Page 41 of Venom Within Her

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” I popped a kiss on her perfect nose. “We should get dressed and start preparing.”

“Ughhhh,” she leaned back to the other side of the tub, dramatically draping her hand over her forehead. “Couldn’t we just pretend we aren’t in danger for five more minutes?”

29

Ilona

With every step further into the forest, my heart beat a little bit quicker. My fingers were going raw with how much I’d picked at the skin.

Larz and I had made all of our preparations: packed our things, I resigned from Bev’s Books effective immediately, left our homes empty and got our finances in order…which Larz had an alarming amount of. The last thing we needed to do was warn Esta, the protector of the forest, of what may be coming.

Meeting Larz was an accident, I hadn’t gone seeking out the creatures of the woods, so doing just that was making my skin crawl. How was I supposed to approach her? Address her? Act around her? Would she know I was an outsider?

“Everything is going to be fine, baby.” Larz squeezed my hand gently. “I’ll do all the talking, just say hello. You don’t need to do anything special.”

I loved that we could feel each other’s emotions, even without the mind connection. After years of struggling to be heard and understood, it was nice to just feel and have her understand it.

“Thank you,” I sighed, leaning against her as we walked through the trees. “So, why haven’t I seen any creatures yet? Didn’t you say once I changed, I would be able to see them?”

“I’m guessing they’re all very well hidden because of the hunters. I’m sure those gunshots were heard far and wide.” Another thing I loved about Larz is how she explained things to me with care. She never talked to me like I was stupid for not understanding.

“Oh. Shouldn’t we be more…hidden?”

“We could go full scorpion, but it would take us a really long time to get where we are going,” she chuckled. “But, I’ve also not heard any hunters yet, so we should be safe. There are no trails out here.”

I sighed, leaning into her and feeling a bit better. I was curious about going full scorpion, but that would have to be a task for another day. But my curiosity about something else sat at the forefront of my mind.

“How do you have so much money? What do you do?” I didn’t mean for it to come out sounding so suspicious, but it was a strange subject.

“I’ve been around for a long time,” she started. “I’ve worked a lot of jobs, saved, invested well, stashed money and precious jewels away for a rainy day.” She kissed my temple, “We will be set for life, baby, don’t you worry.”

We walked hand in hand in comfortable silence for a while longer. If I really concentrated, I could see the outline of different creatures along the forest floor, against the trees, in the leaves and tangled in the plants and water. Most looked just like the animals of the woods, just a little…extra. They moved with the natural flow of nature, flying with the wind, rippling with the water and swaying with the branches. It was captivating to see, so beautiful that I almost didn’t feel worthy enough to be a part of their world.

“Here we are,” Larz let go of my hand and draped her arm around my shoulders.

I looked around us, nothing but a small stream and a giant tree sat in front of us. Before I could ask where we were, Larz stepped forward, dipping her hands into the stream. Carefully, she cupped her palms and carried a small pool of water over to the base of the tree. After murmuring a few words into it, she poured it over the base of the tree and stepped back to my side.

The Earth rumbled gently under my feet. Wind whipped around me, sending my hair into a twirling tornado. The sound of cracking wood filled my ears as the bark of the tree trunk in front of us shifted, rearranging and shrinking. Before my eyes, the giant tree transformed into the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on. Besides Larz, of course.

Her skin was the same, deep brown as the tree trunk. Her large, curling hair cascaded down her shoulders, matching the deep green of the leaves. Her eyes were a piercing blue, twirling and flowing like the stream that ran behind her.

“Larazeth,” The Goddess smiled, her voice was soft and inviting, curling around me like a warm hug. “And who is this beautiful creature?”

The Goddess turned towards me and all the air was sucked from my lungs. Beautiful? Me? My lips were moving before I could catch my breath, so my name came out as just a whisper.

“Ilona.”

The Goddess smiled, holding her hand out for me. I took it with shaking fingers. Her skin was soft and smooth.

“Ilona, what an exquisite name. I’m Esta.”

“Thank you. Nice to meet you, Esta.”

She sighed, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Sorrow? Familiarity?

“You look so much like her…” She said it so softly, I almost didn’t hear.

“Like who?”