Page 94 of Villains and Vengeance
‘What? You wanted it to be you?’ He laughs. ‘Fuck you, Iron. I took one for the team back there.’
I push him again. ‘The hell you did!’
‘What’s the problem? Every incubus at that table got fed. I understood the assignment. You’re just jealous because you didn't get your hands on her, because she didn’t fall apart inyourarms.’
‘That's not what I mean,’ I snarl.
‘It’s not normal,’ Maddox mutters from his seat.
‘What’s not?’ I ask.
‘Don’t be obtuse. No one human can usually feed an entire table of incubi like that and survive.’
I frown. ‘I thought she was valuable to Dante. Why would he be trying to kill her already?’
‘Is that why she passed out?’ Daemon asks.
Maddox just stares at the floor, but he answers us both. ‘I doubt Dante would know what a human can endure from a feeding, not being one of us. Probably why she was unconscious by the end, yes, but it still doesn’t make any sense.’
I smirk at Daemon’s expression. ‘You didn't think it was the pleasure you gave her, did you?’
The look he gives me makes me scoff because it's clear that he did. I turn to Maddox again.
‘This doesn’t feel right,’ I say. ‘And I want that on record.’
‘Noted,’ Maddox says, finally standing up and actually looking at me, ‘but we're following the plan. Even if we wanted to save her, how would we now that she's in Dante’s hands? There's no way of getting her out of here.’
I throw my ass down onto a boulder with a curse.
‘This isn't right,’ I mutter again. ‘Leaving a hapless human woman in this place, no matter what she's done. No human deserves this.’
‘Debatable,’ Daemon mutters, but at my glare, he nods. ‘But I actually agree with Iron. We should be taking her with us.’
‘Krase is gone because of her. Even if her part in that is forgiven, what's done is done,’ Maddox says, sitting down again on a rock in front of me.
‘How long until the window?’ I ask.
‘Ninety minutes, maybe a little less.’
‘Aren’t you afraid she’s going to crack and tell Dante where the portal is before we leave?’ Daemon asks.
‘No.’ Maddox gives him a tight smile. ‘I let her steal the arania venom from my pocket.’
I sit up. ‘For Dante?’
‘No, she’ll use it on herself,’ Maddox mutters.
‘How do you know?’
Maddox regards me stonily, not giving anything away. ‘I just do.’
‘And you let her have it even knowing that she was going to paralyze herself to save us?’
‘She isn’t doing it for us,’ Maddox sneers. ‘Do you really believe she’d let a demon, even the King in the Mountain, one-up her?’
‘You really think it’s her ego driving her?’ I ask doubtfully.
‘Yes,’ Maddox answers readily. ‘Or pride at least, coupled with her beast’s well-being.’
