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She’s the spitting image of Jasper,Fey noticed. The golden-brown hair, the green eyes speckled with grey, even his full, pouty lips. Hell, she even had his crooked smile.
“Everything’s fine,” the girl said with a shrug. The bag on her shoulder shifted with the movement, a strap coming loose and falling down her arm until she tugged it back into place. “I was just bored, so I figured I’d come here and?—”
“You’re supposed to be with Nan today,” Jasper interrupted, eyes narrowing and face darkening. His voice was a soft growl. “Nan in the evenings every night this week—you know that, Vivian. So why are youhere?”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Nan is taking a nap,” she explained. “She’s always taking a nap, Jas. And there’s nothing to do at her place, anyway, so I thought?—”
“Stop,” Jasper interrupted, holding his hand up. “You did not think. Fuck, Viv, you’re not old enough to be in here. Who even let you in?”
Vivian pouted, pushing her bottom lip out dramatically as she gestured over her shoulder at the door. “Mara did. She knows me, Jas. And I asked her if you were here before she let me in, by the way. It’s not like I just walked into a bar, okay?”
Jasper's growl was low and vicious in his throat. His eyes shot to thedoor of the club. “She’s only sixteen, Mar!” he shouted across the bar. “You can’t let a sixteen-year-old in a fucking night club!”
“I’m almost seventeen!” Vivian argued, raising her voice to match Jasper’s and stamping her foot. Fey took a sip from her drink to hide her smile. The other Wolves working at The Last Drop treated Jasper with the same wary respect and obedience as they did Ferus, the club’s assistant owner. It was a treat seeing this kid go head-to-head with him, completely without fear. “And the club is closed anyway, so it’s not like I’m in any danger or?—”
“Go home, Vivian,” Jasper told her. “Closed or not, this isn’t any place for a kid. Go back to Nan’s.”
The girl just rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid, Uncle Jas, I just—” She stopped suddenly, spotting Fey. Her eyes widened, and her fingers rose to tug at her hair, almost nervously.
“You’re her, aren’t you?” Vivian asked, taking a few steps toward her. “The Broken Blade?”
The name twisted in Fey’s stomach, mixing unpleasantly with the chocolate and alcohol there.
Jasper rolled his eyes.
“Fey,” he said, irritation clouding his voice. “This is my sister’s kid, Vivian. Viv, this is Fey. I’m sure she’s thrilled to meet you, but she has to go home now. Don’t you, Viv?”
“I recognize you from the posters,” Vivian said, ignoring Jasper entirely and reaching inside her bag to pull one out. Fey recognized it immediately.
Let me out, that Fire roared inside her. A sneer rose to her lips.
“Oh, no, these aren’t mine!” Vivian said, seeing the cold look of rage pass over Fey’s face and quickly shoving the poster back into her bag and out of sight. “I… I tear them down when I see them around the neighborhood. These are just from my walk over here.” She looked a little sheepish, as though she realized that bringing up the posters was a mistake.
True to her word, all the posters peeking out of Vivian’s bag were torn, as though they’d been ripped from their nails.
“Sorry if I shouldn’t do that… I just figured, like, if you wanted to be queen, why would you have gone through all of that trouble, you know? Why kill the old queen and…and start the council and everything?”
“I didn’t start the council,” Fey said, automatically. “I have nothing to do with it.” That was Alice’s domain, not hers. Fey popped the last bit of brownie in her mouth and chewed, letting the taste dull the flare of anger she’d felt. It was an almost touching gesture that Jasper’s niece spent time taking down the posters. She wondered if that was the reason she saw so few of them in the Shifter district.
“But… you did kill the Queen, didn’t you?” the girl pressed, taking another step toward her.
Fey hadn’t. But it was a lie she was happy to keep living with, so she nodded.
“That was cool, you know?” Vivian continued, giving Fey a small, shy smile. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Everything you did, I mean. To try to fix what she broke…to try to make it better, for everyone, even… even us.”
Fey forced a smile.
“Thanks,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, Viv.”
“Vivian,” the girl said, pulling a face and tugging her bag over her shoulder again. “You can just call me Vivian. Only Uncle Jas ever calls me Viv. Well, him and Alastair. All my friends call me?—”
“Home, Viv,” Jasper interrupted angrily.
“Oh, come on,” Vivian whined. “Look, I’m bored, okay? And I could be out there”—she gestured at the exit behind her, toward the neighborhood streets—“getting into trouble and causing mischief, but instead I’m here, aren’t I? And I thought… maybe Alastair could give me a job, you know? And then you wouldn’t have to worry about where I am, would you?”
Her eyes sparkled hopefully when she said it, and she gave Jasper a crooked grin that was a mirror image of his own.
“You’re too young,” he insisted. “And you are out there causing mischief all the time, so don’t give me that. I only hear about a portion of what you and your friends get up to, and even that is too much. If Nan knew, she’d have a heart attack, I can promise you that.”
