Page 28 of Venom Within Her

“Does that make you feel better, or worse?”

“Definitely better. I just,” she hesitated, “I feel bad. Anxious. Her father is already out looking for her, and I'm just afraid of anything coming back to me. Or you.”

“I understand. It’s a difficult place to be in. But I won’t let anything come back to you. You will be safe as long as I am here. I’m sorry I pulled you into all of this.”

“With you is the only place I want to be. No matter where it takes me.” She smiled up at me. “Now, about that claiming sting. Does it hurt?”

“I won’t lie, it probably will hurt a bit. It will inject a potent venom inside of you, it’ll run through your veins, rearrange your cells, and you’ll become like me.”

Her eyes bludged, “like a-”

“Scorpion shifter, yes.” I rubbed her arms, “How would that make you feel? To be like me.”

“It’s definitely a lot to think about. But I think you already know how I feel, don’t you? The same pull you feel. The possessiveness. The craving to be with you. The bond. It’s what I want. I want to be your mate. And if that means being like you, I would do it.”

“I’m happy to hear it, my love. But I wouldn’t be upset if you told me you needed time. If you wanted to think about it. Changing your entire life and being for me is not an easy decision, and although I’ve absolutely been tempted, I’d never force you into that.”

“I’ve been forced into a lot of things in my life and being with you is not one of them.” She shifted where she sat and took a deep breath.

“My family was very religious. I grew up in a very strict church where everything I did was controlled, from the way I ate to who I would end up marrying.” Her throat clicked as she swallowed. I could tell this was difficult for her. I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her toward me.

“That must have been very difficult,” I said, kissing her temple.

“It was. Especially once they caught wind that I preferred women. They thrust the boys from the church at me from every direction. I had to swallow my pride and entertain them. Nana was the only one who understood. The only one who treated me like I was actually my own person.”

“She sounds like an amazing lady. I’m guessing she’s not around anymore?”

“No,” she sighed, “she passed away a little over a year ago. She’s actually the reason I moved here.”

“Really?”

“When she passed, she left me her home. I stayed there for a while, until I found this.”

She pushed out of my arms and stretched over me to reach into her nightstand drawer. She cradled a worn, leatherbound journal in her hands.

“It was just sitting on her writing desk, like she was planning for me to find it.”

She flipped through a few pages and held up an old, black and white photo and my heart almost stopped in my chest.

“Marnez,” I ran my finger over the man in the photo with Ilona’s grandmother.

Her eyes shot to mine, “You know him?”

“He was one of my kind,” I choked out the words. Seeing his smile again after almost a hundred years brought all the grief flooding back to me. “A very good friend.”

“Did you know my grandmother as well?” The hopeful look in her eye broke my heart.

“Unfortunately, not. If they were involved, he most likely kept it a close secret. With only a handful of us left after the massacre, it was frowned upon to get too close to the humans.”

A sorrow-laced chuckle escaped her throat and she turned the photo over, running the pad of her thumb over the delicate script written on the back.

“Well, it seems they were both great secret keepers.” She smiled up at me weakly, “She never told me about this place, but apparently it's where she found herself.” She handed me the photo and I read the writing.

“Wow, he...” I coughed, trying to shake the tears away. “He passed away only a year later.”

She didn’t say anything, just wrapped me in her arms and held me as my body overflowed with grief. Moments passed, and her body shuddered and jolted against me. Something solidified in that moment. We were so much more than just fated mates; we were two of the same. Just two women trying to navigate the world alone after losing everything we had ever loved.

“So, when do we do it?” She asked, an eagerness lacing her voice over the fading sobs. “The claiming ritual, I mean.”