A petal kissed by a poison

One breath, one step, one heartbeat away from ending life — but destiny had something else written for her.

“What the hell?!” Reyaansh roared.

The woman in the driver’s seat didn’t flinch. Her face was veiled by a black mask and a low hoodie; only her eyes burned like dying embers in the night. His pulse quickened. He reached for his phone, then the iPad — both screens stared back at him, dead and useless. Hacked.

He scanned the road. The escort cars were gone. It was just them now: predator and prey, trapped in a moving coffin of glass and steel.

Snarling, Reyaansh pulled out his gun and aimed it square at her temple. “Stop the damn car before I paint the seat with your brains,” he growled.

She chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. “Oh, darling… do you really think your threats work on me?”

He squeezed the trigger. Click. Nothing. His blood froze — the gun was empty. That never happened. Never.

“What’s wrong? No bullets?” she taunted, laughter dancing on her tongue. “Poor king without his crown.”

Rage surged through him. He lunged, one hand clamping around her throat, trying to crush the life out of her. But she was faster — a silver flash in her hand, and a needle bit into his neck.

Within seconds, fire flooded his veins. His muscles turned to stone. He slumped back, paralyzed — eyes open, mind awake, but body betrayed.

“Aww, baby… feeling tired?” Her voice was teasing silk. “Rest for a while. I promise, after this, I won’t let you rest at all.”

She turned the car off the highway, driving into the dark embrace of an abandoned warehouse. As she opened the door, a man emerged from the shadows — Specter, sharp-eyed and restless. Together, they dragged Reyaansh inside. His gaze followed them, helpless, chained by the drug coursing through him.

“Zahr, kill him quickly,” Specter urged, glancing around as if shadows themselves had teeth.

“Relax, Specter,” she purred. “You think I’d waste a masterpiece like this so easily? Let me admire him a bit longer.”

“Don’t tell me you like him.”

She chuckled, a sound like broken glass. “Maybe… or maybe not.”

Specter frowned but stepped back. Reyaansh, though frozen, could feel her presence close — her gloved fingers brushed against his jaw, tilting his face up. “Such a pretty face…” she whispered, her thumb grazing his lip. “Fascinating. I almost wish I could kiss you before ending you.”

His grey eyes, stormy and cold, stared into hers — as if trying to read the secrets hidden behind her mask.

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Zahr,” she whispered. “Petal kissed by poison… here to end your dance early.”

Far above them, hidden in shadows, another man watched through a cracked window. His voice was low as he spoke into a phone, “Boss, she has him… but she hasn’t killed him yet.”

“Wait until she finishes him,” the boss ordered, his tone ice. “Then end her too. No loose ends.”

“Yes, boss. I—”

“Baby, where are you?” someone called in the distance. “Call me when both are dead.”

Back below, Zahr’s senses pricked. Someone else was here. Gun drawn, she moved through the darkness — and found him.

“Oh, so you were the rat,” she hissed, pressing her pistol to his chest.

“Dammit, you found me fast,” he sneered. “Why didn’t you finish him? I made it easy for you.”

“I do my work my way. Don’t you dare give me orders.”

But the man smirked and snapped his fingers. More shadows moved; steel flashed. Reyaansh watched helplessly as a knife stabbed into his side. Agony exploded, blood soaking his shirt.

Zahr’s eyes blazed. With feral grace, she turned and fought — a dance of death under cold light. Bodies dropped, steel clashed, and at last, only Specter and Zahr remained standing.

“What happened here?” Specter panted, gaze wild.

“Ask him,” she said, nodding at the last traitor, bound and bleeding.

Zahr dropped beside Reyaansh. His breathing was ragged, his vision blurred. “You stubborn man…” she murmured. With a swift motion, she zipped off her hoodie, pressing it to his wound to stop the bleeding. Her bare shoulders glistened under the dim light, a tattoo on her back hidden from all eyes.

“Specter, I’m taking him to a hospital,” she ordered.

“Hospital? You’re supposed to kill him, Zahr.”

“The contract ended the moment they attacked us. You know the rules.”

Specter hesitated. “What if he tracks us back?”

“He won’t. He’s seen nothing… only pain.”

Despite his weight, she hauled him up, her breath coming in soft gasps. She laid him gently in the car, brushing blood-slick hair from his forehead.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “This time, I’m leading you back to life… and nothing will happen to you.”

Before the darkness took him, Reyaansh’s blurred gaze fell on a mark inked across her back — an obsidian eye, staring back at him.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***