Page 43 of The Vipers and Their Venom

While Zane doesn’t have a voice, I find mine. “Stop!” I cry. “That’s enough.”

But he ignores me. He lifts one booted foot and slams it into the guy’s ribs. My insulter gives an ‘oof’ of pain and curls into the fetal position, trying to protect himself. Some kind of red wall of rage has descended over Zane, and he doesn’t look as though he has any intention of stopping. He’ll keep kicking this asshole until no more air can enter his lungs.

“Zane! Quit it!”

The shout drags my attention away from the fight. The twins come flying across the cafeteria, one of them leaping a table, the other shoving people out of the way. The fight has created a crowd of onlookers.

Lex and Saint reach Zane at the same time, and they launch themselves at him. Zane is built like a brick wall, but the twins aren’t exactly small either. They grab his arms and drag him away from the bloodied man still curled on the floor.

One of the twins turns to me, though I’m not sure which one. It takes me a moment to assess his clothes, and try to spot the mole on his neck, and then I realize it’s Lex.

“What the fuck happened?” he asks.

I blink, my head spinning. What the fuckdidhappen?

“I-I think Zane overheard that guy calling me fat.”

The twin’s blue eyes widen. “He what?” Then they darken a shade. “I should kill him.”

Saint turns to me. “All three of us should fucking kill him.”

Despite a big part of me loving the way they are defending me, I know I have to put a stop to this scene. This is the last thing I need. My plan here had been to keep my head down and not be noticed, so I could find my sister without it getting back to either her or her father. Now, everyone is staring at me.

I put my hands up in a stop sign. “No, please. He’s been punished enough. He won’t be doing it again.”

They consider my words, and Zane simply stands there, breathing heavily and looking magnificent. Saint nods once, and I sigh in relief.

Lex throws me a smirk. “Looks like you owe us again, Venom. We’ll let you know the time and place.”

My jaw drops open, because I hardly asked for their help, but I don’t get the chance to respond.

A shout comes from the other side of the cafeteria. A ripple runs through the gathered crowd. Shit, it’s one of the faculty—not Nathaniele, but one of the math teachers.

“Get the hell out of here,” Lex says to me.

I still haven’t had my lunch, but I set the tray down and move. I don’t want to get caught up in some shit when it’s only my third day. I can just imagine my father’s reaction when he gets that phone call. The one promise I made to my dad was that I wouldn’t get in any trouble, and I’ve already broken that promise. If he found out I’d been the root cause of a fight, and that I was involved with men like the Vipers, he and the rest of the MC would be back here like a shot.

I scamper off glancing back over my shoulder to find everyone else doing the same. My guess is everyone will insistthey didn’t see anything. Even the guy bleeding on the floor will probably say he fell. These kids come from crime families. One thing they know is that no one likes a narc.

I make it out into the hallway, but I’m stopped by the girls I met the previous day—Angelica, Faith, and Jarena.

“Oh, my God. Are you okay?” Angelica says, her eyes wide. “You were right next to the fight. Did you see what happened?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. So, it wasn’t obvious that the fight started because of me. That’s good. I don’t want people asking questions of me, and I definitely don’t want anyone knowing I’m involved with the Vipers. Not that I am involved with them—not on a relationship level, anyway. They blackmailed me, and I had no choice but to go along with it, but that was all. It’s just physical.

But then why did Zane react like that when he overheard some asshole calling me fat?

I might partly love that he is so protective, but I don’t need him standing up for me. I had it handled myself. All he’s done is cause a scene, and that’s the last thing I want. I’ve grown up surrounded by big men who think they need to protect me, but I can look after myself. I don’t examine the fact that Zane being a big man who protects me makes me feel a little safer here being away from the club. I tell myself I’m an independent woman now.

“No, I didn’t,” I tell her. “One minute I was trying to get my lunch, and the next that big guy was punching someone.”

I feel a little guilty for making out like Zane was completely unprovoked.

“That big guy is Zane Rokos,” the other girl, Jarena, says. “He’s a complete freak. Seriously. He doesn’t speak ’cause he was attacked by someone his father had pissed off before he started here. I think that was part of the reason for sending Zane here, to get him away from what happened. But he’s hadmultiple reconstructive surgeries on his throat now, and he still can’t talk. He got an infection after one of them, and it made things worse. I don’t know for sure what happened, but he can barely make a damn sound now, and I think if he even tries, it’s incredibly painful for him.”

I pull what I hope will be an expression of sympathy. “Jeez, poor guy.”

Angelica places her hand on my arm. “Don’t feel sorry for him. Seriously, he’s a complete psycho. You saw what he did in there. He’s been known to do worse, too.”

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