"We had a deal," Selena said coldly, dropping the vampire's severed head onto the breakfast table with a sickening thud.
The room fell silent as Vince Targur, a Russian thorn in her side, glanced down at the charred remains before him. Seated at the head of the table with his fellow council members, his expression betrayed nothing but simmering annoyance.
Selena moved to the heavy curtains, tugging them aside just enough to let a thin shaft of sunlight pierce through the darkness. The golden beam sliced across the room, glinting off silverware and pooling near Vince's chair. She dragged out a seat and settled at the opposite end of the long table, her piercing gaze fixed on him.
"You maintain your territory, and we maintain ours," she said evenly. "That was the agreement."
"That was a rogue vampire," Vince grunted, his jaw tightening.
"Siding with the werewolves? I think not." Selena leaned back, folding her arms with a sharp shrug. "When I catch a vampire selling hunter secrets to werewolves, dear Vince, what am I supposed to think?"
Vince's knuckles whitened as he gripped his glass, his teeth grinding audibly. "Are you accusing us of something, Miss White?"
"Not directly," she replied with a casual smirk, "but let's just say the truce between humans and vampires is already precarious. Aligning yourselves with werewolves won't do your kind any favors."
Without waiting for a response, Selena reached forward and slid the vampire's head into the sunlight. The room filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh as the skin began to sizzle and peel away, exposing charred bone.
"This is a warning, Vince," she said, her tone darkening. "Keep your clowns in check, or I'll be happy to perform a few tricks of my own."
Before Vince could reply, one of his underlings sprang up from a blind spot, fangs bared. "How dare you insult Vince!" he roared, lunging toward her.
But he faltered mid-step, clutching his throat as smoke began to pour from his mouth. One by one, the other vampires at the table collapsed, writhing as the subtle effects of the poison Selena had planted earlier began to take hold. They wouldn't die—this was merely a taste of what she was capable of.
There were many types of vampire poisons, but her favorite was Purple Venom. Seductive in its design, it was as alluring to a vampire's senses as honey to bees. Its particles were as fine as dust, invisible to the eye, yet corrosive as acid. It didn't kill—unless administered in overwhelming doses—but its effects were potent enough to incapacitate even the strongest of them.
That's what she had laced their wine with.
"I'm sure my point is clear now," Selena said as she rose from her chair, her voice calm but laced with menace. From outside, the distant sound of reinforcements echoed, their numbers closing in rapidly.
"Until next time, Vince," she added with a chilling smile, vaulting through the nearest window.
As she landed gracefully and made her way toward her car, a glint of red fur caught her eye on the plush carpet inside the mansion. It was a single strand—so fine that anyone else would have overlooked it—but she felt it in the air, sensed it in the lingering scent masked beneath the suffocating odor of vampire musk.
Her heart quickened. Even in the briefest moment, she could feel his presence like a brand on her back. That burning golden gaze was unmistakable.
The alpha of the Red Wolves.
Selena smirked as she started the car, the engine purring to life.
Nikolai Red-Wind. Her next target.