Page 148 of Crowned In Venom

He fights me at first, desperate, wild?—

Then his arms give out.

His forehead presses against the stone.

And he shakes.

I wrap my arms around him.

"We have to go."

His shoulders shudder violently.

"She—she took everything," he chokes. "She took everything from me."

I hold him tighter.

"Not everything."

Slowly—he turns to me.

His eyes are red, glassy, shattered.

His hands shake as they rise, touching my face, his thumbs brushing over my cheekbones.

"You," he breathes.

"You're the most important thing."

His voice wavers, breaking.

And my heart breaks with it.

He kisses me.

Soft.

Gentle.

Like he’s afraid I will disappear, too.

But I don’t.

I kiss him back, cradling his face, anchoring him, grounding him.

Because we are not gone.

Not yet.

Not ever.

44

VARKOS

The tunnel is narrow, suffocating, its walls closing in like a crypt.

Each step is agony.

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