Beautiful Venom: A Dark Hockey Romance (Vipers Book 1)

The following morning, Kane disappeared.

This happened after I couldn’t sleep that night.

Tossing and turning, I kept thinking about what Vi said. It didn’t help that when she brought me a glass of milk before bed, she offered to follow me to Graystone Ridge if I chose to go back.

She said that while trembling.

While looking like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

But she still insisted on facing her demons and hoped it would inspire me to face mine.

My soft, entirely innocent, and a bit of a scaredy-cat sister has been more courageous than I ever will be.

She also forgave Kane. She always took him snacks and told him good morning. She talked to him even when I tried to pull her away.

Though I’m not sure whether or not she was doing that genuinely or forcing it for my sake. There are a lot of strange things about Vi lately, and the worst part is that she barely tells me anything.

Anyway, when I woke up today with a headache and deep apprehension, I still showered, styled my hair, and put on a white knitted dress I got from the local Target. I even put on red lipstick.

Kill me.

Talk about trying too hard.

But when I walk into the kitchen and glance out the window, there’s no one.

Not the flashy sports car that the neighborhood kids begged to take pictures with, and not Kane standing in front of it.

Just nothing.

My shoulders hunch as I tilt sideways to see if he’s parked along the street. Though he never has before.

He only leaves for a few hours to shower and change clothes in a local hotel, then he comes back, often with groceries.

He also only sleeps a few hours per night in the hotel and is always there when I wake up. And for some reason, it made me feel safe to know he was out there.

But now, he isn’t.

“He left early last night.” Vi slides a coffee cup in front of me.

I clear my throat. “I don’t care.”

“You sure about that? You look like you’re going to cry.”

I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, just in case. “I’m fine.”

Even as I say the words, my rib cage closes around my heart, squeezing until I struggle to breathe.

Asshole.

Liar.

He said he’d wait for as long as it takes, but that’s apparently only two weeks.

Though he did miss his hockey games.

But they don’t have a game today.

“I’m sure he’ll come back.” Vi rounds the island and hugs me. “You look so pretty, it’s his loss if he doesn’t.”

I grab my phone and pause when I notice a few texts from Megan and him.

I open Kane’s text so fast, I’m surprised I don’t drop the phone.

Kane

Something urgent has come up. I have to go back. I’ll return tomorrow if I can.

I keep staring at the words with my fingers hovering over the keyboard.

For these past couple of weeks, he’s often texted me. Sometimes about groceries or what I want to eat. Other times, it’s to check on me.

His last text before this was ‘I miss you, wildflower.’ Which might have contributed to my sleepless night.

And because I planned on actually talking to him today, I type:

Me

Is everything okay?

I watch the screen for so long, I forget to blink. But there’s no reply. He doesn’t even read it.

I scroll back to Megan’s texts that she sent early this morning and freeze.

Megan

OMG OMG OMG!!! You won’t believe what happened last night!

Preston’s car was thrown off a cliff AND blew up. Kane and Jude were also there.

Girl!!! Where are u!!!

The phone clatters to the counter, and I pick it up with shaky fingers.

My face heats and a wave of panic chokes my throat, my breaths coming in low, choppy sounds.

A morbid feeling I’ve only felt when I heard about Vi’s attack explodes in my chest.

Fear.

All I keep thinking about is the last time I saw him. Yesterday morning.

When he smiled and waved.

And I glared at him, then ignored him.

I even ignored him for the rest of the day, staying cooped up in my room and reading a boring medical book because I couldn’t stop thinking.

Because I was too caught up in my head to face him.

And now this?

I know I’m unlucky, but not to this extent. It just can’t be.

I don’t know how I type the text to Megan.

Me

Are they okay?

OMG FINALLY. Idk though. I know for sure that the trio were together before (or was it after?) the car was thrown off the cliff and blew up. The entire team is freaking the fuck out, as you’d expect, because they have no further info, and Ryder isn’t answering my calls.

Me: There’s no news from anyone?

No, probably because their families are blocking it. But rumor has it that the Wolves’ captain was standing at a viewpoint, watching with popcorn. That bitch Marcus is gonna get it one of these days.

Marcus.

Of course it’s fucking Marcus.

It’s a known fact that his father never recognized him, and the only reason he has the family’s last name is because the grandfather wanted some form of guarantee for the future.

I asked him once, “Do you hate them?”

Marcus merely smirked as he stared at the sky. “Hate? No. They’re not worth such emotions. I’ll still ruin each and every one of them until all their precious heirs are squashed beneath my feet. Just because I can.”

I thought he was talking shit.

How could he, a nobody like me, even get close to the gods, let alone crush them?

But it’s happening.

It’s him.

He was lurking in the shadows for so long, but he’s finally taking action.

I lift my head and stare at my sister. “Vi, I…I…”

“You need to go back. I know.” She smiles gently even though her face pales. “I’ll come with you.”

A couple of hours later, I’m back in the town I thought I’d never step foot in again.

This time with Vi.

She stays back with Megan, who showers her with love and a thousand questions.

But to my dismay, my roommate still doesn’t know much about what’s going on except for the rumors—each one worse than the previous.

There’s talk of retrieving bodies.

No injuries, just corpses.

I refuse to think about that and take a cab to the Davenport house. The driver can’t go past Ravenswood Hill’s security gates, but I can since I was whitelisted by Helena. I hope I still am.

So I hop out of the car and run the rest of the way.

My legs burn, and my heart is in my throat, but I keep calling Kane and getting an out-of-service reply.

With each failed call, my brain fogs up and I resist the urge to cry.

I’m panting when I reach the big gate. My dress sticks to my back and my new pair of white sneakers—one of the dozen pairs that Kane gifted me for Christmas—starts to give me blisters.

I bang on the hard metal, my hands stinging. “Is anyone there? Open the door!”

A golf cart appears in the distance, and the gate slowly creaks open.

Samuel.

He stops the cart in front of me. “If you’d called ahead, we would’ve arranged for a smoother pickup. Please get in, Miss Thorne.”

As soon as I’m sitting beside him, I blurt out, “Where’s Kane?”

“Unavailable.”

“Unavailable how?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Samuel doesn’t say another word, no matter how many times I ask him about Kane.

He merely drives me to a different entrance to the garden and stops. “You can wait here.”

“Where’s Helena?” I ask as I step out.

“Outside,” he says, then drives away without a single word.

I trudge along the cobbled path, my chest feeling so heavy, I can barely stand.

Grabbing the bowl full of fish food, I crouch by the pond and toss some in.

Sora doesn’t come over or fight the others, mostly swimming by himself at the edge.

“Hey, are you also mad at me?” My eyes burn and I throw a few nibbles his way. “I’m sorry I called you fat and an asshole. I take it back, okay? Come over.”

The other koi fish eat the food, but he barely opens his mouth.

“Sora…please…”

A breeze blows my hair back and sends leaves from the camellia trees into the pond. I bend over to remove the nuisance, unsure if they could harm the fish.

I slip and the bowl falls over.

The fish and Sora go crazy over all the food, and I close my eyes, resigning myself to the fact that I’m going to fall into the water.

A large hand wraps around my waist and lifts me up at the last second.

My yelp ends in a gasp when I’m spun around, and my front is flattened against a hard, muscular chest.

“I must say, I don’t like the sound of you begging someone else.”

His deep, slightly rough voice invades my ears and sets my skin ablaze, and the earth shifts beneath my feet.

The wind ruffles his hair back, and he looks a bit worn-out.

But he’s right here. His tall, imposing figure is a dark silhouette against the soft glow of lantern lights and the gentle sway of the trees.

His jaw is clenched, the faintest tension creasing his brow, but his arm around my waist is firm, warm, grounding me as the world spins in disbelief.

The scent of damp earth fills the air, snowflakes drifting down around us like fragile confetti, but all I can focus on is the hard planes of his chest against me.

The heat of his body encompassing mine.

All of him. Here. Alive.

But it still feels unreal.

Maybe this is a figment of my imagination.

“K-Kane? You’re here.”

“I’m the one who’s supposed to say that.” He strokes my waist, his fingers gentle and possessive at the same time. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Megan said there was an accident with Preston, and you were there and…and…”

“And you were worried about me?” There’s a small light in his eyes, a flash of careful hope, maybe.

“Of course I was!” I hit his chest, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I thought you jumped off the cliff to save Preston or something. I would’ve never forgiven you if you’d done that.”

“Good thing I didn’t, then.” A light smirk tilts his lips. “I’d hate it if you didn’t forgive me. My worst nightmare.”

“Are you joking around right now?”

“I’m dead serious. I hate it when you give me the cold shoulder. I hate it when I can’t touch you. But most of all—” His right hand strokes my cheek, wiping away the tears. “—I hate when you cry because of me.”

“Says the man who gets hard at the sight of my tears.”noveldrama

“Different tears. The ones you release because you love it when I fuck you. These, however, I loathe.”

“Then you shouldn’t get into dangerous situations. For Preston or anyone else.”

“I will try not to. For these beautiful eyes.”

My nails sink into his shirt. “So you won’t abandon it completely?”

“I can’t. Preston and Jude are my family. They’re the only family I’ve ever had. You can’t ask me to abandon my family, just like I can’t ask you to abandon Violet.”

“Is that why you got Jude off her case? Even if it meant sacrificing your leverage over him?”

“Yes.”

“Why? So she’d be on your side?”

“So you’d be on my side. Everything I did, I did for you, Dahlia. Not anyone else. Just you.” He drops his forehead to mine, his hot breaths skimming my skin as he closes his eyes. “I can’t live without you. I don’t want to live without you or your warmth, your nosiness, or your spirit that overflows into mine. The few days where I couldn’t find you were hell on earth. You were everywhere, but I couldn’t see you. It turned me into a fucking madman.”

“Kane…” The lump in my throat is so big, I can’t properly form any words.

“It’s okay if you can’t forgive me now. I’ll wait for months or years if that’s what it’ll take. Just let me be close by. Let me see you. Let me protect you. Let me breathe you in.” His hand wraps around my jaw and he inhales me. “My obsession with you might have started as a form of limerence, a need to possess and dominate. An urge to prove that you’re a phase and mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. But you have slithered between my heart and rib cage and I’m unable to breathe without you. You’ve conquered me, heart and soul, Dahlia. I don’t know what love is and whether or not it’s real, but if it exists, you’re its definition for me.”

He opens his eyes again and they’re darker and the clearest I’ve ever seen. “Why are you crying again?”

“Because you’re not supposed to say shit like that when I’m so jaded.” I sink my fingers into his hair. “Asshole.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, dropping a kiss on the top of my nose.

“You’re not! You’re not sorry that you’re the first man I’ve loved. The only man I’ve ever loved and probably the only man I’ll ever love. You had me in the palm of your hand and refused to let me go. No matter how much I think about it, I just can’t let you go either. No matter how much I tried to deny it, I’m miserable without you.”

“Is that so?” His features ignite in a myriad of colors.

“Shut up. I swear if you hurt me again⁠—”

His lips cover mine, and my words end in a groan, but he quickly pulls back.

“Won’t be happening. You have my word.”

“You better keep your word. You know I can ice you out.”

“I’m well aware. You’ll be my queen. Actually, you already are.”

“Even if we’re worlds apart?”

“You’re my world. If anyone dares to touch you, I’ll end their miserable life.”

“You’re awful.”

“You love it, wildflower.”

I smile and he kisses me again.

This time, deeper, slower, and for the first time in my life, I breathe properly.

Kane broke the unlucky chain.

He’s my knight in shining armor in the most unconventional way.

I’ve always lived on the run, but I’m ready to stop now.

And just be with him.