Page 106 of Venomous Desires

“Enough about her,” I snapped. “I won’t stop until I have my revenge. Not after what happened to Zayne. Till then, I’ll keepdancing with the devil. It’s the only thing that makes me feel alive.”

I ended the call before he could respond, my jaw clenched and I suppressed the fire in me. But it was rising; the flames were consuming.

A ticking time bomb, seconds away from detonation. Memories burned like the inferno within me. Blood. It was all I could see, all I craved. The taste of vengeance was sweet and intoxicating. I’d tear them apart, piece by piece. Make them feel every ounce of pain they inflicted.

No more waiting. No more mercy. They would bleed, and I would watch as they did two years ago. The fire in my chest burned hotter, brighter. It consumed everything and left nothing but ashes of who I once was.

‘Judas!’

My eyes snapped shut as the haunting voice echoed in my head. And then a gunshot. This time that didn’t hit me, but instead I visioned it pierce through Lucius’s head.

And as for my mother—well, she could keep worrying. Because I was just getting started.

Chapter 38

The Prey

Where have you been?” Her voice was calm, yet pierced through me as I avoided eye contact with her. The kind that made my heart twist painfully.

“I was…” The words died in my throat.

“You always disappear without a word.” She took a step closer, her frustration simmering just beneath the surface. “I looked for you everywhere. I was fucking worried, and you didn’t even see it necessary to text me?”

“Alina—”

“Is someone bothering you?” Her tone softened, and her eyes searched mine as I swallowed hard. “Are you in some kind of danger?”

My breath hitched. Why did she think that? A chill ran down my spine as I avoided her gaze, staring instead at the floor.

“Why… why do you think so?”

“Because I know you spend most of your day out, barely in the hostel.” Her voice wavered slightly. “I know you go somewhere and come back looking like…” She gestured at myclothes, the ill-fitting ones I hadn’t even noticed were wrong. “This.” A sigh escaped her lips. “Damn, these aren’t even yours. And you look like a damsel.”

A damsel.

She was worried. Too worried. And I didn’t know how to make it better. How to make guilt go away. Should I tell her? About Judas? The thought alone sent a shiver through me, igniting a firestorm of memories I wished I could forget. But if I told her, she’d want to know everything. And once I started, I wasn’t sure I could stop.

I couldn’t let her become a liability, and knowing Judas, he’d use her against me. She was the closest best friend I had in this country, and I couldn’t bear the thought of dragging her into my darkness.

And there was nothing she could do either. Not her, not even Ivan, no matter what he claimed.

My throat tightened, and I could feel her eyes on me.

“You can talk to me; you know?” Her voice was softer now.

What if she couldn’t handle it? What if she looked at me differently? But wasn’t she already seeing the cracks? The way I came back to her like a ghost, wearing clothes that didn’t belong to me, with a heart that wasn’t whole anymore.

I swallowed hard, trying to push down the fear. I owed her this much. But did I owe her the dangers that came with it?

“No.” My sharp voice was unrecognisable to my own ears. My heart burned, and so did my eyes as I turned away from her. “You don’t have to act like my Mom, Alina. I know what’s best for me.”

Her breath hitched. I could feel her flinch, but I couldn’t look at her, not now. The silence stretched and my chest heaved, realising what I was saying.

She deserved better, someone whole. I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms, grounding myself in the pain asI pushed myself off the bed and walked towards the bathroom where I could cry and she wouldn’t know anything.

“Sera-“ I shut her voice slamming the door and walked to the small sink. Yes. Now it hurt less. It felt better, good even. I was able to save her. From me, from him, and from everything even if it was for a short moment. I had less than twenty-four hours, and after that, my life would change. For worst.

I had signed my soul to the devil, and now the clock was ticking.