Page 53 of The Vipers and Their Venom

It’s one of the twins. I assess which one. He’s dressed more casually, and I search for the mole for confirmation. I relax a fraction. Yes, it’s Lex. While we might not have gotten off to such a great start, the time I’ve spent with him has shown me that he’s the far more balanced twin.

I slow my walk, allowing him to catch up. A singular thought echoes around my head.Does he know my sister?

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey, yourself. How have you found your first week?”

I shrug. “It’s been okay. I think I know my way around a bit better now.”

He grins. “It’ll feel like home in no time.”

I arch an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I’d go that far. Does it feel like home to you? Don’t you miss France?”

He thinks for a moment. “Some things,oui. The food, mostly.”

“What about your family?”

His expression darkens. “My family are all here.”

There’s a story behind his reaction, but I don’t want to push him. I get the feeling none of the Vipers react well to being quizzed on anything personal.

“What are you doing now?” he asks, the darkness fading and replaced with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

I play it coy. “Nothing much. What about you?”

“Nothing much,” he echoes back. “Maybe you should show me your room.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because it’ll feel more like home to have someone else in it.”

Ouch, that hurts. Has he somehow sensed that I’m homesick? Or is it just obvious, with me being the new girl at school? Iamlonely, there’s no doubt about it, though there’s nothing new in that. I feel like I’ve been lonely for most of my life. That’s why I’d craved having a sister so badly. If only I had known for all those years that what I’d wanted so badly had actually been living in this world all along. Then the reason behind her existence hits me. How’s it going to feel to Reagan to learn about the violence behind her life? It had been like a gut punch to learn what my mom had gone through, and it had all taken place before I’d been born. Reagan had been an innocent victim.

“Okay,” I relent, deciding I’d like some company to push away these gloomy thoughts. “I’ll show you my room. It’s this way.”

We walk side by side. I find myself glancing up at him, admiring his features—the square jaw, the straight nose, the generous lips. He really is gorgeous. Shame he has a habit of acting like an ass.

“I saw Zane the other day,” I say. I don’t admit what Zane did to me when I saw him. “He seemed upset.”

Lex nods. “He was. He found out that the surgeons are calling it quits on the reconstructive surgery he’s been having to try to give him his voice back. Doesn’t look like Zane will ever be able to speak.”

I stop short at the news. “Oh, my God. Poor Zane.”

Emotion swells up inside me, clogging my throat, and I blink back tears on behalf of a man I barely know.

“Don’t feel sorry for him,” Lex says. “He hates that. He’s tough. He’ll be okay.”

I sniff and nod and keep walking. “Of course. Sorry. It’s just hard not to, you know?”

His voice softens. “Yeah, I know.”

I wonder at what point I’ll get away with bringing up Reagan. I’ve gone over this conversation in my head a million times, and I just can’t figure out a way to bring up her name without it getting back to her that I’m asking about her. My biggest fear is that it’ll then find its way back to her dad. I promised Mom on her deathbed that I wouldn’t let Reagan’s dad find out that I was trying to find her, and I don’t plan on breaking that promise.

We reach my room, and I stop outside the door and locate my keys. Lex stops just behind me, and I glance over my shoulder and smile at him. My gaze falls to the mole on his neck once more.

I’m not an idiot. I know what’s going to happen in my room. While I’ve got no intention of going all the way with him, it was definitely fun to fool around with him before and might be again.

I open the door and step through. Lex follows me. He kicks the door shut and grabs my arm and yanks me back into him. I let out a little ‘oh’ of surprise, but he swallows it with his lips crushed to mine.

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