Page 146 of Viper

Fallon taps the top of the desk like he’s weighing his next words. He props his ass against it, looking at each of us. Right now he’s Father and I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever has occurred this past week, not only may be my fault, but directly tied to the fact we’ve all caught feelings for the two women we stole from Rune.

“The girl, excuse me, Delilah, needs to be prepared for her return,” Fallon says, scanning each of us. “Last night I informed her of the full plan.” Striker’s muttered curse earns him a dark glare. “My test proved she can handle herself if she’s attacked—”

Reaper barely moves, but the quiet shift, the slow way he leans forward, feels like an explosion of movement, it’s so filled with rage. “What the fuck do you mean?”

Fallon doesn’t flinch at his deadly tone. “She needed to be tested. Delilah has proved she can defend herself and—”

Reaper flies forward. When he stops inches from Father, his face twisting in rage, and grips the lapel of Father’s jacket, dragging him closer. “You sent him to rape her?”

My stomach bottoms out. I take a step back, hit with the realization. “You…” Betrayal twists my gut. Acidic and angry, screaming through me.

“You sent him to hurt her?” Breaker says, his voice full of disbelief.

“Of course not,” Fallon spits out, disgust marring each word. Reaper’s growl makes a cruel smile twist Father’s features. “Remove your hands from me, mysyn.”

Reaper drops his hand, yet he doesn’t back away. I think we’re all so shocked, none of us moves.

“She needed to be tested. To see if she can handle herself,” Father says to him. “You’ve been too gentle with her. The girl needs to be a little scared.”

“Testing and raping are two very different things,” Striker says, his voice low, full of shock.

“Test,” Father snarls the word, like he’s trying to convince us. “I wouldn’t send a soldier to harm her.”

“This time,” I say, anger spiking.

His nostrils flare, but he doesn’t respond to my jab. He runs a hand down the buttons of his vest.

“You’ve gone too far, even for you,” Reaper growls. “We had an agreement.”

“Now agreements mean something to you?” Father adjusts the collar of his shirt, Reaper’s snarl making him shake his head. “Do you really think so little of me, my son? That I would order my soldiers to sexually assault a woman?”

Reaper’s laugh is dark. Deadly. “You’ve been known to go to extremes to get what you want.”

“It is unfortunate what happened—”

“Unfortunate?” Striker shouts.

“She needed to be afraid enough to fight for her life,” Fallon says. “Now we know she’s capable of handling the—”

Striker stands, stalking toward Father. “Enough of your fucking excuses. If you so much as go within ten feet of her, I’m out.”

Fallon’s smile is vicious. “Honorable of you, my son, but we all know that’s a lie.”

“Keep your soldiers away from her or I’ll dismember every fucking one of them,” Reaper growls.

Fallon takes a deep breath, and then, to my surprise, nods. “Very well.” He looks at each of us. “With the four of you here, maybe she’ll be properly trained before her return. I’ll send them away.”

“Any chance you’ll be seeing yourself back to hell?” Reaper asks. “Your very existence makes me ill.”

“As does yours, my son.” Fallon rips his focus from Reaper to me. “This mission is too important to fail. Delilah has proven she’s loyal, proven she’s capable, and each of you has proven you will do what it takes to ensure this mission succeeds.”

Bile burns in my gut. We have. And I hate myself for it.

“The Julian girl is an excellent tool to have on our side. Use it.”

I glance at Reaper. Little does Father know, Reaper already has.

“I do not need to remind you I will do anything to end Rune.” Fallon looks back at me, like the next few words are for me alone. “If it means scaring her to ensure that she can protect herself long enough to get Reaper into that room and…” He huffs out a breath, and looks at Reaper. “Get her into that lodge, get her into that room, and leave emotions out of this.”