Page 39 of Sweet Venom Of Time (Blade of Shadows #6)
I glanced at Elizabeth, expecting pity, maybe fear. But her eyes were filled with understanding, a quiet strength that made something inside me ache. Her fingers traced light patterns across my chest, her touch grounding and calming. She shifted, facing me fully, her expression open and curious.
“What was your role in all of this?” she asked, her voice gentle but firm. She wasn’t demanding answers; she was inviting me to share them.
I hesitated, the words heavy on my tongue. I had spent so long hiding the truth, even from myself. But she felt safe and honest. She was willing to listen, even if she couldn’t understand, and I found myself wanting to tell her.
I took a steadying breath, my fingers tightening slightly against her skin. “I was the leader of the House of Darkness,” I admitted, my voice quiet, almost fragile. “I commanded the darkness army. I followed orders from Lazarus, who protected the last king and queen—Isabelle and Armand.”
The names felt distant, like echoes from another lifetime. Saying them aloud felt strange, almost surreal, like speaking of ghosts.
Her expression softened, sympathy flickering across her delicate features. But she didn’t interrupt. She listened, her hand resting over my heart, a silent reassurance.
“I thought I was doing the right thing,” I continued, my voice wavering. “I thought I was protecting Solaris... protecting them. But I was wrong. I was so... blind. I didn’t see the darkness growing. I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
Her fingers tightened over my chest, warm and comforting. Her eyes held no judgment, only quiet understanding, which made the pain a little more bearable.
“And how did you end up here, in this world?” Elizabeth’s blue eyes searched mine as if trying to unravel the mysteries of Solaris hidden within their dark depths.
My hand found hers against my chest, stilling the hypnotic motion of her fingers.
“When Isabelle shattered the Blade of Shadows, chaos followed. We were cast from Solaris—flung into this world with no way back. All of us, scattered like ashes on the wind.” I hesitated, the weight of my next words pressing against my ribs.
“The book in your alchemist’s cottage— Sacred Alchemy of Solaris: Secrets of the Celestial Forge —comes from my realm. ”
Her lips parted slightly, absorbing the revelation.
“The Timehealers… they became the Timehunters in this world. They hunted us. Hunted me.” My mission loomed between us, an unspoken specter in the dim light.
“Lazarus, my master, tasked me with eradicating these ruthless societies. Since the day I was thrown here, I have waged war against them—leaving a trail of ruin and destruction across countless timelines. But when I arrived in France, ready to continue my mission...” I exhaled, my voice dropping to a whisper.
“You, my love, had already beaten me to it.”
I paused, running my tongue over my lower lip, my thoughts unraveling into questions I dared not ask. “Did I know I would meet you? That I would fall for the daughter of my enemy? No. Was I surprised to find you possessed the Noctyss flower? Absolutely.”
The words poured forth, a confession laced with wonder. Drawn by something unseen—something inevitable—I leaned in, pressing a trail of kisses along her neck, each one a silent vow, a tether binding me to the fate neither of us had foreseen.
“How did you come to possess such a powerful flower?” I asked between kisses, my voice rough with desire. “The Noctyss only blooms in Solaris. Where did you find it? You have to be honest with me.”
I needed to know. The Noctyss was no ordinary flower—it was a relic of my lost world, a passageway back to Solaris, back to a home shattered in time.
Elizabeth hesitated as if gathering the fragments of a distant past. “A long time ago, my parents took my brothers and me to the Carpathian Mountains.”
Recognition flared within me. Ah. So that is where the realm opens. Excitement surged through my veins, so potent it felt like I could tear through the veil of time and return to Solaris instantly.
Her voice softened, tinged with something I couldn’t quite place.
“My father took my brothers hunting. My mother and I wandered the mountains, searching for rare blooms.” A flicker of something—pain, perhaps—darkened her expression.
“She was an alchemist of great renown in my father’s society.
She believed we might find something... useful. ”
She hesitated, then exhaled, the memory unfurling like a long-buried secret.
“I wandered away from her and stumbled upon an unusual flower. It stood apart from the others as if waiting for me.” Her fingers curled slightly against my chest. “I picked it. And then... I saw them. A row of identical flowers led away into the forest like a trail of fallen stars. But the moment I plucked that single bloom...” She swallowed. “All the others died.”
A hush settled between us. I listened, enthralled, imagining her as a child—innocent, unaware that her small hands had disturbed something far greater than she could comprehend. The Noctyss did not simply die. It responded. It reacted.
It chose.
Elizabeth’s voice softened, touched by the weight of memory. “My mother found me, and we followed the path of flowers. It led us to a engraved stone. It was so strange.” Her gaze met mine, shimmering with the same awe she must have felt that day.
We lay there, two souls intertwined by destiny, bound by secrets that spanned realms. The weight of history pressed upon us was as tangible as the touch of skin on skin.
I furrowed my brow, my mind piecing together fragments of an ancient puzzle. “Did you ever tell your father about the flower or the stone?” The question hung between us, delicate yet charged, a thread that might unravel more than we were prepared for.
“Never.” Elizabeth’s response was immediate and unwavering.
Her fingers traced the outline of an invisible book in the air, as if conjuring the memory itself.
“We found the ancient tome beneath a peculiar rock—a rock that seemed to levitate ever so slightly above the ground, as if imbued with power itself.”
She mimicked the motion of brushing dust from its cover, lost in recollection.
“It was so close to that strange monument. To us, it looked like a door—one leading to a healer’s cottage hidden within a stone wall.
Yet, no matter how we searched, we could find no way in.
It was as if we had stumbled upon the remnants of someone’s abandoned sanctuary. ”
A chill swept through me, despite the warmth of her body against mine. The pieces aligned, revealing a truth neither of us had spoken aloud.
That wasn’t an ordinary stone, nor was it a door—it was a gateway.
Elizabeth’s eyes met mine, clouded with the weight of secrets long kept from her patriarch.
“We immersed ourselves in the flower’s mystery when we returned home.
We devoured every script, every scroll, every alchemical record within The Sacred Alchemy of Solaris —searching for answers.
And there, hidden among its ancient pages, we found it.
The Noctyss. Its name, its image. And so we began our experiments, testing the formulae it revealed. ”
My thoughts clashed like steel on steel, the implications striking harder than I could comprehend.
Finally, I asked, “How was it possible for your mother to master such an art? Did she inherit the necessary bloodline? And how did she acquire the key ingredient—the blood of darkness? Where did she get it?”
Elizabeth’s hand trembled as she looked up at me, fear flickering. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice faltered.
I reached for her, my touch gentle, steadying her trembling fingers. “You never have to be afraid when you’re with me. I will protect you from any monster that dares to come your way.”
Her expression softened, but the shadow of uncertainty still lingered.
I exhaled, my breath uneven, my mind still reeling from the revelation.
“Your poison may not have been flawless, but it had an effect. A powerful one. If you had perfected it, the people of France would have been forced to flee—it’s that dangerous.
” I hesitated, the question clawing its way to the surface.
“Who was your mother? What was her name?” My voice was barely a whisper, bracing for the truth I hadn’t known I was seeking.
Elizabeth’s answer came, unaware of the storm it would unleash.
“Isolde Ravencroft.”
Lightning shot through my veins. My breath caught. I jolted, muscles tensing with the weight of the name that echoed through history.
“The Ravencroft family,” I murmured, the words tasting of revelation. My pulse pounded in my ears. “Your kin hail from Solaris. They were Timehealers—their essence allowed them to create perfection where others found only failure.”
The past had never truly been buried. It had only waited—through bloodlines and legacies—until now.
Elizabeth’s gaze held mine, searching. “Were you acquainted with the Ravencrofts?”
I propped myself up on one arm, turning fully to face her.
“I only knew of them. The Timehealers possessed an innate connection to the natural world—a bond so profound that their touch could heal and soothe life. They carried an energy that calmed, nurtured, and balanced. That is how your mother was able to do what she did. Her bloodline carried the essence of a Timehealer, giving her the power to craft both deadly poisons and miraculous remedies.”
I hesitated, my voice dipping lower. “But I never had the honor of personally knowing any of your family. My path was forged in darkness, far from the light of your mother’s healing world.”
Reaching out, I traced my fingers along the curve of her cheek, a silent question lingering between us. “Can you tell me more about her alchemy practice?”