Page 40 of Viper

“And you shouldn’t,” Piper stated firmly. “Maxine might whine about it to Knox, but he won’t step in on her behalf.” Her pale-green eyes glinted with concern as they cut to Ella. “You look tired.”

Ella really wished people would stop pointing that out. “I’m not sleeping well.”

She’d had more dreams last night. Each had woken her at various times, but she’d never managed to cling to the threads of them. They’d slipped from her mental grasp, leaving her clueless as to what she’d dreamt about.

“Can’t you whip up some kind of potion that would help you sleep right through?”

“I could, but they always leave me feelingblehthe next day. I have zero enthusiasm, and my vigilance level suffers.” Rendering herself drowsy and unalert wouldn’t be smart when she clearly hadn’t shaken off her stalker.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be making her a talisman that fends off dreams,” Mia told Piper. “All she’ll need to do is stick it under her pillow. That should work.”

“Fingers crossed it does.” Piper looked from her to Ella. “Hey, why don’t you both come have a drink with me and my girls at the Xpress bar later?”

Ella pulled a face. “Last time I went there, I nearly got into a fight.”

Piper waved that way. “Pretty mucheveryonealmost gets into a fight with Khloë. It’s like the law.”

A snort popped out of Ella. The almost-fight hadn’t whatsoever tainted the growing friendship between her and the imp. On the contrary, it seemed to have strengthened it, since Khloë had found the whole thing wildly entertaining. “I’ll think about it. Now, what can we do for you?”

Music blasted, drowning out Ella’s voice as she yelled at Khloë,who got right up in her face. Ella couldn’t hear her words, could barely hear anything over the music. Only her pulse pounding in her ears and … and Khloë suddenly wasn’t Khloë anymore. It was a tall brunette. And the club wasn’t a club anymore. It was a dingy bar.

Everything here was … different. Accents. Music. Smells.People.

The brunette pointed in her face, accusing her of trying to flirt with the bitch’s boyfriend—a guy Everleigh had just rejected at the bar, for Christ’s sake.

Everleigh would have lunged at the little bitch for then calling her a whore, but her friend held her back. Pushed her toward the restroom. Encouraged her to calm down.

Everleigh stumbled through the crowd, a strange fog at the edges of her vision that distorted her view of everything else. That fog thickened and churned, only to part as a stranger appeared. No, not a stranger. She’d seen him here and there. There was no way to miss someone who looked likethat.A guy who was hot as hell and had ‘danger’ written all over him in capital letters.

“My opinion?” he rumbled, his voice as delicious as him. “She would have had it coming if you’d punched her.”

Everleigh blinked. “Sorry?”

“She called you a whore, right?”

“Right.”

“Then she would have had it coming.” He stalked toward her with the animal grace of a predator on the hunt. “Everleigh, isn’t it?”

Her demon narrowed its eyes, sensing he was no demon himself. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was a celestial. “Yes. Who are you?”

He grinned. “Let me buy you a drink and I’ll tell you.”

The fog swished around them, blocked her sight, muffled her hearing, and misted her thoughts.

Her surroundings seemed to melt as every color spread andchanged shape, looking more like a pastel painting. Then it cleared, every detail coming into view. Her house. She was walking toward her house.

A figure prowled out of the shadows—tall, dark, sinfully gorgeous. And a man who had someseriousgame in the bedroom.

Everleigh slowed, taken aback that he’d showed up here. Had she told him where she lived? She didn’t think so, but she’d been pretty tipsy that night.

She’d tried not to think about him since. Really, really tried. And failed. Oh, failed so very dramatically. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect to see you again.”

He blinked. “You remember me?”

She frowned. “Of course I do. I wasn’tthatsmashed last weekend.” But he still appeared strangely thrown. “What brings you here?”

“You,” he replied bluntly, the heat in his eyes making it clear what he wanted from her.

---