Page 82 of Vengeance and Vipers
I glance at him. ‘I’m glad they’re still here.’
Iron says nothing, and we keep to our slow pace.
The breeze picks up for a moment, and I shiver a little even though I’m wrapped up in a thick jacket. The air has a definite, wintery bite to it now. Though I suppose we’re well into Autumn now.
I gaze out at the mountains.
‘I love it here,’ I say, not really meaning for him to answer and ignoring his soft snort.
‘How did you do it?’ he suddenly asks, twisting around and snatching my reins to halt Pitch.
‘Do what?’ I ask, taken aback by his sudden anger.
‘Get Axel and Jayce to protect you in the Mountain? Make them and Krase fall for you?’
His questions take me by surprise, but before I can formulate any kind of response, he’s talking again.
‘I mean, fuck, Jules!’ He runs a hand through his short, dark hair. ‘Krase’s mind wasgone. We said goodbye to him! But now he’s justfine?’
‘I don’t know what you want me to say,’ I tell him. ‘I don’t know. I promise you I don’t. If I am doing something, it’s not on purpose.’
‘Bullshit,’ he hisses.
He leans forward, staring into my eyes as if he’s trying to catch me in a lie. ‘You’re definitely a human, and that one little conjure you have on you wouldn’t explain it,’ he says half to himself. ‘But I can’t tell what it does … not unless I explore it.’
His words about my conjure make me freeze. It’s been working since whatever Krase did to fix it in the dungeon. But what if Iron tampers with it? Removes it? What if hesees? His fingers reach out to touch me, and I rear back, feeling like I might throw up.
‘Please don’t,’ I whisper.
His eyes flick up to mine, and he scoffs, his hand going back to his reins.
‘You’re a great actress,’ he mutters, giving them a snap. ’Come on.’
His horse walks off, and I follow on mine, going a little faster to catch up and trying to cover my upset. He’s right, I am a great actress. But I know this isn’t over. He’s not going to let it go. He’s going to find out eventually, and the thought fills me with dread.
We’re silent for a while until he looks over at me again.
‘You know, before the Mountain, I had little fae magick,’ he says.
‘I figured,’ I murmur, making sure my voice sounds relaxed andnotupset now.
He looks at me sharply, and I find myself trying to explain.
‘I just mean … when I was here before, I never felt it, and I heard the others saying that it was new for you.’
He sighs, looking away. ‘I wanted it. All my fucking life, I wanted it. After my dad died, my mom sent me to her family in Ireland to learn, to try to unlock my power when it didn’t manifest naturally like other fae children. My GiGi spent hours with me, teaching me to use magick I didn’t have. It took three years for her to give up and tell the Council there was no hope for me.’
Iron stops the horse at a fork in the road. ‘Do you know what the fae do with kids who don’t show any power these days?’
I shake my head.
‘They kick them out, Jules. Disown them. My mom wasn’t even allowed to talk to me after that.’ He snorts. ‘Guess I was lucky I wasn’t born a hundred years ago, or they’d have killed me.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I say, resisting the urge to touch him because I know he doesn’t want that. ‘Maybe they’d take you back now that you have some …’ I trail off at his vehement look.
‘They didn’t want me when I was ‘useless’. Why would I want them now?’ he snarls.
We turn down the dirt track to the left.
