Page 20
Chapter 20 of "Tempting Venom" opens introducing the plot: Listen, Iād rather be licking my wounds by playing games with Jude and watchingTom and... Continue exploring!
Listen, Iād rather be licking my wounds by playing games with Jude and watchingTom and Jerryāhey, donāt judge, theyāre funny.
Better yet, Iād rather be pestering Jude and Kane like the goddamn parasite I am, but my father said, āNot today, bitch.ā
I mean, not in those words, since heās a robot and only speaks in monotonous sentences, but the intention is there, because I see his chauffeured car waiting for me at the arenaās parking lot.
āFuck,ā I say, making the smoothest U-turn known to man, but then Iām blocked by a literal giant who shakes his head at me.
Lenin.
Daddy dearestās muscle, so to speak.
āDouble fuck,ā I whisper.
Lenin has no reaction, looking like he crawled out of a tax audit. Tall, stiff, permanently unimpressedāthe human equivalent of a bruise you forgot you had. He doesnāt talkmuch, just stands there with that ātime for your punishmentā stare, like Iām his full-time disappointment. Honestly, if people came with return policies, Iād send this one right back.
With a sigh, I trudge to the back seat of the car, and greet the driver, āYo, Nelly.ā
She nods at me through the rearview mirror but doesnāt remove her hands from the wheel, her white gloves as crisp as the night air. āTough luck tonight.ā
āDonāt talk about tonight. We donāt talk about tonight.ā I stare at Lenin. āUnless I can go?ā
He doesnāt reply.
If a ghost, a prison warden, and a wet blanket had a baby, thatās Lenin.
My very own personal nuisance.
āYour father really wants to see you,ā Nelly says with an apologetic look, smoothly pulling out of the parking lot.
āCan you drop me off at Judeās? Thanks. Iāll buy you ice cream. Or maybe the latest drugs on the market. I know a guy.ā
Lenin and Nelly arenāt amused, though Nelly smiles at me because sheās cool like that. Whatās uncool is that, like Lenin, she canāt be bribed, and unfortunately, my chirpy suggestions fall on deaf ears. So, what do I do?
What I do best, of course. Annoy the fuck out of them.
I spend the entire drive whining and talking nonstop about the most random shit.
What?You make my life difficult, and you can sure as hell expect that Iāll reciprocate.
An eye for an eye and all that poetic bullshit.
Unfortunately, we arrive at the dreaded place, and thatās how I find myself in hell on earth.
Just kidding. Itās only the Armstrong estate.
Sprawling at the top of Ravenswood Hill, this is where my ancestors decided to start the witch coven after immigrating from Europe.
Sorry, the family. They decided to start thefamily. Silly me for always thinking of it as a cool witch club.
I stare down at the black ring on my right index finger. The sun and crescent moon symbol engraved within looks ominous under the night lights.
Armstrong.
The ruling kings and pioneers in the energy sectorāthatās what this symbol I was shackled with since birth means.
Every male heir in my family has this ringāGrandpa, Dad, Uncle Atlas, and finally, me.
Kane and Jude have the same kind of ring, just with different family symbols. Kaneās has a compass rose because the Davenports basically run the worldās import-export cheat code. Judeās has a caduceus strangled by thorny vines, a very subtle wink at the Callahans owning the entire pharmaceutical scene.