Underneath the bright lights of the elite girls' lounge,four perfectly styled girls sat like queens without crowns.
Laughter echoed. Lip gloss shined.But behind the mascara and manicures?There was venom.
And Selia held the syringe.
"Did you see how Kael looked at her?" Selia rolled her eyes, sipping her iced coffee.
Sasha—the loud one—gasped dramatically. "Please, I almost choked on my boba. He looked at her like she was oxygen."
The quiet one, Mireya, smirked. "Boys are predictable. Especially when they're bored."
And Nina—the self-proclaimed goddess of the group—flipped her curls. "Alea's not even that pretty. She just has that 'I'm-so-innocent' act. Barf."
Selia didn't laugh.She was staring out the window. Eyes like winter. Voice like acid.
"She's not supposed to be in the middle. That girl doesn't belong in our world."
Sasha blinked. "Uh, she literally doesn't. She's like... milk in a whiskey bar."
Selia ignored her.
"Rayzen and Kael don't know who they're playing with. She doesn't know who I am."
Mireya leaned closer. "So what's the plan, queen?"
Selia smiled.Not sweet.Not kind.
"Let them fight. Let them bleed. And then I'll remind them all—this city already had a queen before Alea walked in."
She took her phone out and opened a private message thread.
Sender: UnknownMessage:
"They fought. I gave the tip to the police like you said. Clean."
She replied:
"Good. Keep watching. I'll deal with Alea myself."
And far from the cafe, in a dark corner of the city,Varek watched a screen with a faint smirk.
His little sister had grown well.Too well.
"Just like me," he whispered.
To be continued...