Page 111 of Aftertaste

“You were right, Yume.” He tried to keep his voice from breaking. “And I have to fix it. This is how.”

He could hear it in the silence, her consideration.

She hesitated. She didn’t want to get involved, tangled in whatever this might be. But she also wanted to put it to rest.

“Give me an hour.”

THEY GOT TOSaveur Fare after midnight, Maura hauling a bag of supplies, and Konstantin lugging the cooler Kutsuki had dropped off, salt water sloshing inside.

He led the way through the service entrance, down the familiar subway-tiled hall, and into the alcove where three large walk-ins stood side by side, gleaming. They entered the last one, an ice-cream freezer, its temperature set to fifteen below, or, in technical terms,fuck, it’s cold.

Cold enough to keep the poison from spreading too quickly through his veins.

Cold enough, once Kostya passed into the Afterlife, to keep his body preserved.

They stripped down to T-shirts—the colder they got, the better—and Maura lined the floor with butcher paper, stopping once or twice to breathe on her hands, her fingertips numb, the room so cold their breath hung like fog. Kostya set Kutsuki’s cooler on the floor and unzipped the bag containing his knives.

“You ready?” he asked her.

“Are you?” she countered.

He nodded once and pulled the lid off the cooler. They both peered in, their fates contained in the rather ugly fish swimming around inside.

Kostya lifted it out, spearing his finger on one of its spines, and, cursing in pain, pinched its belly hard, right where Kutsuki had shown him. The puffer swelled with air. He set it carefully down onto the butcherpaper, where it writhed and flopped as violently as if it knew what was coming.

Kostya picked up his knife. “This is it.”

“Don’t get scared now,” Maura said softly.

“I didn’t realize I was heading to the Afterlife with Kevin McCallister.”

She gave a weak smile.

Kostya held the fish down and sliced its belly apart, dark blood sluicing over the butcher paper and onto the floor. He gazed inside, at its ribs, and guts, and still-beating heart, and, ignoring Kutsuki’s guidance completely, reached into the body cavity and removed its liver.

The single most poisonous part.

No known antidote.

No way to survive the toxins once they overran a body. But a way, maybe, to leverage them. If they could slow it down.

The plan was all about timing. He’d eat the liver in the walk-in, his blood flow and oxygen restricted by the cold. Hypothermia setting in alongside the poison. A one-two punch.

The moment he crossed to the Afterlife, Maura would set a timer. Five minutes in, she’d call an ambulance. That would give him ten, maybe fifteen minutes before help arrived. Long enough in the Afterlife, hopefully, to ferry the ghosts home. The paramedics would rush him to the hospital—another ten-minute ride—where they’d pump his stomach, get him on a respirator, replace his bodily functions until he metabolized the tetrodotoxin. In a few days, he should be home free.

You could survive it, the near-deather had told Maura, if you acted fast. He’d done it. Hundreds of people, all around the world. The key was medical attention in under an hour, and they’d keep it to forty-five minutes, to be safe. Plus the freezer would buy them more time.

And Maura would be right there, watching, just in case.

If all went to plan, she’d eat her portion of the liver right after she called for help, paramedics already on the way, and seal the veil before they evenarrived. Everleigh had said it stretched like dough, so Maura thought it might patch like dough does, too. Likevarenyky. The way Konstantin had taught her. She hoped she’d get the chance to try. But if things didn’t go to plan, if something went wrong, they’d agreed she’d stay behind.

“Only if it’s safe,” Kostya made her swear.

“Relax, Dad.” She’d grinned. “It’s not my first rodeo.”

But neither of them smiled now, as Kostya lifted the liver onto a plate, sliced it in half.

“Wait,” Maura told him, and leaned in, pressed her frozen lips to his. “I love you, Stan. Be careful. I’ll see you on the other side.”

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