Page 95 of Sweet Venom

Something tugged at my soul, urging me to move deeper, beyond the rose-laden paths that I’ve been dying to explore since we arrived. Moonlight bathed the flowers, casting jagged shadows as I followed the winding trail. My steps were light, steady, until I reached the garden’s edge. Aunt Kadra’s words returned, softer this time:Go beyond his garden.

I looked at the roses. My breath hitched.

Every time I’d seen this garden, it had been under the cover of night.

“What…”

I expected something like his mother’s garden. But this wasn’t the hidden sanctuary I remembered.

Instead of crimson roses—Cobalt.

Blue.

Blue roses.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

I froze, only for a moment. Then, with a breath, I pushed through the dense thicket, the velvet petals brushing my fingertips. That’s when I saw it: a wrought-iron gate, concealed by vines and shadows.

Half-hidden.

As if it had been waiting for me to find it.

Loud thunder sounds starling me but not even that could stop me from discovering what was waiting for me there.

I stepped forward, drawn to it, my heart racing faster as lightning lit the sky and my way. The gate creaked slightly as I pushed it open, the sound strange and otherworldly in the middle of the storm.What was beyond the blue roses? Whatawaited me?My breath caught in my throat as I stepped through, leaving the first part of the garden behind.

What I found took my breath away and made my heart gallop wildly.

I was in a new part of the garden now, one I hadn’t noticed before, as if it had been concealed from me until this moment. This part of the garden was darker, more mysterious, shrouded in a thick veil of night, but there was something beautifully haunting about it.

Then I saw them. This couldn’t be real. I had to be dreaming all of this. Things like this don’t happen in real life.

Ugh… if I’m woken up from this dream by my demon cat slapping me on the face I’m going to be seriously pissed. Because this has surpassed my wildest dreams.

I looked at the towering sculptures ahead and realized that I would’ve never believed in real life romance like everyone else did because my person was always him. Romance was Azariel and now I’ve found it. He showed himself to me.

I stood in awe, watching hundreds of sculptures standing like silent sentinels in the shadows of his world. They were gothic, hauntingly beautiful, and exquisitely detailed. Every statue depicted a woman and my breath caught as I stepped forward and saw one that resembled me.

But it wasn’t just me. It was me in every era, every incarnation.

Each statue was different from the next. There were some of me in flowing, ethereal robes with crowns made of flowers and others of diamonds. There was one of me clad in warrior’s armor, sword in hand. Another stood in delicate lace, with flowers woven into long waves of hair cascading down her back. One had immense angelic wings and a halo, her posture regal and unyielding.

Then there was the one in a long gown, a high slit revealing her thigh, hair swept up in an intricate twist—two devil horns woven through the locks.

My parents have taken me to every corner of the world, and still, I’ve never been anywhere as beautiful as this garden.

My heart pounded harder than moments ago as I moved closer, inspecting each statue. The figures were captured perfectly, their faces frozen in expressions of strength, sorrow, joy, and mystery—an array of emotions that spoke to something deep within me. Is this how he saw me? And why did that thought both scared and thrilled me?

The statues seemed to watch me as I moved through the garden, their stony eyes glinting under the moonlight and lightning, as though they knew I was the one they’d been waiting for. He’s been waiting for.

There was more, though.

Among the statues of me—of myself in every form, every time, every mythical realm—there were others even more breathtakingly beautiful. Creatures like dragons, phoenixes, serpents, mermaids, and other fantastical beings, all intricately carved from stone, frozen in time. Some were majestic, others terrifying, but all were undeniably beautiful.

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