Page 48 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
The emotion spilling over my cheeks is for Thessaly and the part of myself that died at Lucen’s hands—a sweeter, more innocent, and naive version of myself that has no place in this world.
“Do you still feel the same about me?”
Lucen’s expression tenses.
“I feel many things for you, Raia, but whatever we had, Azrael destroyed.”
He hesitates for a moment as my panic soars to new heights and tendrils of fear wind around my throat. Rising from his chair, Lucen leans over me; swipes away one of my tears with his thumb. “I loved you, Raia... even if you were never mine to begin with.”
What?
I don’t dare to question. Even as my heart stalls.
That same wet thumb traces the curve of my lower lip. “Though the chemistry between us is still... undeniable.”
And your death is inevitable.
He presses a kiss to my forehead before reaching around me to pour himself a drink. “Why don’t you go ahead and change into whatever you wanted to surprise me with, sweetling?”
My eyes slip shut, severing my last tears as he takes a sip of liquor.
Victory.
RAIA
Ihave no idea how long it will take for Thessaly’s elixir to take effect, but I take my time changing into a lacy scrap of negligee. By the time I stride back out into the dining room, I am beyond relieved to find Lucen slumped over in his chair. Thessaly had warned that I only needed a drop, but Lucen is a large male, and I wasn’t willing to take any chances.
I fetch the rope from the side dresser I’ve hidden it in and begin tying each of his limbs to the chair. Lucen’s gaze is unwavering, but he’s unable to move outside of the occasional blink, groan, or slurred word.
Some dark presence within me rises to the surface—a side of me that hadn’t yet been summoned.
Now, there is no more love and kindness left to tame it.
Grinning down at him, I hark back to his words.
“Shhhhh, sweetling. I’ll make it better.”
Because of my violent intentions, the cane does not appear in my hand when Iwillit forth, so I’m forced to manually retrieve it.
Cane in hand, I return to stand before Lucen.
Fear and fury reveal the whites of his eyes. He tries to say something. The sound is unintelligible. All I can make out is the repeated,“He…”
He?
I lean closer.
“What’s that, darling?”
He manages a gurgled,“... kill... you.”
Well, that was fast. Apparently, Lucen’s delta between love and death threats is the promise of pain.
My heart hammers in my chest as if, against all logic, he might somehow burst free. The smile I muster is brittle under the weight of the fact that I am indeed going to kill the only male I’ve ever loved. The male who inspired me togifthim my virginity under a mansion of lies.
I huff a disgusted laugh. “Your confidence was always admirable.”
The heartbeat pounding in my ears is nearly as loud as the sound of Lucen’s reed cane cracking against his cheek.
