Ill Will
Page 24
He finally nodded, a single sharp jerk of his head, and looked at me. “We need to go find her. I can’t- what the fuck was that shit, Sura? She wasn’t supposed to…” He trailed off, clenching his fists until his knuckles went white. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. She could be anywhere; she could be hurt and terrified…” He trailed off, imagining much worse things than Victoria hurt and terrified. As he should. Even I hadn’t anticipated what such a large dose of my saliva, imbued with a lust so deep it was like madness for a human, would do to her.
Will choked on the words. “We need to get her. I don’t care what Burns said, we’ll take the staff exit if we have to. We need to find her.”
He stopped pacing, frozen in place. The widening of his eyes was all I needed to know someone was behind me.
I turned and saw the patrician man I’d met only a few times before: Lord Percival Godalming, the head of Will’s clan. His face might have been carved from stone. I moved further back into Will’s room as the man walked in, looking impeccable in a dark suit even though it was six in the morning. He must’ve used one of the slayers’ liminal doorways to arrive so quickly.
“Where is Victoria?” His demand was simple and deceptively calm.
Will shook his head as he stood up, his fists balled at his sides. “I don’t know. We haven’t heard anything and they won’t let us leave.”
Lord Godalming leaned on a cane tipped with a silver jaguar head, looking over his son with the same look Victoria gave demons: like they were cockroaches, something slimy that had crawled out from a dark, unpleasant corner.
Will’s emotional pit was becoming a jagged, icy wasteland, all sharp hate and yearning fear. He’d never admit out loud how desperately he wanted to live up to his father’s expectations, but I felt that fear as keenly as if it were my own every day.
Tonight, though, the fear was all for his stepsister.
Lord Godalming backhanded his son with a sharp crack, sending Will flying into the wall. His skull broke the plaster open, raining white dust over his hair and the carpet. “I gave you very simple orders, William. Live up to the prefect badge and protect your sister. You’ve absolutely fucked the family name, you little shit. You think it isn’t apparent who sent that video?”
Wobbly footsteps echoed down the hall, and Will straightened up, red spots of rage burning on his cheekbones. “I’m not her brother,” he hissed. “Just let me fucking find her-”
Victoria’s steps faltered outside the door. Her emotions were even more sickening than Will’s storm, like a dark sea of ichor that threatened to swamp her from the inside, but her eyes roved over the tableaux Lord Godalming, his son, and I made.
Relief burst through Will like a ray of sunlight, followed by a sickening gulf of guilt and regret.
“Victoria.” Will’s father strode to her, one hand hovering in the air like he meant to touch her busted lip and bruised cheek. “Thank God you’re alive.”
She smiled. She’d been beaten black and blue, dosed with my saliva, run naked into the night and vanished for hours… and she was smiling. “A Good Samaritan found me. I’ll be okay once I’ve seen Mater Dolorum.”
Even with that smile in place, her internal maelstrom never ceased.
Lord Godalming’s hand was shaking. “I’ve already spoken to Headmaster Burns. They’ll keep you on, of course. You needn’t worry, dear.”
She nodded, her eyes flicking to Will, who was tense, barely breathing. “I’ve been transferred to Lux. I admit I screwed up, Dad. I’ll do whatever it takes to win honors by the end.”
Pure, fiery rage lanced through Will’s guilt.
I knew as well as he did that she’d never called Lord Godalming ‘Dad’. It was perfectly calculated to cut Will to the quick and make him bleed.
And it worked.
“Yes, you’ll be perfectly fine under stronger leadership,” Lord Godalming said, cutting a glare at his son. “I’ll be back for the Guardianship Gala in the second semester, dear. As long as you’re sure you’ll be fine after tonight-”
“I’m sure,” Victoria said, just a bite of impatience to her tone and emotions. “Go on home to Mom. I need to move my things and get this seen to.” She touched her lip with a bright, apologetic smile.
He settled for patting her shoulder, instead of the embrace he clearly wanted to give her. “Rest up and get back to it, dear.”
“Bye, Dad. Don’t worry yourself.” She touched his hand, the smile becoming tender, the perfect daughter come home after being a little naughty, no big deal, tomorrow was another day.
Without even looking at me once, like I was yet another cockroach under his shoe, Lord Godalming mouthed “Don’t fuck up again” at Will and vanished.
Victoria stood outside the door in the hall, the smile sliding off her face as soon as Lord Godalming disappeared. She waited until his footsteps had faded before she stepped beneath the door frame, looking over Will from head to toe.
When her gaze switched to me, I felt like I was being laid bare under her gaze. It was pure poison, blacker than Satan’s scowl, promising nothing but seething, inescapable hatred.
“I hope you both feel big now,” she said quietly. “I hope every second of that was worth it for you, because you’re going to be paying me back with blood and pride. It’s going to get so very ugly in here.”
A small smile grew on her lips, genuine this time. It was the smile of someone who wanted us to suffer and would laugh the entire time. Will stared at her, his breath coming fast and shallow. “Tori… I’m so fucking sorry. That wasn’t what I meant to happen.”
Victoria’s eyes glittered. “Seems like exactly what you meant to happen. Incubus saliva? That’s not the sort of thing someone buys with good intentions.”
It was impossible to tell from his still face that his emotions were boiling over, tinged with numb shock now, and mine were on the verge of doing the same. She knew what I’d given to Will.
I was the one who’d tainted her tonight.
“You think I’m a snake, Will? You have no idea. Snake venom works fast, but I’m going to work real slow, bit by bit, and you won’t even feel yourself rotting away until it’s too late. And Sura… I’ll be taking more than my pound of flesh, so you might want to start watching your back. You see, both of you fucked up. You didn’t take me out while I was down. And now I’m back, and I know everything that makes you tick.”
Her grin became feral, and she reached out and gripped the knob of the door, pulling it closed as she stepped out. “Sleep tight. Watch the grass for snakes.”
The door snicked shut and her footsteps disappeared. Will’s muscles were as coiled as tight as the snake she’d called him, and he let out a shaky breath.
“I told her that,” he said with a hollow laugh. “I told her to watch for snakes in the grass. Oh, fuck me.” He sat in the chair, burying his head in his hands, still laughing even though nothing was funny.
I sank onto his bed, resting my forearms on my knees. His words weren’t the only ones coming back to bite us in the ass. I’d told her she looked like she had a dark side.
I’d had no idea.
The End
Read BAD BLOOD, the second book of Victoria’s Trilogy:
Forgiveness is divine weak. A woman who desires revenge should dig two five graves. An eye for an eye makes the world blind is incredibly satisfying.
Will and Sura made me believe I was one of them, only to betray me in the worst way. With a second chance to prove I deserve to be in Libra Academy, I’m going to serve the pain back in spades. I’ll destroy Will’s pride and unearth Sura’s secrets, annihilate their family honor… and stab their accomplices in the back for good measure. If they die, they die, but I’ll be the last one laughing.
My hate for the Shadowed World has been turned inside out, in no small part because of my alliance with Cael, a knight with an inexplicable desire for me. Who’d have thought a vampire would be the one to defend me from my own kind?
With my unlikely ally at my side, I’ll have my revenge on the ones who tried to ruin me. No punishment is too harsh for them. But our feud isn’t the only one, and there are others who want me dead and gone.
Unfortunately for them, I’ve got vengeance to spare.
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