Venom in the Skin

by Jessica Gunn

  “Help!” I called out. What was happening to me?

  The world stopped spinning. And when I opened my eyes, Ben appeared in a flashing shock of cobalt ether magik. His eyes were two glowing orbs of blue, his face a mask of tendril tattoos. And in his hand was a dagger, the tip of which had been dipped into a tan liquid.

  “Nothing can help you now, my venom,” Ben said, but the purred words weren’t his own. His voice was too deep. Too gravelly. Too demonic. “You are the most pristine venom I’ve ever created. Aren’t you, my dear?”

  Ben leaped to attack.

  Chapter 13

  I jerked awake, grabbing Kian’s hand and pulling it away from me. He’d been shaking me, I thought, but all I saw was Ben’s twisted visage. “Get the hell away from me.”

  Kian startled, staring down at me with wild eyes. “You were dreaming.”

  “A nightmare, actually,” I spat. Then winced. “Sorry.”

  “Hell of a nightmare.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “You have no idea.”

  Kian touched a hand to my shoulder, then backed away a step. “Well, I need you to get your head together. We need to leave. Now.”

  My eyes narrowed on his, confusion sinking in again. “Did Headquarters call?”

  “No. But I don’t think we can wait any longer.” He glanced over his shoulder at the door to our room. “We can’t stay here.”

  “Why? And what time is it?”

  “Six in the morning.” Kian headed for the door. He knelt down in front of it and peered through the small crack between the wood and the floor. Satisfied with whatever he saw or didn’t see, he looked back to me. “I went downstairs to get us something to eat and found the entire place filled with members of the Trade and Talon.”

  “It’s not uncommon to find the Trade at Hunter’s Guild these days,” I said as I scooted off the bed.

  “No, but it’s rare to find this place almost entirely full of only demons.” He turned back to the door. “You need to get ready now. The only way out of Hunter’s Guild is through that front door. We can’t break these windows because of the protection magiks, and even if we could, I don’t know how you feel about dropping out of a second-story window.”

  I gulped. “Not fantastic, that’s for sure.” After the car accident that had killed my team, that fall down the ravine, I’d avoid being airborne again for any distance if I could avoid it.

  “Me, either,” Kian said. “We can get out to the magik wall without them touching us, but I can almost guarantee they’re here because we are.”

  “We just need to teleportante before they attack,” I said.

  “And hope Headquarters isn’t as busy as it usually is so someone’s there to help us fight them off if they follow,” Kian said. He tucked his Fire Circle knife into his waistband for easy access. “Ready?” he asked, his hand on the doorknob.

  No. But who was ever ready to walk through hell?

  I nodded. “As ever.”

  Unless something drastic had happened, the protection magiks were probably still in place. That meant that although Talon had swarmed Hunter’s Guild, they wouldn’t be able to attack us until we were past the wall. So the real question wasn’t Are we safe right now? It was Can we escape outside the wall before Talon’s bounty hunters and assassins capture us?

  Kian opened the door. “Then let’s—”

  I gasped at the sight of a demon leaning against the balcony railing right outside our room’s door. He had striking red hair, gnarly teeth, and a scar that ran down the side of his face all the way down his neck. He wore the red leather armor interlaced with deep violet that represented Talon. But even if he hadn’t been wearing it, a hissing sound would’ve given his identity away. I looked down and found several long cobras, all coiled and staring up at Kian and me, like guard dogs. The beige and gray coloring, the size of these snakes… they were king cobras.

  What were the chances those non-violence protection magiks covered poisonous-as-hell snakes too?

  Kian stepped in front of me and stared down the demon. “Morning.”

  I swallowed hard, eyeing the cobras as my chest heaved in panic. Their tongues flicked as they rose to almost shoulder-height on me, swaying back and forth, watching me as closely as I was them. One bite and we’d live if we got help immediately; that I knew from experience. But we’d have only ten or so minutes to get to Headquarters or a hospital for anti-venom—assuming either place had any. Which was rare in the United States. My team and I had been lucky the first time, doubly that those cobras must have been young still. The ones in front of us now had to be thirteen feet in length.

  Another, darker thought came to mind. There was also no guarantee Talon’s soldiers wouldn’t simply act as a barrier in front of the Guild’s exit until we died.

  My collarbone ached around the area of my first cobra bite. The scarred bit of flesh that acted as yet another reminder of Veynix’s taunting horror.

  The demon before us only lifted an eyebrow in response to Kian.

  Kian’s jaw locked tight. “Care to let us pass? We’re due for breakfast and a new round of drinks.”

  The demon’s gaze slid from Kian to me, and a sly, satisfied grin broke out across his face. “Absolutely. Wouldn’t dream of keeping you blocked up here, would we?” He dropped his stare to the cobras standing in front of us and whistled.

  They lowered back to the floor and slithered a few feet down the hall, their attention still on Kian and me, but they were no longer within striking or spitting range. They did, however, each rear up, standing straight as sticks five feet tall again.

  I gulped. How the hell are we going to get out of this?

  Kian, now behind me, touched a hand to the middle of my back. When had he moved? While I had stared terrified at the cobras?

  “Come on,” Kian said.

  I set my jaw and began to walk anyway. This was the only path to safety.

  Were there more cobras downstairs? Not that I wanted to be the first to walk into the swarm of Talon soldiers, either.

  The red carpet squished beneath my feet. It felt as though I was walking down a plank, about to plunge into the ocean’s depths, never to be seen again. I thought the crowd when we’d arrived had been overly interested in our arrival, but as my feet reached the staircase and I looked over the railing for the first time, I saw every set of eyes in Hunter’s Guild staring back at me.

  My pulse pounded in my chest and behind my ears. Sounds became muffled, what little there were, until the only thing that registered was the beating of my own heart. It was so loud, I wouldn’t have been surprised if everyone in here heard the rushing of blood through my body.

  Cobra venom would move so quickly through me right now. I’d be a goner in less than five minutes.

  “Stairs,” Kian said. He must have spoken it loudly, but it came out as a whisper. He stood beside me now, to my left, keeping the wall flush to my other side.

  My legs shook as we took the first step, then another. Everyone, every last person inside Hunter’s Guild right now, was a demon clad in Talon’s red and deep violet leather armor. I didn’t see any more cobras slithering about, but I tried not to let my gaze drop too far to the floor.

  Don’t appear weak. Don’t look bothered by this at all.

  As if. I reached between Kian and me for his hand as my vision wavered. He met me halfway, wrapping his warm fingers around mine. I tried to ignore the flash of Veynix’s hand on mine, clutching it tightly on the night he’d impersonated Brian. The night I’d been made to kiss him, not knowing any better.

  “I’ve got you,” Kian said, his voice low. “We’ll get out of here.”

  I gave a small nod, so as not to be obvious, and lifted my chin. Kian wasn’t Veynix. Could never be Veynix. And given that he was still trying to keep me safe after the argument we’d had last night, I had to trust in him to see us out of this.

  But there were still one hundred feet between us and the door, and many yards more until we
’d be past the magik wall. And we would absolutely be tailed out of the building.

  We can do this.

  Kian led me down the stairs, his hand still in mine. The crowd’s stares never lessened, though their sneers increased. The closer we got to the bottom of the stairs, the greater their glares became. Some of them even slid from me to Kian.

  “You and your team really pissed them off, huh?” I asked under my breath.

  “Like you wouldn’t believe.” When we reached the bottom step, Kian’s hand tightened around mine. “Do not let go. We’re gone as soon as we’re over the wall.”

  Twelve hours ago, the idea of holding Blood Hunter’s hand—never mind as a source of comfort—would have seemed ridiculous. But now I clung to him as though he were the only lifeline I had left. Indeed, he might have been the only ally I had other than Will.

  Heart still pounding in my ears, I followed Kian into the crowd. Rather than going along the bar as we had earlier, Kian cut directly for the front entrance, parting the Talon soldiers like a knife. His gaze flitted everywhere—over armor and weapons, to the soldiers’ eyes and fingers. Everyone, including Kian, had a hand on a knife hilt—which only served to back up a hypothesis many Hunters had regarding magik use being punished more severely by the protection magiks than hand-to-hand combat.

  Which was fine by me. I wasn’t sure how well I could fight with my side busted up, but I was more than confident in Kian’s fighting abilities. At least in the ring anyway.

  I gulped. There must be a hundred Talon members in here.

  Not a single one said a word. But a hissing sound broke the silence, echoing from the second floor. I glanced up briefly and found the demon outside our door now leaning over the railing and wearing a huge grin. The pair of cobras were wound around his shoulders, seemingly watching the show as well.

  “Ava,” Kian warned as he tugged on my hand.

  Right. Stay focused. “Go,” I told him.

  “Not so fast.”

  A chill coursed through me at the sound of the new voice. A low baritone that nearly hissed the s sounds in each word.

  My chest seized as an ice-cold feeling slid from the top of my head all the way down to my toes, freezing me in place like an animal caught in a predator’s gaze.

  “I do believe it’s been too long,” the demon purred again, closer this time. A warm breath blew against my ear and a new hand, colder than Kian’s, fell to my hip. “My pristine venom.”

  Pristine venom. I shuddered, my grip loosening in Kian’s hand.

  Veynix the Venomous.

  He’s here. Here’s here, oh my god.

  My worst nightmare. The demon who’d destroyed my life and killed my teammates. The one soldier of Talon who had chased us down, taunting us and our loved ones at every step, who’d played with us like toys until we were no more. And his clever, awful nickname for me… despite how true it might have been.

  I wasn’t sure he’d survived that night, much as I was certain Talon wasn’t completely confident I had, either. Not until Kian had knocked my mask off during our fight. I’d managed to wound Veynix badly before the end. But I’d never been sure. Anyone could have mimicked his venom. Anyone could have used it to poison Will. Anyone could have left snakeskin in my bedroom for us to find.

  But only Veynix could have made it so insidious. Only Veynix enjoyed the hunt of his target, the slow, slithering way poison worked inside a person’s body. Killing them slowly. Veynix preferred that method of chase, capture, and kill.

  Now he was here. Alive. In front of me again.

  Veynix’s hand, so cold I felt the chill through my shirt, added more pressure. It felt like an icy, unwanted burn—like hot water that felt ice cold—raged from that one spot and had begun radiating outward.

  “Perhaps,” Veynix said, his lips now close to my ear, “we can take this elsewhere? I believe we have unfinished business to attend to.”

  I swallowed hard and squeezed my eyes shut. This isn’t happening. This cannot be happening right now. He hadn’t been this close to me since the night he’d had his air-elemental friend make him look like Brian. When he’d been in my room at the team’s house.

  Kian and I might have gotten away from the other Talon soldiers here this morning, but now that Veynix was here, really fucking here, there was zero chance he’d let us go. And this predator was way too into the chase to not follow me into Fire Circle Headquarters.

  “Ava,” Kian said. He faced me now and squeezed my fingers. “He can’t hurt you in here. We need to go.”

  But if he couldn’t hurt me in here, why would I leave? The taunting wasn’t new. Neither were the threats. I could just sit here and drink the days and nights away behind our room’s locked door until the money ran out and I was forced to leave. That sounded like a perfectly acceptable plan.

  Hiding always did.

  “Ava?” Veynix said thoughtfully, his eyebrows raising. “I think I still prefer ‘Christine.’”

  Another shudder coursed through me. No one, not even Will, had called me by my real name in six months—except for that one cashier. Hearing it twice within forty-eight hours had started to pick away at the hard defenses I’d put up since Thanksgiving last year.

  I took a step toward Kian, but Veynix matched it. Neither of them let go of me.

  We’re not getting out of this. My life ends here—tonight. I choked on a sob, my eyes stinging. It ends now.

  The sliding of a blade from a sheath sounded in the near-silence of the room. In my next breath, the cool tip of a dagger was pressed against my skin between my neck and shoulders.

  “Don’t go just yet,” Veynix beckoned.

  Either Kian didn’t see it or he didn’t care, because he squeezed my hand twice, a vague reassurance before he started walking again. I followed him, trying to match his pace when all I wanted to do was run. Run into the woods, out past the magik wall, constantly moving and hiding, and never stop running until I collapsed from exhaustion, dead. Dead on my own terms, not because of this demon’s obsession with me and fulfilling his failed mission to end my team and whatever else was on his agenda. To keep us from talking. He’d silenced everyone else, but not me. Never me. And I had always been fairly certain there was more to his plan.

  The pressure of Veynix’s hand lessened as Kian and I headed for the door, but the feel of the blade against my skin did not. Was he seriously going to risk being punished by the protection magiks?

  The tip of the blade dug in deeper, but I felt no trickle of warm blood. And when I looked down, Veynix’s heavy leather boots kept pace with mine. He was going to follow us out to the wall, holding me at knife-point! One quick slash and I’d be dead, bleeding out on the floor of Hunter’s Guild no matter what the protection magiks did to Veynix.

  He’d have his wish fulfilled, his mission in following me here complete. A set of demon Hunters all dead by his hand, finally.

  The only sense of relief came when only Veynix followed us outside Hunter’s Guild, his boots crunching on the grass in the clearing outside. He followed us like a shadow, the tip of the dagger still pressed to my skin.

  At the bottom of the stairs, Kian turned to glare back at Veynix. “This is where you need to leave us, friend.”

  “And miss this chance to reconnect with little lost Christine? I think not.” Veynix’s voice was like a venom all on its own, worming into my mind and freezing my muscles and limbs.

  “Her name’s Ava,” Kian said. “Now unless you intend to follow us into a fight you’re going to lose, stay here.”

  Veynix didn’t move a millimeter. And in that stoic face, everything came screaming back to me in full color. The accident. The venom. The pain. Em and Liz’s mangled forms, Brian’s twisted arm. Blood everywhere. The broken glass. The squealing of the tires and brakes as we careened out of control, flipping end over end across the road and down the embankment after Veynix had hit us with his own vehicle.

  My own scream tearing my throat. Shredding it raw.
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  I swallowed it all down like I’d done so many times before—indeed, every time I had stepped into Midnight’s ring—and turned, lifting my gaze.

  My eyes met Veynix’s burgundy ones, so dark now they almost looked like rubies. A jagged scar cut down one eye, across his twisted nose, to the corner of his mouth.

  Still, he grinned with an open mouth, his pointed, yellowed teeth prominent. White-blond, shoulder-length hair hung to his shoulders. His blood-red armor had only one hint of Talon’s deep violet colors in it—the Talon twin-cobra emblem at the center of his chest.

  And around his neck hung a three-inch vial of the same tan liquid that had haunted my nightmares for months now.

  His prized mutated platypus venom.

  My chest heaved in time with my quick, shallow breaths. Move, Ava. I had to move, act. To somehow put distance between us and Veynix.

  I glanced back at Kian and tilted my head the tiniest bit. A rhetorical question on my lips. You ready?

  Kian’s eyes went wide a moment before I turned away from Veynix and his dagger, spun fast, and slammed both of my palms flat against the breastplate of his red and violet armor. He must not have been expecting it because despite being much stronger than either Kian or me, Veynix stumbled backward, catching his calves on the steps. He reached out a hand to steady himself as an unseen force smacked me square in the chest. I flew across the clearing, back from the stairs, straight over Kian’s head, and slammed into the ground, skidding across the dirt, grass, and moss.

  Air was forced out of my lungs with the impact. Stars danced along the edges of my blackened vision as my back grew with the morning dew dampening the ground.

  “Ava!” Kian shouted. Footfalls pounded against the dirt.

  My eyes crossed, my vision tilting, even as I tried to take stock of my injuries. Guess all that protection magik bullshit is true. God. My bones ached and warmth bloomed along my side, trickling down to my hip, then into the grass. I reached a hand to my shirt, on top of my stitches. My fingers came away red with blood.