Page 188 of Crowned In Venom

I react on instinct.

The connection between us flares like an open wound.

I grip it. Twist it.

The Matriarch staggers.

Her magic sputters.

She gasps— eyes widening as if something is seizing her from the inside out.

"What—"

She tries again, hurling another spell. But it backfires. The energy collapses, twisting inward—the poison surging into her veins.

She screams.

I watch as her body seizes.

Her power is eating her alive.

She thrashes, clawing at her own skin, her hands burning with black fire. The shadows around her twist and coil like wounded beasts, as if even they fear what she is becoming.

"You wretched—" she snarls, but the words choke in her throat.

Her magic is turning against her.

I feel her through our bond, her panic, her rage, her fear.

"No—NO!" she shrieks. Her voice cracks.

The air distorts, the room quaking beneath the force of her unraveling power.

Varkos lurches forward, his body a storm of fury and blood.

He raises his sword.

The Matriarch snaps her head toward him, eyes wild.

"You will not kill me!" she screeches.

A final burst of pure malice erupts from her body.

The force hits Varkos.

He grits his teeth, pushing through it. His legs buckle, but he does not fall.

Not this time.

Not when she’s at her weakest.

I step forward, my voice cutting through the chaos.

"You lose."

The Matriarch’s gaze snaps to me.

For the first time, there is true fear in her eyes.

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