Page 16 of Choosing Jenny
How brave of her to say that in front of Justice.
“Vaux has come a long way since the Saltinos have taken charge,” he said proudly. “And we’ve never been anything but progressive. You should visit some time, Thunder. I’m sure you’d love it there.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Lovely,” Justice said sarcastically. “Now that introductions are complete, there are matters that must be addressed.” His gaze turned to me. “Malice, I wanted to speak this aloud with the council present, so there’s no confusion.”
My stomach tensed.
“I understand why you helped Jenny Hollinger. I, too, once cared for someone enough to doincredibly stupid things.” He paused, letting the words hang in the chamber like a guillotine. “I sent you to my father’s island to give you clarity. Time to reflect. And so you could witness exactly how you’ll be punished if you find another way to disappoint me. Understood?”
“Of course.”
Those two words did a lot of heavy lifting, enough to dig me out of the Justice-shaped hole I was in. I didn’t know whether the council had been made aware of Credo’s death, but since he was threatening me in front of them, bringing it up seemed like a bad idea.
So, I stayed on point. “Jenny will not be a problem going forward, I assure you.”
He smiled, but like all his smiles, it was a broad sneer. “I appreciate your enthusiasm for your job, Malice, but do not execute the girl, or torture her again. Not yet. Humans are notoriously attached to their kin. No amount of pain willloosen her lips, but fucking them loose might get us information regarding her sister’s plan for war.”
“You want me to spy on her?”
“You will spy on her and the Orne boy. Stay close to them. Take them back and forth to Halla whenever the time calls for it. Keep your eyes and ears open.” He gestured vaguely at the room. “This is why I have given Longshot his title. He will aid your quest for information, in whatever ways are need—”
“But they will be executed, right, Justice?” Rex cut in, his tone bitter. “Deacon Ladrang, that murderous doctor, all their friends, down to the last of them. You promised me—”
“Yes, yes, Rex, they will all meet Malice’s axe in front of our citizens. We do not let insurrectionists live. Can you imagine?” Justice laughed, and subsequently we did, as well. “But not until we discover who their allies are. If we squash the rebellion on Halla now, then we risk never knowing who on Orhon is conspiring against us, and that will lead to future rebellions. No, I will not allow that.”
Justice sat back in his chair, looking pleased with himself. “So, Malice and Longshot will pretend to be their friends and lovers and anything else they want, while they learn who our true enemies are. And then, we crush them all.”
Longshot smiled, playing his part perfectly. “They will never see it coming.”
“I’ll sharpen my axe.” I tried to remain cool and unaffected but worried they could see through me and I would get us all killed.
“Must you use an axe?” Rex asked, distracting me with his question.
I raised a brow at him. “You object?”
“It’s too fast.”
I laughed, just as he’d expect. “I will plan something special for them, then.”
He gave me a dark smile, and I felt like his violet eyes were diving deep into my ghost. “And I will plan something special as a thank you, after we bathe in their blood.”
Knowing Rex, that was not a metaphor.
CHAPTER 6
Tiger
As we walked back fromCheesecake, two figures emerged from the mansion’s rear door. Seeing Malice, Jenny squealed in excitement and broke into a run, but I picked her up and ran with her in my arms.
She laughed but hung onto me. “What are you doing?”
“Your human legs are too short to keep up and I didn’t want to beat you to him. I wanted us to tie.”
She kissed my cheek as we came up to the terrace, where Malice and Longshot stood, watching us. I set Jenny down, barely containing my grin.
“Hey, Longshot,” I said before I grabbed Mal’s face in my hands and kissed him hard. He groaned when my tongue swept into his mouth. He grabbed my ass, while we started to make out. Then someone kicked my shin.
