THE VEIL OF POISON

Three days after the wedding, Ravenna Fortress wasn't. Too quiet. The very same halls where laughter and jokes filled them a few days ago were currently filled with foreboding silence. Everyone knew that Adraine's automated message wasn't an underlying threat but a clarion call. Luca stood at the head of the war table, maps sprawled before him, fingers pressing into pressure points along the coastlines and abandoned strongholds. Raphael read out intel as he walked the room like a caged wolf. 'They've taken over the Bravini port," he said. 'That's the third major route we've lost. This isn't just sabotage. They're building something." 'Or waiting for something," Luca muttered. And then Bianca appeared, slapping a thick envelope onto the table. "You're going to want to see this," she said. There were photographs inside. Adraine, alive and well, in hip black, her arm around— "Synnove," Bianca said, her voice tight. "She's alive." Luca's knuckles whitened at the photo of Bianca's sister. "She faked her own death?" "No. I saw her body. I buried her," Bianca said. "But she's alive." Raphael's brow furrowed. "Whose body did you bury?" Bianca's eyebrows knitted. "That's what I'm finding out." Luca's phone vibrated. A message. From an unknown number. One word. Ristorante. That was it. He didn't know the number, but the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Bianca saw his expression shift. "What is it?" "A meeting," he said to her. "She's inviting me." "You're not going alone.". That night, beneath the cold, cloudy moon, Luca came to the dirty Ristorante Belladonna - the same restaurant where he and Adraine had eaten when he became the king of the Monticelli. Bianca stayed back, riding in a vehicle two blocks from the location with a sniper getting into position on the roof. Raphael managed communications. Luca came alone. Adraine rose. White was all she had on. The direct opposite of what she intended. High above, lights swayed back and forth like asthmatic stars fighting for oxygen. "Hello, cousin," she breathed. "Adraine," Luca growled. His voice was stone. "I should kill you right here, right now." You can, she told him, and didn't so much as twitch. But you won't. Not yet. Because you have to listen to what I have to say. He stepped closer, eyes burning cold. "This is the final lie ever to cross your lips," he swore. Her lip twisted. "It's not a lie. It's the one thing that will destroy your precious wedding." Luca's jaw set. "You think I betrayed you for power. For spite. For greed. But it is only half." Her eyes flashed. "There is something you do not know about Bianca." "Be careful what you say." Adraine ripped her jacket open and pushed a flash drive across the table. "It's all there. Pictures. Letters. Recordings. Your bride… she worked for Sophia before she ever met you." Luca's head snapped up. "No," he said. "Yes," Adraine gasped. "Bianca was one of Sophia's inner circle. Trained, conditioned, loyal. She was the one who delivered the final piece of intel that led to your father being ambushed and murdered." The silence that followed was heavy enough to crack the walls. Luca's chest rose and fell rapidly. 'You're lying." 'Check the drive," she said, voice calm. 'Read the letters she wrote Sophia after they met you. ‘He's too easy to manipulate,' she said. ‘I'll get the crown and slit his throat after the wedding.' Her words, not mine." Outside, Bianca listened, her ears burning. Her breath hitched. 'She's lying," she whispered. Raphael spoke into the earpiece. "Bianca, relax." "I have to go in," she said, already getting out of the car. "Negative," Raphael warned her. "It's a trap." But she was already in the car, speeding off. ---Luca glared at the flash drive as if it held a bomb. "Why now?" he bellowed. "Why not give me warning of this on some day other than my wedding day?" "Because I wanted to see you crash," Adraine sneered, her smile ugly. "You were always too careful. Too smart. I had to bring you down when it would hurt you the most." Luca's eyes darkened. "You're sick." "I am honest," she whispered to him. "And now… the decision is yours. Do you remain faithful to a woman who might have been deceiving you from the beginning? Or do you kill her and begin anew from the ashes?" Doors creaked open then. Bianca walked in, gun trained. Her voice was a bell in a graveyard. "You're done talking, Adraine." Luca spun around, his eyes burning. "Bianca— "She's lying," Bianca stepped in between them. "I swear on my mother's grave." Adraine laughed. "Oh, how quaint. Swearing on graves. Did you tell him how you and Sophia had shared marks? How you were trained to poison men without even them ever knowing anything? How your purpose was to seduce, spy, and kill?" Bianca's voice shook, only once. "That was a long time ago. Before I ever met Luca. Before I left that behind." Luca's eyes jumped to hers. Not in anger. Not in disgust. But worse than either—hurt. "Did you mean it?" he whispered. "Yes," she said. "I did not know your name. I did not know you were the mark. And when I did. I could not. I left Sophia. I burned the bridges. I chose you." Adraine applauded slowly. "Oscar performance. Outstanding." Bianca waved the gun, muzzle against Adraine's forehead. "You're trying to kill us, and all you've managed to do is make me more certain. I love him. And nothing any of my former selves can do alters that." Luca's harsh voice, low: "Why did you not say?" "Because I was trying to keep the past in the past. I was ashamed. I did not wish you to think of me in those terms." "I required honesty, Bianca." "I'm providing it now." Adraine moved slowly backward, task complete. "The cracks are already there, cousin. It's only a question of time now before everything you've strived for is destroyed." She ran through the side door before Bianca could shoot. --- Later, Bianca was outside the fortress, on the balcony, staring up at the stars. Luca stood behind her, still quiet. "You hate me now," she whispered. No, he said. "I am hurt that you did not trust me enough to tell me something." She glanced up at him, her own eyes red-rimmed. "I've been in survival mode by myself. Trust wasn't something I could afford." "I don't need perfection," Luca said. "But if we're going to survive this war, I do need all of your truth. Always." Bianca rested against him, her hand on his chest. "Then this is it: I was a weapon, created by Sophia. I was created to kill you. And I fell in love with you instead." He closed his eyes, his forehead against hers. "We're not perfect," he breathed. "But we're real. And we're still standing." There was a seriously, seriously long silence. Then he said, "Burn the drive." She blinked. "What?" "Shred it. If we're going to keep moving, we don't have that kind of poison in our house." Bianca nodded, stepping away, tossing the flash drive into the fire. When the plastic crackled and began to melt, she turned to him. "What now?" Luca's eyes were narrowed. "Now… we find Sophia. Together."