Page 27 of Crowned In Venom

I have never seen him like this.

Not cold and amused.

Not mocking and cruel.

This is pure, restrained fury.

His hand wraps around my throat—not squeezing, but holding me in place.

I am not afraid.

But I am not foolish, either.

"Did I give you permission to be here?" His voice is low, lethal.

I swallow, forcing steel into my spine. "No."

His grip tightens—a warning, not a punishment.

His face is inches from mine, eyes burning with something dangerous.

"You think you understand my world?" he growls. "You think you can learn about me like some child pressing their fingers to a blade?"

I lift my chin, refusing to shrink beneath him. "And what would you have me do? Close my eyes? Obey?"

His laugh is sharp, humorless. "It would be safer."

"For me?" I whisper. "Or for you?"

His eyes flash.

For the first time, I see something deeper in him.

Not just anger.

Not just control.

Fear.

Not of me.

Not of the ghost lurking in the shadows.

Of her.

Of the one who created what lies in the darkness of that corridor.

I exhale softly. "Who did this?"

His grip on my throat trembles.

Just for a second.

Just long enough to tell me everything I need to know.

And then, for the first time, he speaks her name.

"The Matriarch."

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