Page 58 of The Serpent's Bride
Volencia was sitting in a different chair, smoking a cigarette set into the end of a long, delicate brass holder.
Several others who Nadi recognized were scattered around, drinking from brown glass bottles or sipping hard alcohol. Some she kind of thought she had seen the night before.
“Well, now you can ask Red Lace herself.”
Red Lace? Nadi blinked and turned her head to look over at Mael, who had been the one who had spoken. “Excuse me?”
The giant vampire’s smile was both amused and beleaguered. “Rumors travel fast. And you were quite the sight walking out of that cesspit last night.”
“Huh.” She’d never had a nickname before. Or was that a title? She shrugged and went back to stacking up her plate. “Hardly impressive. Most of the blood was probably mine.”
Someone snickered. It might have been Azazel. She didn’t particularly care.
“Do you care to explainpreciselywhat happened? Start from the very beginning, if you would. And walk us through, very specifically, how anidiot childlike you managed to get away from three armed men?” Volencia sounded less than impressed.
What Nadi would havecaredto do in that moment was eat some food, then break the neck off one of the bottles of beer and grind it into Volencia’s smug-ass face.
However.
That would probably get her into a bit of trouble at the moment.
Instead, she plucked a bottle of beer from the ice and sat down on the sofa, taking her sweet time in silence. Raziel had his back to his mother where he stood at his bar, pouring himself a large glass of bloodwine. Volencia might not be able to see, but Nadi didn’t miss the amused expression on his face.
He enjoyed the slight amount of shit she was giving his mother.
Perhaps the bond there wasn’t as tight as she had thought.
That was something she could use.
“Well,” Nadi finally began after the very long pause. “If you’re insinuating I spread my legs to get out of there, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m not surprised that was the solution that sprang to mind for you, but there are other ways of solving problems.”
This time, Azazel cackled in laughter.
Volencia’s expression darkened in rage. “Mind yourself…”
Nadi met the older vampire woman’s angry gaze. “I’ve had an absolutelyshittwenty-four hours. I’ve been nearly blown up, kidnapped, shoved in a trunk, dragged through an abandoned slaughterhouse, threatened, and shot. I’m starving, healing from a concussion, and I’m exhausted. I killed three men yesterday. I’m sorry if I’m not handling your attitude very well.”
Volencia leaned back in her chair and stared at her as if trying to murder her with her gaze alone. Fortunately, that wasn’t a power that vampires had. At least, not that Nadi was aware of.
Nadi sipped her beer and felt instant relief as the cold liquid touched her tongue.
Raziel sat down next to her. “I believe what my mother so very tactlessly attempted to ask you was what happened after the Iltanis took you hostage.”
Nodding, she took a breath, held it, and let it out in a rush. “They brought me down to a room where I met an…older fae man. Long green hair and pale green skin. Lots of beads.”
“Luciento,” Mael grunted, then swore under his breath.
“He told me it wasn’t personal, that I was just bait in a trap.” Nadi shook her head. “I managed to figure out, once everyone left except for the three human men left behind to guard me, that the building was rigged with explosives. The three men talked too much and thought I was harmless.”
Volencia scoffed. Nadi opted to ignore it.
Lana was watching her with large, worried doe eyes, but was listening in silence.
“I asked one of the men if I could relieve myself.” Picking up some kind of sliced vegetable from a platter, Nadi dipped it into a sauce they had placed near it. She didn’t really care what it was. It was food. “They were polite enough to oblige. I asked the man who took me to a private spot to turn around. When he did, I stole his gun and shot him.”
“Clever.” Lana smiled. “Nobody wants to listen to a woman whine about a full bladder.”
“Hear hear,” Azazel muttered into the neck of his beer bottle.
