Page 58 of Poison Touch (Monarch Vipers #1)

KINSLEY

The houses and trees blur by as I drive through the dark, empty streets.

It’s after two in the morning when I finally pull into my driveway.

My thoughts are on the carousel of hell.

I’m constantly wondering how deep Edge’s involvement is with Venom.

He obviously supports them and their ways, or he wouldn’t be a part of them, right?

The hardest part to swallow is that I have no reason to believe he wasn’t there the night my father was killed, that he didn’t watch him get beaten to death like I did.

It physically pains me to imagine he had anything to do with my dad’s murder.

I shed my clothes and collapse into bed, too lazy to get back up and close the drapes. The shadows of the palm trees outside my window sway on my wall and ceiling. The few hours before dawn slowly drain away, taking the night with them as I try to fall asleep.

For the next two days, I ignore all of Edge’s texts and calls.

I spend most of that time at the dojo. It’s closed for the holiday weekend, so I have the place to myself.

I swear, a couple of times, I glance out the window and see a figure standing under the oak tree.

But it could also be my imagination, because, unfortunately for me, Edge and Venom took my thoughts hostage, leaving me consumed with what-ifs and memories I’m not ready to let go of yet.

There has to be a way to penetrate Venom’s nucleus or find out who’s in charge.

But shit me if I can figure out how to do that.

I have a strong feeling that Edge is high up on Venom’s hierarchy list. Hell, maybe he’s in with the guy in the suit outside the ring.

Edge could be the one calling the shots from the sidelines when he’s not fighting.

My stomach twists with dread. I hate sounding so na?ve, but the hope in my chest that he isn’t so heavily invested was crushed when Python was dragged away.

I’m furious for allowing myself to spiral so far down into the dangerous depths of his touch and charm.

I have no one to blame but myself that I fucking let him touch me, kiss me.

Thank God we haven’t fucked. He was never supposed to see the feelings I held tightly.

But he knew exactly how to draw them out of me until he peeled away my toughest layers.

He found a way to my core, revealing my vulnerable side that I rarely show anyone.

The admission of my weakness to him is in every punch and kick I throw at the bag. I’ve given my body no time to recuperate or heal after pushing it to the limits for the past couple of days.

Exhausted, I drop to my knees on the mat.

There’s no turning back the clock for everything that has happened between us. But I can stop it from here on out.

Edge’s last message from this morning is a verbal collage of all the others .

We need to talk, I’m sorry . Blah, blah, blah.

This time, though, there’s the puzzling warning to be careful.

Those were his final words to me at the UG: Be careful.

What the fuck does that even mean? Be careful of whom? Him? Venom?

I’m so fucking tired.

I vowed to avenge my father’s death and for how they wrecked my world. But as much as I hate to admit it, I feel lost and defeated. I feel the exact opposite of how I felt when I started all of this.

I fall forward, stretching my arms in front of me.

My head rests on the mat, and my body relaxes into the yoga position child’s pose, allowing my back, neck, and other muscles to unwind.

I breathe in and out, slowing my breath until most of the tension melts away.

My head clears enough to rid the poison that Venom has flooded my bloodstream and every thought with, drugged me to the point that I lost focus. The sad part is I thought I was immune.

I’m not.

There is a silver lining to all of this. I learned that keeping your enemies close isn’t always the wisest approach. The antidote is to refocus and keep my distance from Edge and the rest of them. I can’t and won’t give up on what I set out to do.

New strength and vigor slowly seep back into my tired body.

There must be a way to learn more about this fight team.

It’s been less than two months since I started at Monarch.

The few things I know for sure: who the four players are that make up Venom at school, Edge is considered their leader, Python is part of them but older, and there is most definitely someone higher than Edge who oversees them.

As for who that may be, I have no idea. Kade said something about Edge’s dad. Could it be him?

My Sherlock Holmes brain starts kicking around some ideas. The one that sticks out is Python. He was forced to lose the other night after he was forced to win over my father. Why? He might be the key to all of this.

It’s already five in the afternoon on Sunday, the last day of the break, and we have to be back at school. Avoiding Edge for the next several hours shouldn’t be that difficult. Tomorrow at school, I won’t get off so easily.

After I take a shower and settle into bed, I call Luca.

He answers on the first ring. “Hey, Kins, what’s wrong?”

“Why does something have to be wrong?”

He sighs. “It doesn’t, but I know you. So give it up.” Leave it to Luca to cut right to the chase.

I heave out a breath. “Everything, actually. But right now, I need a way to get to Python. Find out who he is, where he lives, if he goes to school?—”

“Kins, stop!”

“What?” Impatience eats me alive from the inside. As difficult as it’ll be, talking to him is the next step. That is, if I don’t kill him first.

“Do you even hear yourself?”

“Of course.”

My phone dings. I accept the FaceTime call with Luca. Flames from the fireplace dance behind him. I would much rather be hanging out with him on the couch than playing detective and finding ways to plot revenge.

“That’s better,” he says. “Now I can see the full-on attack of the maniacal invasion of my best friend.”

“Luca! I’m serious. I don’t see another way.”

He drops his head to his chest. Even though I can no longer see his face, I can perfectly imagine the disappointment and defeat of being unable to talk me out of my insane plan.

Letting him have his moment, I wait a few beats before pulling him back. “Luca, please,” I say in a soft voice.

He takes a sip from the glass he’s holding.

The glow of the fire intensifies the color of the amber liquid.

Knowing Luca, it’s probably from the most expensive bottle of bourbon his dad owns.

He lowers the glass from view. “Let me get this straight. You want to talk ”—he makes quotes with his free hand—“to the fighter that killed your father? Kins, baby, I know you better than your own mother, even yourself. And there’s no way in hell you won’t wrap your hands around the guy’s throat the second you come face to face with him. ”

I huff out an impatient breath. “I— Well, I can control myself. Besides, I don’t have a choice. It’s the only way to find out what’s really going on in Venom.”

Looking back at the camera, he says, “Kinsley West, you know that I have always been—and I will continue to be—by your side, no matter how crazy your asinine ideas are, but this is insane.” He wipes the front of his pants, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then lets it all out in one long sigh.

Opening his eyes, he zones in on me, studying me like a weird new species.

“So please, just tell me that you’re fucking with me and this is one big joke. ”

I slowly shake my head. “I’m not joking.” I was going to avoid telling him about the fights the other night, but I don’t see another way around that either. “I went to the fight the other night.” The confession slips through my lips, leaving no room to back out.

I wince as he spills his drink on his lap. “Oh shit!” He abruptly pushes off the lounger, ice cubes falling from his sweatpants. He throws his hands in the air. “Jesus, fuck, Kins! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Getting stabbed wasn’t enough?”

“Python was carried out of the cage. He couldn’t even stand after the…

the other fighter got done with him. He was the one on the receiving end this time.

Why?” I leave out the details of the other fighter.

That’s a whole other level of fucked-up.

“Luca, something seriously dark is happening, and more fighters will step into the octagon, and they may end up like my dad. I believe Venom is at the heart of this, and they need to be stopped.”

“And you’re going to be the one to stop them? To put an end to this corruption?”

All I see for the next several seconds is the fire swaying and jerking in the background as the camera swings back and forth.

I picture him scrubbing his hand over his face and head, cursing silently, and finally biting his pinky nail.

When he lifts the camera to his face, the tip of his pinky is between his teeth.

He knows me as well as I know him. There’s comfort in that.

“I know I’ve done some stupid shit. And this probably tops it all. But I need to do this.”

He hastily shakes his head. “None of this feels right. You and a killer, meeting face to face in some dark back alley?—”

“It’s not going to be in a dark alley. It’ll be a coffee house or... something.” I have no idea where the meeting will take place, but I’ll do what I can to avoid anywhere too private. “Besides, you and I know I can take him down if I have to.”

“Girl, you know I’m not underestimating your skills. But he’s a killer. Your dad’s murderer. He took down Slayer! And nothing is stopping him from filling the space in the ground next to your father.”

“I know.” The words come out in a breathy whisper.

“It doesn’t matter what I say. You’re going to meet him, aren’t you?”

I close my eyes. A welling tear falls as I nod. “Yeah.” I swipe it away and look directly at him. “I have to.” He knows I’m not looking for his permission. I want his support. And he’s never not given it to me. Until now.

We talk for a bit longer after we drop the Python conversation altogether. Luca is hoping for a miracle that I’ll somehow get over my new plan and change my mind. I won’t.

Since I can’t trust Edge to tell me anything, maybe the guy who got the shit beat out of him by someone from his own team will.

After we hang up, I take a huge leap and text Kade.

Since I helped with the Josh situation, maybe he’ll return the favor by setting up a meeting with Python.

I hate testing his loyalty to his friends, but I need this meeting to happen.

And he’s the only one I trust enough to make that happen.

After I press the send button, all I can do is find a way to be patient.

Nothing is working out as I thought. It’s not like I had a perfect plan, but I was going to destroy Venom.

Expose them, fight them, find a way to prove them guilty for what they did.

Something . Get close enough to them, learn their secrets, and use them against themselves.

But none of that is happening. All I know is I’ve gotten myself in deep.

The only way out is to slither out of the hole I crawled into or come out fighting.

Fighting seems like a way better option.