Page 136 of Viper

Rounding the bar, Sting frowned at Jester. “Why do you constantly accuse people of lying?”

“People lie—it’s a fact of life,” Jester sagely asserted.

“They don’t do itallthe time,” said Sting. “Stop being so paranoid.”

“I ain’t paranoid.”

Hustle pointed at Jester. “That right there was pure bullshit.”

Jester shrugged. “As I said, people lie.”

Ella exchanged an amused look with Viper as they strode out of the room. She liked his brothers; liked how welcoming they’d been and that there was a real sense of family there.

The only angel who was ever a little awkward around Ella was Prophet, but Viper had explained how this particular Black Saint worried what exactly her archangel would do and become if he lost her.

“How much persuading will I need to do to convince you to spend the day with me?” Viper asked her, pulling her from her musings.

She hummed. “Not a lot.” None at all, in fact. Her demon very much liked the idea—it tended to become annoyed and bored when they were apart. It had become extremely attached to him, hence why it had so far branded him three times.

A demon’s inner entity often left such marks on lovers if they felt possessive enough. The tattoo-like brands were always personal. So he sported an ‘E’ on his ass, a handprint on his hip, and a burst of magick motes zigzagging around his chest and trailing up his spine.

Such brands faded as the entity’s interest in that person faded. Viper’s marks would never disappear, though. It was cute just how smug he was at being claimed by her demon that way.

“Does this mean I need to take you back to bed to convince you, or will a bowl of ice-cream for breakfast be enough?”

She snickered. “Either will work just fine. You have anything in mind you want to do today?”

“How about we go out somewhere?”

“Like … for fun?”

“Yeah.” Viper’s entity frowned, not liking the idea. It would prefer to keep her here at all times, where she was out of the reach of any danger that might come her way. It generally didn’t worry about anything, but the life of Ella and their baby? Totally different situation.

The entity also had its concerns about the birth, unsure how it would go. Viper was confident—or, more to the point, told himself he had every reason to feel confident—that the birth would go fine. Still, the further she got into her pregnancy, the more often anxiety crept up on him. Partly because this was something out of his control.

He was a man who liked control; who was used to having it. This wasn’t something he could ensure went exactly how he wanted it to go.

Ella drifted her fingertips over his face. “You hate the idea of going out,” she softly accused.

“I don’t hate it. I can’t lie, I feel better when you’re here, where you’re safest. But we shouldn’t stop living our lives just because a celestial is hanging around.”

“I don’t want you going stir crazy from worry that someone’s gonna jump out of the shadows to grab me.”

Viper pulled her closer. “We’ll take several of my brothers with us. And if there’s any sign of danger, we’ll teleport home in a second’s notice.”

Her mouth curled. “Okay. I’m up for it. I’d like to not use glamor, though. There’s no reason for us to hide who we are to each other anymore. The strix knows. A celestial spy knows. My family and anchor knows. We could make this our first public appearance as a couple.”

He hummed, considering it. “Yeah, it’s time. And I like the idea that everyone will now know you belong to me.”

She snorted. “Of course you do. Now, where do you want to go?”

“You choose. I want to take you somewhere you can relax and wind down and forget about all the shit that’s happening around us.”

Her smile widened. “I know just the place.”

“Yeah, go! Go! Go! It won! Boom!”Conscious of her mate’s eyes on her, Ella tore her attention away from the hellhorse racing track. “What?”

He stared at her, his brow furrowed. “You really find this relaxing?”

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