He stepped closer.Too close.
“I would never choose to be him,” he continued his voice a blade disguised as velvet.“Especially considering your father and I are hunting him.Unless of course… you happen to know where he is?”
His fingers traced the blood vessel at my throat.
I shivered.
The pressure was light, teasing—a silent warning.
His gaze was heavy-lidded, dark, his lips curving into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Or maybe…” He leaned in, his breath warm against my skin.“Maybe you’ve been in contact with him?”
His fingertip skimmed along my cheek, an agonizingly slow touch.
“Tell me, Elizabeth,” he murmured, his voice a phantom against my ear.“Are you the one responsible for creating the poison that claimed countless lives in France?”
My breath hitched.
My eyelids fluttered shut.
The touch, the voice, the danger—it overwhelmed me.
“No.”
The word barely escaped, lost in the shadow of his question.
But he wasn’t done.
His lips hovered near mine, the space between us shrinking to a fraction—a breath, a heartbeat, a whisper of inevitability.
“You came to me begging for help, Elizabeth, and now, you stand before me, declaring your allegiance to your father’s society and planning to annihilate us all.”
His fingers curled at my jaw, tilting my face just enough to force me to meet his gaze.
“Are you truly working with the Black Wraith?Are you plotting our downfall?”
His voice was a velvet snare, each syllable laced with something dark, seductive, and lethal.
A dare.
A moment that could change everything.
But I did not waver.
I lifted my chin, locking my gaze onto Amir’s, meeting the storm within his eyes with steely determination.
“I have never met the Black Wraith, Lord Hassan.”My voice was steady, my words intent.“Nor do I have any intention of joining forces with him.”
Amir studied me, his gaze narrowing, searching for weakness, lies, something I refused to give him.
The silence between us stretched, taut as a bowstring, humming with unspoken words.
Then—a flicker of something unreadable passed over his features.Dismissal.Amusement.Disdain.
With a casual glance at the brutal spectacle unfolding before us, he exhaled, his next words delivered with chilling indifference.
“Leave such matters to the men.”
