Page 26 of Vipers and Vendettas

He bares his vampire teeth at me as he puts the phone to his ear.

I don’t move a muscle, but I’m coiled and ready. Regardless of my threat, if he says a fucking thing to her about me, I’m going to tear him apart and leave him to bleed out on the floor.

‘You okay, Vicki-bear?’

I can just hear her on the other end of the line, her voice thick with sleep.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just lay low, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?’

He hangs up the phone.

‘What the hell do you want from me?’ he snarls. ‘What the hell do you want from her?’

I sit in the chair in front of his desk and put my glamor up. ‘I want to know how you knowVicki-bear.’ I roll my eyes. ‘You don’t even know her real name.’

The vamp smirks. ‘Real names don’t mean much on the wrong side of the law, incubus. You know that.’

He points at me, recognition dawning in his eyes, and it’s all I can do not to stake him through his dead heart or run from his office like a scared child.

‘I didn’t know your face, Daemon Mackenzie, but I recognize you now. You ran with McCathrie’s crew.’ He sits down and looks at me. ‘Maybe ‘ran’ isn’t the right word, though, huh? From what I heard, you were very much under their ... uh… heels.’

‘Shut the fuck up.’

‘What was it they called you? That little nickname?’ He snaps his fingers. ‘Oh, yeah. I remember.’

He chuckles as he sits back in his chair. ‘What do you want with her,Hellboy?’

I almost gag at memories that name brings flooding to the forefront of my mind.

‘Revenge,’ I snarl, ‘and don’t fucking call me that! I’m not with McCathrie’s coven anymore.’

‘I know. Your debt was cleared,’ he snarls.

My eyes narrow. ‘What the hell are you talking about? How do you know that?’

‘Because she got me to fucking pay it!’

I sit back in the chair, realizing in an instant why she’s living the way she is even though she stole everything in the safe.

‘She came to you with the diamonds,’ I mutter.

‘Yes.’

‘And you sold them for her.’

He smirks. ‘I only moonlight as a thief of pretty fae baubles. She asked me to sell them to someone mainstream.’

‘So, Maddox would find them,’ I mutter.

He shrugs. ‘She didn’t tell me why. I didn’t ask. You didn’t know she paid off your debt?’

I look at the vamp in front of me. I don’t answer him. It’s clear now that he and Jules aren’t just in business together. They’re friends.

‘You have a soft spot for her?’ I ask instead.

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything.

‘You known her a long time, Jack? You fuck her?’