Page 1 of Renascence

CHAPTER 1

***Venom***

“Motherfucking asshole!”

Those are the words that greet me when I walk into the pet shop. Instead of Jeff, the owner, standing behind the counter, there’s a woman scowling at the screen of her phone.

“Cock-sucking bastard,” she mumbles, completely unaware of my entrance.

I’m in a good mood today. I don’t know why, but I feel amazing. Hopefully it stays that way and this chick doesn’t ruin it with her sour mood. Her eyes are still glued to her phone, so I make my presence known.

“Hey. Jeff here?”

Startled, she jumps, drops the phone, and swears. “Fuck!”

Chuckling, I approach her as she bends at the waist to pick up the phone. Unbeknownst to her, I check out her ass before she faces me.Not bad. Not bad at all.

“Shit! I mean sorry. You weren’t supposed to hear that.” When she straightens, she catches me looking. Sad to say, she’s not impressed. “Yes?” she grumbles, irritably tucking a few loose strands of blonde hair behind her ear.

Her green eyes narrow, moving over my body from head to toe. I allow her to get her fill, watching as her gaze slides over my cut and the sewn-on patches. It continues down to my silver snake belt buckle, then to the chains hanging on my hip, and finally my size twelve Doc Martens.

“I’d be more than happy to show you what’s underneath, darlin’.”

Her eyes flick to mine, head tilting to the side in annoyance. “How can I help you?” she snaps.

“Jeez. The customer service in here has gone to shit,” I joke. “I asked you if Jeff is here.”

She takes a deep breath, remorse creeping into her eyes before her stare drops to the floor.

“Sorry. It’s not you.”

“No shit.”

She looks up, the exasperation slowly returning. This time, itisme.

“Jeff isn’t here.Can I help you?” she repeats, emphasizing the question.

“I’m supposed to pick something up. Should be a box somewhere here with my name on it. Venom.”

“You’re picking up venom?” she asks, brow quirked in confused curiosity.

“No, doll.” I chuckle. “Name’s Venom.”

“Oh.” Her eyes dart back to the patch with my road name, features relaxing in understanding. “Gimme a sec.”

She disappears to the back, items knocking against each other, being picked up and dropped as she searches for my box. Sighing, I lean on the counter and wait.Where the hell is Jeff, and who is this chick?I’ve never seen her before, and I know Jeff doesn’t have any daughters. Knowing the old geezer, she has to be family for him to leave her here alone.

As I’m about to offer her my help, she screams bloody murder. Twice. Hopping over the counter, I hurry in the direction of her shrill voice. I find her jumping in place and flapping her hands in a panic.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“The box!” she shrieks.

I chuckle, realizing she’s found the one that’s mine. Picking it up, I make my way back to the front of the store. She follows, but I swear I can still hear her teeth chattering in fear.

“You weren’t supposed to open it, doll.”

“I heard sounds. It’s not a cage or anything else Uncle Jeff keeps the animals in, so I looked. Ugh.”