Page 130 of A Touch of Poison
Fae children were a rare blessing. Many fae never managed to get pregnant, and there were fewer than a hundred children in the city. That was why they’d struggled to rebuild their population after their wars.
I checked my pistol—loaded and ready. Though I couldn’t get a shot from here—not with its back to me.
I could distract it, make it turn. With a little luck, my shot would drop it long enough for the family to escape and for me to get out of sight.
Or not.
It might charge at me immediately, giving me no time to get a clean shot on its eye.
Unless…
Unless.
The woman’s magic hadn’t worked, but mine might.
Every hair on my body strained to attention as I slipped from the doorway and, instead of running away,approachedthe Horror.
It was stupid.
Not safe.
So fucking monumentallynot safe, I couldn’t believe I was actually doing it.
Yet here I was, placing my feet in careful silence as I eased off my gloves and placed them in my pockets.
I hardly dared to breathe.
Somehow I closed the distance and the Horror didn’t turn.
Unblinking, I watched as the details of its segmented body became clearer and clearer, revealing faint streaks in its carapace.
Almost there.
Then I was.
I swallowed down every instinct screeching at me to get the fuck out of here.
Trembling, I reached out and touched the Horror.
It wasn’t cold. Smooth like polished wood, but not cold.
The poison in my skin tingled as it had last night when Ella’s cheek had touched mine, and I waited for the dark tendrils to stretch over the Horror’s body.
And waited.
And waited.
My heart lurched into my throat.
My poison wasn’t… poisoning.
There had to be…
I tucked away my pistol and tried both hands.
The breaths twitched in my chest, fighting to become overwhelming gasps, but that would be too loud. The thing would hear.
Still nothing.
