Page 78 of Vengeance and Vipers
‘Probably,’ I say instead of letting him know that I’m out of the loop. ‘How do you know?’
Paris finishes screwing in a bolt. ‘I heard Maddox talking to Iron about how to hide your identities.’
‘You probably shouldn’t be eavesdropping on my clan’s business.’
‘Sorry, just making conversation.’
‘Well, don’t. Are you done?’
‘Yeah,’ he says, coming down. ‘For today. I got a few more to put up tomorrow.’
I nod and leave him in the hall because my job is done. I go directly to Jules’ room, but she’s not there.
Her upset is muted now, but it’s still there, eating at her happiness, and I scowl. Jayce, Axel, and I made sure she was in a great mood when she left us this afternoon. When I find out who’s made her feel like this, I’m going to beat the shit out of him.
It’s dark outside, so I’m guessing she’s in the house. But it won’t be the library because Maddox and Alex are still in there talking.
I see Korban walking up the hall with Jane, and I tense a little. I haven’t seen Jane since she was last here and I have an apology to make for my actions last time.
Kor snarls as I get closer, but ignore him, confident I could take him if I need to, though Jane is pregnant, so she probably shouldn’t be made to worry that I’m going to kill one of her mates. I feel my other half’s begrudging assent that we won’t attack Korban for the female’s sake.
‘I wanted to say that I’m sorry,’ I say to Jane.
She stops in the hall as I approach. She doesn’t look scared of me despite the fact that I pretty much attacked her the last time she was here, but Korban snarls at me to get back.
I put my hands up and step away as he demands.
‘The way I acted while you were a guest here was unpardonable,’ I say. ‘I wasn’t myself, and although that’s no excuse, please be assured that I will only ever give you the greatest respect in future, Ms. Mercy. On behalf of myself and my brother, Jayce, please accept our deepest apologies.’
‘Thanks,’ she says and starts off down the hell again.
I look after her, a little puzzled by her lack of reaction, but I turn and start walking towards my destination in the opposite direction when Korban glares at me.
I find Jules in the Parlor, sitting on the couch. I close the door behind me, and I turn the key in the lock.
She looks up at me as I approach but doesn’t move. Her body is stiff when I sit next to her and pull her into my lap.
‘You were content earlier,’ I murmur in her ear. ‘What’s wrong, deamhan àlainn? Who made you feel this way?’
‘Why can we feel each other? I’ve never heard of that happening with on-call girls.’ she says instead of answering me, and I frown at this little tactic I’ve noticed she uses when she doesn’t want to talk.
I choose my words carefully. As far as I’m aware, even she doesn’t know the truth, and I don’t want to scare her. She’s flighty enough as it is. I haven’t yet told the others, either. In fact, as soon as I could smell her, I used magick to subdue her scent again so none of them will be able to tell until the time is right. Sadly, I don’t trust everyone in the clan at the moment.
‘It’s a side-effect of our intimacy,’ I say, and it’s not a lie; it’s just not the whole truth. ‘Are you going to answer my question?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she says, putting her head on my chest and sighing.
‘It does matter,’ I persist, putting my hand over her heart. ‘I can feel how upset you are now. Someone’s been pouring poison into your ears.’
‘We don’t like it,’ my darker side growls in the voice she knows isn’t mine.
‘Why do you care?’ she asks, and I grin over her head.
She’s fishing, but I don’t mind. I’d give her every assurance I could to make her understand what she means to me. Us.
‘I care because you’re mine,’ I growl. ‘Because I love everything about you.’
‘Shut up,’ she scoffs. ‘You can’t.’
