Chapter 28
Lirael
I accepted it with both hands, the sleeve concealing the stolen sedative. Took a small sip while they both watched with terrified intensity.
Then I smiled—soft, guileless, grateful but simple.
Good little pet. Nothing to see here, you paranoid fucks.
They relaxed. Crisis averted.
I settled back and returned my attention to the jasmine. Its chemistry was shifting faster now. The first wisps of soporific compounds began drifting.
The driver had cracked his window slightly—standard protocol. That tiny gap was all I needed. The jasmine's exhale filtered through the ventilation system.
Five minutes passed. Then ten.
The driver's shoulders dropped. One guard stifled a yawn. The man who'd given me water blinked more slowly.
Almost. Come on, come on.
I shifted position, bringing my arm up as if to rub my eyes. The movement freed the spray bottle—I caught it in my lap, hidden by my dress. Found the nozzle, angled it toward the front seats.
One chance. Don't fuck this up.
I squeezed the trigger in three rapid bursts.
Ten seconds. The driver's head began to nod.
Twenty seconds. Both front guards slumped.
Thirty seconds. The two outside guards wavered.
Forty-five seconds. All four guards and the driver were unconscious.
Holy shit. Holy shit, it actually worked.
I moved fast. Pulled out the backup phone hidden in my shoe's hollow heel—the one I'd stolen from the greenhouse, the one Sebastian's people had somehow missed.
The car's computer system was sophisticated but not impenetrable. Not when I'd spent three years learning to hack through Genesis Foundation's security. I jacked into the diagnostic port, fingers flying.
Delete. Overwrite. Replace. Come on, come on.
The last ten minutes vanished, replaced by a loop of me sitting quietly. I set it to play seamlessly.
Then I pulled a hairpin from my updo and went to work on the electronic lock. Military-grade, but still mechanical. Still vulnerable.
The lock clicked open.
Freedom. Actual fucking freedom.
I paused, looking back at the unconscious guards. They'd wake eventually. Sebastian would be furious. He might kill them.
Not my problem. They chose to serve a monster.
But guilt pricked at me anyway. I pulled a vial from my other shoe—concentrated wolfsbane extract, enough to make them sick but not kill. Mixed it into the water bottle, tipped drops into each guard's mouth.
When they woke, they'd think it was food poisoning. Not the truth.
A mercy they don't deserve. But I'm not him. I don't have to be cruel.
I slipped out into the landscaping. The jasmine whispered encouragement. I touched its leaves in gratitude.
Then I ran.
---
Sebastian
I scrolled through another set of designer dresses on the tablet, each one more expensive and less satisfying than the last. Haute couture, exclusive designs, custom pieces—all worthless unless they'd look perfect on her.
"Sebastian, you've been staring at that screen for twenty minutes." Damian's voice carried amusement. "I've never seen you this focused on anything that didn't involve hostile takeovers."
I didn't look up. "Her wardrobe is limited. She needs more options."
"More options? Sebastian, she's a pet. You could dress her in burlap—"
"No." I finally raised my eyes, let him see the gold bleeding into my amber irises. "Every detail matters. The fabric against her skin, the way light catches in the folds, whether the color makes her eyes look more silver or gray—it all matters."
Damian went very still. "You're talking about her like—"
"Like she's mine? She is." I returned to the tablet, saved a silver-white dress with an off-shoulder design. "More mine than any business deal, any asset I've ever acquired. And I'm going to make sure everyone who sees her knows it."
"That's not what I meant."
I leaned back, legs sprawling. "You're wondering if I'm developing feelings. If Sebastian Blackwood, who's never looked twice at a woman, is finally falling."
Damian said nothing.
I smiled. "I'm not falling. I'm claiming. There's a difference."
"Is there?"
I gestured at the tablet. "This isn't obsession. It's investment."
"You just said a thousand-billion-dollar merger wasn't as important as her."
Had I? I reviewed the conversation. Those projects aren't as important as her.
Fuck.
My phone buzzed—Marcus, urgent priority.
"Sir. Background check results just came through."
I straightened, every instinct sharpening. "Tell me."
"We got a name. Lirael." Marcus paused, and I could hear the confusion in his voice. "That's it. Everything else is blank. No birth records, no citizenship documents, no medical history, no educational background. It's like she materialized out of thin air three years ago."
I leaned forward, fingers drumming against the armrest. "Blank how? Sealed records or non-existent?"
"Non-existent, sir. Our best hackers ran every database—government, private, international. Nothing. The only trace of her existence is her capture three years ago at Black Reef Island, marked as S-Class experimental subject."
S-Class. Reserved for the rarest, most valuable specimens. The kind that entire research divisions would kill to study.
"And before that?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Nothing. It's as if she didn't exist before the Genesis Foundation got their hands on her."
I smiled slowly, felt the beast purr with satisfaction. "She's been lying about everything."
"Sir?"
"The frightened pet act, the obedient collar-bearer—all of it calculated." I stood, moved to the window overlooking the city. "She's not just some captured creature. She's someone who knows how to erase herself completely, how to become a ghost. That takes resources, connections, expertise."
Damian couldn't hear my conversation with Marcus, so he looked at me in confusion. "Sebastian？"
"She has secrets," I said, more to myself than him. "Layers upon layers of them. A past she's buried so deep even military-grade databases can't find it. " I turned, let the gold bleed fully into my eyes. "And I'm going to peel back every single one of those layers until there's nothing left but truth."
"Sir," Marcus ventured carefully. "Should we intensify the investigation?"
"No." I opened the pocket watch, traced the black diamond embedded in its face. "Let her think she's safe behind her walls of secrets. Let her believe I don't know how much she's hiding." My smile sharpened. "I'm going to enjoy watching her scramble to maintain the lies while I dismantle them one by one."
"And when you have all her secrets?"
When. Not if.
"Then I'll know exactly how to keep her," I said. "Forever."