Page 218 of Craving Venom

Tria sees me and runs. I barely get a breath before she slams into me, crying like she thought she’d never see me again.

“Thank God,” she gasps into my neck. “Thank God. You’re safe. I thought,” she wheezes, and I feel her shaking. “I thought you were trapped in the fire.”

Fire?

From the corner of my eye, I see firemen running hoses toward the far-left wing. The smoke is faint but real.

“What fire?” I ask, breaking the hug. “What the hell happened?”

Before she can answer, Dr. Harrington steps forward. His gaze sweeps over me quickly, reassuring himself I’m standing there breathing.

“There was an electrical fire,” he explains, adjusting the lanyard around his neck. “Started in the storage wing—Unit 5C. Faulty wiring from the old generator system shorted, we think. The flames spread through the maintenance hallway and triggered an internal alarm around 2:06 p.m.”

He glances behind him. “We initiated evacuation protocols immediately. Most of the storage area was empty, but the smoke was thick enough to force a full clear-out of blocks 3 through 6. We’ve been moving students out for the past three hours.”

Three hours.

That’s how long I was in that cell?

“I didn’t know,” I manage. “I didn’t hear anything. I’m sorry I didn’t… I didn’t realize…”

“It’s alright,” Dr. Harrington says gently. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

He places a hand on my shoulder. “Walk with us. Let’s get you checked, make sure everything’s alright.”

I nod automatically, feet already moving to follow.

But inside?

Inside, I’m screaming.

I know Zane had something to do with that fire. He timed it. He planned it. He knew it would pull attention away from his cell long enough for no one to notice.

He burned something to get inside me.

But I ignore it.

Because if I acknowledge it, I’ll have to accept just how far he’s willing to go to keep me close.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

THE MONSTER

My hand slams onto the metal table just to keep from fucking up the entire row of monitors in front of me.

My cock still aches from the way her pussy strangled me. My lungs drag in air like I hadn’t breathed properly since she walked out. There’s come drying on my skin, a bruise blooming on my shoulder where she bit down.

I don’t believe in gods. Never have. There’s nothing divine in this world but pain, and maybe the high that comes right after. But today? Today I worshipped.

That cunt was holy. And I fucked it like a sinner begging for mercy I knew I’d never deserve.

“Damn,” someone whistles behind me. “Can’t believe you just wasted a very good escape plan for a fuck.”

“Fuck, that was a good one. Why didn’t you use that to get me out?” another voice follows, somewhere behind me.

I tune them out because I will rip someone’s jaw off if they keep distracting me.

What I wouldn’t give to feel her again. Just once more. I’d tear this place down brick by brick with my teeth. I’d sell every secret in my blood to sink back inside her. I’ll build another fire. Blow a fucking wall open if I have to. I’ll bend the world until she folds for me again. I left my soul inside her. I left my fucking mind in her and now I’m walking around like a rabid animal missing a piece of itself.

---