Chapter 122: This Snake Won’t Bite
"You can trust a snake, but never forget what its fangs were made for."
~ Rebel Beast
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"Ooh, sorry about this," Brittney said, finally remembering her trousers were still sitting halfway down her hips.
How ridiculous she must have looked all this while. Oh well. She tugged them the rest of the way up and fastened them around her waist without a hint of embarrassment.
Heavens forbid her stepmother had been there to witness such a thing. She would have called her improper, unchaste, indecent, shameless, immodest, vulgar, ill-bred, and probably a dozen other antiquated insults reserved for women who dared behave too loudly or freely for her liking. All because the girl had accidentally been caught half-dressed in her own bedroom.
Unknown to Brittney, that single action brought the image of her beautifully shaped ass straight back into Venus’s mind, and he gulped. Hard.
Weren’t human females supposed to be reserved? Delicate? Easily embarrassed? This one was almost vulgar by everything he’d heard about humans. Venus found himself liking her. She was a breath of fresh air.
"Yes." Brittney relaxed now that she was properly dressed. "And since we’re apparently exchanging introductions, my name is Brittney Thorne."
"Thorne?" Venus repeated thoughtfully. "Like the thorn of a rose. A flower beautiful enough to tempt the hand closer, only to draw blood from anyone careless enough to forget that beauty sometimes comes armed."
Brittney lifted a brow, visibly impressed despite herself. "Okay, that was lovely, serpent boy. Except I’m Thorne with an ’e.’"
"Serpent boy?" Venus repeated, finding himself amused rather than offended.
"Well, aren’t you one?" Brittney challenged.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I suppose I am."
"Alright, no more distractions. Let’s get into the story." Brittney shifted eagerly on the bed, clearly unable to contain her curiosity.
Venus sighed. "Where do I begin?"
"Karen Donovan. What does she want?"
"Of course," Venus replied dryly.
Naturally, she wanted to begin with the one part of his story that was completely fabricated. The one part that could earn him another tranquilizer dart to the chest if he made a single mistake.
Venus settled against the chair as much as the ropes allowed and studied Brittney for a moment. He would have to be very careful with this one.
"Karen Donovan wanted me to spy on your room."
Brittney immediately sat up. "Spy on our room? Why? What does she want? Did she ask you to plant something incriminating in here? To kill us? Poison us?" The questions came one after another before Venus could answer a single one.
Venus sighed. "Like I said before, I’m not here to hurt you."
"Then what does Karen Donovan want?" Brittney demanded, her temper rising.
"Would you lower your voice?" Venus hissed, glancing toward the door.
She had promised to help him escape, but at this rate, she was going to draw every one of her roommates into the room. Dealing with one human female who could plant traps was already more than enough. Venus wasn’t interested in discovering what the other three were capable of.
"Fine." Brittney lowered her voice, although none of the authority disappeared from it. "What does Karen want?"
"She wasn’t satisfied with the room we gave her. She wanted me to find out whether you girls had been given better accommodations than she was."
Venus knew he was taking a risk with that lie, but from the little he had already witnessed of Karen Donovan, she was absolutely capable of something this petty. She had barely spent a day in House Ophidian before complaining about everything she could find, and from what he’d gathered, she and Aria Aspen already despised each other. If Brittney knew Karen well enough, she would hopefully fill in the rest herself.
"Of course." Brittney rolled her eyes, looking completely unsurprised. "That bitch wouldn’t be satisfied even in her own house."
Her reaction gave Venus the confidence to continue. "You don’t say. We serpents already know we have a mad dog in our den."
"Mad dog?" Brittney couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her, quickly bringing a hand to her mouth.
Venus shrugged. "I couldn’t think of a better animal to describe her."
"More like a dragon. The way she opens that mouth of hers, it’s a miracle fire doesn’t come out."
"Or a peacock," Venus suggested. "I swear, even His Highness Caelis doesn’t possess half the pride Karen Donovan does. You should have seen the way she barged into his office earlier today demanding to be fed."
"Oh, that’s Karen alright." Brittney chuckled. "I don’t envy your job at all."
"Karen can try but I work for Caelis, not her," Venus corrected her, smirking.
"And yet you still did her bidding." Brittney arched a brow. "You snuck into our room."
"A terrible case of curiosity, I suppose." Venus glanced pointedly at the ropes securing him to the chair. "And we can both see how wonderfully that worked out for me."
"Yeah, here you are." Brittney nodded, oddly pleased with herself.
Technically, she had captured a serpent.
Not just any serpent either, but the First Fang of Caelis Cobryn, the Basilisk Prince himself. Brittney couldn’t help the ridiculous spark of pride that came with the realization. Who the hell else could boast about something like that?
"Are you hungry?" she suddenly asked.
Strange as it might sound, Brittney was actually enjoying her time with the serpent. He was unexpectedly entertaining company, and since he was technically her guest now—albeit a trespassing guest she tied to a chair—she supposed the least she could do was make his stay memorable.
And perhaps feed him while she was at it.
Venus said. "Huh?"
"Hungry." Brittney studied him as though the answer should have been obvious. "By my calculations, if you came to Maverick’s office before sneaking in here, then you probably missed breakfast. It’s already noon. You must be starving by now."
Venus almost corrected her.
Serpents weren’t humans. They didn’t need to eat every few hours unless they simply wanted to. Their slower metabolism allowed them to conserve energy far more efficiently, and one substantial meal could sustain him for days before hunger gnawed at him. And yes, he had eaten recently enough that food was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Yes," Venus heard himself say instead.
He went still. What the hell was he doing?
Brittney didn’t seem to notice his confusion. She was already climbing off the bed, apparently satisfied with his answer.
Venus watched her, equally bewildered by himself. There was absolutely no reason to lie about something so insignificant, especially when he was already juggling one considerably more dangerous lie concerning Karen Donovan.
Yet he had.
Curiosity, Venus decided. That was all it was. Everything about this strange human female had managed to surprise him since he’d stumbled into her room, and apparently some reckless part of him wanted to see what she would do next.
Brittney went over to her wardrobe and pulled out a small container she’d tucked away with some of her things. When she returned, she was smiling, choosing this time to sit on the edge of the bed across from him.
"These are some of my favorite cookies," she declared happily, opening the container. "And this is my last batch, so you can consider it an honor that I’m willing to share them with my intruder."
Venus chuckled. "Anything my lady says."
"Wait." Brittney paused just as she was about to take one out. A thought had suddenly occurred to her. "Snakes eat cookies, right? I mean, you’re part human. You should be able to—"
"I’m physically capable of eating ordinary human food because I’m a shifter," Venus explained. "My serpent side simply prefers meat, eggs, fish, anything rich in protein." His gaze dropped briefly to the container in her lap before returning to her face. "So yes, I’ll eat your cookie."
Brittney froze. Heat rushed straight into her face before she could stop it.
That fucking serpent.
Did he seriously not know how that sounded?
Her suspicious gaze snapped toward him, searching his expression for the slightest hint that he’d done it on purpose. There was nothing.
Venus sat there with such an innocent expression that Brittney genuinely couldn’t tell whether he had just made the most shameless innuendo imaginable or whether she was the filthy-minded one for interpreting it that way.
Fine. Calm down. It was just a cookie. Why the hell was she making it weird?
"Okay..." Brittney reached into the container and pulled out a cookie. She was about to stretch it toward him when she remembered one small problem.
His hands were still tied behind his back.
Venus must have reached the same conclusion because he gave the ropes a small tug before looking pointedly at her, silently reminding her that she had made him completely incapable of feeding himself.
Brittney sighed.
"Fine," she said reluctantly. "I’ll feed you, but only if you promise not to bite me. Is that understood?"
The ridiculousness of that statement occurred to her almost immediately.
She was asking a serpent not to bite her.
Perhaps she really had lost her mind. Less than an hour ago, she’d found this man unconscious on her bedroom floor and tied him to a chair because she’d been convinced he intended to murder her. Now she was preparing to hand-feed him cookies.
A wide smile slowly spread across Venus’s face, revealing just enough teeth to make Brittney reconsider the wisdom of getting her fingers anywhere near his mouth.
"Don’t worry," he assured her, amusement dancing in his dark eyes. "This snake won’t bite."