Page 47 of Vengeance and Vipers
I watch her for a little while, taking in the way she’s curled up on her side, one hand under her pillow, and her gentle breathing. I think I could stand here forever and never get bored of looking at her.
I gently tuck her hair away from her face, tracing a lone finger down her jaw. My body springs to life, wanting more than this tiny, illicit touch, and I take a step back at the force of my desire. It isn’t the time, and it may not be for quite a while, I think, letting out a small sigh.
The way she looked at me in Krase’s room speared my heart. She thinks that everything that happened in the Mountain between her and Axel and me was contrived for our escape. I could see the betrayal in her eyes, and I don’t blame her after everything that happened to her in there because of us. But, in that moment, it took everything in me not to go to her and explain everything, declare my undying love. The only reason I didn’t was because we had an audience … and because I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Whatever small amount of trust we earned in the Mountain is gone.
I’ve been cracking these past few days while I thought she was still in Dante’s power. I went to the barrier more than once and hurled myself at it despite it sapping my energy. I thought I couldn’t feel worse, but now I realize her indifference towards me is far more terrible.
I try to feel for her and can almost see the connection between us, but it’s so faint that I don’t get anything from her. Its dormancy is perhaps why neither Axel nor I felt her, though she was so close.
I’m glad she was here all that time, even though Maddox did put her in the cells, but only because the alternative would have had her dead by now. I was trying to rally my spirits, but I was lying to myself.
I should be furious with Julian. Iamfurious. But I’m so relieved that she’s okay, that he protected her when he could have just killed her when he found her that night, and we would never have known. Despite his actions in the Mountain, I could forgive him if he stops being such a prick where she’s concerned.
Whether Jules can is another matter.
How can he not see that she’s ours? We’ve been searching for so long, but his obsession with finding the clan a supe mate has clouded his judgment. Who cares that Jules is human? The fact that Krase’s mind has been healed is proof that she’s meant for us, but Maddox refuses to acknowledge it. He can’t see past what she did, her dishonesty and greed.
He lives by his own code, and, to him, there’s no excuse for those sorts of character failings. But he’s never had to sacrifice his own ethics for his hide. Jules has. I might not know the specifics, but I can see she’s had a tough life when her mask comes down.
I pull myself away from her and go into her closet, quietly hanging up the clothes I’ve brought, just things I’ve seen over the past couple of years that I thought she’d look good in or that she’d like. It was a guilty pleasure I kept under wraps from the others. A weird, frustrating, outlandish hope that she’d somehow come back into our lives even though I hated her.
In hindsight, it’s laughable that I ever thought I actually despised her. Guess that’s why it’s 20/20, though. I look back at her in the bed, taking in the red Haute Couture dress she has on and grinning. I shake my head. If Krase had that just lying around, I’m a High Fae prince. He’s my twin, after all, and we’ve been on the same wavelength more than once. I’d bet good money he’s got a few things in his closet that would miraculously fit our human girl perfectly.
With that thought, I leave her room through the main door, closing it softly behind me. I head for Krase’s room. I knock twice and then once more after a pause, our code so he knows it’s me.
‘Come in,’ I hear from inside.
I open the door. Krase is sitting at his desk. As I go in, he shuts his laptop, and I smirk at the glimpse of ladies’ jewelry I see before it closes.
He gets up and comes to me. We regard each other for a moment before we both grin, chuckling a little as we hug each other tightly.
‘Thought you were a goner, brother,’ I say.
‘Aye, so did I.’
I tap the side of my head. ‘You’re well?’
He nods. ‘Better than I have been in months. And you?’
‘I never said I was feeling it.’ I give him a look, and he rolls his eyes.
‘I’m your brother. I knew it was taking you as well. But it isn’t anymore?’
‘No,’ I say. ‘It isn’t anymore. I’m myself.’
‘I’m better, but …’ He frowns. ‘But I can still feel it.Him,I suppose. It’s odd like he’s separate from me, an entity deep inside. I can speak to him, and he answers me. Though he’s a mardy cunt.’
‘What does he want?’
‘For months, he was only motivated by escape from the dark recesses of my mind, power over me, death, mayhem, sex. The usual old-fashioned demon desires.’
I nod at words that echo my own experiences, though I never got so bad as Krase. I could never actually speak to the darkness that lives within me and receive a response even at my worst, and now it’s like it was never there at all.
‘And what does he want now?’ I ask.
‘Jules.’
I tense, wondering if I am going to have to kill my beloved brother after all because I’m not going to let his dark side hurt her.
