Page 90 of Viper

The entity considered it for a moment but then shook its head. “Another incantor could undo it.”

“We overlay our spells with wards so they’re not easily untangled.”

“But they can be untangled, can’t they? I have witnessed many be destroyed or nulled.” The entity pinned Ella with a serious look. “You would have to agree to a geas … or walk out of this club, out of his life, and never know what he might have told you. Never know that he was, in fact, telling you the truth.”

Mia telepathed her again, asking,What do you think?

I’m not crazy about being under a geas, Ella replied,but it’s notas if I’d reveal what they told us anyway, so it doesn’t make much difference.

You make a very good point.A sigh.All right, I’ll agree to it.

“A geas it is,” said Ella.

Triumph momentarily rippled across the entity’s face. “Right decision.” It retreated, and Viper’s eyes went back to theirnormal startling blue. Eyes that then intently watched her … as though he were searching for signs of revulsion on her part.

He wouldn’t find any. Hey, she was leery of his entity, but not repulsed. It would have been hypocritical if she were, given that she had her own inner entity.

An awkward silence fell, but Mia quickly broke it, saying, “WellthatI hadn’t expected.” She looked at Dice. “Do all angels have inner entities?”

“Yes,” Dice grunted.

“Why do you keep it secret?” Mia asked him. “It’s notthatbig of a deal. We demons have our own entities—we wouldn’t be spooked.”

“But your kind would be surprised,” Dice rightly stated. “They think they have the Fallen figured out; that they know all they need to know about us. If they realize they don’t, if they realize we kept something like this from them, they’ll wonder what else they don’t know. We don’t want their scrutiny.”

Viper drowned out the conversation between his brother and Mia, focusing instead on his woman. She was watching him, her eyes slightly narrowed—not in suspicion, fear, or distrust. It seemed more as though she felt she was seeing him for the first time.

Fuck Prophet for being so damn careless. The angel had telepathically apologized mere moments after fleeing, but Viper wasn’t feeling all that forgiving.

Prophet had known that the sisters were in the club. Okay, so he wouldn’t have seen through their glamor. But he surely would have sensed that two people were close behind him.

Neither Viper nor Dice had asked to be notified if people they regularly fed from arrived. Still, if Prophet had really felt the need to inform them, he could have done it mind-to-mind. Instead, he’d come to the office—not entered, just stuck hishead inside and kept the door partially open—and spoken aloud without a thought to whom could be nearby.

If Viper didn’t know any better, he’d think that Prophet had planned for the sisters to overhear.

Either way, Viper could honestly pummel him into the ground and think nothing of it. He telepathically reached out to Dice, saying,That was careless of Prophet. Careless in a way that makes me a little suspicious.

Dice’s psyche bumped his.You think he knew they were close enough to overhear him?

It’s possible. He knew the sisters were here; would have guessed it was them on the way to the office—and I find it hard to believe he didn’t notice them.

Viper had been mindful of each step he took with Ella. It was a precarious dance that required him to get the timing, moves, and balance just right. And Prophet might have just fucked it all up.

Viper hadn’t intended to tell her about his ‘diet’ yet. His original plan had been to wait until she was firmly attached to him before he told her anything. He’d decided to spoon-feed her the things he needed to reveal as he established his place in her life. Spacing it all out, giving her time to process each reveal before moving onto another, would make it easier for her to digest it all.

She’d begun to care for him. He knew that; felt it. But she didn’t yet love him, so he couldn’t be sure that his upcoming confession—he really had no choice but to make it or he’d lose her—wouldn’t scare her off. He couldn’t predict her reaction.

Ella was, by nature, a compassionate and accepting person. The qualities were stamped on her soul. She didn’t judge unless it was deserved. And his entity felt confident that she wouldn’t hold their diet against them. Viper? He wasn’t so confident.Because it was a fuck of a lot to accept—and it was only the tip of the iceberg.

At least she hadn’t walked out. Or, as it were,triedto. No amount of magick would open the door now that his entity had locked it.

She hadn’t tried, though. She wasn’t announcing an intention to leave. And she didn’t appear to have closed her mind to whatever Viper might say.

He took a slow step toward her, pleased she didn’t tense or back away. “You’re sure about the geas?”

She gave a decisive nod. “Positive.”

It was a good thing for them all, since his entity had been bluffing when it said she could either agree or walk out of his life—it wouldn’t let her go. Neither would Viper. Not for anything.

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