to get his face to turn red and I quickly hear the crunching of the capsule in his mouth. Within a moment his breathing becomes laboured as the veins in his neck begin to bulge. He struggles harder against his restraints for dramatic effect, so I wrap my legs around him as best I can, holding him still until finally, he stops moving. I hold my grip still a little longer to sell the act, hoping beyond hope that this Hail Mary works.

I watch Sathariel’s car drive away. As soon as it’s out of sight, I make my way into my apartment building. The moment the doors close I race to the elevator, slamming my fingers repeatedly against the pad until the elevator arrives. I jump in and continue to push the number for my floor, the digital number panel taunting me with its slowness. As soon as the doors open, I burst out, almost bowling over one of my neighbours. I probably look insane; bruised, covered in blood and semi-naked, but I don’t give a flying fuck.

I burst into my apartment, jump over the dead bodies lying on my living room floor and race into my room. I throw on a pair of jeans and shoes, grab a bag, and then toss one of my daggers into the bag. I race up to the rooftop, holding my breath and shielding my eyes as I get there to protect myself from the lingering smoke. I dodge more bodies as I burst into the greenhouse and race over to my workstation. I shove a box of syringes into my bag, type in my passcode for the refrigerator and grab two vials out of the tray at the front. I toss them in the bag and race down to the parking garage.

I toss the bag into the passenger seat and climb in, starting up the car and stepping on the gas as I speed out of the garage. I replay all the streets we passed as Sathariel drove me home, and I have a pretty good idea where the warehouse was located. I floor it, pushing my car to its limits as I weave in and out of traffic, nearly hitting several pedestrians. I glance at the clock, unable to tell if I’m out of time or not. This is not how I wanted to test this out!

I manage to reach the warehouse, but refusing to waste a second, I keep my foot on the gas and brace myself as I drive my car straight through the double doors of the warehouse. Debris goes flying, and the windshield cracks, but I’m fine. I slam on the breaks just meters away from Silas’ body, throw the door open, grab my bag, and jump out of the car. I race over to Silas, dropping to my knees and grabbing my dagger from my bag. I cut all his bindings, toss the dagger, and grab one of the vials and a syringe from the box. I remove the cap with my teeth, spitting it to the side as I plunge the needle into the top of the vial. I withdraw the right amount and then carefully inject the liquid directly into Silas’ neck.

I cup his face, brushing his hair out of his eyes as I wait, my heart pounding and racing with anxiety as the seconds feel like hours.

“Come on, Silas. Just because you gave me permission to kill you, doesn’t mean I want you dead, now wake up! Wake up, you stubborn bastard!” I shout, shaking him in a panic.

I feel tears pricking my eyes as he remains unresponsive, fear and horror sinking into my bones as I realise what I’ve done.

“Silas…” I pull his head into my lap, cradling it as the tears breach the waterline and begin trickling down my cheeks.

As I lean down to kiss his forehead, his eyes snap open and he takes in a large, drawn-out gasp of air as his arms begin to flail around. Relief catapults through my system, as I try to keep him still. His eyes are wide and alert as he looks around in confusion and alarm.

“Silas, it’s okay! You’re okay, it’s me, Dasha,” I say as I hold him and try to comfort him.

He clings to my arm, fighting hard to catch his breath as I slowly stroke his hair. I look up and send out a thank you to whatever force in the universe was on my side.

I rub Silas’ back as he pukes for the fourth time, this time managing to accurately aim for the bucket I have placed beside the bed. I look at him with sympathetic eyes, as I grab the glass of water and offer him a sip.

“You sure this isn’t poison too?” he asks snidely.

I roll my eyes, “You know you should be happy. You’re the only person on this Earth to survive me poisoning them once, let alone twice.”

“My thank you card is in the mail,” he says bitterly, then downs the glass of water.

I take the glass as he lays back, get up and go into the bathroom to refill it. I look into the mirror, cringing at my hideous reflection still stained in blood as my skull continues to pound and ache as a result of my concussion. I take a deep breath, pushing my pain and exhaustion aside, walk back out to Silas, and place the water on the nightstand as I sit on the edge of the bed.

“I’m sorry,” I say, sniffling as I fight back tears.

Silas looks at me, his eyes widening in disbelief, “Are…are you crying?”

“No,” I deny feebly, wiping my eyes on my arm.

Silas yanks me down into his arms, holding me to his chest, “Why is my Dahlia crying?” he gently asks as he softly strokes my hair.

“I was so scared I’d killed you,” I sob as I cling to him.

“Since when does that bother you? I gave you permission, remember?” he says cheekily.

I sit up and smack his chest, aiming for one of his bruises causing him to groan in pain. “I don’t want you to die, asshole! I care about you! I don’t care if you want me to be the one to do you in, I can’t be that person. I can’t lose you, okay? I can handle death, I’m around it all the time… but I can’t lose you.” My voice trembles, the tears pouring down my cheeks as a floodgate of emotions bursts open inside me.

Silas’ tired, bloodshot eyes look up at me with warmth and compassion, “If I knew all it took to make you tell me how you felt, was to almost die, I would have done that weeks ago.”

I chuckle in spite of myself. Silas lifts his hand to my cheek and tenderly brushes away my tears. I hold his hand in place, leaning into his touch.

“I wasn’t going to let you die. What I gave you isn’t intended to kill.”

“What is it intended for? Because I feel like shit.”

“I call it Sleeping Beauty. After a lot of trial and error, I managed to isolate the properties in Digitalis, Atropa Belladonna and Conium Maculatum that cause cardiovascular symptoms, paralysis, and respiratory problems, respectively. I was then able to combine them into a drug, that when ingested creates a state of fake death. The drug lowers the heart rate to nearly undetectable levels while slowing down the breath to the point you’re almost holding you’re breath and keeping the body completely paralysed and unconscious. To anyone unaware you would appear dead and beat most tests that would detect death as well. I had also created an antidote to reverse the effects. I just hadn’t had a chance to test either of them on humans yet.”

“Lucky me, I got to be the guinea pig.”

“The timing of finishing it was perfect. Now that Sathariel thinks you’re dead and he thinks I’m letting him recruit me, we can finally kill this fucker and be done with him.”

He brushes his thumb against my lips. “Anyone ever tell you how diabolical you are?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” I grin.

“So, what’s the plan?” Silas asks, tapping up his injuries.

“Sathariel is sending someone to pick me up and take me to meet him in Berlin in two days.”

“I’m not letting you go alone,” he says, leaving no room for argument.

I smile and kiss his cheek, “We started this together, we’ll finish it together.”

He smiles and kisses my lips softly. “What do you have in mind? I can’t very well go with you, and there’ll be no way for you to tell me where you are.”

“That’s why we need to think ahead. Sathariel has been a hundred steps ahead of us from the beginning, it’s time we got ahead of him. We know I’m meant to be meeting him in Berlin.”

“There’s no way he’s flying you into Berlin,” he scoffs.

“I agree. The next closest option would be Leipzig/Halle Airport. I believe we’ll arrive there and be driven to Berlin, which will be roughly a two-hour drive,” I explain. “I think once you’re well enough, you should fly straight out to Germany. On the day I’m to meet Sathariel, you make your way to the airport and watch out of sight for our arrival. Once you see us, you follow us to our final destination.”

He nods, thinking it over. “But if you go into a building how can I be sure of what floor you’re on? A sniper is only useful if I have something to aim at.”

“Maybe you can discreetly follow behind us. If we get in an elevator, wait till the doors close and see which floor it stops at,” I shrug.

“And what if you’re taken into a room with no windows?”

“Then I’ll have to handle this on my own and hope at least my side of this plan works. But should we be in a room with windows, we need your side of the plan in place. We need plans A, B, C, all the way through to Z. I’m not leaving anything to chance. We have to plan for every possible scenario. I’m not letting the opportunity to bring him down slip through our fingers.”

“Then how do I avoid being noticed?”

“Do I have to think of everything?!” I snap in irritation.

“This is your plan, so yes,” he nods.

“Then take a page out of Sathariel’s book and wear a disguise. Worked well enough for him,” I say in frustration.

“I can do that. Now assuming I will be able to find a vantage point, we’ll need a signal. We won’t be able to communicate, and I don’t want to give away my position if I don’t have to,” he says, sliding his arm around my waist as I think, glancing at my nails.

“Will a subtle hand signal suffice? If I tap my index finger that means a warning shot. Fist means a kill shot.”

He thinks it over, resting his chin on my shoulder. “I can work with that.”

“Just don’t get trigger-happy.”

“I’ve learned from my mistakes, Dasha,” he says, turning my face to his. “I never should have raced into things with Castor, I won’t let that happen again. We’re a team, and on this, I’m there to cover your ass. I won’t do anything to jeopardise it.”

“Not even if I have to do something you won’t like?” I carefully ask.

“Like what?” he asks hesitantly.

“Like… maybe seducing Sathariel.”

He wrinkles his nose, his mouth forming an exaggerated frown while he looks like he’s going to be sick. “That’s a joke, right?” I shake my head. He takes a deep breath. “I will loathe every second of it, but if it means he dies… I can learn to live with it.”

I smile at him, cupping his face in my hands, “Just know, no matter who I might have to seduce, you’re the person I’ll be thinking of to get me through it.”

“That does make me feel a little better,” he smiles, pecking my lips. “I’m the only one who gets to fuck you though, right?” he asks seriously.

“This is a one cock only pussy, and that cock is yours,” I grin at him.

“What about your ass?” he asks suspiciously.

“That too.”

He smiles, preening like a peacock as he wraps his arms around me tightly, “Music to my ears.”
END OF FLASHBACK