Page 175 of Craving Venom
I look up at him. “And what happens when it does?”
“Then you’re already gone,” he says. “Even if your body’s still moving, even if you’re still breathing. If fear’s gone, it means there’s nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to run from. No instinct left to save yourself. That’s when you stop being a person and start being a shell.”
I don’t speak. I just listen.
“So yeah,” he says. “You didn’t choose to fight. Your fear did. It kept the lights on. It kept your heart beating. That’s not weakness. That’s the rawest kind of power there is. Strength is what comesafter,when you crawl out of the dark and realize you’re still breathing.”
“We’re saying the same thing,” I counter.
“No.” His fingers curl against my spine. “You made it poetic. I just made it real.”
“Whatever, creep,” I roll my eyes again, even though part of me knows he’s not wrong, he’s just colder about it.
His hand tightens at my waist.
Then, without warning, he twirls me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MONSTER
Iguide Faith through a twirl, and as she spins, her tank top shifts with her movement, riding up just enough to flash the curve of her waist. Her laughter fills the room, and I catch myself smiling in response.
She moves like a fairy ripped straight out of a fairytale. And me? I feel like a shadow beside her. Too rough, too real. Ordinary in all the wrong ways.
I knew I could never deserve a girl like her, but that didn’t stop me from wanting her—fromtaking her. I’d tear down thrones, flip realities, and burn down skies, all just to stand at her side.
She spins one last time and lands right on my feet.
A little gasp slips from her, followed by a soft, startled laugh.
“Wow,” she whooshes as she looks up at me. “You really know how to dance. Who taught you?”
“My mom,” I answer, letting the words slip out before I can pull them back. “She wanted me to be the perfect gentleman for Ella.”
Faith’s smile falters, just slightly, but I catch it. The corners of her mouth tighten, her brows dip for half a second, and fuck, if that isn’t jealousy flashing through her eyes. I drink it in, knowing that it meant she cared, that she saw something in me worth being possessive over.
“Tell me more about her.”
I close the distance to feel the heat radiating off her skin. Our bodies still move, following the steady rhythm humming through the room.
“My mother was a strong woman. She had a heart of gold and always saw the best in people. Even when things got tough, she never gave up on anyone.”
The music is too heavy for the softness building between us, but we move with it, claiming it as our own anyway.
“She was the kind of person who believed in second chances, even when the world didn’t. And she loved me and Alex more than anything else in this world.”
Faith doesn’t interrupt, but I can feel her watching me, memorizing every word, searching for the cracks in between. I know she’s waiting for me to slip, hoping I’ll hand her the truth. If she wants to look inside, I’ll let her.
I lower my head, letting our foreheads almost touch as her breath brushes against my mouth.
“Ask me one question,” I whisper, letting the space between us vanish completely, “and I’ll answer it honestly.”
“One question,” she repeats.
Her eyes drift across my face, searching for something, and when they settle, they land on my mouth.
“Why haven’t you kissed me?”
