Venom Read Online Free PDF

lantern on the floor and took hold of the stone lid in both hands. But as she started to pull, morbid curiosity got the best of her and she slid the heavy cover down just enough so she could peek at Liviana. Right then, the moon shucked off its veil of clouds and the light in the crypt brightened momentarily. Cass leaned in for one last look at her friend’s golden hair and pale skin.
    Her breath turned to ice inside her chest. The hair flowing across the satin pillow wasn’t blonde—it was raven black. And the corpse—it wasn’t Liviana.
    Cass squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them for a second look. The girl looked a few years older than Livi and wore red makeup on her cheeks and lips. Clouded-over eyes lined in black stared vacantly up out of a face swollen from death. A circle of purple-black bruises ringed the girl’s slender neck. Cass reached out with one finger to touch a heart-shaped birthmark on the girl’s left temple. Her skin was firm and cold.
    Cass knew she should turn around and run, but she couldn’t look away from the bloated corpse. Her eyes trailed downward. The girl’s satin underdress, fit to scoop low over her breasts and peek out over her stays, had been slashed to ribbons.
    And there was an X carved over her heart.
    Cass’s stomach twisted violently and bile flooded her throat. She stumbled back from the casket and out of the crypt, whimpering. She ran on the uneven ground, grass whipping her legs and branches snatching at her cloak like tiny hands trying to pull her backward.She wasn’t alone. She could almost feel breath on the back of her neck, the heat of a murderer tracking her through the graveyard.
    She ran so fast, she could barely breathe. Her heart and lungs felt like they had lodged in her throat. The narrow spikes of the wrought-iron gate appeared in front of her. Safety was just a few seconds away.
    Then a shadowy figure unfolded from behind a tall obelisk and Cass tripped. Her toes slammed against a half-buried headstone and she started to fall. Hands reached out for her. The moon illuminated a pair of glowering eyes and a face streaked with blood.
    Tumbling straight into the figure’s arms, Cass screamed.

“Certain living things prefer the dark,
    thriving in the shadows of
    tombstones and crypts,
    flowering amidst the dead.
    Others tend toward the sun,
    blooming in the light,
    embracing its warmth.”
    —THE BOOK OF THE ETERNAL ROSE

three

    N o need to split my eardrums. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    Something familiar about the boy’s lilting tone made Cass stop screaming and flailing in his grip. She looked up just slightly, into his face. Even by the dim light of the moon, she recognized his dazzling blue eyes. “You,” she breathed.
    “Mourning girl?” The boy laughed, and steadied her on her feet. “So nice to run into you again.”
    She wrenched away from his grasp, pulling her cloak tight around her body. “What are you doing here?”
    The boy shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was just standing here enjoying the view when you almost ran me over.”
    “The view?” Her voice rang out shrilly. “In a graveyard? At this hour?” Her fear began to give way to irritation. He was clearly lying to her.
    The boy gestured around him. In the dark, a group of flowering weeds looked like a giant hairy spider crouched against the side of a crypt. “These flowers actually grow best in cemeteries. Did you know that? Something about the mix of soil and shade. Death andlife, intertwined. One feeding off the other. It’s kind of magical, don’t you think?” He seemed distracted for a moment, like he really was fascinated by their surroundings. Just as Cass was about to respond, he turned to her again. “Plus the company here is much more agreeable than at
la taverna.
And much less likely to talk my ear off.”
    Cass felt dizzy. She took one more step back. “What’s on your face?” she demanded, pointing at his right cheekbone.
    “What?” He licked a