Page 70 of Vipers and Vendettas

‘Jeremy?’ I ask.

‘It’s Iron.’ He grinds out.

‘Okay, Jem,’ I can't help but tease.

He scowls at me, and despite how I’m feeling from all the crazy revelations, it almost makes me laugh, and I feel a little better.

‘We’ll figure this out,’ I whisper.

Iron glances at me, and his face softens.

‘We will figure it out,’ he agrees.

I look away. What if they use whatever's wrong with me as another reason to take my baby away from me?

I should run while I can. Figure out the other stuff on the run. Maybe find Theo Wright to help me. He seemed pretty sympathetic to my plight. This might be my only chance. I turn towards the door, my mind starting to work fast. I don’t know where we are, but I doubt it’s the mortal realm. They don’t tend to have castles like this anymore there, at least not ones that aren’t visitors’ attractions. I finger Pierre’s link key; all I need is a door that opens, though.

I listen to Iron talking to his nanna, and I meander around as if I’m just taking everything in until I’m at the big, wooden door. It’s already ajar, which means I’ll have to close it in order to use the link key in my pocket. I glance back. Iron will notice, and I won’t have time to go through and close the door on the other side before he gets across the room.

My only chance is to get out of here and find another unlocked door to use. I slip over the threshold and into a wide corridor with a red carpet runner going down the middle. I try the nearest door and curse under my breath when it doesn’t budge.

I hear Iron call my name from inside, and I grimace. That was fast. The corridor goes both ways, but to the left, I can see a winding stone staircase. I make for it. If I can lose him, I’ll have more time to find a door I can escape from.

I hear a hinge creak behind me and heavy footsteps getting closer, and I sprint faster, but I don’t even make it to the stairs before I’m grabbed around the waist and pulled back into Iron’s hard chest. I struggle, letting out a frustrated scream. Why can’t I catch a fucking break?

‘Just let me go!’ I yell.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ Iron snarls, turning me towards him and shaking me. ‘You don’t even know where we are, Julia. What the hell is wrong with you?’

‘I’m not letting you take her!’ I scream, past caring that I’m showing my hand.

‘Who?’ he yells back.

‘My baby!’

He stops, his whole body stilling. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

I stifle a sob of rage. ‘You said if I got pregnant …’ I pant hard, almost hyperventilating as I try again to get the words out all at once. ‘You said you’d never let someone like me keep it. You said it would be taken, and I’d be tossed out on my ass. That’s what you said,Jeremy!’

He takes a step back, letting me go. He looks stricken. ‘Fuck. Jules,’ he runs a hand through his short, dark hair.

‘I never meant … Have you thought that’s what would happen this entire time?’

‘That’s what you said,’ I whisper. ‘In the mountain, it didn’t matter because I knew I’d never have any. But then …’

‘You got pregnant,’ he finishes for me.

I nod, my jaw tight.

‘And you thought we’d take him away from you after you’d given birth. That’s why you got weird in the club, too.’

‘Her,’ I correct. ‘And, yes, that’s what you said.’

He gives me a weird look that I can’t decipher before he steps forward and wraps me in a hug.

‘I’m so sorry, Jules,’ he murmurs. ‘I promise you here and now, I vow it on pain of death, that we would never,nevertake your baby, sweetheart. Not ever.’ He lets out a soft sound of anguish. ‘The things I said in the Mountain. Jesus, I didn’t even think you remembered; you were so out of it by then. I didn’t mean any of them, Jules, not one word. I was trying to …,’ he shudders. ‘You were the enemy, and I was … doing what I do best.’ He sounds angry. ‘I was trying to break you. Nothing I said in there is true. Nothing.’

‘But, I thought?—’