Page 58 of V for Vindictive

Phillip snickered happily, and I tried to hide a smile. “I missed you, more than words or actions could ever express, mein Schatz.”

Mirroring his hold, I brushed my thumbs across his strong face and admired how beautiful the world’s deadliest Hunter was. “I missed you too, you jerk. But I won’t be distracted by sweet uttered nothings. You should know better by now.”

Sighing loudly, Phillip bent down and kissed me so softly I almost didn’t know how to react. Then pulling away, he wrapped his bulky arms around my shoulders and held me close. “Pure Chaos Fae are ancient and extinct.”

“Of course they are.”

“And their power is destructive. It becomes impossible to control and darker the longer they wield it. It’s an unprecedented and far-too-powerful ancient magic, V. One that hasn’t been seen in over two millennia.”

Naturally.

“And Cassius thinks the only way to control it is to cross over to the Fae realm and have it sealed and bound by some no-name Fae with the ability to do it.”

“Something tells me that doing so would mean throwing ourselves to the wolves,” I commented offhandedly.

“It wouldn’t be the smartest move, no.”

Plus, Cash wasn’t the easiest to trust, even bound by Phillip’s Truth Bracelet thingy. He could opt to withhold information, hence avoiding the “lie” part of the contract. Cassius already proved to be a sneaky devil, and I wouldn’t put it past him to find a loophole.

Not only that, but the dude would run at the first sign of trouble if he wasn’t worried about Phillip getting to him first—and more specifically, if he thought Phillip was as good as dead.

Cash was the truest form of coward.

Thinking, I considered our options. “And there’s no guarantee such a thing would work, either. It’s a shot in the dark, and one we can’t afford to try right now.” We’d be at the mercy of a brand-new realm, and one that used magic better than I ever could. “I’m not ready to take on a new realm of shitheads, and leaving this one could put our own people in danger. The Organization and Lux will double-down, no doubt, and I can’t be the reason that our friends are picked off one by one while I’m playing Fae realm explorer.”

“I hate to agree with you—”

“Why do you hate agreeing with me, you asshole?” I cut in sassily.

Chuckling, Phillip continued, “Because it’s the same conclusion I came to myself, and I really hoped you’d argue the latter, lass.”

His deep, husky voice echoed in the ear pressed against his chest where I detected the uptick in his heartrate. Phillip was a master of control, so the fact that he let his guard down around me was enough to solidify the trust he was finally putting into our relationship.

Despite the dire-as-shit talk, I was on cloud nine.

Slipping my arms around him, I hugged the oversized jerk closer, trying to digest what he said but also knowing I never truly would. “But there’s one thing that changes it up. I’m a genetically created mix.”

“You are.”

“Which means there’s no telling what I can or can’t do,” I argued, finally peering up at him. And I was so glad I did, because a half second later, Phillip offered me the sweetest smile yet. One born out of pride and absolute awe.

Kissing me again gently, Phillip took strong hold of my jaw and stared at me with fiery intensity, his gaze mere inches from mine. “Why is it that you know just what to say to give me hope? What’s this power you have over me, maus? It’s terrifying.”

“Things can terrify you? That’s what’s truly terrifying, my dude,” I snarked.

“We’ll do it your way,” Phillip said to my eternal surprise.

“Phil ceding ground? Is this a dream?” I mocked with a gasp.

Pinching my nose spitefully before smacking my butt hard enough to get a sound out of me, Phillip put on a new pair of gloves and got back to his work. “It’ll take a few days to figure out this reverse serum, and I have a few other gadgets to make for our next little excursion, so go sit in the corner like a good little girl and let me work.”

I saluted him sarcastically. “Aye, aye, el cap-ee-tan!”

Over two weeks passed, and finally the mad scientist was ready to leave this claustrophobia-inducing box of chemical fumes and sultry temptation. He’d successfully created a counter-active agent for the shit they used to paralyze my abilities. Cleverly, he made them into little dissolvable pills I simply put under my tongue, and thankfully the effects were quicker to work than the syringe versions.

Phillip then did the same with the reverse serum.

It was interesting how hot it made me to think about my genius scientist partner creating the very things that could save my life when push came to shove. Plus, I could carry more on me with these new tablets, and I kept bottles of them in several reachable pockets.

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