Page 98 of Vengeance and Vipers

I hear her gasp at what she sees, but she doesn’t run for the door.

‘How about now?’ I say.

Her eyes find mine. ‘What is this?’ she asks me.

‘A little fun if you want it,’ I say, not moving towards her, wanting to give her every chance to leave if that’s what she decides to do.

She swallows hard but takes a step into the room. ‘What is this place?’

‘It’s where we come to play. Privately. We’re the only ones with the code.’

‘To feed?’

‘Yes. Among other things.’

She takes in the pieces of furniture in the room, each one specifically designed for dark deeds.

‘When Krase caught you in the woods, I was so pissed that he locked me in that fold.’

‘I know,’ she murmurs as she walks around. ‘You wanted to save me.’

‘No, Jules,’ I growl. ‘I was pretending even to myself, but I wasn’t going to save you.’

I grab her from behind, and she jumps but doesn’t scream.

‘All I could think about was that I was so close to breaking. I was made to watch Daemon do what he wanted in the Mountain, and then I was forced to watch Krase too,’ I whisper. ‘I wanted it to be my turn. I needed it to be my turn.’

I turn her around so she can see my face. ‘Do you trust me?’

She shakes her head.

‘Because of the Mountain.’

Jules gives me a tiny, hesitant nod, looking down at the floor.

She’s more scared of me than I realized. She’s just so good at hiding it around the supes that it’s very difficult to spot. I wanted her to be afraid before. I liked it. But I’m cursing myself at how I handled her interrogation in the Mountain. I was so focused on following Maddox’s orders, so angry that my brothers had succumbed to her. Whatever was going on in my head because of that place made me ruthless and cold as ice. It wasn’t meant to be personal, but it was. I did things, said things to her that keep me up at night.

‘I’m sorry about the Mountain,’ I say, cringing a little. ‘I can’t excuse what I did, but I’ll never use my power to hurt you ever again.’

She doesn’t look at me. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

I tilt her head up to see her eyes. ‘You have my vow, Jules. I won’t break it.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispers.

‘You believe me?’ I ask, relief flooding through me.

She nods. ‘A know how important vows like that are in Supeland.’

‘But I can’t forget what you did, the things you said, how you fucked with my head,’ she whispers, looking away. ‘No matter how hard I try.’

I don’t speak for a minute, surprised that she’s said it aloud. Jules isn’t the type to show weakness, but that she is with me is telling.

‘I have an idea,’ I say, tilting her chin up to see her face again and gauge her reaction. ‘What if I compelled you here and now, but everything I made you do led to pleasure?’

Pain.But I don’t say that last word.

She tenses, and her eyes dart up to mine.