Page 12 of The Vipers' Vow

She gives a half snort-laugh at that. “The Vipers couldn’t even protect themselves. Your brother is missing, and you need my help. I don’t see how you can keep me safe.”

I exhale a breath, trying to keep my temper. “Jarl won’t know where we got the number. Or, if he guesses, we’ll say we forced it from you, that we threatened you and tortured you.”

“Or that we stole it,” Vani throws in.

She shakes her head. “I can’t.”

I’m getting desperate. “What do you want in return, Angelica?” I say. “There must be something. Everyone’s got a price, no matter what the risks.”

Angelica seems to think for a moment. “There is something I want, but I need to speak to Saint alone.” She glances at Vani and Zane.

We all exchange looks. Zane gives a tiny shake of his head. Yeah, I don’t like the idea either. Is this some kind of setup?

“What is it, Angelica?” Vani asks. “Why can’t you say it in front of all of us?”

She sighs. “I care about you, Vani, but you have to realize that you’ve only been here a short while. There’s stuff that’s happened before you came along. We all have history, and I’m sorry that some of it doesn’t involve you.”

I frown. What kind of history is she talking about? Angelica and I don’t have any history, except for her to make it clear how much she hates me…and my brother.

“Vani’s right,” I say. “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of her.”

Angelica purses her lips and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. Like I said, it just doesn’t concern Vani.” Her gaze flicks to the giant at Vani’s side. “Or Zane.”

Vani lifts her chin and meets my eye. “If it helps get Lex back, then you should speak to her.”

Zane types on his cell and holds his phone so only we can see it.

What if this is some kind of trap?

He has a point. Angelica was the one who got Jarl Olsen into the college on a previous occasion. She could be in on this. Vani might seem to like her, but I’ve never trusted her, and I don’t see any reason to start now. Still, it’s worth the risk.

“I’ll be okay,” I tell Zane and Vani.

Zane writes down,What if you’re the next one to be taken?

Angelica grabs the phone from Zane and reads the note and rolls her eyes, before passing the phone back. “He’ll be right on the other side of the door, I promise. Your precious bro isn’t going anywhere.”

I nod. “If it means getting one step closer to getting Lex back, I can speak to her alone.”

No one is going to bust into the library and snatch me from under their noses, and I’m not frightened of Angelica—not in the slightest. She’s just some idiot girl so far as I’m aware.

Vani says she’s her friend, but Angelica has been nothing but a gossip and a pain in our asses. She’ll be lucky if I leave here with her breathing.

Vani and Zane exchange a glance and seem to agree silently between them. Zane reaches out and links his fingers through Vani’s. A tiny pang of jealousy hits me that he’s the one who gets to do that while I stay here with Angelica.

“Okay,” Vani says, “we’ll be right outside, Saint.”

I watch their backs as they leave, fully conscious of the young woman still sitting at the desk beside me. The door swings shut on Vani and Zane, and I turn to face her.

“What happened to your mouth?” Angelica asks.

I’d almost forgotten about my split lip, but now I raise my fingers to lightly touch it. “Zane punched me,” I admit.

She giggles. “Good for him. Maybe I’ll like some of you Vipers after all.”

I give an irritated sigh. “So, what do you want, Angelica? Why do you need to speak to me alone?”

I genuinely have no idea what she’s going to ask for. Money would be my first guess, but it’s not like she doesn’t have plenty of her own. Some kind of favor for her family, then? She swishes her shiny, straight, brown hair, and the scent of strawberries hits me.

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