Page 219 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
My features harden. “You said no magic or bestial forms?—
Violette rolls her eyes. “I mean, it’s not like anyone is watching us.”
My eyes leap to Azrael. His eyes dip shamefully to the floor.
“Your vow?—”
“We vowed to complete the rituals. We didn’t say anything about the rules, and we’ve already been doing things a little out of order.”
I shake my head. “Wehave been doing things out of order.Youand Azrael have been doing things preciselyinorder. Regardless, it’s not a chance I’m willing to take. And I’m a little surprised that you are.”
Violette frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that you’re being a little careless with your own life—and his.”
Violette’s brow hardens. The silence between us is tense for a few moments before she finally speaks. “Well, if you have any of my sea god magic, then you will also have a water-form. Since the rules don’t necessarily apply to you, maybe you could swim across?—”
I angle my head closer to her, disbelieving my ears. “I’m sorry, what?”
Violette heaves a sigh. Her words very clearly reluctant.
“I can shift into what you might recognize as a mermaid. Thus suggesting that you might be able to, too.”
My mind reels and stutters. I think my mind is orgasming again becausewhat?
“Why have you never mentioned this?”
Violette rolls her eyes, muttering something to herself as she palms her face. Azrael sidles beside her, rubbing her back. “Darling?”
She groans. “It’s from my father’s side, as you might guess, so I obviouslydetestanything that reminds me of him.”
My heart aches as if being squeezed by a fist. I close the distance between us, curling a finger beneath her chin to guide her gaze to mine. Her brow is knit together, forming one grumpy line.
“Vi, just as a sculptor might use clay that came from the same soil, it doesn’t mean all her sculptures are destined to be anything alike. You sharing your father’s blood and magic, doesn’t condemn you to sharing his flaws. You’re nothing like him, and you never will be.”
Even as I speak the words, I feel like I’m also saying them to myself. Like they’re words I’ve always needed to hear because an integral part of my greatest fears was that I would one day be put in a situation that would turn me into my mother—someone whocouldn’t muster the strength to live even if only for her child, or my father—a man conformed and shackled to a life that was made for him, not by him, and couldn’t find the strength to leave even for the safety and well-being of his own wife and child.
I have dedicated my entire life to becoming the opposite of them.
Violette’s eyes glisten as she stares up at me, nodding. Her brow softens in acceptance and somehow I feel liberated through her by my own words.“You’re right..."
I tug her against my chest. She sniffles. “I think I just sometimes need to hear someone else say it, you know?”
I nod to myself, eyes flicking briefly to Azrael and his shadow as I press a kiss to the top of her head. “Indeed, I do.”
LEVI
Iapproach the river’s water, waiting to feel some urge to shift. Not that this will make it so much safer to cross, but my curiosity can’t seem to help itself. Removing a glove, I dip my hand in the water. I feel nothing other than the intense urge to pull back because it’s too fucking cold.
The water is crystal clear, glittering in the noonday sun hovering directly above us. I’m well aware that the moment it begins to descend towards the horizon, the aersyans scraping the sky above us will cast a shadow over us, making the air around us at least ten degrees cooler.
Standing, I heave a sigh, wiping my hand on my coat and shoving it back into my glove. “I don’t feel anything.”
Violette rolls her eyes. “You barely even waited.”
“If I waited any longer, my hand was going to turn into a block of ice.”
Huddled between Azrael and his shadow, she gestures vaguely at the river.
