Page 309 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
Persephone closes the distance between us, fisting my shirt, tears streaking down her face.. “Azrael...Don’t.There has to be another way. We can visit Tempus again, bargain with him to rewrite history.Something. Anything.Just, please, don’t do this.”
Glancing briefly at Mors, I see the same plea written in his expression.
Admittedly, I’m shocked they care so much.
Bittersweet emotions curl around my heart, squeezing tightly.
With the utmost care, my hand slides over hers where she holds me in place as though it could stop me from going with Mareina. The backs of my eyes burn as, for the first time since I met her—the female that was once mysoulbound—she allows me to see a fragment of the love that, until Violette, I so desperately wanted from her.
“Thank you.”
Persephone sniffles, brow knitting with confusion. “For what?”
“For caring.”
She makes a choked sound like a laugh cut off by a sob. “I’ve always cared, Azrael. I ran from you because I knew that I didn’t stand a chance against you.”
Cathartic tears stream down my cheeks as I lean down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re going to have the most beautiful life, Persephone. A life that we both know wouldn’t have been possible with me.”
Persephone’s forehead thumps onto my chest, shoulders shaking as she quietly weeps. “I’m so sorry, Azrael.”
I stroke her hair, closing my eyes and savoring this final moment with her. “You have nothing to be sorry?—”
Before I can finish the words, my world tilts as, with a burst of shocking strength, Persephone shoves me beforefoldingaway. I stumble backwards, directly into the soft silt of the river that goes splashing up around me. Time and history bleed away as memory upon memory drain out of me like wine from a cask. The sandy mud swallows my feet like quicksand, and I’m unable to catch myself. The river’s water swallows me in one great gulp.
Sacred fuck, what is happening?
I flail, unsure of how to escape, but instinct directs my arms and legs to thrust myself upwards. My head breaches the surface of the glowing water as I gasp for breath.
A row of people stand some feet away from the shore, arguing, as the current begins to carry me away. A large male with giant wings curses, and in the next moment my body hits the grass beside the river with a thud, knocking the breath out of me, and the water clinging to me evaporates.
I roll over, wincing from the pain in my ribs at my sudden impact.
The male’s face hovers over mine.“Akashalmighty,are you okay?”
I manage to wheeze a reply. “Oh, yes. I’m in ecstasy.”
The male’s lips twitch with amusement, and I’m fairly certain I see tears lining his eyes. He extends a hand to help me up, and I gratefully take it.
Standing, I look around at my surroundings and the females walking towards us.
Unease coils through me as I realize... I don’t recognize a fucking thing.
“Where am I?”
Who am I?
Though I don’t vocalize the question because... what a ridiculous thing to ask.
The females sidle beside the male, one of whom looks as though she’s been crying. The other wears an expression that I can only interpret as reluctant pity.
Ouch.
“Avernus.”
I wait for my mind to supply... something.
It doesn’t.
