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And he’d allowed her to walk in, believing he could protect her from all possible threats Cold fury in his blood, directed at his own arrogance

“No,” Nisia murmured, her eyes still on Holly “Whatever this is, it is not, I think, about anything as simple as disease”

Stepping out into the observation chamber to find that the healer had buttoned Holly’s shirt back up, Venom bent down to scoop her up into his arotten it when he threw her down the hall—when she ake and aware, all he saas the wild, inhuy that was the closest to his own that he’d ever glimpsed

There is no one like me But Andi sees inside ether And one day, we’ll have cubs who’ll be half like me

Naasir’s joy at his h he wasn’t sure his friend and fellow member of the Seven had understood how deeply the words resonated To the world, Venom was a vampire And there were millions of vampires But he was the only one with the eyes of a viper and the deeper, less visible changes that shoved him far outside that well-defined box

Like Naasir, he was and had always been alone a millions Until Holly

“Coainst his chest “You’ve said ‘fuck you’ to fate before Do it again”

But for once, Holly didn’t give hi in his ar the coht to the heated stone floor in front of the s Placing her on there, he went to find a blanketand by the tiht ball, one hand spread palainst the stone

His entire chest expanded as he finally took a real breath

Shaking out the soft cashmere blanket over her, he made a note to thank Naasir It was the ested the stone floor

I e, because I like it out there But my aerie is hot because I don’t like snow A shiver, thehuman You like the city, but you need your sunstone Make one

Venoht of it that bluntly, but in his defense, he’d been very young and not used to the freedom to create his own ho fruitlessly for the heated stone surface his body craved His first sunstone had been just that—a large flat stone that he’d dragged over froardens that had once surrounded the Tower

As the Tower ardens disappeared to be filled with the manic, beautiful life of New York, he’d worked with the architects to create this sunstone deep inside his ho Holly needed a little extra heat, he switched on the large la above the sunstone

The square of ceiling blazed to glowing life

She sighed in her sleep

Crouching down, he undid her ponytail so she’d be comfortable, then removed her boots and put them aside That done, he watched to , her pulse steady Because Holly wasn’t a vas were an absolute necessity for her survival

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he realized he’d become mesmerized by the rhythm of her, as if it spoke to the cobras that had been part of his Making alongside the vipers That hadn’t happened to hi time Venoths But this was his home and it was filled with people who’d protect him to their last breath

They didn’t—couldn’t—truly understand the sinuous core of him, but they were his friends

His family

And so he’d lowered his guard enough to slip into a state that was deeply restorative

Rising to his feet after running his knuckles over Holly’s cheek, he stepped away fro the call “Dmitri,” he said “Nisia called you, didn’t she?”

“Inexplicable as it is, our co Nisia is intimidated by you, when she has been known to pat me on the cheek and ruffle my hair,” was the bone-dry response