Page 65 of Vipers and Vendettas
She lets out a grunt of pain but looks more angry than anything else.
‘Remember me, cherie?’ he says in her ear, scraping a fang down the side of her neck.
I inch forward, knowing that if I can just get close enough, I can throw a spell at him without risking hitting Jules or just rip his head off with my bare hands before he has the chance to bite her.
But he tuts at me and pulls Jules’ hair hard, making her squeal in pain. ‘Not another step, demon, or I rip out her pretty little throat.’
His eyes fall to my shoulder, and I look down to see a dart protruding from me.
Sonofabitch.
I pull it out and let it fall to the ground.
‘I thought I got you.’ He winks as I fall to one knee a second later, my energy being sapped quickly.
I snarl at him as I try to stand but fall back into the wall, my arms and legs practically useless. I try to throw a conjure to at least stun him, but I can’t reach my magick now, either.
Fuck!
‘Iron,’ Jules cries, struggling in the vamp’s grip.
‘Relax, cherie; it’s a human dose. He’ll be fine. So long as you cooperate.’
She stills in the vamp’s arms.
‘I do remember you, actually,’ Jules says through her clamped jaw, her voice strained. ‘Pierre, right?’
‘Did I make an impression on you, mon sucre d’orge?’
She lets out a derisive sound. ‘Only because you were a creep that I made a mental note to stay away from.’
‘A creep?’ He gives a low chuckle and clutches her closer. ‘You don’t know the half of it. I was Mackenzie’s handler when he was ours.’ He lets out a long groan and licks up the side of her cheek. ‘The things I made that demon do while he was chained, the things I let the clients do … They’d make your human blood curdle, cherie. Perhaps I’ll get the chance to show you, ah?’
I can only watch helplessly from my half-propped-up position by the wall as his hands run over Jules, but she doesn’t struggle. In fact, she seems relaxed.
‘You can threaten all you like,’ she says. ‘But we both knowhewon’t be happy with you or your coven if you harm me.’
This gives the vamp pause, but then he just grins. ‘Tamadrielle won’t begrudge us a little time to play with ahuman, so long as you’re mostly whole when we hand you over to him.’
My fists clench as I try not to imagine what he has planned for her, what the vamps will do if she’s in their power, but Jules doesn't even look scared now.
She lets out alaughand it doesn’t sound forced.
‘You really have no idea who he is, do you? What he’s capable of,’ she says, continuing to snigger in Pierre’s arms. Her eyes lock with his. ‘I hope I’m there when you realize how fucked your entire coven is just for knowing his name.’
‘We’ll see,’ the vamp hisses as his hand delves deep into his pocket. ‘You know, McCathrie makes the rest of us look like kittens. He loves playing with humans, taking everything they love from them as they can do nothing but watch … and break.’
He half pulls out a link key, and my heart lurches. I can’t let him leave with her. I start trying to move closer while he’s still trying to extract it. It’s caught on his coat, so his attention isn’t on me.
My muscles are already beginning to work again, my body metabolizing whatever was on the dart much quicker than a human would.
But it’s not enough.
‘I hope I’m there to watch McCathrie fuck that babe from your womb,’ he snarls.
I feel something in the room change at the vamp’s threat, but I can’t put my finger on what. I keep my eye on Jules as I keep trying to get up.
She’s no longer smiling. In fact, her expression is completely blank, and I’m afraid she’s finally realized how dangerous Pierre and the rest of the coven are.
