Page 18 of Venom (St. Sebastian’s at Cravenmoor Academy #1)

Blake

“ E verything you can find, including whatever it is that ACH gave him,” I say into my phone and hang up before I take a sip of coffee.

Venetia and her bodyguard have just walked into the dining hall and taken their seats at a table in the corner, as far away from the throng as possible.

The entire room watches them, tension rippling through the gossiping students.

Viper positions his chair, so he has his back to the wall and a clear view of every entrance, a professional at work.

Venetia sits with a rigid posture, her expression a mask of bored fury.

Rafferty slides into the chair opposite me, a smirk playing on his lips. “Breakfast and a show. The happy couple looks like they’re about to murder each other.”

Viper leans over and says something to her, his voice too low to carry, but the possessive way he moves makes his intent clear. She leans into him before she seems to catch herself and pulls sharply away.

“She enjoys the fight,” Rafferty notes, stealing a piece of bacon from my plate.

“She enjoys the attention. He’s all she has right now.”

Venetia’s eyes scan the room until they find mine.

I lift my coffee cup in a silent toast. Viper’s head whips around, his eyes turning to black ice. He smiles and gives me a mock salute. He whispers something to Venetia, and she giggles.

“Fuck this,” I state and stand up, bringing my coffee with me, and with Rafferty on my heels, I make my way across the dining hall and pull up a chair.

“Morning,” I say, my voice a placid counterpoint to the simmering sexual tension.

I place my coffee cup on the table with a soft click, ignoring Viper’s murderous glare and focusing entirely on Venetia.

“I trust you slept well. The beds here are surprisingly comfortable for a place that looks like it was built to withstand a siege.”

“Some of us got more sleep than others,” Rafferty adds, dragging another chair over and slumping into it with a lazy grin aimed at her.

Viper leans forward, his forearms resting on the table, every muscle corded with aggression. “I don’t remember inviting you cunts to sit down.”

“It wasn’t an invitation,” I correct him softly, my gaze still on Venetia. Her eyes are bright with a dangerous light, a glint of amusement warring with annoyance. She’s enjoying this. “It was a statement of intent. We thought you might appreciate some more stimulating company.”

“The only thing I’m stimulated to do right now is cave your fucking head in,” Viper growls.

I finally turn my attention to him, my smile genuine. “Stone. How are you settling in?”

A muscle in Viper’s jaw twitches violently. “Fucking peachy. Now that we’ve had this little chat, you can both fuck off before I make you.”

Rafferty leans back, hooking an arm over the back of his chair, completely unbothered. “A little territorial this morning, aren’t we? And here I thought we had bonded over Lucy.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but I’m impressed with his dedication to the plan. Hauling that snake up the stairs looked pretty unpleasant.

Viper’s eyes flick to Rafferty with a sliver of approval. “You carried a box. You don’t get a fucking medal for it.”

Rafferty snorts, and the ease with which they seem to have fallen in with each other is irritating at best.

“While you two compare the size of your... boxes,” I say, my voice cutting through their testosterone-fuelled posturing, “Venetia still needs to navigate her first day. This place has its own ecosystem, its own curriculum that isn’t found in any prospectus.

Perhaps I could offer you a tour. Show you who and what is actually important. ”

Before Viper can retort with another threat, Venetia leans forward, a slow, wicked smile curving her perfect lips. “Perfect. I need to sort out my schedule first.”

“Do you have an idea of what classes you’re taking?”

She shakes her head. “Dad sorted it all in rapid time. Or maybe not so rapid. This was probably his plan all along, and he was waiting for the opportunity to present itself,” she mutters, mostly to herself.

“Fathers like ours rarely leave things to chance,” I murmur, my voice low enough for only our table to hear. “They move their pieces across the board with a purpose we are only allowed to see when it suits them.” My words are a hook, a shared understanding of the gilded cages we were born into.

“You got that right,” she murmurs. “Let me see what classes I’m in, and I’ll come and find you later.”

I nod. “I’ll be waiting.”

She smiles and then rises to get some breakfast from the buffet on the other side of the room. Viper watches her the entire time, but he doesn’t follow her.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” he says, his gaze never leaving her. “I am here to do a job. I’m not your competition. My job is to keep her breathing. How I do that is my business. You two getting under my feet, trying to get her attention, makes that job harder.”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” I state coldly.

He tears his gaze from her for a fraction of a second to glare at me before he looks away. “Then what do you propose, because the way you are going about this, is just pissing me off.”

I lean back in my chair, taking a slow, deliberate sip of my coffee. “I propose we stop treating this like a schoolyard spat and start treating it like the business it is.”

Viper’s glare could cut glass. “What business?”

“Her survival,” I say simply, gesturing with my cup towards the buffet where Venetia is choosing a pastry.

“You are an expert in your field, Stone. Brute force, tactical violence. But this place isn’t the streets of Manchester.

The threats here don’t always carry a gun.

They come with a smile, a rumour, and a signature on a document that ruins an empire.

You’re her shield. We can be her armour in places you can’t reach. ”

“And what’s in it for you?” he snarls, unconvinced.

“An alliance with Corbyn-Hale is a generational prize,” Rafferty says, his voice flat and serious for once.

“But a dead heiress is worth nothing to anyone. We all want the same thing. For her to be safe.” He leans forward, his grin returning, sharp and dangerous.

“Besides, you can’t be everywhere at once.

And some of the little shits here like to play games.

It’d be a shame if something happened to her while you were taking a piss. ”

The unspoken threat hangs in the air. We know things he doesn’t. We are offering information. An advantage.

Viper’s jaw works, his mind processing the cold logic of our proposal. He hates it. He hates us. But he’s not stupid. Before he can respond, Venetia returns, a plate in her hand and a questioning look on her face. The moment is broken.

“What did I miss?” she asks, sliding back into her seat.

“We were just explaining that some of the natives are hostile, and it’s better to have a guide who knows where the traps are.

This place is a minefield disguised as a university.

Knowing who to trust, and more importantly, who to crush, is paramount.

Viper is your shield, a very capable one, I’m sure. Think of us as your advantage.”

The corner of her mouth quirks up. She understands the game perfectly. She glances at Viper, a silent challenge passing between them, before turning back to me. “Sounds good to me. If there is one thing I despise, it’s being last in line.”

“Oh, you are anything but last, Venetia. You just bulldozed your way to the front, and that is going to cause waves.”

“Ana Cuntridge.”

I snort into my coffee at the nickname. “I believe there is history between you two.”

“We went to high school together. She was one of those little virgin sluts who took it in the arse to preserve her pussy innocence and then judged those of us who were less repressed. I despise her, and she feels the same way.”

Rafferty lets out a short, harsh laugh. “Yeah, things haven’t changed.”

Venetia chuckles. “You would know?”

Rafferty pulls his face into one of horror. “Eww, no. She is not my type. I like pussy.”

Viper growls but says nothing.

I, however, feel a slow, deep satisfaction with this conversation.

Venetia doesn’t deal in veiled insults or passive aggression.

She wields her words like weapons, sharp and brutal.

She is exactly as advertised. “Ana’s power here is built on whispers and alliances formed in mutual bitchiness.

She will see your arrival as an intrusion, a direct challenge to her throne.

She will try to isolate you. Turn the pack against you. ”

“Let her try,” Venetia says, her voice dangerously soft. She takes a bite of her pastry, her green eyes flashing over at the table where Ana and her sycophants are now pointedly ignoring us. “I’ve been through hell since we last saw each other. She has no idea the bitch I am today.”

“Just remember, the first rule of St. Sebastian’s is that true power is never having to fight your own battles.

You simply ensure your enemies lose theirs.

” My gaze meets hers, holding it. “I think the four of us are going to form our own little clique that will ensure our reign will become a legacy under these gothic arches for decades to come. Don’t you? ”