Page 56 of Crowned In Venom

And perhaps, he does.

Because the truth is—I do not believe this creature is the assassin.

But I also cannot afford to be wrong.

So I do what I must.

I meet Varkos’s gaze, tilting my chin up.

"I think," I whisper, "that he knows something."

Varkos studies me.

Then, after a long, heavy silence—he laughs.

Low, dark, amused.

"You are learning, little fox."

He turns toward the guard at the door.

"Bring him to the lower cells," he orders. "We will see if he remembers anything useful by morning."

The guards move.

The fighter is dragged away.

And I stand in the flickering firelight, knowing what I have just done.

I have sent another being to hell.

And for what?

A chance.

A gamble.

A move in this dangerous game that neither of us is willing to lose.

19

VARKOS

She thinks she understands me.

Thinks she can watch from a distance, playing her game with careful hands and clever words.

But she has not seen me like this.

Not yet.

Tonight, that changes.

Tonight, she learns.

The air thickens as we descend.

The torches along the walls flicker low and hungry, casting elongated shadows that stretch and twist like specters trapped in stone.

---