Page 52 of Vengeance and Vipers
It’s not fair, I think to myself as I pause at the closed library door. But what is fair? I know by now thatfairis for supes like Maddox, not humans like me. Happiness and a decent life aren’t things that will just drop into my lap. If I want them, I have to take them. Imbued with determination, I knock on the door softly, knowing by its position that Maddox is in there using the library as his study at the moment.
‘Come in.’
I take a breath and enter.
He’s not at his desk. He’s in one of the plush, high-backed chairs by the empty fireplace, working on a tablet.
I disregard his sneer when he sees who’s come. ‘I need to speak to you about our deal.’
‘Reneging on it already, Julia?’
‘No, of course not. But your clan is making it almost impossible to keep to it,’ I tell him. ‘Jayce and Axel have tracked me down several times today. I’m doing everything I can to follow your rules, but I can’t be held accountable if your clan—’
‘You really do need that money, don’t you, darling,’ he interrupts, looking up from the screen. ‘What for?’
His eyes move over the black dress I’m currently wearing. ‘Clothes, perhaps? Jewelry? To be honest, I can’t see where it all goes.’
I shift uncomfortably under his gaze.
‘What else would you do for it, I wonder?’ he continues, rising. ‘How important is it?’
I step out of his way as he returns his tablet to the desk, ignoring questions that I hope are rhetorical because I shudder to think what tricks he might want me to perform to get paid if he continues in this vein.
‘We made a deal,’ I say, ‘and regardless of Axel and Jayce’s actions, I’m ready to stick to it. But it’s been made clear to me that the fault will be laid at my door if we’re found alone together, no matter the circumstances.’
‘Has it?’ Maddox asks, his piercing eyes holding mine captive as he sits behind his desk.
‘Yes,’ I breathe, my hand touching my neck subconsciously.
He doesn’t miss it, his gaze sharpening on my throat. He frowns.
‘I’ll speak to them.’
I nod and turn to leave.
‘Jules?’ he calls, and I swing back. ‘You’ll come to me if you’re in any difficulty with the others. Daemon and Iron can be—’
I can’t help my scoff. ‘Daemon and Iron are exactly what you want them to be. They were in the Mountain, and they are now. And I wouldn’t come to you for help with them even if they pierced me with a poison arrow, and you were the only one who had the antidote, Julian.’
I retreat from the library, pettily leaving the door wide open so he has to get up and close it.
I head for the grand staircase, intending on spending the rest of the day alone in my room, but instead find myself walking past the stairs, stopping outside the Billiard Room. The door opens just as I get there, and I enter, not realizing what’s happening until the door shuts behind me, and I’m met with four sets of eyes.
My mind clears, and I forget my fear of Iron. I walk right up to him and slap him across his cheek so hard his head turns. The crack of my hand against his skin is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever heard.
‘How dare you? How dare you use your fae compulsion on me here!’
ChapterNine
IRON
Igrab her wrist when she attempts to hit me again and squeeze it a little, angry that she’d just assume I forced her to come here even though I know it’s warranted, and I can see how upset she is by the tears in her eyes. I know her head is back in the Mountain in that room where I hurt her.
‘It wasn’t me,’ I hiss, inclining my head towards Krase, who’s holding one of the little fae objects he and Jayce like to play with, his eyes sightless and clouded over with magick.
‘You?’
Her broken tone has me loosening my grip on her arm to a soft caress without thinking and then letting her go completely in pseudo-alarm.
