Page 66 of Villains and Vengeance
I frown at him.
He clears his throat. ‘I’m aware I don’t embody the cliché. Also, I don’t practice anymore. I don’t sell conjures and I can’t help you get out of here.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘I mean if I could make a window out of this place, why the fuck would I still be here?’
‘Indeed,’ I mutter.
‘So why have you come then?’ His eyes take me in and he scowls. ‘I hate visitors.’
‘I’m not a visitor,’ I say, hoping he isn’t going to go off on a tangent while I’m cooling my heels out here in the tunnel with some dark creature creeping up behind me. ‘I need arania venom. I assume one in your position can obtain such a thing.’
He gives me a thumbs up. ‘That I can do. I probably have some.’
He shuts the door in my face and I hear rustling inside the room. Something crashes and there’s a loud curse. It opens again a moment later and he’s holding a tiny bottle.
‘You’re in luck. Had a bit left over.’
I don’t ask what from.
‘Payment?’
I hold out the gold ring with my family crest on it. It belonged to my father and his before him. It was just about the only thing besides the house that the old bastard didn’t sell in my youth when times were hard and I’m loath to part with it, but the arania venom could mean saving my clan.
The mage looks at it for a moment and then snatches it, giving it a perusal.
‘That’ll do.’
My eyes narrow as he throws the heirloom over his shoulder. I hear it clatter to the floor somewhere in the room and I get ready to rush the door in case he tries to shut it without giving me what I came here for.
‘One drop is all you need. This is enough for five.’
He thrusts the tiny, blue bottle he has pinched between two of his fingers into my hand. Then he nods, gives me a salute, and slams the door in my face again.
I’m a bit confused at the mage’s behavior as I stare at the vial with the tiniest amount of black liquid in the bottom. He’s not like the pompous members of that order who I’ve met previously. Though, in fairness, the ones I know belong to a London society established in the 1820’s so self-importance is practically a prerequisite to join. I doubt he’s one of them.
I unstopper the bottle and take a sniff. Sweet and floral. The light scent definitely belies its potency.
There are many reasons arania venom is so prized, but one of them is that it doesn’t take much to induce paralysis, which is what I need it for.
‘You may wish to re-think your attack,’ I murmur without looking away from my new acquisition.
The scraggly creature currently trying to silently tip-toe up behind me pauses and then moves backward slowly into an alcove close by.
‘A wise choice,’ I say as I go past and I hear it hiss angrily in response.
My quest complete, I give it no more thought as I stow the bottle in my breast pocket and make my way back up to the Cluster with a small smile playing on my lips. I have a proper plan now and it’s going to ensure we all escape from this hellhole while Jules gets her just desserts.
CHAPTER14
JULES
Istretch my body long with a groan, feeling better than I have in weeks and wondering why until it all comes back in a second. I crack open one eye. Jayce’s arms are around me. A quick survey of the bunker shows me Axel isn’t here.
I blink and shift my body away from Jayce’s, realizing my mistake in moving when his arms tighten around me.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he whispers.
‘I—’ I start, but then I frown at him, remembering the food he brought, the things he and Axel did after, thenon-feeding.
I don’t know what to think and I don’t like it because it’s not just them who seem to be drawn to me. I’m drawn to them too. I mean I was before too. It’s why I stayed too long in that mansion and got comfortable. It’s why it was so hard to leave. And that’s why I had to.
