Page 14 of Venomous as a Snake

Ali loves Kody as much as I do. I’ve never doubted that. But he didn’t witness the damage, so he doesn’t understand the long game we’ve been playing.

I can’t tell him these things if he insists on running head-first to his death.

And his death would devastate Walker and me almost as much as it would Kody. He’s our comrade, but he’s her mate.

His relationship with Kody is weird. She loves him, even if they act like they’re just flirty friends. The moment I turn my back on those two, they’re fighting or naked or both. I can’t figure them out, so I quit trying.

But she does love him, which means I need him to think clearly.

He isn’t.

He never does when it comes to her.

Ali charges into the garage, digging his keys from his pants pocket as he slings open his driver-side door. I catch the frame of the window with my left hand and his wrist with my right hand, stopping him from cranking his truck.

“You can be mad about it,” I placate before arguing, “But you can’t storm over there and expect her to tell you everything while you seethe in silence. Eventually, she will. But… If she thinks you’ll do something stupid—”

“I’m not going to Kody,” he growls, confirming my suspicions.

“Well, you sure as fuck can’t go to Clay,” I snap.

“Why not?”

I wrestle the keys from his hand and throw them across the garage. It won’t slow him down much, but if he tries to leave, it’s enough to give me time to knock him out.

“Oh. Did you suddenly become a trained killer overnight?”

Ali glares at me, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

“I know you can defend yourself and kill, and you’re venomous, which is helpful,” I amend. “But this is the difference between little league baseball and the major leagues.”

“I didn’t play baseball.”

“Uhm…” I scratch my neck, floundering for another analogy. “A kids’ rugby team versus the pros?”

“I get it.”

I frown at the Komodo dragon. “I don’t think you do. Going over there would be your death sentence. He’ll have multiple guards that are venomous snakes. Not to mention that he himself can fight and kill—”

“So let her handle him on her own?” he shouts.

“No,” I state calmly, attempting to keep my temper at bay. “We can be there with her. I’m just saying maybe we should talk to her about her plans first.”

Ali shakes his head, holding his hand out for me to stop. “That’s not what you said.”

I roll my eyes. “She’s the team captain. We’re the players. We follow her lead. No one knows Clay as well as she does.”

“Who’s the fucking coach?” he rants, climbing out of the truck and motioning to the maybe-dead guys. “Someone needs to talk her out of doing shit like this again until we have our ducks in a row.”

“Birds are insane. We don’t want ducks around,” I say with a grin. “And Kody is also the coach. Let’s give her another day or two to get situated in the new house, then we’ll go over there. You can probably talk her into a movie night.”

Ali glares at me for a minute longer before he twists his lips and narrows his eyes. “Why did you send her the forget-me pills?”

“She was calm, casual, when she asked for the drugs to dose these idiots,” I recall. “It wasn’t a random, spur-of-the-moment decision. She’s reached her end, Ali. And Clay has underestimated how intelligent she is. He always did. Never learned his lesson…”

“But why did you send them?” he repeats. “Why not take them to her yourself?”

I sigh. “Because every time I see her, I want to tell her what I’ve done. I’d rather deal with Walker’s fist than Kody’s bite.”