Page 61 of The Vipers' Vow

The big man spins around, surprisingly agile. He sees Lex and lets out a roar. He lunges for Lex, and I scream. A gunshot sounds, and I have no idea which man has managed to shoot.

But then the big man slumps to the floor, and the gun drops from Lex’s hand.

“Lex!” I cry again.

Phoenix and Zoo have both joined us now and are covering Jarl with their weapons so I can lower mine. Jarl isn’t going anywhere fast.

I race over to Lex. “Oh, my God, are you all right? We thought you might be dead.”

He offers me a smile. “Takes a lot to kill me,ma cherie.”

I fling my arms around his neck and hug him, careful of his damaged hand.

“It’s good to see you, brother,” Saint says. “But you took your fucking time making an appearance.”

Jarl is on his knees, his hands behind his head. “You assholes are going to pay for this,” he snarls.

22

SAINT

“How about we come up with a different plan?” I address Jarl.

I have no idea if this is going to work, but I have to try.

“What are you doing, Saint?” Lex asks me. “Just shoot the fucker.”

“No.” I shake my head. “We need him.”

Lex raises his eyebrows. “What?”

Maybe weshouldjust kill Jarl Olsen here and now and then sink the boat and be done with it, but there’s one fucking huge loose end, and I don’t know how to deal with it ourselves.

We can’t let him live,Zane signs at me.

“Yes, we can. We have to.”

Lex’s brow furrows. “I think the fuck not. Why would you even want him to?”

“I’ll explain in detail later. I just need you guys to trust me.”

Lex narrows his eyes but doesn’t argue. I know I’m right, and this is the best way for all of us. We can’t be the ones to deal with Angelica, however much we might want to. What happened to Reagan isn’t our fight. Besides, if we do something to Angelica, when we’re already under suspicion for killing Reagan, our names will be dirt. We’ll never be allowed to stay at Verona Falls, and then we’ll all be separated. Lex and I will have to return to France. I can’t let that happen.

Protecting our unity is more important to me than Angelica, but I’m also aware that we can’t just let her live her life. She might be a threat to Vani, and if anything ever happened to Vani…

I can’t even bring myself to consider the possibility.

I could have gone to the dean with my information, but the truth is I don’t trust him. Look at how he swept everything under the carpet when Reagan died. What’s to say he won’t do the same thing again? Maybe he even knows Angelica was the one responsible, but he got a payoff from her family to stay quiet and keep Angelica in the college. It’s not as though she isn’t from a powerful family herself.

The simple answer is I don’t trust Nataniele or his son, Dom. The Devils have always been our enemies, and just because they’ve found love, allegedly, with their so-called Duchess, doesn’t mean they aren’t still fuckers.

But can I trust Jarl? I have little choice if I can’t deal with this mess myself.

“You asked for us to bring you the person responsible for Reagan’s death,” I say to Jarl. “As you can see, we haven’t done that, but I can at least give you the name.”

Jarl narrows his eyes. “Who?”

“Before I tell you, we need to have a gentlemen’s agreement that this is over between us all. As you can see from what’s happened here today, we are people with power. We can call in on all kinds of favors to ensure you won’t live if we get so much as a whisper that you’re conspiring against us.”

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