Page 28 of Wedlock
“And what new threat do you refer to?”
“Someone is trying to make me kill Viper.”
“How on earth could that occur?”
“Because the rumour is that my wifeisin fact under a thrall.”
Mother claps her hands and smiles.
“I knew it.”
I hold up my hand to forestall anything else she might add.
“Before you start crowing, the thrall is not mine.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wolf and Jag believe Angelina is being held under an obedience bite, from Viper.”
Her face pales as she stills, taking in what I’ve just said.
“No!” she gasps.
“No, of course not,” I snap, downing my drink and moving to pour another. “Viper would never do anything like that.”
“If he had….” she whispers.
“If he had, I’d be bound to destroy him,” I mutter.
“What has he said to this?”
“I can’t reach him. That’s why I insisted you return from Court. I’m concerned this is another machination by Spider to destroy my house. I want you home while we await Viper and sort out this mess. I want to keep you safe.”
“Safe from whom?” She murmurs. “Spider hasn’t managed to kill me yet; I doubt he’ll succeed this time.”
“It’s not Spider I’m worried about right at this moment,” I sigh, running my hands through my hair. “It’s Jag.”
“Jaguar? Why on earth should I fear him?”
“Not you, it’s just one less thing for me to worry about if I know where you are at all times. No, it’sViperI fear for. Jag’s planning on killing him. He believes Viper has bitten Angie, and he wants to end my brother’s life. My dread is that once he’s done this, Spider will make his next move upon my title. With no younger brother to take the seat and with Spider having the ear of the Queen, if something should befall me my seat will easily go to him.”
“Why would something befall you?”
“Because if anything happens to my brother, through lies passed to Jag, I will be forced to kill my former best friend and then march on Spider.”
“Falcon, no.”
“I’ll end this, one way or the other, Mother. Too long we’ve lived under this shadow. Too long his family have manipulated and spied and worked to undermine mine. This is the last straw. To convince Jaguar that
Angelina had an affair with him because she was ordered to under a thrall is possibly the most diabolical thing he’s done to date.”
“Apart from making you go on The Games,” she murmurs, “and biting Giselle’s sister when she was a child so that one day she’d try to kill me.”
“You can see where I’m heading with this,” I nod. “Nothing is beyond him.”
Mother rises.
“So the suggestion is that Angelina was bitten before the pregnancy? By Viper?”
