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Venom. Aerix’s venom, flowing into me, replacing the blood he’s taken.

The burn intensifies, a tidal wave of agony andecstasy, flooding every nerve, every cell, and every hidden place inside me. No sound comes when I try to cry out. But he’s there with me, holding me, whispering in my ear as the pain scorches through every nerve, consuming me from the inside out.

Mine. Beautiful. Forever. Perfect.

His venom reaches my heart, and my body convulses one final time as the world fractures into blackness, deeper than sleep, heavier than death.

But my last thought isn’t of pain.

It’s of Aerix—above me, inside me, around me—and the terrifying, exquisite peace of knowing that in my final moments, I was his in every possible way.

And then, there’s nothing but darkness.