Page 57 of Poison Touch (Monarch Vipers #1)

I wanted to believe he truly cared about me.

Fuck, in some demented way, I still do. What he told me might be true.

I really may be all he wants. But I’m not sure any of that matters now.

He’s shown me tonight who he truly is: Viper, a fighter who fights without honor and takes orders from bloodthirsty, greedy men.

I jump down from the pallets with disgust swirling in my gut.

Swallowing down the nausea, I make my way to the exit.

The action in the cage has the crowd’s full attention.

Just before I touch the door handle, someone grabs my arm and pulls me in the opposite direction.

I bend down, using my body weight to strain against them.

They grab my other arm. I kick out my leg to trip them, but they’re ready for the move.

“Let me go!”

“Stop fighting me,” says a deep voice.

They use their strength and size to pull me into a dark corner of the warehouse.

A few people are near, but no one pays us any attention.

I jerk my wrist free of the asshole’s grasp.

Distracting him by pretending I’m rubbing the pain from my wrist, I reach up and grab his mask.

It slides over his head, revealing his face.

“Levi? What the fuck?”

“Hey, Ninja.”

“How did you know it was me?” I lift the fabric of my mask to rest it on my forehead.

Levi shrugs. “Easy, you’re the only chick crazy enough to find her way into an illegal underground fight.”

He has me there. “You know you could have just said, ‘Hey, it’s me, Levi. Can I talk to you for a sec?’ instead of kidnapping me and dragging me into a dark corner.”

“This is hardly kidnapping.”

“At least you don’t deny the dragging me into a dark corner part. Anyway, what do you want?” I glance over his shoulder to the fighting ring.

Levi looks toward the cage. “Don’t worry, your boy can handle himself.”

I follow his gaze to see Python barely able to tap out. Blood covers the floor under his face. The crowd roars, sounding pleased to be leaving a little bit richer.

“See, I told you,” Levi says.

I scoff and turn back to him. “First off, no one in that cage is my boy. Second, I don’t give a shit.”

He chuckles as he shakes his head. “I’m going to call your bluff on both counts.”

“Call whatever you want. I’m going home.”

He grabs the sleeve of my hoodie as I turn to leave. “Not yet, little Ninja.” He glances at the silver ring and the bar through my eyebrow. “Why did you come here tonight?”

“Answer my question first. Why did you want to get me alone?” The crowd amps up. It takes all of my will not to turn around to see what’s got them riled up.

“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “What a crock of shit.”

He shrugs. “It’s the truth.” Leveling his gaze on me as if searching for my truth, he narrows his eyes. “Now it’s your turn.”

I try to look anywhere but at him. “It’s personal.”

Using his thumb, he twirls the ring on his middle finger around. “Does your reason relate to what happened to a certain fighter not too long ago?”

Of course, he’s talking about the night of the fight that forever changed my life. I don’t want to discuss that night with him or any of Venom—not yet. “No.”

He looks up from his silver rings. His expression turns somber. “You really shouldn’t lie.”

My patience is thinning. “What do you want?”

I’m curious to see how Edge takes the win.

But I already know. If I turned around to look at him, he would give nothing away that he was happy.

His body language would be as cloaked as his face behind his mask.

He’d show the crowd only what he wants them to see: a fierce, cold-blooded fighter as the ref holds his hand in the air, declaring him the winner.

“We didn’t kill your father.”

The words are like a muffled declaration trying to be heard over a freight train. I must have misheard him. I had to have misheard him. I can only stare at Levi as the announcer declares the winner. Viper.

Regaining my composure, I say, “I know who killed my father. Edge just took him down in the cage. He’s part of Venom, just like you.

Python is wearing the same mask Venom wears, exactly like the one you’re wearing now and the one Edge has on his face.

” I wave my arms around like a crazy person.

“You’re all Venom. So, yeah, you did kill my dad!

” I don’t care that I’m basically yelling, “Murderers!” in front of hundreds of people.

Levi shifts his attention from me to something or someone over my shoulder.

I close my eyes, having a horrible feeling about what’s getting ready to go down.

I was so close—seconds away from getting out of here—so fucking close to fleeing.

The instant the hand grips my waist, I know it’s too late.

My lungs deflate as the trapped air swooshes out in a harsh breath.

Levi purses his lips, then nods to Edge. “I’ll let him explain it.”

I smack Edge’s hand away as I turn to face him. “What’s there to explain? I think it’s pretty fucking simple. Venom killed my father.”

Edge doesn’t even blink. “It’s not that simple.”

Frustration ebbs into fury. The edges of my vision darken, shadows closing in on either side of me.

“I saw Python kill my father with his bare hands. My father was down, unconscious, and still, he kept beating him, slamming his fists into his face and body.” My voice cracks.

“Venom gave Python the order or permission or whatever the fuck you want to call it. I watched it all happen with my own eyes. Python could have refused, but he didn’t. ”

Levi slides his mask from my hand. Slipping it over his head and down his face, he backs away, disappearing into the crowd behind us.

Edge’s dangerous gaze is unwavering behind his mask. “Like I said, it’s more complicated than that.”

“I don’t give a fuck how complicated it is!

My father is dead because of you!” My voice is rising, but I don’t care who hears me.

I start in the direction of the exit. Foolish me glances at the octagon one last time.

Over the crowd, Python is being dragged away.

His body is bloodied and broken. Not again.

My hand covers my mouth. “No. No. No—” I whisper.

Regurgitated feelings claw up my throat.

I can’t watch another person die in the cage.

As much as I hate Python for what he did, and as much as I want him to pay, I don’t want it to be Edge to do it.

Edge, the guy I’m falling for, the one who wasn’t the one who killed my dad.

He can’t be as bad as the rest of them. Can he?

Warm fingers slide under my chin. Gently, Edge tilts my face back to his. “I didn’t kill him.”

Does he want a badge of honor or something?

Python can’t even stand. All of his dignity was ripped away by the guy standing in front of me.

I slowly shake my head in disbelief. Wet streams of tears fall down my cheeks.

I can’t be near him for another second. People start moving toward the exit. I jerk away from Edge and follow them.

“Ninja,” Edge calls after me. I slow just enough to hear him warn, “Be careful.”

I pull my mask down over my face and slip into the crowd.