Page 52 of Sweet Venom

“Don’t stop.” His voice, cold yet soft, took over my senses and my heart skipped. No. No. No. Don’t fall, Poe. It’s a trap.

I grabbed the cookies, and instead of the usual red goo, I broke out the black frosting. I didn’t want him to have the same sickeningly sweet experience as the rest of the office. No, Azariel has always been different. He was getting the bitter kind of love.

Black.

Cynical.

Unusual.

I squeezed the black frosting onto each heart in thick, messy letters, writing things likeBite Me,U Suck,Gross,You Stink, and my personal favorite,Fuck Off.

“Perfect,” I whispered to myself as I stepped back to admire my handiwork. “I wonder what he’ll think of my extraordinary writing skills now. With these lovely messages.”

I stood there for a moment, hands on my hips, as I glanced over at Prince, who was now licking a bit of black frosting off his paw. “You think this will sour his day?” I asked.

Prince stared at me, blinked, then went back to licking his paw. No comment. Typical.

When the cookies were decorated and ready to go, I boxed them up in two separate containers: one for the staff with its sickly-sweet messages, and the other for Azariel with its sharp, cynical quips. I carried them to the door, my stomach twisted with the usual dread of knowing I was about to drop off something soutterly ridiculous for a man who probably wouldn’t give a damn, and we’ll have something snarky to say.

I stared down at the containers one last time, holding the black-frosted hearts in my hand.

“Well,” I said, voice softer than I meant it to be, “it’s not like these will do much damage, but at least now he’ll have something to chew on besides the misery of his own soul.”

Prince meowed in agreement, or maybe just to get my attention so he could be fed. Either way, I took one last look at the ridiculousness I’d created, turned off the lights in my kitchen, and grabbed my jacket.

It was time to face the devil.Again.

Chapter

Seventeen

HEARTLESS BLUE

Poe

“You know what’s better than love? Egg rolls. And I’m spending today with the egg rolls.” – P

By the time I stumbled into Blackthorn headquarters, the place was wide awake, buzzing with the kind of energy only a workplace that’s long since given up on pretending to be happy can muster. It always felt sterile here, but today? It was like someone cranked the thermostat down to “absolute zero.” Maybe it was the holiday, or maybe just the sheer chill of Azariel’s soul bleeding into every corner of this place. Who could say?

I walked through the lobby, where the quiet hum of activity echoed like a thousand office drones desperately trying to pretend they don’t want to crawl into bed and never leave. Carlos, one of the security guards, flashed me that too-friendly smile of his, the kind that screams “I’m too nice for this world.”

“Morning, Miss James. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Oh, gross. I mustered up a smile that was 75% fake and 25% out of sheer obligation because, honestly, it’s not his fault that I have an allergy to this entire holiday. I opened my container of doom and fished out a heart-shaped cookie that looked like it had been made by a masochistic baker, then handed it to him.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Carlos. Enjoy.”

He looked thrilled. He was going to love these cookies. Really. Probably.

With a grateful nod, he urges me inside the elevator. I took the elevator up to Azariel’s floor, where the first person I saw was Mane, the receptionist. I dropped the container of sugary, heart-shaped misery on her desk and flashed her what I hoped was a charming, non-gag-inducing smile.

“Happy Love Day,” I said, trying not to puke. “For the staff.” I pointed to the container like it was some kind of weapon.

Mane blinked at me like I’d just dropped a live grenade on her desk. She kept typing with one hand, clearly struggling to decide if I was an absolute lunatic or just genuinely hated my life. “Ummm… Thank you? You too? What’s in the other one?”

“Oh, that one’s for the boss,” I said, letting a wicked little smirk curl up the edges of my lips. “He’s getting thespecialtoday.”

Mane stared at me like I was the embodiment of chaos. “You’re insane. Or you have a death wish. You know that?”

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