Page 79 of Crowned In Venom

Not gentle.

Not cruel.

Just there.

His expression does not change.

But I see the answer before he speaks it.

"The Ghost," he murmurs. “We recently made an acquaintance.”

A chill ripples down my spine.

My fingers curl into the fabric of my dress.

The Ghost.

The shadow in the walls. The Matriarch’s silent enforcer.

The one who sees everything.

The one who should have told her.

Not him.

Why didn’t she know?

Varkos watches me closely, as if waiting for the moment I break.

I do not break.

But my silence is enough.

"You’re afraid," he says softly. “Also, the ledger is useless in your hands.”

It is not a taunt.

Not a challenge.

It is a realization.

And that is more dangerous than anything else.

I school my features, smoothing the edges of my composure.

"I do not fear you," I say. Inside, I grit my teeth. The ledger with names… I can’t even pinpoint what it entails!

Varkos’s lips curve—not a smile, not quite.

His hand slides away from my chin.

"No," he muses. "You don’t."

He steps back, exhaling as if in thought.

A heartbeat passes.

Then another.

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