Page 52 of The Vipers' Vow

We’ve got a long ride ahead of us. I’m still unsure what we’ll do when we reach Verona Falls. It’s not as though we can take Phoenix and Zoo inside the boundaries with us—Nataniele will throw a fit, or worse, he’ll call Vani’s dad. They’re going to have to wait while we collect Saint and then place the call to Jarl Olsen to tell him we kept our side of the bargain.

18

SAINT

Ibarely slept last night.

My brain wouldn’t shut the fuck up. I resorted to letting myself into Vani’s room, climbing into her bed, and masturbating onto her sheets, inhaling the scent of her on the material, to try to feel closer to her, but even that didn’t work.

I had a couple of missed calls from her, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her. I know I’m going to have to tell her about Angelica, and it’s tearing me in two. She thinks Angelica is her friend, but then the little bitch tried to steal me away from Vani. Who the fuck does that?

Angelica also knows more than she’s told us about Reagan’s death. I switch between thinking that even Angelica wouldn’t do something so low as hurt someone she’d called a friend, and the deep uneasy feeling that she surely did. If my suspicions are correct, it’s going to break Vani’s heart.

Allof this shit is going to break Vani’s heart.

It’ll be even worse if Angelica tells Vani I kissed her deliberately. I need to get in there first, to make sure Vani hears my version of events. She’s probably still going to be super pissed with me, but I want her to understand I did it for her. Anyway, I didn’t do anything more than a kiss after I’d given Angelica her goodnight meds, and the whole time I thought about Vani. Nothing more happened. I didn’t really do anything wrong, but will Vani see it that way?

I check my watch. It’s almost eight in the morning, which means they should be back soon. I wonder how my twin is doing. I hope he’s not getting himself into trouble, but then I doubt he’s just sitting around quietly.

I wonder if Angelica has woken yet, and, if she has, what she thinks happened. Does she have any idea I drugged her? Will she believe I held up my end of the bargain and we had sex? I wish she hadn’t passed out quite so quickly, as I’d have been able to get more information from her if she’d stayed awake.

She knows something about Reagan’s death; I’m sure of it. The way she spoke about Reagan was with real venom. What had she meant by ‘I took care of the problem?’ Had Reagan been the problem? She’d hated the girl, but had she hated her enough to kill her?

Had Angelica been the one to push Reagan from the tower?

My gut tells me she possibly did, which means she’s a danger to me and the other Vipers, and most of all Vani. One that will need dealing with.

I leave my room and head outside, needing some air. I find myself at Lex’s car. Being near it makes me feel closer to my brother. A smile tweaks at my lips at the mess it was left in. I can’t believe Vani did this to Lex’s car. She destroyed my paintings too. Maybe I should be angry with her, but I kind of admire her balls.

I’m also relieved the fucking Preachers had nothing to do with it. I haven’t seen anything of those weirdo freaks since everything went down, but I still have one of their crucifixes in a drawer at the mansion. They’re going to want it back sometime, but they don’t know I’ve got it, and I’m not going to volunteer it. A part of me doesn’t want it anywhere near my stuff, though, in case they can use it to hex me. It’s probably stupid to believe in that shit, but there are many people back home in Marseille who do, and I’ve heard some crazy stories. No one needs that kind of bad energy against them. Even if magic isn’t real, bad vibes are.

The distant rumble of thunder draws my attention, but then I realize it’s not thunder, it’s the growl of motorcycle engines. Big ones. My heart picks up speed. It’s them; it has to be.

I break into a run, heading away from the building and down the long driveway, toward the gates. The guards are looking curiously at the new arrivals, but they can see Zane and Vani, so they haven’t pulled their weapons. I have no idea who the other two men are, but they’re wearing leather cuts from Vani’s father’s MC.

Vani spots me running toward them. Her beautiful face breaks into a smile, and she climbs off her bike and throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I lift her so her legs hook around my hips and hold her tight, burying my face in the crook of her neck.

“Fuck, I missed you,” I tell her.

“I missed you, too.”

I kiss her and then realize we’re drawing attention from the two guys they’ve brought with them.

“Hang on a minute,” the smaller, blond one says, “I thought you were with this guy, Vani.” He jabs a thumb in Zane’s direction.

Vani’s cheeks turn prettily pink and she bites her lower lip. “Umm…well…here’s the thing, I’m kind of with both of them…and the one who’s been taken, Lex.” The two men’s mouths drop, and she rushes on. “But you can’t tell my dad. Seriously. You can’t tell anyone else at the club either or it will get back to him.”

“If this is serious, he’s going to find out some time,” the bigger of the two club members adds.

She scuffs the ground with her boot. “Yeah, I know. But just not right now, okay? There’s too much going on. I can’t handle my dad as well, at least not until this is over and everyone is safe.”

The smaller one snorts. “I’m not going to be the one who tells him. You ever heard the phrase, don’t shoot the messenger? You think he’s going to be happy when he finds out three men are banging his precious princess daughter?”

I glance back at the security guards, but we’re far enough away that they can’t hear. The last thing we need is this going all around the college. Not that it hurt the Devils, though, I must admit. No one seems to give two shits about them and their Duchess now. Then again, they have the dean on their side, and we most definitely do not.

“Oh, my God.” Vani covers her face with both hands, her cheeks glowing red now. “We’re notbanging, Zoo. We’re serious about one another.”

“He’s still going to go fucking apeshit,” the bigger one says seriously.

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