Page 9 of Villains and Vengeance
‘Merely a partnership between you and my clan.’
Dante lets out a chuckle and it turns into a loud laugh. We’ve got him.
‘I can make you generals. That’s it and it comes with power second only to my own. But she is to be bound and at my feet within ten days or the deal’s off and you all get dead.’
‘Agreed,’ Maddox says. ‘But we keep our own autonomy. We aren’t your subjects.’
The demon king shakes his head. ‘Well, you have some balls, Maddox, I’ll give you that. We’ll see how big they actually are in a few days I guess.’
Maddox nods.
‘Silas.’ The king beckons the waiting vampire forward. ‘Take Maddox and his clan to the Clusters and give them whatever they need.’
CHAPTER3
JULES
I’m shaken, still peering through the alcove as Silas leads Maddox and his clan from Dante’s throne room.
I couldn’t hear them. For once, Dante’s booming voice was muted and I was too high up to catch most of their conversation.
I’m still trying to figure out what their deal was about when I notice that Dante is going back to his room. I follow, sliding along the passage to watch him. At least I heard where Silas is taking them, so I’ll be able to spy on them later. For now though, I keep Dante in my sights, trying to glean anything from his actions because something big just happened in there. I know it.
I’ve looked on more than once as Dante has cleaved newcomers in two; others who dared demand to see him when they got here. But he didn’t do that to Maddox and his clan. Why? What do they have that Dante wants?
Then I hear a name on his lips that has my blood freezing in an instant.
‘Victoria,’ he taunts, singing it up at the ceiling like he knows I’m watching right now.
No, that’s not my real name, but it’s the alias I gave to Maddox and his crew. Victoria is the name they know me as.
My hand covers my mouth. I’m what they have, or at least what they think they can get, I realize. Whatever deal they just made between them, I’m a part of it.
Did they come here to the Mountain to find me, or is it just unlucky happenstance that they recognized my scent when they got here and decided to use Dante’s clear obsession with me as a way to get a seat at his table?
Either way, that means that Maddox and his clan are going to be looking for me too. I shudder as I remember Jayce’s wink and his smirk when Axel heard me and looked up at my hiding spot.
I knew I was going to have to be more careful until I could get out of here, but this … I shake my head at my misfortune. I got to know Maddox’s clan pretty well over the weeks I spent with them, the conversations I had with them under the guise of finding them a viable mate. I know things about them that many don’t; like Axel’s incredible hearing, Jayce’s sense of smell, a little of Iron’s past in the military before the world found out about supes and they kicked him out. Half of Maddox’s clan are natural born trackers. I didn’t see Krase, but maybe the authorities didn’t catch him. He must still be on the outside somewhere. I feel for him. His clan was important to him. He’ll be lonely without them.
Ugh!Why do I care? It’s been two years! Rule one is never get emotionally involved with your marks. I can admit now that I skirted that tenet when it came to Maddox and the others. I liked them … even though they were demons. But I did the job I was there to do and those bridges were all burned in a ball of fire when I left. It was them or me and I always choose me.
Andit was only money to them. To me it was my continued freedom.
I silence the excuses and put everything that happened back then from my mind. I need my head in the game.
I peer back down at Dante and see that he’s now in demon form, sitting naked on his bed, his cock hardening while he plays with it.
This is new. In all the times I’ve watched him, I’ve never seen him do anything like this. He doesn’t even fuck the inmates. I watch for a second longer in morbid curiosity but realize quickly, once he starts fisting his dick, that I’m utterly repulsed and do not enjoy being a voyeur. I shift backward so I can’t see him working his cock anymore.
‘I’m going to tear you apart,’he growls with a low moan.
He’s not thinking about me, is he?
Of course he is, Jules. You’re the only woman he’s probably smelled in years.
Feeling icky, I leave him, moving quickly up the side tunnel.
When I get to the hole that leads out to the main passage, my stomach finally revolts and I throw up the Twinkie I ate earlier on the floor next to me.
