Page 41 of Vengeance and Vipers

‘Aye, I deserve that,’ he wheezes.

Jayce notices Jules and does a double-take. The smile on his face is quickly replaced by shock. ‘Bana-Phrionnsa?’

I almost roll my eyes again.Here we go.

He crosses the room quickly. She steps back when he tries to touch her.

‘We thought … we feared the worst,’ he says, frowning at her faint scoff. ‘Leaving you wasn’t our doing. The arania venom ... we didn’t wake until we were back here, and it was too late. Wewerecoming to get ye. You know that, lass.’

She snorts. ‘You’re really going to tell me you didn’t know I was here?’

Jayce and Axel both stare at me.

‘You hid her from us!’ Axel exclaims. ‘You sonofabitch!’

Nothing shows on Jules’ face, but I see her throat working. She takes another step back.

‘Well, you needn’t have worried. I made it out on my own, as you can see.’ Her tone is devoid of emotion.

Jayce reaches out for her again, but she shies away, keeping her distance from all of us. His face falls further.

‘Bana-Phrionnsa …’

She flinches at the term, and he looks back at Axel, a helpless expression on his face.

I get between Jules and my clan and turn my back on her. If they want answers here and now, fine, but I’m not explaining myself toher.

‘I didn’t know Krase was alive until we returned,’ I say. ‘I found him in the cells downstairs. He’d locked himself down there.’

‘And Jules?’ Axel snarls. ‘Are you going to tell us you didn’t know she was here either?’

‘Of course, I knew,’ I grind out before she can start complaining to them about how I kept her in the dungeon and whatever other tales she can use to try to drive us all apart.

‘How long has she been here, Maddox? How many days have you kept her from us?’

I glance back at her. She isn’t saying anything, but I refuse to lie. I did my duty to ensure my clan’s safety. Nothing more or less.

‘Since the night we returned. She must have come through just after we did,’ I tell them. ‘I found her unconscious in the garden.’

‘You made us leave her! You gave her to Dante! You made us think that she was still in the Mountain! We thought she was being tortured to death!’ Jayce roars.

‘Yes.’ I meet my clan brothers’ eyes head-on as I say it. ‘And I would do it again. I’m only sorry she isn’t still where I stowed her so this obsession you have with her would cease!’

I glance back to find Jules gone, and my eyes narrow.

Daemon swears under his breath. ‘I don’t remember all of you being so fucking dramatic before I left,’ he mutters. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll find her and bring her back before she causes trouble.’

With that, he pushes himself off his perch by the door, ignoring the anger-filled looks of the rest of the clan and disappearing through the secret door to follow Jules.

I ensure that none of the others can follow Daemon, keeping them where they are, though I hear Jayce grunt as he tries to fight me.

‘When were you going to tell us?’ Axel asks quietly. ‘Or were you not going to bother?’

His features twist with disgust. ‘Were you going to take her out into the wood with Krase and put them both in the ground without any of us being the wiser?’

‘No,’ I say, drawing myself up to my full height because fuck him for questioning my integrity, ‘I wasn’t.’

Krase glances at me and shakes his head at Jayce. ‘I asked him not to tell anyone about me. I wasn’t myself, ye ken. I needed a few more days. Had a feeling in my gut that this wasn’t the end for me.’