Page 77 of Vengeance and Vipers

I swallow hard. His sudden mention of Siggy so out of the blue is like a punch to the gut.

‘Yeah, I guess so,’ I say quietly, not able to think of a retort and feeling sick as I sink back down to the couch. No one seems to notice anything’s amiss, though. They say ‘later’ and lead Jane out of the room like she’s made of glass. She waves her fingers at me, rolling her eyes again as they go and leaving me alone with Daemon.

‘What the hell is your problem?’ I hiss.

He stalks towards me and leans down, caging me in.

‘You’re my problem,’ he snarls.

He grabs for my throat, and I dive away, trying to scramble off the couch, but he gets hold of me, pinning me down. I thrash, catching him in the face and scratching his cheek, but he ignores my struggles, grabbing both my wrists in his other hand and hoisting them above my head. My eyes search his, but there’s nothing but anger in them.

His lips crash down on mine hard, punishing. I whimper under him, lust I can’t fight exploding between us like a grenade. I twist and turn, trying to get away from the onslaught, but I can’t help but surrender to it, relaxing underneath him, winding my legs around him. I feel him tense just before he rips himself away, staggering across the room. He turns, and his anger has been replaced by something far worse. Humor.

He laughs at me, panting hard on the couch, still aching for him to touch me anywhere.Everywhere.

‘You’re so easy. Such a dumb, little supe slut,’ he chuckles. ‘You really don’t have a shred of self-respect. We laughed about you before, but you’re even worse now. It’s pathetic, Julia.You’repathetic.’

I sit up, trying to get my traitorous body under control and making sure my eyes stay dry. My chest hurts, and his cruel words have pushed all the worst buttons, reminding me of some of the more awful things Iron said to me in the Mountain while he was trying to break me.

‘Nothing to say, sweetheart? That’s not like you,’ he sneers.

I don’t trust my voice, so I just look at him impassively, and I watch his anger return because I’m not giving him the reaction he clearly wants. I feel some small satisfaction in that.

‘You don’t belong here,’ he says. ‘You’re notgoodenough.’

I don’t quite manage to stop my flinch this time, and he snorts, leaving the room.

I hear the door close and sniff a little. I stand up, letting out a harsh breath and promising myself that I won’t let Daemon near me again. He’s the worst of them all.

ChapterTwelve

KRASE

Krase

I’m watching Paris install yet another camera when I feel it. It’s acute and painful, and it’s coming from Jules. I let out what I think is an inaudible grunt, but Paris pauses and glances down from the ladder at me.

‘Everything okay?’

‘Fine,’ I say with a frown because I’m sure as hell not going to talk to another incubus about my clan’s female.

He doesn’t go back to work, his eyes still watching me.

‘We paying you by the fucking hour, or something?’ I growl, impatient to get to Jules and find out what’s wrong, except I have orders to stay here and keep an eye on Paris until he’s done for the day.

He smirks. ‘You seem different.’

I grunt. I know what he’s talking about.

‘So does Sie,’ I say.

The last time I saw that big, quiet bastard, we shared an unwelcome camaraderie in that we were both losing our minds. He wasn’t so far gone as me, though.

‘Are you almost done?’

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘You guys going out to feed soon?’

News to me.