Page 251 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
As does my hesitation.
“Darling, even when you draw blood, your venom is sweeter than honey.”
AZRAEL
My incorporeal form has returned despite the fact that I can’t see him—I can distinctly feel him. Levi’s discerning gaze studies me, brow furrowing as my eyes scan the room helplessly until they land on the bathroom door.
Where I hear giggling.
What in the sacred fuck?
Levi and I share a look for a fraction of a second before we’re both leaping out of the bed to our feet and barrelling towards the door. Levi’s magic shoves the door open so violently, it slams against the wall behind it, leaving a dent in the wood panelling of the wall.
Violette jolts, giving a shrill yelp as a fucking doppelganger clutches her to his chest.
“What the fuck is going on?”
I know the answer, of course, but my mind supplies zero explanations as to how the fuck my incorporeal form has manifested as a whole other person.
Violette’s throat dips and her cheeks flush beyond the heat of the tub.
“He’s you? You’re him? Isn’t he?”
Her eyes widen at the sight of Levi’s new appendages.
“You have wings..."
Her awe is short-lived as she takes in my expression.
She pushes herself out of my shadow’s arms, burying her face in her hands like she feels like she’s done something wrong. My doppelganger gives me a sardonic smirk as if I’m the problem. He then proceeds to casually explain he paid Persephone a visit, drank her blood from a chalice, and severed our soulbond with her in exchange for a corporeal form.
My teeth squeak in protest from how hard I’m grinding them.
“So, you’ve not only stolen all of my power, but now my body, too?”
The soulbond is something I should have done myself too long ago.
My doppelganger huffs a sardonic laugh. “If anything, it’s my body seeing as how it's my energy and magic that sustains it.”
Unease and anger are a revolting cocktail that causes nausea to seize my insides.
The fact that his words are in fact true make it all the more potent.
His gaze softens. “Shall we have this conversation in private? Lest we cause any undue stress to our beloveds?”
Our.
Beloveds.
Violette frowns, glancing between us briefly before she stands, wrapping a towel around her delectable form and striding towards me. She stands on her tip-toes and I lower to meet her and press a kiss to her lips. She lingers for a moment, searching my gaze.
“Let us know if you need anything. You’ll be... safe?”
Tenderness squeezes my heart. “Yes, little seraphim.”
She nods, caressing my arm reassuringly before she steps into Levi’s arms.
Levi’s expression is hard as stone as he glances between the both of us before giving me a pointed look that speaks of solidarity.
