Page 34 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
My heart blooms like a flower in my chest. I want to ask him why. But I also don’t. I don’t think I can live up to whatever he thinks of me. I just want to take his words and exist in them for a moment as though I deserve them.
“And your payment, for your services?”
“The Reaper took care of it.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course he did.”
The old apothecary smiles. “I will tell your Reaper where you went when he gets back,” Mr. Hassan says, patting my arm.
I huff a laugh and point my gaze to the ceiling before leveling the old man with a long look. “Feel free to tell him anywhere else but Ravello. Literally anywhere. Reykjavik. Lima. The middle of the Sahara.”
Mr. Hassan gives me a broad smile. He’s definitely going to give him Ravello. Probably our exact address. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s put a GPS tracking beacon on me, for fucksakes. Dropped pin, vampire isHERE.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why do you think?”
“Because you’re a deranged old romantic, that’s why.”
“Maybe a little.”
“You do realize it’s his fault I was thrown into a dungeon and tortured, right?”
“Was it,azizati? Because he’s also the only reason you’re standing here,” he says. I want to say yes, of course it fucking was his fault, but I keep my mouth shut. The apothecary’s smile turns a little sorrowful. My heart cracks at the sight, and I try not to think about what the millennia have taken from him too. “Maybe your Reaper has made bad choices. Maybe he’s made the only choices he could. Maybe he’s trying to make better ones.”
“That is... cryptic. And not overly helpful.”
The apothecary gives a bemused laugh and turns my shoulders toward the portal, giving me a gentle nudge toward the darkness. “Good luck,shakhs shabun. I will keep you in my thoughts.”
I smile over my shoulder, keeping Mr. Hassan in my gaze until the shadow of the orb consumes the space behind me and I step into the warm Italian night.
CHAPTER14
“Why does your kind have so many clubs?” I ask as I pull at the dress that clings to my legs, wobbling just a little on my heels after the two bottles of wine I consumed at breakneck pace in Villa Datura. The witches of the Datura coven have been welcoming, sitting us down for drinks, setting us up in a guest house on the grounds, giving us clothes and casting a spell to hide Eryx’s wings for our jaunt to Club Caelum. They seemed pretty eager to point us in the direction of Cassian, which makes me think he’s already outstayed his welcome during his short residency.
I am not surprised.
Ediye laughs and loops her arm through mine as we teeter down the steep hills of Ravello. The still, shadowed air is filled with the scent of night blooming flowers and the sounds of humans speaking in animated Italian. “Maybe we witches just like to dance. Or maybe we like our alcohol. Maybe both.”
“Can confirm. Both are true,” I say, pulling at my dress again.
Ediye smacks my hand. “Stop fidgeting with it.”
“It’s just so fucking tight.”
“It’s supposed to be tight.”
“It feels like it’s been painted on for Christ sakes.” My borrowed heels are a half-size too big, my borrowed dress at least two sizes too small. The front is low and the back much, much lower. It’s black and sparkly, barely covering my ass or the dagger that I’ve strapped as high on my thigh as my anatomy will allow. It’s definitely club appropriate. It can also function as a napkin.
“You look hot. Tight is good.”
I roll my eyes. “Yours isn’t tight and you look fucking gorgeous,” I say, gesturing to her sparking turquoise dress. The neckline cuts low between Ediye’s breasts, her midnight skin on full display, glowing in the moonlight. Her dress is also short but looks decidedly more comfortable.
“Yeah, well. It might be good to remind Cassian of what he’s missed all these centuries if you want to convince him to follow you, even if it’s for his own benefit.”
“That is… that is an epically bad idea.”
Ediye laughs and grips my arm tighter, pulling me into her side. She glances behind us at Eryx and Cole, Davina following in their wake. Ediye tosses them a bright smile before zeroing in on the lights of the Club Caelum, a blocky stone building that looms ahead above the sea and beneath the stars.
