Page 18 of Vendetta

“Sarpedon.” She says. “I left him…” She turns to face me properly. “If you want me to stay here then I need to bring him.”

“Sarpedon is your pet?” I say as if I don’t already know it. As if I’m not aware of the frozen mice and god knows what else she orders to feed the thing.

“Yes.” She says almost defiantly as if she expects me to challenge her, as if she expects me to want her to give up this part of herself for me.

“I’ve already sorted it.” I state. “Some of my men have brought him over. I had a new enclosure built for him. It’s bigger than what he’s used to but I doubt he’ll be disappointed.”

She shakes her head as a grin creeps across her face. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I had a vested interest in doing so.”

“Because you want me not to fight you?” She says as if she’s even made an attempt.

“No Eleri, that’s not it at all.” I reply. “I want you to be happy. This is your home and that snake is part of your life. I’m not so cruel as to demand you leave everything behind for me.”

She sighs looking almost relieved by my words and curls back into my arms.

“You might like him.” She says.

I smirk. I’m not a pet person. Dogs have a use. Cats are arseholes but I like them for it. Snakes? Snakes are a whole different thing entirely, but this creature is important to her, to my woman, so I guess it’s important to me too now.

I start circling her skin again, soothing her almost, though in truth her presence is soothing me. For a moment I think of the men who maimed her, who dared to touch her and my anger flares.

I gave the photo over to Blaine. He doesn’t know who the man is and why I want him but he’s already got some guys on it. And when he’s found I’m going to present him to Eleri as a gift. I’m going to carve him up, cut him to pieces and I hope she has the tenacity to watch as I do it.

I want her to watch.

I want her to see how he suffers.

He scarred her flesh, he took half her sight, but her wounds will be nothing compared to the agony I will make him suffer.

I pause listening to her breathing. She’s not asleep. She’s not even trying but she seems content to lie here and pretend and I think inthis moment I like her even more for it.

It’s been a rough twelve hours since I took her. Since I agreed to her deal and made her mine. It’s not how I planned this. In my head I would have wooed her more. Shown her exactly what it means to be my queen, what it means to belong to me.

She would know by now what my intentions were and this strange ambiguity wouldn’t exist.

When I’ve rested I will make sure she is happy here. That she learns her way around, that my staff know her and treat her with respect. That she has everything she needs.

But right now I need my sleep. I need to get my own energy back.

And then I can deal with the larger problem, the real problem, the reason certain individuals think they even stand a chance of usurping me; my brother.

Her

Islip from the bed. As much as I enjoy being in his arms I can’t lay here any longer or I think I’ll go insane.It’s been hours since he fell asleep. Hours that I’ve lain here with my head spinning over what this is, what this could be.

I’m bored. Bored of pretending to sleep. And I’m starving too.

I look down at him, at Nico, and he looks so deeply asleep I wonder if he would even notice a bomb going off.

But as I let out a low sigh his face clearly registers the noise and I realise I need to get out of this room. I need to leave him to it or I’ll wake him up and I don’t want to do that.

He clearly needs his sleep. He needs to rest.

I grab the same silk robe from the bathroom I used yesterday and wrap it around myself.

As quietly as I can I tiptoe out into the hallway beyond and shut the door. There must be a kitchen here. Even if all they have is some measly toast and coffee I’d settle for that. Hell, I’d settle for anything right now because with all the drama of yesterday I didn’t have any dinner and I’m practically ravenous.

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