Page 54 of Vipers and Vendettas

‘Of course, I make it,’ he mutters. Theo gavemethe recipe. I wouldn’t entrust its preparation to anyone else, not even Tabitha. It has some dangerous components in it if it’s made incorrectly.’

I stare at him, my brain stuck like a record.

Maddox makes the tea?

‘Now, if you’ve calmed down sufficiently,’ he says, sitting down in his chair, ‘would you like to tell me what’s going on?’

I take a sip of the tea first. It seems wrong to just be sitting here calmly after what just happened, but I don’t know what else to do.

‘I think there are some dead people in the maze,’ I whisper.

ChapterNine

Maddox

There are a few things I expected I might hear from Jules’ lips, but that wasn’t one of them.

‘I beg your pardon?’

She’s still shaking a little, and I try to ignore my anger that she’d disregard her safety so readily, running around outside in the dark in sub-zero temperatures just to get out of the fold. She’s clearly been punished enough.

‘You can start by telling me how you escaped the fold,’ I order, sitting back and imbibing my own healthy dose of whisky while I wait for her answer.

She puts the saucer on my desk and grabs a disk out of her pocket. It looks like my key, but it isn’t. I ask the question with a raised brow.

‘Krase had a spare,’ she says quietly. ‘I took it.’

I let out a breath. ‘This afternoon while we were arguing.’

She gives a tiny nod.

‘I went to the maze?—’

I put a hand up, her admission making my anger spike even though I already know what she’s been up to. ‘So, you left the safety of the fold and decided to go for a walk. Outside. In the middle of the night,’ I lean forward. ‘In winter. While in the early stages of pregnancy.’

I pinch the bridge of my nose.

‘Somehow, it’s worse when I say it all aloud,’ I mutter, glaring at her.

She doesn’t say anything to my dressing down, but she doesn’t avoid my gaze either.

‘Why were you in the maze?’

She doesn’t answer.

‘I vow, Julia, if you don’t tell me the truth, I will put you in the fold and not let you leave even once until you’ve given birth! Do you understand me?’

Her eyes widen, and I don’t miss the way her hand goes to her tummy as if she’s scared. But I’ll sort out whatever’s going ontheretomorrow. Tonight, I just need to make sure she’s not going to try this again.

I take a drink.

‘Because it gave me a link key last time,’ she finally whispers, looking away.

I choke on my gulp of whisky, coughing loudly.

‘It what?’ I wheeze.

‘I asked it for a link key three months ago, and it gave me one. It was old, but it worked … obviously.’