Page 95 of Crowned In Venom

“I know your mother had her killed,” I murmur.

His jaw tightens.

A truth, then.

I press closer, my lips nearly brushing his ear.

“What will you do about it?”

His breath is ragged now.

I feel it.

The war inside him.

His mother. Me. The past.

I expect him to shove me away.

To deny it.

To play the game.

But instead, he does something far more dangerous.

He leans in.

His lips ghost over my jaw, not quite a kiss—a warning.

“You are playing with fire,” he whispers.

I exhale, my fingers tightening around the fabric of his tunic.

“So are you.”

29

ANYA

Varkos is not the kind of dark elf who makes mistakes.

Every movement, every glance, every cruel smirk—calculated. Controlled.

But tonight?

He makes a mistake.

It happens fast, so fast that I almost miss it.

Almost.

One moment, he’s circling me like a predator, all dark heat and sharpened edges.

The next, he lets something slip.

"You think I don’t know what she’s capable of?" His voice is a quiet snarl, his hand braced against the stone wall beside me. Too close. Too furious. "I’ve been trying to stop her for years."

The words hit like a knife between my ribs.

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