Free A Kiss of Venom (An Araneae Nation Novella) by Hailey Edwards Page A

Lourdes had gone.
    I was halfway onto the platform when something hit me in the shoulder. I reached up and pulled out a dart. Glancing below me, I spotted the second assassin. He tossed his blowpipe then tipped his head.
    The poison worked fast, I’ll give him that. Already I couldn’t feel my lips, my face.
    I tightened my grip on the rail and hauled myself up higher, closer to Maisy.
    Armand shouted, shoving Maisy behind him. Too late. She’d seen me.
    She stomped his instep and ran for me, her arms outstretched.
    Numb. So numb, I drifted in a daze that promised me the sweetest slumber. No more shame, no pain, no fear. No more hurt. I was free. My hand slid. Maybe I let go. I’m not sure. But I was falling.
    Armand scooped Maisy off her feet. Her nails sank in his arms. Her heels hammered his shins. Horror twisted her expression when she realized what was happening. One arm shot out toward me, her graceful fingers curling for mine. Hot tears sprang to my eyes when I read her frantic lips. Momma .
    Armand’s jaw came unhinged, and for some reason, I found that amusing.
    I laughed all the way into oblivion.
     
     
    Soft voices woke me. Two males, I thought, warring with growls over my head. Seeing as how I wasn’t in the habit of inviting strange males into my bedroom to fight over me, I blinked up at them.
    “This…” my speech slurred, “…is not my room.”
    “No,” the male to my left said. “This is my laboratory.” He pressed the heel of his palm against my forehead, using his thumb to hold open my eye. “You’re sure this striation wasn’t there before?”
    “Her eyes were hazel when she arrived.” Armand bent over me. “They’re much greener now.”
    “It’s dangerous, but there is an herb that can discolor the iris temporarily. It will cause blindness if used over a long period of time.” He shook his head. “The girl’s eyes are show ing signs of use also?”
    “Her eyes were blue.” Armand’s gaze never left mine. “They’re lavender now.”
    “Lavender,” the first male murmured. “Like yours.”
    “Don’t give me that look, Henri,” he snarled. “ Maisy is not my child. It’s not possible.”
    Henri cast Armand a hard look. “ Nicolette came here to kill our sister. We have a sworn statement from her accomplice. I should have let her die.”
    “ You don’t mean—” Armand started.
    Henri’s glare slid onto me. “The poison in your system was the same as what killed our parents. You’re fortunate I made a study of that particular strain, or you would have died on this table within the hour.” He rolled his shoulders. “Though I suppose I ought to thank you for testing my antivenin.”
    Armand scrubbed a hand down his face. “Lourdes said—”
    “Lourdes has felt guilty for a decade,” Henri reasoned. “She would sooner cut off her own hand than strike against this female until her curiosity is sated. She bore your hatred once. She can’t endure it again. Not over—”
    “—don’t speak her name,” Armand warned him. “ She is dead. Dead. Her blood is on my hands as much as it ever was on Lourdes’s.”
    Henri raised his hands and gave his brother space.
    Grasping my shoulders, Armand searched my face. “Who are you?”
    “Nicolette.”
    “Liar.” He punched the wall behind my head. “Why are you here?”
    “Took a nasty fall.” If my aches were any indication.
    “I know why you are in the laboratory. I carried you in here myself.” His chest heaved. “Why are you in Erania? Did you come to kill my sister?”
    I wet my lips. “Yes.”
    “And the girl?” Armand shook me. “How are her eyes that color?”
    Pain ricocheted through me, forcing a whimper past my lips.
    “How are any of our eyes their color?” I snapped.
    He shook me harder. “She is not my daughter.”
    “No she bloody well isn’t,” I snarled at him. “She’s mine .”
    “Look at this.” Henri lifted a lock of my hair. “The roots. They’re blonde.”
    I had taken