Page 21 of Villains and Vengeance
Thing was, I liked them. A lot. I almost didn’t take the opportunity to get into that safe and clean out their accounts. But then the conjure that kept me hidden ran out of juice and there was no other choice. I sometimes wonder what might have …
Ugh! Pull yourself together, woman! You aren’t going to survive if you keep letting those thoughts in.
One day I’ll be able to stop hiding, I promise myself for the millionth time. I’ll have friends and a family again. It’s not possible right now, that’s all. One day someone will care about me again and I’ll care about them back.
Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but I have to believe my life won’t always be like this.
* * *
Daemon
I jammy knife into the rough wood of the table.
‘Fuck! She was here,’ I yell, pulling it out and throwing it across the room. It hits the stone wall and clatters to the floor. ‘We were out there looking for her and she was here!’
Iron picks up the knife he made and frowns at it.
‘Sorry,’ I mutter like a sullen child.
‘At least Axel is alive,’ he says.
‘How do we even know that?’ Jayce snarls and for once I agree with him.
‘She’s a con artist, not a killer,’ Maddox sighs. ‘And, knowing Axel, it’s only a matter of time before he turns the tables on her and brings her to us.’
I sit down, staring at her threatening message as I seethe. I blamed myself when Maddox kicked me out of the clan. I was the one she approached, the one she got to trust her first. I was the one who brought her in and vouched for her. It was a long time before I finally realized the truth. All of it was her fault, not mine, not even Jayce’s even though he did open the safe before her very sharp eyes.
I think back to the day I met her.
She was at the wine bar we liked to frequent because the supe girls were usually up for some fun, no contract required. Maddox was going through one of his phases of not wanting any human on-call girls at the house to feed from, so when we got hungry, we usually went there. Victoria was at the bar dressed in something stylish and expensive. She didn’t look out of place though it was clear she was mostly, if not one-hundred percent, human.
She was celebrating something, a glass of Champagne in her hand, the bottle next to her in an ice-bucket. She caught my eye as soon as I saw her and, despite the attention she was getting from a small crowd of male supes who’d gathered around her, her gaze met mine and she smiled.
I was lost. I practically elbowed my way through the throng to get to her and when I did, she gifted me with a glass and said, ‘There you are.’
I go with it,nostrils flaring at how delectable she smells. ‘Sorry I’m a little late,’ I say.
The other, disappointed males drift away and she takes a drink, eyes not leaving me.
‘Sorry I waylaid you,’ she says, ‘but it was getting a little crowded. Are you meeting someone here?’
‘Yes. You.’
She lets out a small laugh. ‘You’re an incubus, aren’t you?’
I nod. ‘And you?’
‘Human, I’m afraid,’ she pouts, but there’s a twinkle in her eye as she says it.
What I wouldn’t give to have Maddox contract her to us, I think. If only she was even a tiny bit fae or shifter the rules wouldn’t apply. But no humans for us unless they sign the paper.
‘Are you celebrating something?’ I ask, gesturing to the bottle of bubbly.
‘As a matter of fact, yes. Today, two of my shifter clients met for the first time. They got along so well!’ She leans forward. ‘Scent match too!’
‘You’re a match-maker?’ I ask.
I’ve heard of them and I wonder if Maddox has ever considered one. We’ve all noticed the changes in Krase and we’re going to need to find a mate pretty soon if we don’t want him going rogue.
