Page 5 of Gravehouse

“Don’t what?” She bats her eyes. “Speak the truth?”

She stops directly in front of me, close enough that her breath ghosts across my face. “She chose this, Asher. Chose to leave you dead. Chose to…”

My voice drops low, my eyes locked on hers. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Asher Delacroix,” the woman continues, voice never wavering. “Your father would be disappointed. You didn’t love her. She’s poison and you’re nothing more than the sickness.”

“She’s mine,” I growl.

“No.” She leans closer, her perfume choking me. “She’s gone. And you’re here. Alone. Broken. Exactly how we all knew she’d leave you.” Her eyes widen on me. “Do you believe us now? That she’s too far gone?”

Fucking bitch.

I roll the saliva in my mouth and spit in her face.

She blinks, her tongue swiping it off her lip. “Delicious. You know how much I adore you.”

I pull again, putting every ounce of weight into the movement until my shoulder vibrates with a wet pop.

Every bone screams in pain, but I give her nothing. Nothing but the snarl on my lips.

She tilts her head, unbothered. “Fascinating,” she murmurs, stepping closer. “All this power, ruined by a girl who never wanted saving.”

“By the time I’m done with you, Asher Delacroix, you’re not only going to hate Ivanya Dubois, but you’re going to want to kill her.”

I tug on the chains again.

She continues. “And you will. Right after you humiliate her by marrying my daughter.”

CHAPTER

TWO

IVY

PRESENT

Twelve fucking months of therapy.Of being haunted by the memory of every way he’d pull me down and fuck me to sleep.Three hundred and ninety-three daysof chasing the ghost of him only to wake with the same hollow burn spreading through my chest.

“Ash—“

He takes my hand and tugs me forward. “Aw, don’t look so shocked to see me, Venom.”

I stumble up the final steps, or he drags me up them, and clear my throat.Compose yourself, Ivanya.

His chest brushes my chin as he kisses the top of my head. “What’s the matter?”

Blue eyes search mine, that mouth I’ve obsessed over curling into a cruel smirk.

“What is happening?” There’s no point masking, since only my people are here.

He barely steps back, just enough for the celebrant…

I pause.

Wait… that’s not who we use for weddings.

The celebrant’s voice fills the room. I fix my gaze on the solid wall of his chest. If I look at my family, I’ll see their faces and lose it. If I look up into the eyes of the only man I’ve ever loved, I’ll come apart.