Page 5 of Vengeance and Vipers

‘We need to get back there. Protect her from Dante. We can get ourselves arrested, we can’t let her—’

‘Do you hear yourselves?’ Daemon growls from the door. ‘Get your shit together. The human is gone, left to suffer her well-deserved fate. Be thankful some of us had the gumption not to get ensnared by her tricks, or stolen magick, or whatever it is that has you by your dicks.’

‘Get out,’ Axel sneers. ‘You’re not welcome here no matter what Maddox says.’

Daemon chuckles coldly and backs out of the room slowly. ‘Have it your way, but if you think any of us are going to let you leave the estate so you can run to the cops and get us all taken again, you’re mistaken. Maddox is three steps ahead of you. The border spells are already trapping you on the grounds, and the link keys are set not to recognize either of you. There’s no way off the property until the both of you come to your senses.’

He leaves with a laugh that echoes down the corridor.

‘Do you think he’s telling the truth?’ I ask.

‘One way to find out.’

We go downstairs and out one of the side doors. The walk is half an hour to the edge of the property, and we make our way in silence, stalking angrily down the gravel drive until we get to the farm track that leads to the nearest main road.

Axel, who’s in front of me, glances back at me with a dark look. He puts out his hand and brushes his fingertips against the invisible barrier that protects our home.

He yells as there’s a flash, and he’s thrown through the air. He lands hard on the ground about ten feet away with an oomph and a low groan.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask, my anger and frustration rising.

Daemon wasn’t lying as I had hoped.

Axel sits up and shakes his head. ‘Fuck Maddox,’ he growls. ‘He’s made the conjure draw in power to make itself stronger.’

‘He doesn’t know enough about fae magick to re-form a spe—’ I break off with a loud curse. ‘Iron!’

‘Yeah, Iron,’ Axel snarls as he gets to his feet. ‘Looks like the Mountain’s gifts haven’t left him. At least not yet. Smart. We keep trying to get out, and it drains us dry. Without a food source, they know we won’t even chance trying to break out more than once.’

‘We need to get to her,’ I snarl, turning to him. ‘Can you feel her?’

‘No.’ Axel looks away. ‘Not since the moment Maddox took us out with the venom. But we can’t do anything until we can leave the grounds. We have to bide our time.’

‘Meanwhile, Jules suffers in that hellhole,’ I say quietly, my heart aching and anger coursing through me at my clan as well as at myself for not seeing Maddox coming. ‘What if he kills her before we can get to her? What if she’s already …’

‘No! He’ll keep her alive to suffer for as long as possible,’ Axel says very quietly. ‘We just have to hope she can hold on until we can get her out of there.’

‘How did we let this happen?’

‘We were fools,’ Axel says.

‘Aye, we were.’ I look him in the eye. ‘How far are you willing to go for her?’

‘For our mate? All the fucking way,’ he grinds out.

‘Good. We might well have to if we want to save her. But we need a plan.’

Axel nods as we begin walking back to the house slowly. After a few minutes of us mulling over our options, he speaks first.

‘The problem is that they believe we’ve been bewitched.’

I nod. ‘They’ll not take anything we say or do seriously where she’s concerned.’

‘But Maddox thinks it’ll wear off.’

‘Aye.’

‘So, we let it.’