Page 65 of Crowned In Venom

"Why have you summoned me?"

She tsks softly, amused, indulgent.

"So impatient," she murmurs, taking a slow sip. "That is unlike you."

A test.

A trap.

I smile—just a little. Just enough to appease.

"Have I displeased you?"

A slow inhale.

Her eyes flick over me, searching, dissecting.

"Not yet."

She stands, the silk pooling at her feet, her steps unhurried, predatory.

Closing the space between us.

I do not move.

I do not flinch.

Because this is part of the game.

She touches my jaw, a light, gliding caress.

The same touch I have seen her use on men she intends to destroy.

But I am not them.

Her fingers trail down, lingering a breath too long.

And then, she whispers, "You are distracted."

A statement.

Not a question.

I keep my expression unreadable.

"Am I?"

She smiles, but it does not reach her eyes.

"You think I do not see it?"

She steps even closer, close enough that I can smell the jasmine on her skin, the wine on her breath.

"You bring the human girl to the dungeons," she murmurs. "Make her kneel beside you in the dark. Make her watch you spill blood."

She tilts her head. "Make her participate."

She watches me, violet eyes alight with something too sharp, too knowing.

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