A Kiss of Venom (An Araneae Nation Novella) Read Online Free Page A

“I’ll work as quickly as I can.”
    Bracing my hands on the floor, I wondered what sort of mother all this made me. As harshly as I was treated by my parents, was I harsher with Maisy? This was her first time seeing me at work, and she was playing along better than I could have hoped. From birth, she had known what role our clan chose for me. We had never tolerated secrets between us…except of course for the biggest one of all.
    Gods be damned. Maisy had a good life, an almost normal life, until my wretched past had reared its ugly head. I came home one night to find my serving girl’s throat slit while my daughter slept in the next room. Three males awaited me, all with swords drawn, and I would have killed them, I should have killed them, except that they offered me a chance to have the revenge I had craved for a decade.
    But at what cost? A daughter for a daughter? Pascale for Maisy? How could I assign more value to one’s life than the other’s? As Maisy’s mother, how could I not choose her?
    She was my world. Pascale was a distant echo from a previous life.
    Rubbing my eyes, I admitted it was easier blaming revenge as my true motivator. Instead of the stone-cold, paralyzing fear that someone dangerous knew my secrets and had threatened to expose them.
    No one knew Maisy was my child outside the Maratus, with the exception of my parents, which meant I had been betrayed. Soon my enemies would learn of her existence, would try to uncover her father’s identity, then use her as a bargaining chip, not realizing he had tossed her aside before her birth.
    Granted neither of us had suspected my condition at the time. Not that it would have mattered.
    Armand had chosen his family over me, and my family had chosen to wash their hands of me because of it.
    “You don’t look well.” Maisy pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “Are you sick? You always warn me not to play outside in the snow without boots and a coat and a hat that covers my ears.”
    I took her hand and kissed the top of it. “I say all that?”
    “That’s one rule.” She snorted. “You have more of them than Erania has snowflakes.”
    “Ouch.” I put a hand to my heart. “I’m wounded.”
    “No you aren’t.” She folded her arms. “I stopped falling for that trick when I was five.”
    “Well then…” I looped an arm around her waist, hauled her into my arms and flung her onto her bed. I dove after her, going for all her ticklish spots until Maisy was squealing at the top of her lungs.
    Gasping, she sat upright. “Did you hear—?”
    “Ha,” I gasped. “I stopped falling for that trick when I was, um, well I don’t fall for it anymore.”
    Fingers poised above her ribs, I cocked my head toward the door as harder knocks sounded.
    “See?” She used the distraction to scoot off the bed. “Someone’s at the door. I bet it’s Armand.”
    “You don’t have to look so happy about it,” I groused. I didn’t like the idea of her liking him.
    It was petty of me, but she was my girl, and the last thing I ever wanted was for him to reject her.
    She yanked the door open before I could do more than retie my robe and cross my legs.
    Instead of Armand, Lourdes stood there. “Good morning, Maisy.”
    She bowed her head. “Good morning, Maven.”
    “I realize part of your process is spending time with those you compose for, but would you mind if we spent that time in the stables?” Her grin turned mischievous. “You see, my husband and I were gifted a pair of kittens yesterday, and we must bottle-feed them for a few more weeks in order for the kits to bond with us. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we started our day there. What do you say?”
    Maisy whirled toward me, hands fluttering with excitement. “Do you mind?”
    I stood with as much grace as I could manage. “This is your day to spend with the maven. If you want to play with kittens, then by all means , play with kittens. Do you think you can do me a favor and