Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(35)

Viking number two was the first one to step out. I smiled at him. “You look like someone I met the other night. He was mean to me. It didn’t end well for him.”

“You killed my cousin, you brassy bitch. You think you can take us on our own turf?” He strode toward me, and I drew in a slow breath, hating what I was about to do. To be fair, the snake in me approved wholeheartedly.

I pushed power into my words, filling them with seduction of the highest caliber. “You don’t want to hurt us. You want to take us to Santos.”

He stumbled midstride and shook his head. “I . . . no, that can’t be right.”

“Remo’s an ass; he’s almost gotten us killed,” Dahlia called out from behind me, her hands still gripping my shoulders tight. “We don’t want to work with him anymore. It’s obvious Santos is stronger.”

“You see?” I added, “You can take us to Santos. I mean . . .” I took several steps closer to him until I could touch him. I fought not to recoil, but I knew that my touch on him would heighten my ability to influence him. I ran a fingertip down the center of his chest. “A big strong vampire like you wouldn’t be taken down by a couple of girls, right?”

He grinned, flashing his fangs. “Of course not.” He agreed so fast I stood there, not sure what to say. That seemed too easy.

And suddenly I understood my ability to manipulate that much better. I couldn’t force him to believe something he didn’t already think was true. He truly believed he was stronger than two women, I could see it in his eyes almost as if it were spelled out in thick blue frosting. I leaned into him, as if I were unable to stand on my own two legs.

“And we’re so tired. Could we use the gondola? Our tiny feet and weak muscles could never handle that big hike.”

He swept an arm around me and scooped me into the air. “Well, that’s obvious. Come on, both of you.”

I turned my head so he couldn’t see me and grimaced at an openmouthed and staring Dahlia. That had worked better than I’d thought. I batted my eyes up at Viking Boy, and he leered—yes, actually leered—back. I fought not to shudder as he lifted me into the oversized truck, his hands sliding dangerously close to my ass.

“I wouldn’t do that. Santos wants her untouched,” Dahlia said. Viking Boy jerked his hands off me as though I’d electrocuted him. Score another point for the girls’ team.

Dahlia climbed in and the truck started up. Only once we were going did I realize the other vampire hadn’t gotten out of the second vehicle.

Dahlia looked out at the other truck too. It didn’t move an inch as we cruised over the dirt road and farther toward the base of the mountain.

I blinked several times, heavily, at Dahlia. As in, What do you think?

She shrugged and shook her head and mouthed, Guard.

Of course they wouldn’t leave their entrance road unprotected.

Viking didn’t speak to us as he drove, though his hand kept wandering over my upper thigh. I kept brushing him off while saying, “No touching,” heavily weighting the words with my siren power. Or whatever it was called. The fact that he kept trying told me I was probably right about my guess in terms of the person I was trying to influence already believing my words. The whole Jedi mind trick only worked when they already wanted something along the same lines of what I suggested. Which is why the seduction worked so well on most men, since most men saw me only as a piece of ass.

My theory also explained why turning off the seduction was such a crapshoot.

His hand gripped my thigh, and I shoved it off. “I said enough.”

“You want it, baby. Santos doesn’t have to know.” He took his foot off the gas, and the truck rolled to a stop.

I leaned sideways, pressing against Dahlia. “Any suggestions?”

“I think he’s going to have to learn the hard way, just like his cousin,” she said.

That’s what I was afraid of. I really didn’t want to hurt anyone. But I didn’t feel like being groped by the big vampire either.





CHAPTER 9


I lifted my legs up, keeping them closed at the knees as I slowly drew them to my chest. Viking Boy’s eyes widened, and I realized something.

He was dumb as a stick if he thought I was going to spread my legs for him right there in the truck with Dahlia right beside me. What an idiot.

I kicked out as hard as I could with both feet, driving them into his chest. The feeling of things breaking, of my foot going right through his rib cage and hitting his heart, was unreal—unexpected. He flew backward, out the open window and into the darkness without a sound. I slid over into the driver’s side and started the engine back up. My hands shook on the ignition, forcing me to try several times to get the engine turned over.

“You think he won’t come after us?” Dahlia grabbed the back of the seat and stared out where we left him.

I shook my head and struggled to breathe past the horror. “No, he won’t be coming after us.”

“How do you know that?”

I grimaced. “One of my feet went through his chest.” The warm blood trickling down inside my shoe was enough evidence. That is, if I’d ignored the feeling of his chest spitting open.

I pursed my lips and focused on the road in front of me even while my mind ranted at me. Sounding rather like my mother.