Page 109 of A Touch of Poison
My shadows turned her, so she’d be able to see me as I killed her—as I paid her back for whatever she had done to Kat.
I think my heart stopped.
Elthea’s chest heaved as my shadows tightened around her arms, cutting off the blood flow. “I’m her best hope of finding a cure, and you know it.” She lifted her chin, expression barely on the edge of calm.
“A cure? You’re going to fucking kill her.” Hands fisting, I sent shadows down to her legs. I wanted to rip her apart with my bare hands. Maybe I would.
A vicious smile tugged on my mouth. Muscles humming and hot, I crossed the room.
Her fingers were turning white, now. As I told my shadows to pull, she let out a whimper.
“You kill me and that’s it.” An uncertain waver entered her voice. “N-not to mention the repercussions for our courts.”
My shadows paused.
It was about the only thing she could’ve said to get through to me. We’d only just smoothed things with Dawn after the executions and freeing the remaining prisoners.
Blood still roared in my ears, though. Fuck Dawn. Fuck the balance. End her. She’d hurt Katherine. She’d killed her, even if only for a moment.
I saw Kat’s face, so pale.
But then I saw it crumpling, her eyes glittering with unshed tears as she’d pushed away Vespera.
That was what the cure meant to her.
I pulled myself straight and released Elthea. My teeth ground. I’d let Kat down by not making Elthea suffer as she had. But I would let her down more by robbing her of any chance at a cure. I swallowed down my frustrated rage and let it attack me instead.
Elthea huffed out a long breath and glared at me. “You can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.” Swallowing, she straightened her sleeves. “Curing her is going to require a lot of experimentation. There’s no avoiding it.”
Kat wasn’t an experiment, but I couldn’t push words through my tight throat.
“Either you want her cured or you don’t.” Elthea canted her head, casting her gaze down me and back up. “Though I can imagine you might like having her bound to you for the rest of her life, even if she is married.”
I clenched my hands at my sides—it was that or grabbing her. “You hurt Katherine again, and I won’t just kill you. I’ll fucking destroy you.”
As I stalked out, her reply followed me: “It isn’t up to you, Serpent.”
41
Kat
It was dark when I woke, no light pouring in through my bedroom windows.
My bedroom? I was…
I grabbed my wrists. I wasn’t bound. And this wasn’t the Hall of Healing.
“Kat?” A deeper shadow in the darkness bent closer, two dimly glowing eyes on me.
“I’m awake.” I swallowed, rubbing my throat as the ghost of the manticore venom crawled down it. “Lumis,” I said, thinking of low level light.
Three fae lights blinked on, drifting overhead.
Bastian sat at my side, knees touching the bed, brow furrowed as he eyed me. “How do you feel?”
“Tired, though it looks like I’ve been asleep for hours.” I nodded towards the window. “What time is it?”
“Past midnight.” He covered his mouth, stifling a yawn.
