Page 52 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
A sardonic laugh of disbelief escapes me. “My vow?! Eat a filthy fucking cock?—”
Lucen remains undeterred. “Not to spare my life—but that you find her, and save hers.”
My fingers curl into claws to grip the blade as I lower my face within inches of his as though to find proof of his madness. “Are you insane?”
Lucen’s expression only grows more determined.
“It was only a day ago that you beat me without mercy! You pawned me off to your colleague to pay offyourdebt! You threatened to force me into working in your brothel! And now you expectmeto rescueyour soulbound?!”
The expression on his face turns resolute. “Her name is Soriya Adonir-Hope.”
I straighten, my jaw hangs—utterly aghast. Not only am I blown away by the fact that this male actually seems to care for anyone but himself, but the selfish part of me is deeply wounded by the fact that female is not me. That I ever believed I could be.
Not that I will ever give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
“What makes you think I could possibly save her? And from what?”
The look in his eyes turns haunted even as his lip curls with disgust. “Your father. She’s part of his harem.”
Hissoulboundbeing part of my father’s harem is far less surprising than the fact that he apparently knows who my father is.
He huffs another mirthless laugh at my slackened, white-faced shock.
Desperation and hope contort his features as his gaze frantically searches mine, and his words rip yet another rug out from underneath my feet.
“It’s your father you have to fear, Raia. Not me.”
None of this makes sense.
“I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in nearly a decade. You’ll have to forgive me if I find it hard to believe that a male who has remained entirely indifferent and perpetually absent since the day of my birth has any interest in whether I live or die.”
Lucen gives me a look of disbelief. “Youreallythink that your father, King of Sinsól, and God of the Sea, has zero interest in the life of his sole heir?”
Fuck...
His eyes dip to my finger. “That ring is enchanted so he can track your every move.”
My jaw drops as I instinctively attempt to rip it off. “You’re lying.”
Lucen smirks. “You once had a necklace from him. A little gold conch shell, I believe?”
Every ounce of my earlier rage seems to shrink away, like the tide being called back to sea.
The word is a scarcely audible whisper. “What?”
The memory of my mother’s funeral rises to the surface—tossing the necklace into the sea, only for it to find its way back to me.
Lucen wears a look of small victory.
“Give me your vow, Raia. I’ll tell you everything and remove that ring. If you wish to have any chance of leading a peaceful life, I am your only hope.”
My eyes scan him as though something in his expression will reveal his deception.
“Spoken with the conviction of a desperate man.”
Perspiration drips from his brow as he stares at me from behind a coif of sweat-slicked hair.
“Answer one question, and I’ll consider it.”
