Chapter 187: Your Life Or Charlotte’s

Tamara continued like she hadn’t just asked three humans to murder one of their own.

"Of course, I would have done it myself, but thanks to the stupid rule Maverick put in place and my position as Rhydian’s second-in-command, I cannot do anything that compromises the safety of the dragons."

Her eyes moved slowly between the girls. "But you’re human. Those restrictions don’t apply to you, which makes the three of you perfect."

Meredith stared at her in horror. "Miss Tamara, I’ve never hurt a fly in my entire life."

Seeing Meredith attempt to reason with her, Zainab and Indigo quickly joined in.

"I wouldn’t even know how to kill a person," Zainab admitted, her voice shaking. "I don’t have it in me."

"Me neither!" Indigo rubbed her palms together as she pleaded. "I know Charlotte can be a lot, but I don’t think it has gotten to this point. We can speak to her."

"Yes!" Meredith quickly supported. "I promise we’ll make sure Charlotte never crosses the line again. In fact, she won’t even leave our room if that’s what it takes, much less get in another dragon’s face."

Perhaps that assurance should have been enough, but the memory of Thamas carrying Charlotte in his arms flashed through Tamara’s mind.

No. This weed had to be pulled out by the root before it had the chance to spread. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be Rhydian. The next thing she knew, that idiot Thamas would come running to announce that he’d found his mate in Charlotte. Whatever madness had begun infecting the males of her kind needed to end before human mates became some ridiculous trend among dragons.

"Is that so...?" Tamara asked, but there was nothing reassuring about her tone, and the hairs on the backs of their necks rose.

"Since you all love Charlotte so much, let’s do it this way, then. Charlotte or your lives?"

"What?" all three chorused before exchanging uneasy looks, each of them hoping the others had somehow understood Tamara differently.

Tamara showed them no mercy. "Either the three of you end Charlotte tonight, or I end you."

"And don’t think I’ll let some rule stop me. I can easily have someone else finish the three of you, or perhaps an unfortunate accident happens down here in this basement." Tamara glanced around the room like she was considering the possibilities. "Of course, your deaths would raise suspicion, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. The question is, are you?"

Her eyes gleamed as she looked between them, almost daring one of the girls to challenge her.

"Do you love Charlotte enough to risk your lives for her, or will you choose yourselves?"

Of course, the answer was obvious. None of them were exactly loyal to Charlotte, even if it might have appeared that way after she’d stood up against Karen’s mistreatment of them. But when it came down to Charlotte’s life or their own, everyone was on their own. Besides, they wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for that bitch in the first place.

"Miss Tamara..." Zainab began carefully, her eyes flickering toward the others before returning to the dragoness. "It’s not that I’m saying I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t know how to do something so... gory."

"It need not be gory," Tamara replied. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small red plastic bottle before tossing it toward her.

Zainab caught it on instinct, but the moment the bottle landed in her palm, her hand began trembling so badly that she nearly dropped it. She stared down at the tiny container as though whatever was inside could somehow eat through the plastic and burn straight through her skin.

"That’s a special poison," Tamara explained. "You won’t need much. Get it into Charlotte’s drink at the party tonight, and by the time anyone realizes something is wrong, it’ll already be too late."

Zainab, Indigo and Meredith looked at one another, their stomachs tightening at the thought of what they were being forced to do. This wasn’t some stupid academy rivalry anymore. They were holding the means to end another person’s life, and Tamara was speaking about it as casually as though she’d asked them to pour Charlotte a glass of wine.

"Only one of you needs to handle the poison, but the other two will make sure Charlotte drinks from the right glass. Distract her, convince her, do whatever you have to do. There is no room for mistakes." Tamara had thought the plan through carefully. More importantly, involving all three ensured that none of them could later claim innocence without condemning the others. "And with all three of you involved, I don’t have to worry about one suddenly developing a conscience and betraying the rest."

"So..." Tamara looked each of them directly in the eye. "Are you in or out?"

Indigo swallowed. "What happens if we get caught? Wouldn’t we be punished or something?"

"I’ll make sure House Aetheris doesn’t touch you," Tamara assured her before a cruel smile curved her lips. "Haven’t you learned anything since coming here? This isn’t the human world. Beast laws were never written with humans in mind, and one human turning against another isn’t going to inspire the same outrage you seem to expect."

She let that sink in before adding, "There will be questions, certainly. Perhaps even an investigation. But I can assure you I’ll shield you."

It was clear they didn’t have much of a choice, and judging by the looks they exchanged, all three of them had reached the same conclusion.

"We’ll do it," Meredith finally said, her hands curling into fists at her sides.

It was a dog-eat-dog world, and when it came down to Charlotte’s life or theirs, they would choose themselves. Charlotte should have known better than to keep provoking beasts who could crush them without a second thought. They weren’t going to die for her foolishness.

A victorious grin spread across Tamara’s face.

"Good," she said, visibly pleased.

Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Of course, it goes without saying that under no circumstances, even if the plan goes awry, will my involvement be exposed."

Tamara stepped closer, and the girls immediately went rigid, their feet seemingly rooted to the floor as she stopped directly in front of them.

"Otherwise, I’ll burn you alive."