Page 33 of The Vipers and Their Vendetta

She angles her head. “Why has it been rough?”

I take a sip of my Coke. “You know, just having everyone gossiping about me.”

“It’ll blow over soon enough. There’s always new drama at Verona Falls.”

Three shadows fall over the table.

Instinctively, I know who they are without needing to look up. My body is primed for their presence, my senses on full alert. Every nerve-ending in my skin seems to fizz to life. My ears are suddenly strained, and my nose takes in the mixture of their scents.

“Why the fuck are you ignoring us, Vani?” It’s Saint doing the talking.

I lower my voice to a hiss. “Why do you think?”

“Because you believe a bunch of rumors over us?” He shoots Angelica a glare that could turn most people to ash.

She shrugs, seeming unperturbed by their presence. “I just filled the girl in on what everyone knows is true. Don’t blame usfor that. If you weren’t fucking bullies in the first place, rumors like that wouldn’t get started. First it was Reagan, and then it was Camile, and when she wasn’t interested, you turned to Vani.”

My stomach churns. Was Camile the girl with Mackenzie? What’s the story there? Everyone is looking again, and I want to slide under the table and hide. But I can’t do that. I need to stand up to these men.

I push my uneaten pizza to one side and stand. “Let’s go.”

“Vani!” Faith cries, reaching for my hand to pull me back.

“It’s okay. I can handle them.” I’m not sure I can, actually, but I need to try. I turn my attention to Zane and the twins. “Let’s go outside. I’m not going to talk to the three of you with an audience.”

The rest of the room suddenly finds their food and each other more interesting, swiveling away from the scene playing out in front of them. I steel myself for what’s to come and try to breathe through my pounding heart rate, and the way my blood is rushing through my ears.

Then I step away from the table and follow the Vipers out of there.

CHAPTER 12

Zane

We headout into the courtyard.

It’s quiet at this time, with most of the students in the cafeteria getting lunch. Those few students who are sitting around, eating a sandwich or just hanging out, spot us coming and quickly gather their belongings and scamper off.

They can sense trouble.

We reach a sheltered part on the other side of the central fountain. It’s not overlooked here, and we’re hidden behind an old stone wall—like the kind I imagine might be found in an English country garden.

We come to a halt, and Vani spins to face us, her back to the wall.

“What do you all want?” she cries. “I wish I’d never gotten involved with any of you.”

Saint purses his lips and shakes his head. “You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I? It’s just been drama after drama ever since I met you. I ask for a little space after I’ve been through something traumatic, and you can’t even give me that. I was just sitting at the lunch table eating with my friends, and I couldn’t even do that without you making a scene.”

Lex’s eyes narrow. “Those girls are not your friends. They’re a bunch of absolute bitches.”

She throws up her hands. “Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you? After all, they’re the ones who told me the truth about what happened to Reagan.”

I slam my fists together in a punching motion, making her jump, and slip the small pen and notepad out of my pocket, and then scribble something down.

I push it toward her.

It is not the truth.

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