Page 2 of The Vipers' Vow

“Both of you,” he yells, “get the hell off the roof!”

I barely hear him with all the noise, but it’s clear Zane has read his lips. He catches my hand and hauls me toward the open doorway.

I still don’t want to go anywhere with them, but I also acknowledge that I don’t have many choices. Being out in this storm is dangerous, and I don’t want to risk falling again. I’d rather take my chances with the Vipers.

I realize one of them is missing. Where is Lex?

We enter the stairwell, and the door slams behind us, blocking out the worst of the weather and the noise of the alarms, though I can still hear them, echoing up from the interior of the college.

The near silence is strange after the roar and rush of the wind in my ears, almost claustrophobic in its intense quiet.

Zane signs something to Saint, and Saint’s eyes widen in alarm.

“You almost fell?” Saint says.

I give a tiny nod, embarrassed now. “Yes, but I didn’t.”

“That was so fucking stupid of you, Vani.”

Now the emotion has drained out of me, it’s replaced by a fresh wave of anger.

“What do you think I was doing up there in the first place?” I snatch the crumpled and now very wet flier out of Zane’s hand and wave it in their faces. “How could you?”

“How could we what?” Saint says. “Those fliers had nothing to do with us.”

“Liar!” I spit back. “Daddy’s little whore? Did you think I’d forget?”

He seems genuinely perplexed. “Forget what?”

“That time you made me call Zane ‘Daddy’ while we were having sex. You took those words and used them against me.”

“Vani, this wasn’t us. I swear to you.”

Zane’s lips are pinched, and he shakes his head. Was that what he’d been trying to tell me on the roof? They’d lie, though, wouldn’t they? The way they’ve done before.

“I don’t believe you. You’ve been torturing me this whole time.”

“How many of these have you had?” Saint demands.

It’s my turn to be confused. “What do you mean?”

“I know this isn’t the first poison pen note you’ve had. Someone put one under your door…”

He trails off. What the hell? Is he admitting to putting it under my door?

Zane eyes him strangely.

I think of all the horrible notes I’ve received. What kind of game is he playing? He knows it’s not the first one because he and the other Vipers are the ones who sent them.

“You know someone put one under my door because you’re that someone.”

Saint stares at me. “You really think that’s our fucking style, Vani? How can I be the person putting the note under the door when I was already on the other side of it.”

He is making no sense. What does he mean, on the other side of it?

Zane signs something to Saint.

Saint shoves his hands in his pockets and glances down. “I just was, okay?” He returns his attention to me. “So, you have had more notes, then? How many? I know of at least two now.”

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