Page 41 of Sweet Venom Of Time (Blade of Shadows #6)

“No,” I whispered, the word scraping against my throat, aching in my chest. “It’s too dangerous, Elizabeth. Do you know the forces you’re dealing with?”

Her chin lifted defiantly. “I know some.”

I let out a breath, cold and tight in my chest.

“Salvatore,” I said, the name alone sending ice through my veins. “He will stop at nothing to destroy you. He’s powerful beyond comprehension. You need to forget about the flower. Forget about the poison. If he or Mathias discovers you have it...”

I swallowed hard, gripping her hands as if I could physically hold her back from the edge she was so willing to walk.

“They will destroy you.”

“But Mathias is our friend,” she said, tears spilling down her cheeks, raw with lamentation.

I exhaled harshly. “He’s not a friend, Elizabeth. He is crueler than your father. And Salvatore… Salvatore is powerful beyond compare.”

Reaching out, I brushed away a tear with the pad of my thumb.

“He’s formidable. I don’t want you to destroy lives only to be destroyed in the process.

” My voice was firm—but inside, I was anything but.

The thought of losing her after finding something so unexpectedly tender in this bleak existence was unbearable.

Elizabeth’s eyes blazed, her fire undimmed by the weight of my words. “I want to be by your side and fight your battles with you.” Her fists clenched the crumpled sheets beneath us, her voice a raw mix of anger and desperation.

I gritted my teeth, suppressing a growl of frustration. Every word from her lips was like a dagger, stabbing into my already burdened mind. How could I let her step into my hell, into the world of shadows where innocence was a weakness and mercy was a liability?

But she refused to back down.

“You keep shutting me out,” she accused, her voice trembling, thick with emotion. “But I won’t give up on you. You’re not a murderer. You have a kind heart.”

I turned my face away, jaw tight.

She reached for me again, her touch searing through my defenses. “If I can’t concoct the poison, let me help you find the missing Blade of Shadows. Let me help you stop this madness.”

Desperation seeped into every syllable, her words laced with something dangerous—hope.

And as much as I wanted to push her away, to keep her from the abyss that consumed me, her unyielding determination shook me to my core.

But I couldn’t let her into my darkness.

I shook my head, slow and heavy. “I have been tasked with eliminating the Timehunter societies. It is someone else’s fate to find and reunite the Blades.”

Her frustration coiled between us like a living thing, restless and desperate. “I want to be with you, Amir. I want to be part of your life.”

“No.” The word tasted like ash in my mouth. “I can only give you darkness.”

It was the truth—stark, unwavering, inescapable. To pretend otherwise would be to invite ruin upon us both.

But her response was immediate, a whisper of defiance laced with something softer. “Then I will embrace the darkness. I want to help you.”

Her fingers trailed up my arm in a feather-light caress, igniting something deep within me, something I had long believed to be dead.

She was an angel, too pure and bright for the shadows that clung to my existence. And yet here she was, pleading to step into my world instead of running from it.

“Don’t push me away,” she murmured, her voice threading through my defenses like a siren’s call. “Allow me to be part of your darkness—your world.”

The twist in my heart ached, deeper than I was prepared for.

She spoke of darkness as something to be embraced, not feared. As if she truly believed she could walk through the fire and emerge unscathed.

Her naivety was both endearing and terrifying.

My body betrayed me, drawn to her warmth, touch, and unwavering resolve. Every fiber of my being screamed to shield her, to keep her safe from the abyss I had long since surrendered to.

And yet, a more dangerous part of me—one I had no control over—craved her. Needed her.

Because in her arms, for the first time in my existence, the darkness felt less like a curse…

And more like home.

“My sweet venom,” I rasped, my voice thick with desire, raw with possession. My hands found her waist, dragging her closer until nothing was left between us—not space, hesitation, or reason.

I silenced any further discussion with a fierce, unrelenting kiss—a brand upon her lips.

There was no gentleness, no restraint, only hunger clawing its way to the surface, demanding release.

As our bodies entwined, I surrendered to the wildfire she ignited within me, allowing myself to be consumed by the need that raged between us.

Words became meaningless.

Only sensation mattered—the clash of light and dark, the push and pull of something ancient, something inevitable.

I should have stopped.

But I didn’t.

The thought of indulging in my reckless desires loomed in the back of my mind like a gathering storm, a dark cloud ready to burst. I knew there would be consequences. There was no escaping the fallout of what I was about to do.

And yet, the temptation was unbearable.

It was like standing on the edge of oblivion, knowing one step forward could send me plummeting into ruin—and still leaning into the abyss, daring to fall.

The uncertainty, the thrill of it, consumed me. Right and wrong blurred into nothingness, swallowed by the fire she fed with every breath, every touch, every desperate pull of her body against mine.

Would this cost me everything?

Would I wake tomorrow with nothing but the ashes of this moment, of her?

I didn’t know.

And I didn’t care.

Because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t thinking of tomorrow. I wasn’t thinking of duty, of war, of consequences.

I was thinking only of her.

And I was ready to burn for it.