Page 21 of Choosing Jenny
Rex turned his gaze expectantly to Longshot. “What, no manners warning for her?”
“She is in her home,” he replied mildly. “She may do as she wishes.”
“Right.” Rex rolled his eyes. “And it wouldn’t be because you’re afraid of Scrylock?”
His claim surprised me. “Why would Longshot be afraid of her?” I asked.
“Because she’s a murderous cunt.”
Beyond pissed with his cavalier attitude, I leapt to my feet before anyone could react and pointed to the door. “Get out.Now.”
Rhonda hissed at him.
But Rex ignored me entirely, turning to Mal instead. “Are you going to let that human piece of ass talk to me like that? You promised me dinner, and we’ve not even had a chance to eat.”
Mal’s expression didn’t so much as falter. “I promised you dinner, Rex, but you demanded a show. With the exception ofyou, everyone at this table lives here, which means if any one of them makes demands on you, what is a guest’s duty? Remind me.”
Rex’s jaw clenched and his gaze hardened. “Seriously? You’re choosingherover me?”
“There are laws of decorum evenIfind appealing.” Mal shrugged. “Keep that in mind, when I come to visit you.”
He huffed an indignant breath and stood. “Oh, I will. When you come to visit me, I will ensure you can’t sit for a week when I’m done with your tailless ass. You and all your friends can come, too. Obedience will be on the menu for all. I might even let you bring your human piece and your savage. I’ll make them watch what I do to you. All the nasty things you used to love. I imagine they have no idea what it’s like to fuck on top of corpses you’ve created.” He paused to let that image sink into our minds, then turned his eyes to Tiger. “Orne, I bet you’d make a wonderful corpse to fuck on top of—”
Rhonda shot off of Longshot’s arm over the table at Rex, swooping around plates and steaming bowls of food. She swerved around his glass and wrapped around it. The glass shattered against her, spilling hot soup over her body and making the glass shards stick to her. She shimmied happily, before she leaped straight for Rex.
He grabbed a knife from the table and thrust it at her, narrowly missing the strigella’s tail. She zipped down Discord’s chair and onto the floor. We all darted to that side of the table to see what was coming. As she lunged to bite his leg, she stopped mid-lunge, jaws unlocked, fangs out. It took a moment to realize that Longshot had her tail. He yanked her back from Rex, even though she struggled in his grasp. When he had her face-to-face, she bowed her head and snuggled beneath his neck in submission.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Malice,” Rex said, his tone sardonic as he flipped another knife, flinging it near Longshot’s leg. When the tip hit the marble floor, it clattered and slid away from Longshot. “I look forward to your visit. Good night.”
He stomped out of the dining hall.
I followed him in the outer halls to make sure he left. I didn’t bother being quiet. I wanted him to know I was behind him and I wasn’t afraid. When he spun around and marched back toward me, I lifted my chin and didn’t flinch, ready for whatever he had planned.
He stopped just inches away and met my gaze. His eyes darkened with something venomous and hungry.
“You’re even lovelier than your sister,” he said, making my skin crawl with the way he looked at me. “Do you know that?”
My stomach churned, but I didn’t let it show. “You have ten seconds to turn around and leave before I let Rhonda bite you.”
He smiled, like he found me charming. “A shame we got off on the wrong foot, Hollinger.”
“That’s the only kind of feet you have.”
He clicked his tongue. “My guy isn’t being fucked right, Jenny, I can tell. Do see to his needs. I’m not as young as I once was, so I need him a bit worn out before I take him from you.”
As much as he sickened me, I forced myself to pretend not to care, so that Mal’s flirting with him would mean something. “You can’t take him from me. I don’thavehim. He’s free to do whomever he wants, no matter how much he shouldn’t.”
Rex lips curled with appreciation. “You’re smarter than your sister, too.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Trying to make me believe you don’t care about Malice, that you’re not tied up in knots thinking of me inside him,” he said cruelly. “It’s a good play, what you and your friends have goingon. Unfortunately foryouract, Malice is a better actor than the rest of you.”
“Huh?” I had no idea what he meant.
“You certainly don’t have the acting chops to pull off playing dumb, Jenny. As I said, you’re smarter than Sarah. And by the way, she knows it, too.”
“How would you know anything about that?”
