Page 39 of Venomous as a Snake

“Yeah, well…” His pause gives me a second to imagine him shrugging. “A lot has happened since you last saw her.”

“Three days ago?” I nearly laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

My brother growls. “Years, you jackass.”

“Like losing her fucking mind?” I shout.

“No. Like she’s fucking hissy,” Drew pops back, a smile clear in his voice.

I scoff. “Hissy? Seriously?”

“Yep. I told you, but you don’t want to hear it,” he states. “We all want Clay dead for what he’s done to her, but we don’t want it as much as she does. She’s been on her guard constantly since she left. You know that shit makes her jumpy and hissy.”

“She’s tried to warn him away,” Ali informs me, his rasping voice chilling. “She didn’t want to resort to aggression, but he won’t listen either. It’s clear to her that she can’t run from him anymore.”

I nod along with him. “Clay thinks she’s found me?”

“Knows,” Drew corrects. “The dead guy broke into her house earlier today. Found your shirt in the dirty laundry, took some pictures, snooped around… And while he did that, she dropped a tracker in his car.”

“How do you know this is the guy?” I ask, glaring at the dead asshole.

“Why else would she be there without one of us?” Ali counters.

“Sandy hair?” Drew inquires. “Crooked nose?”

I push his face with the end of my shoe. “Yeah.”

“I’ll go check on her,” Ali says. “I told her I’d stop by when I got home.”

“What should we do with the body?” I wonder aloud, mostly to my brother.

Drew clicks his tongue. “I’ll pick it up after you close for the night. We can drop it off for Snake Eyes to find.”

“She drew dice on his forehead,” I tell him. “And she put her initial beside them.”

“I give him two days before he strikes again,” Drew confesses quietly, thoughtfully.

“If he thinks we’re mending our bond—”

“You should be mending your fucking bond,” he snarls. “I love you, Walker, but if you break her heart… I will wait for the bond to snap and kill you myself. I’ll even tell Mom I did it.”

I squeeze my eyes closed, reeling in my simmering temper. “She’s not—”

“Fix it,” he demands.

“There’s nothing to fix,” I snap, my chest rumbling with my frustration. “We just need time, Drew. Fuck. Chill out.”

“Clay thinks we’re all together,” he acknowledges. “That fucking swan won’t come for us, but he’ll go for Kody, and maybe Ali.”

“She’s the easier target,” I mutter. “As a human and an animal.”

He hums. “Yeah, that’s what he thinks.”

“He thinks she made him the embarrassment he is,” I correct. “She’s pissed him off more than we have.”

“Are you trying to make a point?” Drew asks dryly.

“Does she know that?”