Page 53 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
He remains silent.
Just thinking his name makes my eyes burn.
“Why did you have Thessaly killed?”
I’m fairly certain I’m hallucinating as I see a hint of guilt shadow his expression.
“I didn’t. Your father did.”
His words cause my voice to rise several octaves.
“I saw you, Lucen! I saw you kill the male who killed Thessaly! Saw you take the satchel of gold he stole! The satchel with his crest on it!”
Lucen’s anger matches mine. “Because he nearly raped you!”
I rear back in shock like I’ve been slapped.
My grip on the blade’s handle tightens.
As if you didn’t violate me yourself last night.
“You’re only saying that to save your life.”
His scowl deepens. “There is nothing I can do or say to make you believe otherwise, and I recognize that is no one’s fault but my own, but I didnotarrange Thessaly’s death nor plan for him to be robbed.”
Swiping my tears away, I wrench the blade from his chest, summoning his roar.
“Why thefuckwould my father give a shit about a local flueratheurge, Lucen?”
Lucen’s chest heaves as he speaks through clenched teeth.
“Your vow, Raia. Give me your vow or kill me now and be done with it.”
His brow firms into one hard line, sweat dripping from his brow as he musters the words.
“But know that if I die, the ring will remain—and you’ll never be free of him. Everyone you ever come to love will be at his mercy, and your life will be forfeit.”
Grim determination fills Lucen’s gaze as he remains silent.
Finally, I swipe the blade first across my wrist, and then across the top of Lucen’s hand, where it is still bound to the arm of the chair. Blood trickles onto the floor where whorls of dark blue, like his eyes, rise and dance before sinkingdown, down, down,and disappearing beneath the floor and into Selcarimi soil. My own magic swirls and writhes around our puddle of joined blood in varying shades of darkest purple to soft lilac.
“I vow to speak only the truth, answer all of your questions, and remove your father’s ring from your finger.”
I feel as though I’m standing half outside my body, only observing as the words pour from my lips.
“I vow that if I one day find my father, I will do my best totryand rescue Soriya Adonir-Hope from him.”
It’s clearly not worded as Lucen had intended, but only his jaw clenches in protest.
The magic of the vow permeates the air around us and settles around our shoulders like a palpable weight. Our pool of blood on the floor seeps into the marble before disappearing entirely.
My eyes lift to his expectantly.
“Thessaly worked for him. Mother Jamila worked for him. My entire family.Everyoneworks for him. Everyone you have ever loved was orchestrated into your life.”
My knee-jerk reaction is to accuse him again of lying, but now that he has been rendered incapable of deceit, leaving no room for doubt... My heart is shattering all over again. Anotheryanking of the rug out from beneath my feet. I feel like I’m on a fucking hamster wheel of deception.
Even Mother Jamila?
