Page 57 of Venomous as a Snake

Forrest has his bag, looking very unenthused with the sweaty contents. Walker is behind them, relaxed, though I know he’s on guard.

“Please tell me we can stop somewhere for food?” Collin asks. “I haven’t eaten anything with flavor in four weeks.”

“You’ve had cheat days,” Forrest points out. “Several of them.”

Collin groans. “I want to binge on something other than white rice and eggs. Don’t ruin my appetite.”

Drew scrunches his nose. “I thought you were a vegetarian?”

“We can eat eggs, if we want,” Collin informs him. “And milk. Ice cream sounds amazing.”

“I’m craving salsa,” I admit.

“Oh! Even better.” Collin sighs wistfully. “Mexican, then ice cream.”

The honey badger shakes his head, but turns to lead us out the side door of the event center.

A sudden thought niggles me. “Why is he here?”

Everyone stops for a beat, all eyes on me.

Walker’s brow furrows. “Collin’s opponent was one of his guys.”

“Fuck,” I mutter.

No one responds, not that there’s much left to add.

Clay knows who my mates are, and he knows who we’re associating with. Forrest and Collin are now bigger blips on his radar than they were before being seen with me.

We’re going to have to sit down and talk about all the things we know… the things we know and aren’t sharing.

That includes me.

I can’t tell them the details of my agreement with Fangs, but I can stress that my actions aren’t punishable as long as I stay on task.

Lights litter the vast parking lot, and cars stretch on for what seems like miles. Drunken laughter echoes through the humid midnight air as an engine cranks in the distance.

My skin itches with anxiety and the need to shift.

Something feels wrong.

The tension has slowly ramped up since we noticed Clay, but now it’s reaching its peak.

Drew leads our group through the parking lot, casually glancing around like he’s looking for our vehicles.

Forrest and Collin are on either side of Kody. The three of them talk about restaurants and ice cream parlors as if nothing is amiss. I know my mate better than that, though. She’s ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

Walker and I lumber behind them, ever the dutiful guards. He’s observant in the same way his brother is, always searching and never reacting. It appears like neither of the Lawless men notices the electricity charging through the air, but they do.

We all feel it.

Footsteps thump against the asphalt at our back, and I peer over my shoulder to see who is heading our way. The man veers left, pressing his key fob to unlock the door of a sedan. He pulls out of his parking spot, turns in the opposite direction we’re going, and then he’s a non-issue.

I sigh as I try to count the rows of cars in front of us. “Why did we park at the end of the fucking world?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to hit my corvette,” Collin answers cheerfully.

“That bright blue monstrosity is his baby,” Walker adds sarcastically.