Page 96 of Viper

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he upheld.

Viper’s entity snarled at the weak defense. “That’s my point. You assumed you knew what was right, and you acted accordingly—arrogantly believing we’d thank you in the end. There was nothing ‘right’ about it. I can’t afford to make mistakes in how I handle bringing Ella into my world. It’s a delicate, complex dance. There’s no room for wrong moves. What I absolutely do not fucking need is any of my brothers causing missteps.”

“I wasn’t trying to cause you problems.”

“But youcouldhave. You also placed Dice in a position where he’d either have to delete Mia’s memories or share things with her he hadn’t originally intended to share unless he built something serious with her.”

“And I cannot tell you how much that pisses me off,” Dice gritted out, glaring at Prophet.

“You will noteverinterfere when it comes to Ella,” Viper ordered. “There will be no more tests. There will be no more doing what you believe is ‘best’ when it comes to her. Are we clear on that?”

Prophet ground his teeth. “We’re clear.”

“I hope so,” Viper told him. “Because you might be my brother, but she’s my woman. She is my priority—always will be.I will eliminate any risk to her. I will obliterate anyone who gets in the way of me making her mine. That includes you. So do yourself a real favor and heed my warning. Because I’m telling you now, there won’t be another.”

“I want a love potion.”

Oh, unreal.Ella blinked at the she-demon beside her. “A love potion?”

The brunette gave a decisive nod. “Yes.”

It wasn’t unusual for people to come into the store thinking they could purchase such potions. They were the kind of people who watchedwaytoo much TV and had a dramatized notion of magick and how it worked. They had no real idea of its limitations, costs, or risks.

Turning away from the products on the shelf that she’d been rearranging, Ella gave her a tight smile. “There’s no potion that will make someone fall in love with another.”

A line formed between the brunette’s thin brows. “Of course there is,” she said, waving a hand that sported long acrylic nails. “I’ve heard about them.”

“There are potions that can temporarily manipulate a person’s body chemistry using magick, much like with a drug. The potions make the brain release oxytocin, the good ole ‘love hormone’. Whoever—or whatever—they’re looking at while the potion takes effect will become an object of their obsessive devotion. But the potions wear off in a matter of hours.”

“Surely you can whip up something stronger than that.”

“The magick would never hold. It can’t. Because real love is emotion. Emotions can’t be manipulated that way.”

The woman tossed her head, making her sleek bob dance to the side. “A temporary effect will do, I suppose.”

“You’re fine with essentially forcing someone to love you? Fine with interfering with their will in such a way?”

“Yes,” she answered without missing a beat.

Ella’s demon huffed in disdain. It didn’t exactly have an issue with forcing anyone to do anything against their will, but it did find the idea of love potions somewhat pathetic. “Even though it won’t last, and they’ll eventually realize you did something to manipulate their feelings?”

“Why would they realize it?”

“Once the magick wears off, the person who was bespelled can look back through all that happened through clear lenses. They’ll be well-aware that their ‘feelings’ were fake, they’ll realize they were caught in a spell, and they’ll obviously suspect the person they temporarily ‘loved’ as being responsible.” It wouldn’t exactly take detective work.

She lightly scratched her chin with one nail. “He may not suspect me. He’s not particularly smart. Where do you keep the potions? I browsed the aisles, but I didn’t find one.”

Of course she didn’t. “We don’t stock them, sorry.” Ella turned and made a beeline for the counter.

“But you could whip me up one, right?” the woman persisted, trailing after her.

“You want me to help you trick someone to love you? Uh, no.”

The brunette practically pouted. “Why not?”

“First of all, it’s highly unethical.” Ella rounded the counter, moving to stand behind it. “Second of all, I have too much of a healthy respect for magick to ever misuse it.” Magick was a force that wasnotto be fucked around with.

The brunette gave her a dirty look. “Fine. I’ll get a love potion from someone else.”

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