Page 96 of Viper

Years and years of planning, half a lifetime of nightmares, and I’m about to come face-to-face with the motherfucker who is just as sick as Rune.

I take the lead, walking through the door first. The room is dim, with silver wall sconces and ornate black lamps on side tables. A large seating area with plush black furniture and polished black tables sits in the center. Off to the side, there are tables for gambling, a pool table, and a bar taking up the rest of the space.

“Ah, and there they are.” His voice scrapes over me like metal teeth, rusted and jagged. “The men of the hour.”

The image that’s haunted me since that day in the woods takes front and center, and for a second, the fear that crashes through my facade nearly consumes me. It eats up my arms, down my legs, but I take a deep breath and blink it away.

When my eyes find him, I take in his charcoal suit and blood red tie, his sleek shoes, and slicked back hair, and a calm moves through me.

He’s just a man.Killable. And he’s going to die soon.

His blue eyes meet mine, and even from a few feet away I catch the pinprick pupils in his denim eyes.God, he’s high as a kite right now.Zane moves forward, his good hand outstretched, ready to shake mine, a smarmy smile pulling his thin lips up at the corners.

His arrogance is almost as big as Rune’s. But at least Rune is smart enough to be paranoid.

Zane Devin isn’t. Even now. With one fucked up hand and our looming threat in the background, he’s still too arrogant to be properly scared.

I can’t wait to take him down a peg.

I clasp his hand, plastering Vince’s smile on my face as I grip his fingers a tad too hard. He drops my hand, and his attention snaps to Breaker.

God, this is going to be glorious to watch.

Breaker takes his hand, that panty-melting smile turning his lips up into a smile so bright I’d be laughing if I could. I know, justknow,that I see a sliver of smugness in his features as he shakes the man’s hand he tortured a week ago.

When their hands drop, Zane gestures to the couches. “I hear we’re missing your other associate.”

That tightly coiled unease unfurls. I have to remind myself that Breaker did the hardest part already. Met with him, was seen at a function here in town. Spoke to these people and now we just have to pass the rest of Rune’s tests to convince him we’re on board and trustworthy of joining his lodge.

As of right now, what happens in Rune’s lodge is all hearsay. Rumors whispered in certain circles, but were never said outright. We sold him weapons, which isn’t unusual withthe cover we created, we landed the invite, but now we have to pass the initiation, and gain his trust so that when we’re brought into his inner circle completely, we’re just as guilty as him when it’s confirmed he doesn’t hunt wild game or illegal animals let loose in the wilderness around his lodge.

We’re hunting people.

Too bad he doesn’t know we’ll actually be hunting him.

Where he gets his victims, we have no clue. That’s one thing Clyde was never able to find out. He only goes to the lodge occasionally and has always, always kept his mouth shut.

He knows what happens to people who betray Rune.

I do too. We both saw what Rune did that day.

“—in a few weeks. Maybe less.” Breaker’s voice brings me back into focus.

I need to pay attention. Now is not the time to get in my head and let that shit cloud my mind.

I snap my fingers, pointing to the floor by the large round table near the bar. The two men with the trunk set it down and take up positions by the door while the other two, the ones who led us here, sit at the table next to the trunk.

“Heard he’s traveling,” Zane says, unbuttoning his suit jacket with one hand as he sits. We settle down on the leather sofa opposite him, a large black coffee table between us. He reaches for the crystal decanter set in the center of the table on a gold tray and pops the top with his thumb.

Seems he’s getting around just fine with one hand. Maybe I should make it permanent.

“Spain,” Breaker says, leaning forward to take the glass offered. He tilts his glass toward Zane’s arm strapped to his chest with a sling. “What happened?”

Zane glances down at his hand, and smiles. “Accident,” he says. “Fell and broke my hand in several places.”

“Gotta watch those steps after all those martinis,” Breaker says with a wink and a chuckle.

Zane laughs as I take the glass. His gaze drags over me, taking in my black suit, how I lean back and prop my ankle on my knee. How I throw my arm over the back of the couch behind Breaker. He may be high, but he misses nothing, and I swear he catches the comfortable way we sit just a hair too close.