Page 112 of Vengeance and Vipers

But she moves, angles her body away from us, wraps her arms around herself, and leans against the wall. I can’t help my sharp intake of breath when I see her back, and I hear a similar sound from Daemon.

I thought the front was bad, but the back is worse. More knife cuts, more burns, signs of multiple whippings.

I swallow hard.

‘Jules?’

She lets out a harsh breath, the soft sobs ebbing. I feel her anger just before she surges off the wall.

She pushes me so hard that I stagger back a couple of steps.

‘It’s okay,’ I say quietly. ‘It’s okay.’

She wipes the tears from her cheeks and levels us both with such a look of malice that it makes me wince a little.

She looks directly at Daemon, and her lip quivers. Then her eyes find me. Her sudden laugh is brittle and broken.

‘No, sweetheart,’ I mutter, horror rising as she makes a show of turning for me like she’s modeling an outfit.

All I can do is stand still, like a macabre voyeur in a play I’m not in control of.

‘Read them all,’ she invites in a whisper. ‘You can, right, Iron? What do they say? I’ve always wondered.’

‘Who hurt you, baby?’ Daemon asks again.

‘What, this?’ she asks, gesturing to her body as she picks up one of the jackets and some pants off the chair.

‘I would welcome this torture a thousand times over if it meant I never had to see you ever again,’ she says to Daemon stiffly.

With that, she walks out of the stall.

Neither of us try to stop her. We don’t move at all.

‘It’s fae,’ I mutter.

‘What?’ Daemon asks from behind me.

‘The scars. I thought they were just burns, but it’s fae. Old fae.’

‘Why would a fae brand power symbols into a human with no magick?’ he asks.

‘I don’t know. Fuck!’

I round on him. ‘What the fuck was that?’

‘She had a conjure on her. She was hiding something. I thought—’

‘You have no idea what you’ve done, you selfish asshole,’ I mutter. ‘Maddox was right to kick you out. You’re not one of us. Not anymore, Daemon.’

He freezes, opening his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out for a minute.

‘Fuck this,’ he mutters, striding from the stall and elbowing past me on the way out.

‘Shit!’ I run my hands through my hair, pulling at it.

I let myself feel her properly for the first time since the club when this bond flared to life. The pain that burns its way through me and forces the air from my lungs tells me I need to find her now.

I leave the stable and turn down the path towards the house, using our connection to feel for her since she still doesn’t have a scent, thanks to Krase.