Chapter 101: Poison!
Chapter 101: Poison!
Tristan put some cash on the table.
"A shot of whiskey, please."
Whiskey usually wasn't Tristan's drink of choice, but he didn't want to stay at the bar for a long while, drinking some big cocktail. Just a shot for the road.
While the barman took the money and poured Tristan his drink, he mused about his plans.
'Rafael has contacts with people deeper in Cuatro Angulos. I can use him to send them the Beholder...'
A shot glass of whiskey was placed in front of Tristan. He nodded in thanks to the barman, then raised the glass and downed the whiskey in one go.
As soon as the burning liquid touched Tristan's tongue, he knew something was wrong.
Terribly wrong!
The whiskey tasted way too bitter to be normal. Perhaps that taste could've belonged to the worst kind of whiskey, but not to something being sold in a high-end nightclub like the Urban Mirage!
'It must be poison!'
Adrenaline went through Tristan's body and the time slowed down to a crawl. Once again, Tristan was saved by his 'Bullet Time' talent.
However, by this point, he already half-swallowed the whiskey. The remains that burned on his tongue made Tristan even more sure that his observation was true: someone poisoned his drink.
'I have to spit it out before bullet time ends!'
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On instinct, Tristan clenched muscles in his throat, preventing most of the liquid from going further. But it wasn't enough—ever so slowly, Tristan reached out and clenched his own neck hard.
The time resumed with normal speed and Tristan half-spat, half-vomited all the whiskey he just drank right on the bar counter.
While the nearby waiters and guests gasped in shock, Tristan coughed hard, spitting out as much of the poisoned drink as he could.
His pants and shirt were splattered with liquid now, but he ignored it as he straightened up and caught his breath.
The barman recoiled with wide eyes.
"What? Mister, I didn't—if you think someone spiked your drink, I will call security, but I didn't do it!"
Tristan didn't listen to the man's prattling. Although he was looking at the barman, from the corner of his eye, he was watching people around him with extreme attention.
Judging them down to the last twitch of their muscles, Tristan observed their reaction.
Alarm, shock, even excitement for a juicy scandal—and a flash of relief swiftly hidden under concern.
Tristan looked at the person whose acting skills were the smallest bit too slow and became absolutely sure that this man was the assassin.
First, his uniform, although almost identical white blouse and black pants to that of the other waiters, had slight differences in the cut.
Second, when their eyes met, the man showed fear.
But otherwise, he was someone utterly ordinary. The man's face was so boring, people would forget it a minute after they didn't look at him. A perfect face for a sneaky killer.
Tristan showed him his most murderous grin and his deadliest glare.
"It's you."
The assassin was too far to hear Tristan's quiet words through the din of the club, but he understood.
The man paled and slipped away from Tristan, moving through the crowd as fast as he could without attracting attention.
"Forget it!" Tristan shouted to the barman and hurried after the assassin before he lost him in the crowd.
The fake waiter did his best to blend in, but Tristan stayed locked on to his white blouse.
Then the assassin suddenly pushed an actual waiter with a full tray into a group of tipsy people that stood in Tristan's way. People immediately began screaming at each other and the waiter and a bouncer hurried toward them to stop a fight from starting.
While Tristan looked for a way around the commotion, the assassin disappeared, this time entirely.
However, Tristan didn't lose his spirits and didn't stop walking.
Instead, he smiled like a cat who knows the mouse can't escape.
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