Page 122 of A Touch of Poison
Ella sat up, clutching her throat, sucking in great lungfuls of air. Pale, yes, but the dark veins had gone.
Rose laughed, and Ari launched at Ella, flinging her arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Good fucking gods,” Ella rasped. “Fuck.Fuck.” She looked up at me and chuckled. Maybe relief. Maybe hysteria.
I fell back, pressing myself against the wall, like its solidity might bring sense to the world.
I’d almost killed Ella. For a few seconds, I had.
The knowledge crashed into me, a boulder dropped from above.
All for the sake of a hug.
How had I been so stupid? So selfish? So… uncontrolled.
“Get out.”
“It’s all right.” Ella smiled the same smile that had been so infectious earlier. “I mean, it hurt like hells, but, I feel fine now.”
I would never have seen that smile again if…
The low-level hum against my skin intensified.
“Get out.”
“Kat.” Perry reached out before snatching her hand back and giving me an apologetic smile. “I know you’re afraid, but—”
Everything hazed purple.
Perry’s eyes widened.
I scrambled for the sitting room, crying, “Get out!”
45
Bastian
Iburst into the antechamber. Coats littered the floor, and amongst them glinted the lid of Kat’s potion bottle pendant.
As soon as Rose had appeared at the door to her and Faolán’s home, face tear-stained, I’d known something was very wrong. Thank the Stars, Ella was alive and apparently fine. I’d left Rose in Faolán’s arms and raced back to the palace. A guard was fetching Asher to have him check on Ella, while I’d sprinted down the corridors to get back here.
My chest was too tight, and not because of the run.
“Kat?” I called into the dim living room. No sign of her, though the scent of her magic hung in the air, thick and sweet.
I tried her bedroom next, then her bathroom, half expecting to find her throwing up in the toilet. I even checked my room, thinking perhaps she’d be curled up in my bed, sobbing. She wasn’t.
It was only when I went into the dining room that I found her in the midst of her party decorations. Afternoon sun spilled through the window, lighting up a small shape at the wall’s base—knees hugged tight, face pressed against them.
“Kat.” I sighed out her name, unspeakably relieved to find her. The fear she’d run had been a tight knot in my belly that only now untied. If she was here, I could help her. If she’d gone…
“I poisoned Ella. I—”
“I know.” Crouching before her, I placed my hand on her head. That only made her pull tighter. “It’s me. You can’t hurt me, remember.”
Her shoulders shook, and I couldn’t tell if the sound she made was a sob or bitter laughter. My shadows caressed her hands and feet. Eventually, she lifted her head, pushing into my touch.
