Page 73 of V for Vindictive

“Shite. I nearly got away with it too, if not for these bloody kids,” Cassius whined in a baby voice that grated on the nerves.

It wasn’t the perfectScooby-Dooquote, but the Dark Fae struck me as someone who added his own flair to everything he touched. In this case, a very popular cartoon phrase.

Phillip took a step forward, but it was Sloan who freed my hand from Cash’s loose hold, and the silver-haired imp cooed cutely as if he was watching a romance unfold in a daytime soap.

I tried to ignore how my pulse thrummed when the Brit touched my skin. His hand was so gentle and kind, which was a far-cry from Phillip’s, and it felt illicit to enjoy the sensation at all when my brand-new, sort-of-labeled boyfriend was watching the entire time.

Coming between us, Phillip addressed Sloan as if he hadn’t rudely muscled him out of the way. “I guess we’re stuck with you, so you keep the bloody tosser in check. I’ll handle V.”

I opened my mouth again, ready to defend myself, but it was Sloan’s voice that came to my defense first. “I think she’s plenty capable of taking care of herself, mate.”

Phillip pivoted, and I didn’t see the anger radiate on his face, but it was all there in his back, telling a story about how upset the man was. “You have something to say, Sloan?”

I’d never heard Phil use the tone he presently adopted with Sloan, and I quickly realized the situation wasn’t the usual banter-heavy play the two were prone to doing; this was the real deal. They were about to have an actual fight, so I moved around Phillip and put myself between them.

“Uh, ‘scuzie, but I think we all just need to calm the fuck down and remember what we’re doing here,” I interjected firmly.

Cassius stood, a snack in his hand, and I did a double-take at the Fae in confusion. “Oh, by all means, finish what you were saying, love. It’s been a while since I’ve been this amused.”

At least one of us is having a good time…

Chapter 27

Double Ear-Lashing

Sloan

“Look, you and I both know Phil doesn’t change. He’s a talented as fuck Hunter, but he’s broken. When it looks like he’s moved past Giselle, he hasn’t. Truth is, even if he has, he’s still not good enough for her. He’s horribly arrogant, beyond immature, and he’ll destroy her without ever truly understanding how,” Kris said, her intelligent eyes picking me apart the second they flicked up.

Bollocks.

I’d spent too many days in mourning, trying unsuccessfully to do away with my feelings for V, knowing that love could drive a person to do things they never thought they were capable of doing. I couldn’t do that to her.

V deserved better.

The slow turn of the dial in a much-too-long existence spent alone chimed for the first time when I met the hazel-eyed, world-altering Hunter. The blood in my body warmed, bringing to life a pulse that’d gone cold over the years. My thoughts came to life, no longer drenched in monotony and superficiality. Instead, my head buzzed and free-floated with the little things she said and did.

These days, my thoughts were harder to catch and prone to wandering, and it got worse the more I was around V. Our connection sparked andsizzled so quickly that it took my body by storm when I couldn’t see her face first thing in the morning.

Some mornings, it was the only reason I got out of bed at all. I’d toe out my bedroom door and seek her out, like that first sip of coffee, energizing and comforting. Necessary and perfect. Her luscious red hair always caught my gaze first. Then her sparkling hazel eyes, so full of life and hope. She’d smile, her pouty lips upturning and dazzling on impact. I’d stand there, frozen, captivated, desperate for another smile. As always, she’d giggle before, all in slow-motion, the tiny Hunter would cross the kitchen to deliver my coffee, the steaming cup carefully held in her small hands.

It never failed to bewitch me to the spot.

Being with V was like breathing; a necessity I didn’t think I’d ever have.

When I told her that she brought Phillip to life, I hadn’t realized it wasn’t the other Hunter I talked about. It was me. I’d come to life the day I met her, and the more time I spent around V, the more human I became. For so long, I’d been lifeless and empty, dragged through the day by duty and responsibility, chasing a mark, moving onto the next, never seeking more and never dreaming of better.

But V changed all of that.

Years ago, my sister’s death swiftly stole any desire to do anything that wasn’t my job. Life had come to a screeching halt the day I lost her. The night before she died, Raquel rambled on and on about love and its terrifying hold over her, calling it stronger than any ocean’s current, drowning her in seconds when she wasn’t near him.

The man in question, Bones, was a volatile Dark Fae who preyed on innocent humans for blood magic rituals, and he didn’t love her. Not thatit would’ve mattered if he did. Yet, she still went to him, doing whatever he asked, using her abilities to take out Hunters she’d spent a lifetime training with—convinced it was all in the name of love and their future together. To anyone else, it was clear he only used her to carry out his assassinations, but Raquel couldn’t be reached no matter who tried.

It was the first time I’d ever screamed and yelled, had it out with her until there wasn’t a breath left in my body. I begged my sister to see reason and come away with me. I disregarded my own morality, also in the name of love, afraid to lose the one person I held dear. I couldn’t lose Raquel. She was all I had in this endless life, and I clung to her like a bloody child, fearful of my own immortality and powerlessness in the face of free will. But she turned away from me, jerking her arm out of my hold and disappearing in a crack of magic.

It was the last time I saw her before she was killed by the Organization.

I didn’t want to cling to V the way I’d clung to my sister, and so I let the doe-eyed Hunter slip like sand through my fingers, ready to regret it if it meant she was happy.

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