Page 145 of Crowned In Venom

My father was real.

And so was my mother. She was beautiful.

And the Matriarch took them from me.

A choked, shattered cry tears through my throat.

"NO!"

I collapse to my knees.

The Matriarch’s laughter rings through the chaos.

And the dungeon falls into ruin.

43

ANYA

The dungeon is collapsing around us.

The walls tremble, cracking like the very bones of this cursed place are giving way. Dust and stone rain from the ceiling, filling the air with a choking haze.

Varkos is on his knees, his breath coming in ragged gasps, staring at the monstrous figure before him.

His father.

The revelation has shattered him.

The Varkos I know—the one who wields cruelty like a blade, the one who never flinches, never falters—is gone.

What’s left is a being crumbling under the weight of a truth he never wanted to face.

I don’t think.

I drop to my knees beside him, my arms wrapping around his trembling frame.

His body is stiff at first, as if he doesn’t know how to accept the comfort.

Then he shudders, his fingers curling into the fabric of my dress, gripping it like it’s the only thing keeping him from falling apart completely.

Behind us, the Matriarch unleashes her fury.

Magic erupts in the air, a violent, twisting storm of dark energy that rips through the dungeon.

With a crack, a massive slab of stone above us begins to fall.

I brace—knowing we won’t make it in time?—

A huge, grotesque hand slams against the rock, stopping it just before it crushes us.

A deep, guttural voice rumbles.

"Go."

The Matriarch snarls, her silver eyes ablaze.

"You think I will let you leave, you pathetic waste of flesh?" she hisses, raising her hands. Power crackles at her fingertips.

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