Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire #1) - Nikita Slater Page 0,121

realized how perfect the song was. With Jozef she was surrounded by silence, and like the lyrics of the song, the silence had become an old friend. Without the constant chatter of voices, she could hear the beat of her own heart, see the expressions on her lover’s face as they sat together speaking their silence.

Shaun knew she was slipping away. Her thoughts were fragmented, and her body was no longer obeying her commands. Her limbs refused to move as dizziness engulfed her, each wave lasting longer than the one before until she knew that soon she would close her eyes and allow the darkness to take hold.

She wanted to call to Jozef, but she didn’t want to use her voice. It wasn’t how they communicated. He preferred when she used sign language and she preferred it too. In one last burst of energy she lifted her arms and crossed her fists over her chest. Vomit rushed up her throat and she turned her head to throw up, champagne searing her throat as she emptied her stomach.

Her lips felt foamy and she knew something terrible was happening. She shouldn’t be foaming at the mouth. She tried to force her doctor’s brain to rapidly diagnose, but the darkness was taking her.

She heard a muffled shout and thought it was her own voice calling out for help. Someone dropped to her other side and she felt hands on her face. Voices rose up around her, but she couldn’t concentrate. She wished she could help the frantic voices, but she had to go.

As the shadows took her, she thought she heard a growl so ferocious it shook the windows next to them. Then she was gone, her world fading to nothing.

Chapter Forty-Three

Jozef’s arms wrapped around Shaun as she fell to the patio deck, her body going limp against him. He kneeled with her, setting her gently on the ground. He couldn’t tell what was wrong and her eyes were closed so he couldn’t ask her. He’d never been so frustrated at his lack of voice before. Shaun moaned and a trickle of white foam spilled from her lips. An unfamiliar sensation hit Jozef at the sight. Burning fear.

He glanced frantically around and, spotting Havel striding toward them, quickly signed, help her.

Havel dropped to his knees on Shaun’s other side, his concerned gaze running down her prone body. He lifted her wrist and felt for a pulse. Havel was the only man on his team with more than basic First Aid knowledge. He’d been forced to patch up their men on several occasions.

“Got it. Steady but slowing down.” He touched her face, leaning in for a closer look. “Poison, I think.”

Their eyes met in a moment of mutual understanding. It made sense: the sudden attack, the foaming around her lips, her garbled speech as she fell. Jozef looked around and seeing Shaun’s champagne glass, now on its side, the contents spilling out, grabbed a napkin and soaked up what he could. He shoved the napkin into his suit jacket pocket. Even while his frantic brain was completely focused on his ailing fiancé, he knew that identifying the poison would be imperative to her survival.

Call an ambulance, Jozef told Havel.

To his credit, Havel didn’t hesitate, though he knew better than any of them the consequences of calling for help. Havel nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He was about to dial 112 for emergency services, when a hand came down on top of his. Havel reacted instantly by lifting his fist to hit the person touching him but lowered it once he recognized Dasha’s stony features.

“No,” she said firmly, turning her gaze on Jozef who knelt at her feet. Dasha spoke quickly. “If we call an ambulance the police will come too. Shaun is too recognizable. They’ll know her as the doctor who went missing from Luhansk.”

Krystoff walked up behind his wife and quickly took stock of the situation. He took her by the shoulders and gently pulled her back. “Dasha, love, she could die without immediate intervention.”

She looked startled as she stared up at her husband. “I know, but we never call the authorities, no matter what.”

Krystoff looked down at Shaun who was beginning to convulse, Jozef’s frantic hands on her face. “This is different.” He turned his gaze to Havel. “Make the call, tell them to drive through the garden entrance. We’ll meet them at the gate.”

Guests were starting to look curiously through the patio doors. Seeing what was going