Page 18 of Vengeance and Vipers

I shiver a little as I feel its magick, and it makes the other conjures on me tingle, the one Iron put on me that I can’t do anything about and the one I had from before that Krase somehow fixed after Dante broke it when he touched the brand.

I wrap my arms around myself as I remember being on that bed, unable to do anything but lie there while he touched me, hurt me. Even though it can’t have been real because my body is completely healed from everything he did. I still can’t work out what really happened, but it keeps rolling around in my head without me wanting it to.

‘Stop torturing yourself,’ I whisper.

I go back and sit on the blankets I’ve piled up on top of the stone to try to stop the cold from seeping through. The worst part of this is having nothing to do down here. Maddox appears once a day to bring food and, other than that, it’s inane conversation with Crazy Krase,

Sometimes, he sits at the bars between our cells and just stares at me for hours. Other times, he talks to himself about something he needs to find, but he doesn’t look around for whatever he’s lost. Most of what he says makes no sense, but he gets himself all riled up and throws himself at the bars. He does it when I least expect it, making me scream involuntarily at the sounds of him losing it. He likes tohearmy fear, I think, because he can’t smell it on me.

The sun has moved down low by the time I hear Maddox today. He’s later than he was yesterday, and my stomach is clenching in anticipation of food.

I rush to the front of my cell to get my meal, already salivating at the clank of the keys like a Pavlovian dog, excited to have some kind of interaction to break up the monotonous hours down here.

Maddox enters with the trays stacked on top of each other. He sees me by the front, but he takes his time, making me wait as he gives Krase his food first. I try to stay patient because I know he’s doing it on purpose to mess with me.

I fail.

‘You’re very good at playing the bad-guy, sadistic jailor,’ I find my errant mouth saying.

‘Thank you,’ he answers without missing a beat as he stands outside my cell with the tray, making no move to give it to me.

He quirks a brow, and I move back to the slab, jumping up onto it and sitting down because if he thinks I’m going to beg him for food, he can go fuck himself.

I’d rather die.

But he surprises me by putting it down and sliding it under the bars without much more delay.

I get up and go over to it a little warily, taking up the cover and finding a hearty stew with some bread.

‘This is my favorite,’ I say with some shock.

‘Yes.’

I look up and regard him even more warily. ‘Last meal?’ I quip and side-eye Krase because Maddox hasn’t killed him yet like he said he was going to.

‘No, but Axel made it, and there was some left over. I remember how much you enjoyed it before.’

He stands in front of my cell, and although I’d rather wait and eat without being stared at, I can’t. I dive into it with a sound of appreciation, the taste of buttery meat and carrots, of the gravy and peas making me remember when I last had this. It was the night before I left. We all sat in the dining room and ate together, drank fine wine. We’d all talked and laughed, and, at the end, I’d fallen asleep between Maddox and Axel on the couch.

I’d been happy and content.

And that’s why, the next day, I’d destroyed it all and left.

The memory makes me sad, and when I glance up at Maddox, he has a look in his eye that makes me think he’s remembering the same thing. His gaze hardens as I watch.

Yep, he’s remembering all right.

‘What did you do with all that money you took?’ he asks suddenly.

The question takes me by surprise. I swallow what’s in my mouth before I answer, buying myself a little time because it all went on an expensive charm to keep me hidden from magick for eighteen months.

‘Oh, you know me,’ I say airily with a little shrug. ‘I like nice things.’

‘Yeah, you do,’ he sneers. ‘How does it feel to be in there, dirty and cold and hungry?’

‘It’s not so bad,’ I lie. ‘Step up from the Mountain.’

I gesture to the blankets and my plate of food. ‘Could be worse.’