Page 160 of Rite of Unity

I stiffened, glancing over at the woman skulking in the corner.

Sera was less put together than I’d ever seen her.Hair pulled back, dark circles badly concealed.She wasn’t the only one unsure of how tonight would go.

She looked at me, and her lips twisted up.“He’d keep a closer eye on the windows on Mondays than we do at the Rite house.”

I held her gaze.She hadn’t used it.The question was why.

My hands squeezed into fists at my side.

She pushed off the wall, melting into the crowd.

August had disappeared, and Elias was also out of sight.

My pulse thrummed, my heartbeat loud in my ears.Both gone.

My feet were already moving before I’d decided.

The second hall.The guard’s post was empty.

I didn’t let myself think.I crossed to the door, twisted the knob and slipped inside.The click of the latch behind me was the loudest sound I’d ever heard.I pressed my back against the door, gloved hands flat against the wood.Listening.Nothing.

Just my own breathing, too fast, too loud.

I forced a slow inhale.

Moving into the room, my gaze swept the walls: photos, construction shots, a younger August beside Nicholas Brown.On the far wall, books.And beside them, a low table of glass bottles.

I lurched toward it, tugging the pouch from my pocket and scanning the table.One was more than half empty.I reached for it, tugging the stopper out.I pinched the tiny vial inside, revealing clear venom.It was the most concentrated dose I’d ever handled.Even a drop on my skin would mean death.

Lifting it to the lip of the bottle with steady fingers, I watched as poison trickled down its slender neck, settling atop amber liquid.

I lifted the bottle, swirling it the way I had dozens of times.

Joel had been my test subject for years.He never noticed.Some nights were just better for Mother and I than others.

The dose was stronger now, much stronger, but the drink was richer.It should hasten the effects.And this time, it wasn’t being used as a sedative.

The door handle to the president’s door twisted, and my heart stopped.

It pushed in.

I set the bottle down, too hard, too loud, gaze darting around for anywhere to hide.

I dropped underneath the desk.

“Come out.”

My arms shook as I held them against the edges of the desk, pulling my feet up.

“Ms.Veil, I saw you.”

My heart was in my throat, my mind teetering between pure terror and the urge to run.Sweat ran down my forehead and into my eye.I couldn’t swipe at it, or I’d lose my grip on the desk.

A head dipped below the desk.

I screamed.

His hand came up, wrapping around my mouth, but the scream didn’t stop.It pressed the bounds of thick fingers, seeking release.