Page 94 of Vengeance and Vipers

‘Only if it’s a martini,’ Maddox answers, and she nods.

I frown at the odd exchange as we’re led into a room that says, ‘VIP Only’. There’s a stage and a pole, a long couch, and a low table with a bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket and seven glasses waiting on it.

‘Meredith will be in to see you shortly,’ the hostess says with a polite smile and a deferring bow of her head.

‘So far so good,’ Daemon mutters.

‘It’ll be fine,’ Krase says, sitting down and pouring a glass of Champagne. ‘No one can see what we really look like or even smell like outside our group. The conjure is a good one. I’ve used it before.’

I sit down beside him, smiling at him as he hands me the glass, and I take a sip of my second favorite drink. I wonder if he can tell that I like it from my internal reaction as it fizzes over my tongue.

‘Wait,’ I say, taking in their conversation, ‘so we don’t look like us?’

‘You do, but we’re still meant to be in the Mountain, darling,’ Maddox mutters. ‘Do you really think we’d take such a risk before our pardons are finalized?’

I blink, sort of wondering what everyone else can see from the outside. Are they still hot incubi, or do they look and smell like bridge trolls? I stifle a small chuckle. Maddox pretends not to care, but he’d never go for the stinky bridge troll look.

‘I guess not.’

The door opens, and another woman enters. She’s dressed in a business suit, and she greets Maddox and the others with an incline of her head.

‘Julian?’ she says in English with a thick, French accent, coming forward when he nods and kissing both his cheeks. ‘It’s been too long. Although I know why, of course.’

She joins Krase and me on the couch. ‘It’s odd to be speaking to a friend you don’t recognize.’ She tilts her head as she looks up at Maddox. ‘No need for the conjure here. If anyone sees you, they can’t contact anyone from in here, and I’ve already ensured no one will remember you once they leave the club.’

Maddox regards her thoughtfully, and she shrugs.

‘Of course, if you do not trust me …’

‘Trust isn’t the issue, as I’m sure you know,’ Maddox chuckles, but he nods at Krase, who takes something out of his pocket and fiddles with it.

Meredith blinks and then smiles at Maddox. ‘It’s good to see you properly.’

‘And you. How’s business?’

She rolls her eyes at him. ‘You know this, mon ami.’ She waggles a playful finger at him. ‘I know you read my reports with a … how you say … fine tooth comb.’

Maddox nods. ‘I mean the things we don’t put in writing.’

Meredith’s smile becomes sad, and she pats the seat next to her. ‘Come. Sit.’

Maddox and the others do as she says, and her eyes flick to me curiously. She gives me a small smile and then turns her attention back to Maddox.

‘The disappearances, they continue. Mostly Lower Fae. There’s talk of a Gestapo, a private army taking them, and some other supes. But no one sees anything, or if they do, they are too afraid. Maybe they don’t remember.’

‘Has the resistance been in contact?’

‘Ah! Fiona tells us nothing,’ Meredith mutters bitterly. ‘She is too powerful to care for our affairs, I think.’

‘You’re wrong,’ Maddox replies. ‘If Fiona has distanced herself, it’s for a reason. The club is probably in the Ten’s crosshairs somehow. She won’t put her people in danger. You know that.’

‘Perhaps,’ Meredith concedes. ‘Some of them do come from time to time. In fact, tonight, there will be two, but never in the main bar. They frequent the upstairs rooms and watch the shows from there.’

‘How long do we have?’

‘Two hours, maybe three. But I tell you when their people start arriving so you can leave.’

Maddox nods. ‘What happened to the girl who disappeared before we were arrested?’