Page 42 of Pitiful Lies

I’m scared of the truth, so I ignore the entire thing.

I am supposed to meet the girls at the Den tonight. A sort of impromptu welcome home party, and I am excited. Thank goodness I still have a few cute outfits to choose from in my suitcase, because unfortunately, everything else I owned went up in smoke.

The elevator doors open, and I walk into the hallway. I startle as an enormous bald man with hulking muscles stands outside the door.

“Boss,” he nods his head at Angel and moves out of the way, going to stand behind the security desk.

Angel dips his chin and moves to the biometric pad, placing his hand on it. I’ve seen Anna do it once or twice, and I’m curious as to why Angel has access.

“Go inside, Koukla,” he says, nudging me forward, and I move ahead of him.

“Wow, they really changed everything,” I murmur, and take in all the new furniture and the paint on the walls.

My eyes immediately go to an enormous glass box sitting on a dark wood shelf that seems to be made for it. There are several glass boxes on the shelf.

Wait.

It’s like a fish tank, but there’s no water. My brain searches for the word.

Terrarium.

That’s it. When there is no water inside, it is a terrarium.

I look closer and my heart pounds. Inside the largest one, I see something moving. It is dark and coiled, but when it slithers, light reflects off the scales, making its skin glitter like a thousand black diamonds.

“Oh my God,” I murmur.

“That’s Buffy. She can’t hurt you,” Angel says from behind me.

I eye the slithering serpent, and I think maybe he’s lost his mind. She looks pretty fucking lethal to me.

Wait. Did he just say?

“Buffy? Like the Vampire Slayer?” I ask, and I can’t hide my grin.

“Heck yeah,” he replies, and I watch in shock as his cheeks go a dusky shade of pink as he walks up to the tank and eyes the little beastie.

“She’s a badass lady. I had to give her a badass name.”

I nod in approval.

He isn’t wrong.

Buffy is a badass name.

I guess it makes sense for Nico to have a pet snake, or several. He is the king of the Vipers, after all. And I imagine it’s not living with them because Anna doesn’t want a snake around the baby.

Makes sense.

I have to admit the idea of that reptile is as exciting to me as it is frightening. Buffy lifts her head, and I watch with my eyes wide as her fork tongue snakes out of her mouth.

“She’s scenting the air. Senses something new and sweet,” Angel murmurs, and his voice is so deep it goes right through me.

I move closer to the tank. Buffy is covered in glittering black scales. Her head is small and really, she doesn’t look all that tough.

But I know a little bit about snakes. They don’t have to be scary to be deadly.

“You wanna touch her?” Angel asks from right behind me.

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