Page 253 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
My lips part in awe as a profound weight settles on my chest, and the backs of my eyes begin to burn.Violette. Precious seraphim.
When his gaze finally returns to mine, it’s wetted by overwhelming love. He gives me a helpless, rueful smirk. “And even Levi’s.”
His admission doesn’t surprise me. I felt connected to Levi the moment I saw him. Silence hangs between us for several long moments before I finally speak, voice softened by awe.
“I’m jealous.”
He nods in understanding. “I know. I am... eternally grateful.”
What I wouldn’t give for such a reprieve...
To be liberated of all that haunts me. The eons of trauma that have been stored in this one body. To finally rest.
There is only one place I know of where one’s memories will be wiped clean, but it is not a domain I have access to.
Where would my soul even go if and when I do die, in this increasingly mortal form? My domains are in turmoil. Would I awaken in a chasm in my own hell realm?
The thought makes me shudder.
I doubt my soul would return to the paradise that is Ourinessa.
“So what shall we do about this newfound mortality?”
I close my eyes against the words. Hearing it confirmed aloud feels like a shotgun blast to my chest.
What good am I without my power?
My godhood?
Violette and Levi deserve me in my highest form.
Not this waning mortal shadow of my former self.
Tears spring to my eyes.
I’ve never felt so helpless in all my eons.
When I initially formed this cockamamie and wildly impulsive plan, I had no idea that becoming powerless would be part of it...
But life, if anything, has proven to be a perpetual process of letting go.
“I don’t fucking know. Have a mid-life crisis? Buy a Porsche?”
My shadow sags as a great sigh leaves his chest as he tips his head back on the lip of the tub. “Or you could just fulfill the final courting ritual, bathe her womb in your seed, and live happily ever after.”
My expression turns grim. “Yes, happily ever after until Levi and Violette die, at which point, if I were to get my power back, then I would be forced to spend an eternity grieving them with you.”
He has no rebuttal to that.
The steam still curling off the surface of the water beckons me.
My shadow shows no reaction as I strip away my clothes, step in, and sink into the tub.
It’s only when I prop my feet up on the edge of the tub just beside his head that his lip curls, and his eyes throw daggers at me as he growls, “Do you mind?”
I give him a bored look, keeping my feet right where they are. “Not at all.”
My shadow grumbles something unintelligible and props his feet up beside my head. I lean my head on them.
