Page 45 of Viper

Ella was folding clean laundry in her bedroom when her phone rang. Dropping a hoodie back into the basket, she retrieved her cell from the nightstand.Mia.Feeling her lips curl, she answered, “Hello?”

A sheepish sigh drifted down the line. “Hi. I’m sorry to do this to you, but I need to cancel our pool-hall plans for tonight.”

“How come?” Ella asked, surprised. It wasn’t like her sister to bail. “Is everything okay?”

Mia made a noncommittal sound. “Joe telepathed me. He asked if I’d meet him at his place tonight. Apparently, he wants to have a—and I quote—real talk.”

“Oh, well, that’s good. It’s about time he decided to be honest with you.”

Mia hummed in agreement. “Not sure why he didn’t sooner, but I’m sure he’ll explain. I’m sorry that—”

“Hey, there’s no need to be sorry. He’s your anchor. Things are strained between the two of you; of course you want to give him the chance to fix it.”

“I thought about putting it off until later, but delaying the conversation will bug me. I’ll spend the time wondering what he has to say, so I won’t make good company for you.”

“Mia, really, it’sfine,” Ella stressed. “Go see him; get the matter settled. And call me later to let me know how it went.”

“Will do. Love ya.”

“Love ya, too.” Ella rang off and placed her cell on the nightstand.

While she was glad that Mia and Joe might just finally get things back on track, she was a little disappointed that the pool-hall plans had been canceled. If she was honest with herself, Ella could admit that she’d been looking forward to going there tonight. All day—stupidly, annoyingly, unreasonably—she’d felt a little frisson of excitement at the thought of seeing Viper.

They wouldn’t have talked or anything, but it didn’t matter. The idea of being around him had made her feel kind of energized.

Shovingthatirritating tidbit out of her mind, Ella silently wished her sister good luck with Joe and then went back to her laundry. After folding and putting away her clothes, she ate dinner while watching TV. And the longer she went without hearing from Mia, the more antsy she got.

Either her sister and Joe were having one hell of a long talk … or they were sexing each other up.

Hoping it wasn’t the latter, Ella headed into the kitchen and made herself a mug of tea. She didn’t dislike Joeper se, she just didn’t like how greedy he was with Mia’s time and attention. Not that that was atypical for psi-mates. But Joe could be pretty selfish about it.

Take this situation, for example.

He was well aware that Mia and Ella routinely met up at the pool hall on Fridays. He could have asked her to meet him later tonight, or some time tomorrow. Instead, he’d asked Mia to push aside her plans for him—which wasn’t a first. There’d been many occasions when he’d pressured her to cancel on Ella, insensitively not caring he’d be cutting into the sisters’ girl time. He seemed to feel threatened by how close they were.

Usually, his efforts to make Mia cancel didn’t work. She rarely begged off unless it was necessary. That she’d done it tonight was understandable. Getting things straight with Joe definitely counted as necessary.

Leaning back against the counter, Ella took a cautious sip of her drink. Which was right when her phone beeped.Finally.Though why Mia would text rather than call she didn’t know.

Ella swiped the cell from the counter. Her brow furrowed, because whoever had sent her a message wasn’t her sister. It had come from an unfamiliar number.

You wouldn’t be avoiding me, would you?it read.

Feeling her brows draw together, Ella set her mug on the counter.Who’s this?she asked, typing fast.

Three dots danced on the screen.Viper.

Her pulse jumped just as her insides seized. She blinked at the screen, shaking her head. What the hell? Her demon’s brows arched in both surprise and curiosity.

There was no way he should have her contact details. How didthatcome about? And would the little bubble of excitement skipping around her belly fuck right off, please?

She texted:How did you get this number?

I have my sources.

Oh, how very mysterious. She was about to request some elaboration, but then more words appeared on the screen.

You usually come to my pool hall on Fridays. Tonight, you were a no-show.

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