Page 107 of A Touch of Poison
Next phase? I huffed through gritted teeth, spit flecking my lips.
Was this a fae joke? A horrible one, but the stories said they were cruel and loved to toy with—
White-hot pain shot through every nerve. Chest. Back. Arms. Legs. Even my throat and face. It was like a lightning bolt, gone just as quickly.
I blew out a breath, almost laughing in its wake. Not funny but relieved. If it only lasted a fraction of a second, I could take that. It wasn’t so—
Again. Brighter. Hotter.
This one lasted longer, too—a full second.
I collapsed back into the bed, eyes stinging with unshed tears.
“Almost,” Elthea murmured, watching me over her notebook as she wrote.
What a fool. What a fucking fool. That stuff crawling down my throat wasn’t the most wrong thing. This was—my body burning frominside, limbs spasming out of control, muscles tight and twitching after. And her watching like this—my suffering—was merelyinteresting.
It had to be almost over.
Had to be.
Another streak lanced through me, arching my back, muddling my brain until all I could do was grit my teeth and wait.
Any second now, it would disappear.
Any second.
I reached out like I could pull time to me, make it move faster.
Please. Please. Help me.
My vision hazed purple. Blood, maybe, with pain affecting my sight.
A sound came from Elthea. On the edge of my tunnelling vision, she stood and backed away.
I tried to turn and ask if it was nearly over, but my body wasn’t my own. I could only wait for the lightning lick of pain to fade.
And wait.
And wait.
Then, like someone had broken a barrel and let the contents burst out, the pain doubled, tripled, quadrupled, exploding into every fibre of my being, tearing my mind to tatters.
There was nothing. I was nothing.
Only pain and purple haze and a terrible, terrible scream.
40
Bastian
My office door flew open, ruffling Orpha’s report. I’d sent her with a group of guards to find the patrol who should’ve been checking the border of Horror territory. They hadn’t found them yet but had replaced some missing wardstones.
I frowned up from the report as Rose burst in, panting. “You need to come. Quickly.” She was already backing out. “It’s Kat.”
My whole being—maybe all of reality lurched. I tossed the papers on my desk and ran after her. “What is it?”
“She’s with Elthea and… I’ve never heard a scream like that. It sounded like she was killing her.” She shook her head as we sprinted down the corridor. “She’d forgotten her scarf… went to take it to her. But I couldn’t get in. Door must’ve been sealed magically.”
