Page 22 of The Vipers and Their Vendetta

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Look, we screwed up and should have told you the rumors about us and Reagan, but we’re innocent. If we say anything, though, it makes us look more guilty. It’s a catch-22 that we have no way out of. We’re sorry for that.”

“Don’t apologize for me,” Saint snarls. “She lied way more than we did. And she’s been an idiot. Do you even have your phone?”

I glare at the back of his head, wishing I could pierce a hole in it, and I don’t answer because that was stupid beyond belief. The way I ran out of there, no plan, none of my things on me. Idiotic.

“I’m going to get your fucking bike and bring it back here and clean it up. If the dean finds out what happened, he’ll call your dad for sure, and I bet you’ll be carted out of here,” Saint says.

“Good,” I shout.

“Really? Because I can tell you one damn thing,putain.” His eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror. “We did not have anything to do with Reagan’s death, and I’d think you’d want to find out the truth. You leave here, and that’s never happening.”

He’s got me there. Part of me wants to leave, but I also need to find out if the Vipers did push my sister into her desperate act. I purposefully don’t tell them who she was to me, and they’ve not asked yet. It’s weird, but it’s as if they know it’s a landmine, and once they step on it, things can’t be the same again. Not that they ever will, but the minute we get into that, things get even more tainted and ruined than they already are.

Saint laughs softly. “Ah, poor Venom. Trapped with her Vipers all over again.”

I want to slap the attitude from his face, but I don’t. In a sick way, his shitty behavior gives me a little thrill because he’s angry, and the only reason for him to be angry is thathe cares. At least a little. They all do. They were worried, and it made them crazy, and now they’re taking it out on me. The thing is, you only get mad at people if you have feelings for them.

What’s that famous saying? Indifference is the true opposite of love, not hate.

As we head up the drive, I stare up at the towers and the looming building. Whenever I come this way, I always get the oddest sensation, it’s as if the building is watching me. Judging me.

It’s about to swallow me whole again, the way these three men might. It gives me the shivers.

We get nearer and nearer, and the building throws its long, moonlit shadow until we’re driving under it, back into the darkness that is Verona Falls.

CHAPTER 8

Lex

I slapSaint on the shoulder.

“Be careful.”

My twin offers me a serious nod. “I will.”

The roads will be quiet at this time of night, and it’s unlikely he’ll come across any more trouble taking the truck to pick up Vani’s bike, but it still concerns me.

I’ll go with him, Zane signs.

I nod. “Thanks, dude.”

I can’t imagine ever having to live without my twin. As much as he pisses me off at times, he’s one half of me. We’ve been together since we were in the womb, and our upbringing means we’re closer than most. Having a mother walk out on you when you’re a kid will do that. With our rotating door of nannies, and our father who didn’t give a fuck, we only had each other. I hadn’t thought we’d ever let anyone else in. We don’t trust easily; you might say we have abandonment issues but then we came to Verona Falls and met Zane. Then it was the three of us.

Until we met Vani.

Has three become four?

Except even if we have, now we’re in danger of going back to being three again.

It doesn’t take a psychologist to understand that the reason we’re so upset with her for running is because she’s another woman who’s left us. Another woman who’s lied to us. Another woman who can’t be trusted.

I need to get Vani back to her room without being seen by any more members of the faculty—in particular, the dean. I don’t want anyone asking questions.

What she said about the Preachers lingers on my mind. They’re such a bunch of freaks. I don’t believe in shit like magic, but it still creeps me out that they believe they can hurt us with Vani’s blood and hair.

They can hurt us withVani.

I think that’s the part that’s bothering me most of all. That they believe she’s the way to get to us.

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