Page 66 of Vengeance and Vipers

His phone rings. He digs it out of the back pocket of his jeans and regards me for a moment. Then, he silences it.

‘They’ll call back,’ he mutters.

He starts walking again, slower now, so I can keep up.

‘I might have something,’ he says. ‘Ever planned an event before?’

I shake my head. ‘No, but I can do it. Just let me know what you need.’

‘All right,’ he acquiesces. ‘We’re having a masked ball on All-Hallows Eve. I don’t have time to sort the details past the guest list. I was going to ask Iron since he’s my second, but, really, he’s no good with that sort of thing. We’d probably end up with no Champagne or a Yank country music band for music.’

He actually shudders at his own words as if that would be the worst thing to happen at this party.

But I nod. ‘I can do it, Julian.’

‘It’s important,’ he says. ‘High-level supes. Council types. It marks our success at putting our ‘lawlessness’ behind us. The formal announcements of our pardons will be made that night.’

My stomach lurches. ‘So, after the ball—’

‘After the ball,’ he interrupts, ‘there won’t be any reason to keep you here. You’ll be free to go as promised.’

‘Four weeks then.’

‘Four weeks,’ he agrees.

I nod and plaster a fake smile on my face, though, for some reason, I don’t feel even remotely happy. Don’t I want to go? Of course, I do; I just don’t have a plan yet, that’s all. Now that I know when I’m leaving, I can come up with one, and I won’t feel so adrift.

We walk out of the woods and back onto the main path.

‘I won’t let you down,’ I say.

‘Good. I’ll give you all the details in the library later, and you can get started. And, Julia?’ His phone rings again, and he looks at it. ‘The rules still stand if you want your money.’

I nod, looking away so he can’t see what I’m really feeling.

What am I really feeling?

He answers the phone.

‘Maddox,’ he says, walking away from me.

I stare after him for a minute, sighing heavily as I try to make sense of why I feel sad when I got what I wanted … and why Julian Maddox has a tattoo of a face on his chest that he doesn’t seem to realize looks exactly like me.

Maybe I was imagi— No, it was there, and the similarity to me was uncanny. I need to stop second-guessing myself all the time. That isnotthe way I’ve survived.

I start walking back to the house at a brisk pace. I notice the lawn is deserted. Guess the twins have gone inside.

I go back in the house the same way, via the kitchen, to leave my now empty mug in the sink.

I go past the gym and hear the thudding of someone working out. The doors open, and I glimpse a shirtless Daemon glistening with sweat. He’s hitting the pads with a fervor that makes me think he’s imagining beating the crap out of someone he hates.

‘Probably me,’ I mutter to myself to lighten my somber mood, but it doesn’t feel funny anymore.

I hear him pause and hurry away in case he saw me, going to the library. I push the half-open door, finding it empty. Guess Maddox is taking his call elsewhere.

I go to the shelves and choose a book at random, deciding to sit out in the open in one of the chairs in front of Maddox’s desk for once.

I’ve only just started reading when there’s a flash, and a dull roar sounds from my right.