Page 53 of Vengeance and Vipers

When Krase’s eyes clear a few seconds later, he looks bemused by Jules’ countenance.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asks.

‘You made me come here!’ she replies angrily. ‘You controlled me.’

‘Aye, as I would with any of the others,’ he says. ‘What’s the problem?’

She throws her hands up in the air and seems to notice that it’s not just Krase and me here but Jayce and Axel as well.

She tenses immediately. ‘I can’t be here,’ she says. ‘I can’t be around you.’

I note her choice of words. She ‘can’t’ be around them. This has Maddox written all over it. I’ll bet he followed my advice.

‘Why not, lass?’ Jayce asks.

‘You already know,’ I say, unable to keep the conceit from my tone. ‘Because she made a deal with Maddox for money, didn’t you, sweetheart? She’s not allowed near you two, or she doesn’t get paid.’

Axel and Jayce look upset, and she balks a little.

‘It’s always about the money, right, Jules?’

She meets my eyes. Hers are still glassy, but her voice comes out strong.

‘Yes, it’s always about the money. You should try to remember that so there aren’t any more misunderstandings.’

She gives a tiny wince as she turns to leave.

‘Let me go,’ she says to Krase as he bars the door, ‘and don’t use fae magick on me again.’

‘Come,’ he tries to cajole. ‘Talk to us. Play a game with us.’

‘I told you, I can’t.’

‘You can’t be alone with them, aye, but we’re all here. Surely, this isn’t breaking the rules.’

She shakes her head, and he sighs.

‘Leave,’ Krase says to Axel and Jayce, and surprisingly, they do, each casting longing looks at her.

Pathetic.

She didn’t deserve to be left in the Mountain, granted, but she doesn’t deserve their loyalty either. I lean forward.

‘I understand why you need to stay here for now,’ I tell her through clenched teeth. ‘But I want you to know that it was my idea to offer you money. I knew you’d go for it. I knew we’d be able to use it to control you. What does that say about you?’

Jules snorts at me. ‘That you think about me far too much, demon.’

She flicks her hair at me, and my traitorous nostrils flare in anticipation of her scent, but there’s none. There hasn’t been the entire time. Why has it taken me this long to realize?

‘Why can’t I smell you?’ I ask her. ‘I broke the conjure the night you got out of the dungeon. I should be able to.’

I didn’t actually remember what had happened until the next day, but I found her that night, a split second before I got blasted by magick in the Sunroom and knocked out cold. I picked up on the brightly colored conjures in the cells. She has at least one good one on her that isn’t mine, but I’m not sure what it does. I’m going to find out, though. It’ll just take me some time to figure out how to access it.

In the meantime, maybe I should keep her close, form a friendship with her. Then I’ll know if she’s planning anything. I could spend some time with her. Riding, maybe. She liked it when I taught her to before.

She shakes her head at me. ‘I don’t know.’

My eyes swing knowingly to Krase, who shrugs. ‘I wanted to keep her secret when we got out of the dungeon, so I hid her scent with one of my charms. It’ll take it off when I get the chance.’