Page 12 of Vengeance and Vipers

JULES

I’m quietly weeping as I realize I’m back in the cell at Maddox’s, and I turn around to glare at Krase for his tricks. The fucker just grins at me, cooing at the rat sitting in his hand.

‘Fuck you, Krase,’ I mutter.

He laughs darkly. ‘Soon, Victoria.’

I roll my eyes and force a chuckle of my own. ‘No way in hell, pal.’

Luckily, I’m saved from having to speak to the psycho anymore as I hear the lock turning outside the dungeon.

I sit up, pulling the blankets around me as Maddox enters. He’s carrying a tray of food, and I practically leap up to see what he’s brought, my stomach rumbling loudly.

He puts the tray down on the floor, and I see he also has a small pile of clothes. He throws them into the cell at me without preamble.

‘Put these on.’

I grab them off the floor. It’s a pair of jeans and a green, long-sleeved top. They look familiar.

‘Are these mine?’ I ask.

‘You left them. They were in the laundry when you fled the estate,’ he murmurs as he locks the outer door that leads to his wine cellars and turns back around to face the cells.

He takes a covered plate off the tray and slides it under the door of Krase’s side, along with a cup.

He does the same under mine, and I don’t wait for him to leave. I uncover the plate and fall on the meal like I’ve never seen food before, shoveling it into my mouth and hardly even taking the time to chew it. I don’t even stop to look at what it is. I don’t care. It tastes good. It smells good. But even if it was old, maggoty bread, I’d still be stuffing my face with it to ease the ache in my stomach.

When there’s nothing left, I finally sit back to find Maddox squatting outside my cell, regarding me with an odd look on his face. When he sees I’ve noticed, he stands quickly and peers in at Krase.

The imprisoned incubus hasn’t touched his plate.

‘Not hungry, my friend?’ Maddox asks.

Krase scoffs from the shadows. ‘For my last meal? No, thanks, mate.’

Maddox lets out a slow breath, and I feel my eyebrows rise.

‘You’re going to kill him?’ I ask.

Maddox doesn’t look at me.

‘You can’t!’ I cry, despite his tricks. ‘He survived all this time. He’s your frien—’

Maddox is suddenly throwing open the door to my cell and stalking inside towards me with purpose. I scramble back, losing my blanket in the process. He grabs me and pins me against the wall by my throat, leaning in very close.

‘Do you think I want this?’ he says in my ear. ‘Do you think I want to kill a member of my own clan? My brother?’

‘But why—’

‘He’s rogue. Mad. Can’t be trusted. It’s the most humane thing to do for an incubus like him.’

He squeezes my neck for a split second before he pushes away from me with a curse.

‘You’ve changed,’ I mutter. ‘Two years ago, you would never have done this. You’d have found a way to save him!’

‘You don’t know me, Julia. You don’t know any of us. If it were up to me, you’d still be in the Mountain playing house with Dante. How did you escape anyway? Did you make a deal with him? Did you tell him where the portal was?’

He snorts. ‘Of course, you did. Tell me, how long before he comes through our door looking for revenge?’