Page 54 of A Monstrous Claim

“If this doesn’t mask you, nothing will,” Azarius says with his nose upturned. He’s been grinding the roots with a stone pestle for several minutes, turning it to pulp, and the overwhelming smell has filled the room. “I definitely can’t smell you right now.”

“Is this guy even going to let me in his house smelling like ass?” I ask through the material of my shirt.

Elio nods. “He better. Otherwise, we might have to be a little persuasive.”

“Agreed.” Azarius tests the consistency of the mixture with his fingers, shakes his head, and keeps grinding. “The smell should die down a little when it dries.”

“I sure fucking hope so,” I say, gagging slightly.

I might be rethinking my decision to go see Ignatius just a smidge, but I quickly remind myself what we’re doing this for. We have to stop the rumors, figure out if the portal really is broken, and potentially get me home.

It’s just one more hurdle.

One more.

“What did you say that thing was called again?”

“Nesda,” Elio answers as he crosses to the bed and takes a seat on the edge. “The flowers are used as an anti-venom for some Malev bites. The plant itself doesn’t smell too bad, but the roots are vile.”

I swallow down my disgust and wait patiently until Azarius is done grinding.

“What are we going to paint it on with?” he asks, looking eagerly to Elio for an answer.

Rather than giving a useful suggestion, Elio shrugs. “Your toothbrush.”

Az narrows his eyes into slits. “Very funny.”

“Can’t you just use your hands?” Elio asks.

Az scrunches his nose again. “That’s gross. But I guess if Devyn has to smell like roadkill, I can too.” He throws me a wink. “We can stink together.”

“Elio’s going to smell awful too from carrying me,” I point out. “We’re going to be The Three Mustyteers.”

The boys exchange confused glances, and my mouth falls open behind my shirt. “Are you serious? You’ve never seen that movie?”

They shake their heads, and I massage one of my temples with my free hand.

My comedic gold is obviously going to waste here.

Azarius gets to his feet, careful not to drip the nesda goop on the maroon rug, and steps toward me. “Let’s get this over with.”

He dips his fingertips in the slime, trying to keep a straight face, and pulls them out to examine them. Against his white skin, the nesda root mixture almost looks black, but I know it’s dark violet because the roots were purple before he crushed them.

It’s probably going to stain his skin.

“Don’t hate me,” he says as he touches my arm and drags the liquid down to my elbow.

“I could never,” I assure him as he does the other arm. “Besides, this is Elio’s fault. I can hate him for it.”

From the bed, Elio laughs. “You’re welcome.”

Azarius wipes the nesda on my pants, shirt, and in my hair which nearly makes me retch.

“I’m going to smell like garbage juice forever,” I whine.

“No, you won’t,” Elio says. “You can have a nice long shower when we get back. My bathroom even has a tub.”

My eyes shift toward the bed. “A tub? Elio, you’ve been holding out on me. You should know baths are a girl’s best friend.”

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