Page 25 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“Okay, babe, doing great so far,” Ediye says as she hovers over me. I tie my gaze to hers like a boat to the shore in a raging sea. My heart is knocking on my bones, roaring in my ears. Ediye gives me a smile that splits me right in two. “You fight, Lu,” she whispers, her voice fierce. “You fight and when you think you can’t, you keep fighting. I’ll be right here fighting with you.”
I try to smile. My lips quiver.
Time to suck it up and fight like a vampire. Again.
Promise,I mouth. I’m ready to pay for my word with blood.Love you.
“I love you too.”
Mr. Hassan turns to us, the syringe in his hand filled with yellow liquid. I smell the acrid scent of acid. A surgical suction machine clicks on, whispering at my left.
“Good luck,azizati. I am sorry for this pain,” he says. I give him a nod and turn my attention back to Ediye, whose eyes fill with the darkness of deep space, the mysteries of the cosmos. Galaxies and gasses and alien planets spin in the universe of her power. It is raw beauty, both terrifying and magnificent. If it’s the last thing I ever see, I think that’ll be okay.
“En alsikunusi ilimes musiti ittikunu alsi musitum kallatum kutumtum,” she says. Her voice twists around me in layers of sound. Her words spread a warmth that snakes through my veins.
I have called upon you, Gods of Night, with you I have called upon Night, the Veiled Bride.
The apothecary presses the tip of the needle into my skin. It follows the path of the curse that stole my voice.
“Alsi bararitum qablitum u namritum.”
I have called on Twilight, Midnight, and Dawn.
The apothecary meets my eyes. I see a flash of sorrow. I know in that instant he doesn’t think this will work. He thinks he’s sending me to death.
It’s ok, I whisper to him with a smile. The only sound that comes out is the breath through the tube in my throat. This is a chance I want to take, no matter if it might fail. I have little else left to lose. I fold my hand around his as he keeps the needle steady in my flesh.
“Tuub libbi tu seri liirtedaani, ema usaammaru suummiratiia luuk suud.”
May happiness and good health ever accompany her; whatever she wishes, may she attain her wish.
I keep my reassuring smile on the old man as I press my thumb down on his, depressing the first drops of acid into my throat.
For a second or two, it burns no more than it does all the time. It’s no different than the pain of the silver lodged in my throat.
But it doesn’t last.
The burn grows hotter. My breath comes faster. My heart punches my ribs in alarm.
Thepain. The pain swells like a rising tide. An inescapable tsunami of suffering. It burns so blinding hot that I think even my eyes are scorched. I want to claw it out of my throat but Cole grips my arm.
My eyes stream. I fight to stop from coughing. The taste of blood creeps up on my tongue.
More acid is pushed into my throat.
Ediye keeps chanting. I don’t hear her words.
Mr. Hassan barks orders to the others. I don’t know what they are.
A suction tube slides into my mouth. More acid is plunged into my neck. I want to scream but I can’t. I want to thrash but my limbs are held down.
More acid. More blood. More pain, so hot. Like swallowing fire. Like drinking lava. The suction gurgles. I smell melting flesh.
The edges of my vision blacken in distress. I push the darkness away. Made a promise. Must keep fighting.You keep fighting, Lu.
Another syringe. More acid. How can there be more? I swear it’s burned through the surface. I hear Cole curse. Mr. Hassan snaps at him.Suction, boy.
“She’s not healing fast enough.”
