Page 76 of Villains and Vengeance
I don’t look at him. ‘No?’
‘Did you notice that Krase isn’t here with us, or has that escaped your keen senses?’
I do raise my eyes to regard him now because I have wondered about that a time or two over the past few days. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jayce appear at the threshold of the room.
‘I just figured he wasn’t with you guys when you were caught and sent here,’ I say.
Jayce springs forward, and I can feel his fear as he gets closer.
‘No!’ he says, pulling Maddox back.
‘She should know,’ Maddox answers lightly, his lips twisting.
‘I don’t want her to!’
‘I don’t care what you want! You would destroy this clan! You don’t get a say!’
‘What should I know?’ I ask, looking back and forth between them, a feeling of dread making me attempt to rise on my shaky legs.
Maddox pulls me up the rest of the way by my shirt. ‘Want to know where Krase is,Victoria? He went mad. Became a lunatic. By the end, he was a danger to himself and all of us. We couldn’t find a cure for him. You and your promises that you could find us a compatible mate were his last hope and then you stole that money and you ran … and you tookourbrother’s,’ he looks meaningfully at Jayce, ‘only chance with you.’
I’m shaking my head at his words. ‘No.’
This is a trick, a lie. I’m just a hustler. I con, I don’t kill.
Maddox gives me a rough shake. ‘Look at me, Jules! I’m not lying. Krase is dead. Because of you.’
I look helplessly at Jayce, my denial dying on my lips when I see his face and feel his grief and loss.
Iron was right. I am poison.
‘I’m sorry.’ I say, my heart feeling like it’s being cleaved in two. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Krase was … I didn’t know …’
‘It’s okay,’ he says, and I wince as his pain runs through me like a shock of electricity.
Axel comes into the room as well.
‘What did you do to her now?’ he snarls, pulling me away from Maddox and into his arms.
I see Iron and Daemon are in here now too.
‘He told her about Krase,’ Jayce says quietly. ‘When I realized you had no idea he was dead, I didn’t want you to know the part you played. I don’t blame you for it, Jules.’
Maddox scoffs. ‘Who else should you blame if not her? She wasted our time, stole the money we needed to give him the best prospects for survival. She took his chances down to nil, Jayce. And now you love her suddenly? Don’t you see how laughable this is?’
‘She’s our mate!’ he growls, the bombshell making everyone in the room freeze including me.
‘He’s right,’ Axel stuns me further by saying.
‘Bullshit!’ Daemon says. ‘This bitch has you both twisted in knots. She’s a human. How could she be your —ourmate?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jayce replies angrily, ‘but she is. I can feel her.’ He puts his fist over his heart. ‘In here.’
‘This is insane,’ Daemon mutters, whirling away and stomping around the room.
‘I agree,’ Maddox says, turning back to me.
He takes my chin in a hard grip and makes me look at him. ‘Did you really have no idea about Krase?’
