Page 130 of Beautiful Venom
The stones beneath my feet feel solid, but each step I take pulls me further into images of what it must’ve felt like.
Kane grew up here. He was made somewhere between the house’s cold walls and the tranquility of this garden.
I make out Helena’s silhouette standing by a large pond.
She’s wearing a soft beige dress with a shawl draped around her shoulders as she feeds fat koi fish.
I’m mesmerized by the view of the fish gliding effortlessly through the water and opening their mouths.
“Dahlia.” She pauses upon seeing me, a faint smile painting her lips.
“Hi.” I offer her the bouquet of flowers I spent a fortune to buy. “I hope you like this small gift.”
“Aw, that’s so thoughtful, thank you.” She hugs the flowers to her chest and strokes the colorful petals. “I don’t remember the last time I received flowers.”
She motions in the direction of the glass door, and a staff member walks out with purpose and takes the bouquet.
“Put it in my room,” Helena says, then faces me. “I need to feed these little ones before I can sit down. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. They’re so beautiful.”
“They are.” A glaze covers her eyes as she stares at the pond. “What most people don’t know is that beneath that beauty lies the most formidable resilience and strength. They can survive in harsh weather and swim against currents. They give me hope.”
I study her profile. She seems half alive, and her voice sounds a bit tired. Lifeless, even.
My heart aches for her.
Helena must’ve been so beautiful in her youth, but now, her cheeks have sunken, and she’s skin and bones.
I try to cheer her up. “Do you have favorites?”
“Sora.” She motions at the largest red koi fish, who keeps beating the others to the food. “I got him when I first found out I was pregnant with Kane. All his siblings passed away, but he’s going strong, nearing twenty-three years old.”
“What does Sora mean?”
“Sky in Japanese. The wide, unrestrained, and all-encompassing sky.” Her eyes soften as if she were looking at Kane.
Now, she’s breaking my heart.
And I’m really disliking Kane. Would it hurt him to show some affection to his lonely mom?
Some of us would kill to have a mom.
“Would you like to feed them?” She offers me the ceramic bowl.
“Can I?”
“Absolutely.”
I grab the bowl and start throwing out some pellets. The prick Sora eats it all, leaving the rest with open mouths and no food.
He shares Kane’s all-or-nothing personality for sure.
It’s his way or the highway.
After that encounter where I was nearly murdered byhisfriend, that asshole Kane has ghosted me for three days.
No kidding. There have been no texts, and he hasn’t talked to me in the arena.
