Page 50 of Vipers and Vendettas

Jules

Tabitha came to see me earlier. I asked her questions about the fold, pretending I’m still trying to figure out a way to get away from here. It would have been suspicious if I hadn’t. Now, she won’t suspect that I already have a plan in place.

Now, I’m dozing, making sure I’m as rested as possible for my great escape, when I feel someone enter the room. Maybe Tabitha is bringing me more tea.

I crack my eyes open and gasp when I don’t recognize the man in front of me at first. He’s tall and muscular, his lower face hidden by a dark beard.

‘Jules?’ His voice breaks at my name.

‘Axel?’ I whisper, getting slowly to my feet.

I’m hauled into his chest, his arms twining around me like tree trunks. I feel his cock hardening in his pants.

He doesn’t move for several minutes, just holds me, his breath shallow and hitching.

‘Are you okay?’ he whispers. ‘Did Maddox hurt you?’

I shrug. ‘We got past it,’ I say quietly.

He eases me away from him. He’s frowning, searching my face. For what, I don’t know. Signs of distress, maybe?

‘I missed you,’ he says. ‘So much. I’m sorry.’

‘What are you sorry for?’ I ask, a little puzzled. ‘I’m the one who said all those things and stole Maddox’s stuff …again.’

I tack on the last word just for my own sense of pride.

He chuckles in spite of himself, shaking his head. ‘For everything. For not beingenough.’

I give him a look and bury my head in his shirt, drawing his scent into my nose.

‘We could apologize for all the shit we’ve done and not done all night,’ I mutter, conscious that I’m getting the goodbye with Axel that I wanted. ‘Or we could get out of these clothes and have some fun.’

His breath hitches again, but for an entirely different reason. I grin as I find the link between us and feel his growing excitement. He gasps as the connection springs to life again.

‘How did you hide it?’ he asks. ‘I knew it was still there, but I couldn’t feel anything.’

I tell him the truth. ‘I don’t know. I just can. But I’m sorry I did.’And I’m sorry I will have to again.

Axel’s movements are jerky and stiff as I pull off his clothes, and I wonder why until I see the bruises and cuts, the lacerations, and the general destruction of his body.

‘What happened?’ I gasp in horror, my hand covering my mouth.

He looks down at himself and shrugs. ‘I took some jobs. The kind of stuff I used to do. Sometimes, the monsters get a lucky shot in.’

The sheer number of wounds in various states of healing make my stomach roll despite drinking the tea Tabitha brought earlier. It looks like he’s been making sure he gets hurt.

An awful thought crosses my mind.

‘Were you … hunting arania?’ I ask, wondering if I drove him to kill more of Siggy’s species because of the things I said on the feed that night and hating myself a little more.

He takes my hand and squeezes it. ‘No, never them. Other dark realm creatures. Nasty things that needed to be killed because they were a threat to innocent people.’

‘When was the last time you fed?’ I ask.

He hesitates. ‘Before you left.’

I close my eyes and grit my teeth.