Page 219 of A Touch of Poison
There was a long pause before she pulled another vial from her pocket. “You have a choice. Take that alone and the poison attacking you will be cured. Take this after, and the iron in it will nullify your magic.”
“Iron?” I grimaced at the memory of how unpleasant it had felt to wear the ring for a long time. “You said I should steer clear of it.”
“Because it’s dangerous. It willwrenchyour gift away. This isn’t a cure but… an injury. It’s normally hard to get hold of, but I used your ring to make this. You must take itimmediatelyafter that—it’s reliant on the acorn and antidote and venom all working together. If you drink it in a week’s time, it won’t work. This is a now or never deal.”
I stared at the rust-coloured liquid.
All I’d wanted for so long was a cure. It had meant going back to what and who I was before. Here she was offering me that.
And yet…
There was no going back. I didn’t fit in that mould anymore. I may still be haunted by memories of the old Kat’s lessons and rules, but I didn’t live by them.
When I shot Rose a look, she gave me a reassuring smile.
Swallowing, I drew a deep breath. “I’ll just take this one.”
Elthea smiled at that, shoulder sinking.
Before I lost my nerve, I removed the cork and downed the fortified antidote.
It slithered over my tongue, making me gag as it wriggled against the back of my throat. I covered my mouth, afraid of coughing up a precious drop. It burned on the way down, and I braced for pain, but it faded a moment later as my gift fought back. Magic hummed over my skin, my body sucking it in on instinct.
Then, nothing.
In fact, I felt…good—better than I had in months.
“Kat?” Rose leant in.
I blinked, touching my belly. “It’s… it’s gone.” A constant feeling of wrongness in the pit of my stomach—only now it was gone did I realise how much I’d forced myself to ignore it.
Elthea smiled wide enough to show her canines—I hadn’t seen them before—and Rose leapt up with a crow, like my victory was hers. Tears stung my eyes as I laughed and let her grab me in a hug, secure in my ability to hold in my magic and not hurt her.
I was free. From Robin. From needing a daily antidote.
I wasn’t bound to Bastian by an accident of magic. Every touch between us was our choice.
Everything that happened now was for us to decide.
81
Bastian
For the second time in as many days, Kat burst into my office. Anyone else, and I’d have destroyed them, but for her I preferred the kind of destruction I’d enacted on this desk yesterday.
I looked up from another dull report. A delivery of guard weapons missing… or perhaps not. It wasn’t clear if this was a clerical error or if they’d really disappeared. Thankfully this was the last of the reports, since the wedding was tomorrow.
I arched an eyebrow as Kat shut the door. “Don’t tell me—you’vefoundthe Crown of Ashes this time? I wouldn’t put it past you.”
She shook her head as she caught her breath and approached. “She did it.”
With a gasp, I sprang to my feet. “Elthea. Your appointment.”
Half laughing, half panting, she clutched my arms and gave them a little shake. “I’m cured.”
My pulse tolled loud in my ears. She’d wanted to be rid of her magic and the poison, and she looked so happy…
I swallowed, searching her grip. Her nails dug into my shirt, still purple. “But you’re still marked.”
