Page 21 of Poison

“Kiss him, P.”Kevin laughs as I glare at him.“I know you want to.”

“Shut it, Kevin,” I whisper-yell.

“Who’s Kevin?” Ajax asks as he turns to me at the door.

“Nobody,” I squeak. I’m such an idiot! If I could smack myself in the forehead right now, I would, but Ajax is definitely looking at me like I’m nuts.

A pained howl rips through the night sky, and my heart begins to pound with the sound. Tears pool in my eyes; the noise is filled with so much anguish. The front door is yanked open with enough force I’m shocked he didn’t pull it off completely, before he charges out into the night, just as a chorus of howls join the other. My limbs tremble, the sound doing something to me, the urge to help begging me to follow. Kevin and I stand at the door listening to the sounds of the night. The Vasi must have found the intruders if the sounds are any indication.

A huge wolf comes into view through the gap between the next clan house and mine, I’m frozen in place at the sight off it. Its light grey fur is mottled with red blotches all over, blood dripping from its muzzle. It shakes its head from side to side like it’s disorientated.

“P, shut the door,” Kevin whispers behind me. But all I can do is stare, my mind screaming at me to do it, my body, though, it’s frozen.

Yellow eyes connect with mine, and my knees tremble at the pain I can see within the depths. The urge to help is even stronger than before, it feels more like a need to do something now. Slowly, the wolf stalks towards me with a limp, muzzle low to the ground as it doesn’t break eye contact.

“P,” he says again.

I cock my head, my hands trembling at my sides, but I can’t get my body to do what I want it to. The wolf is radiating so much pain, it’s unbearable. They need help.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, gasping as the wolf nods its head.What the hell?!“You understand me?” Again, it nods.

“Poison, shut the fucking door!” Kevin’s tone is desperate.

My hand lifts, stretching towards the supernatural, an instinct at war within me. I want to help, they look so sad. A roar rips through the sky, pulling the wolf’s attention off me, then our ours connect again.

The look in its eyes has fear shooting through my veins, before it lunges with all its power and a scream lodges in my throat.

CHAPTERSEVEN

“Poison!”

My vision turns black, the feeling of flying consuming me. My mind tries desperately to work out what is happening, even as I’m helpless to do anything. I scream as agony rips through my spine, a smack echoing as something connects. Then there’s an almighty roar as something yelps.

Slowly, my eyesight starts to clear, revealing the ceiling of the hallway with the yellowed white paint. I grunt as I try to lift my head, pain radiating up my spine at the small movement. Gritting my teeth, I muster all the energy I have left in me and manage to roll on my side. The cold, tiled floor greets me,what the hell?I manage to get my knees under me, and on shaky arms and legs I’m able to push myself up to standing.

“Don’t ever try and pet the fucking wolves, you idiot!” Kevin booms, and the anger in his tone has me spinning around. The sight has my hand coming to my mouth in horror. “That thing wasn’t fucking friendly, Poison! Why did you just stand there?”

“I—”

“You stupid girl!” he snarls.

“Is it dead?” I manage to croak, my feet moving forward on their own accord. The wolf lays on its side on the path in front of the house, the life gone from its eyes. Guilt wreaks havoc within as I notice how stoic Kevin is looking down at the being. “Did you…?”

“I had to do it to protect you,” he growls, his tone thickly laced with disapproval. “I don’t like having to do this, but things are in motion, Poison, that neither you nor I have control over.”

What do you mean?Is on the tip of my tongue, but the words stay lodged there as I watch in both horror and fascination as the wolf slowly begins to vanish out of existence.

“What? How?” My words trip over themselves as I try to rush through what I want to say. My mind is reeling at what’s just happened, if I hadn’t just witnessed it myself, I wouldn’t believe something like that could happen.

“I told you before, a Basilisk is a rather rare supernatural that no longer exists in the world, or so they think. But I’m the rarest one of all,” he says like it’s the easiest thing to understand.

“What?”

“I’m a Hybrid, Poison, I am both Basilisk and magic user, but the people who have seen me haven’t seen my true form. Well not entirely,” he says with a smirk. My mouth almost hitting the floor at his words is definitely the cause for the smirk, but what the hell? He just told me he’s a terrifying snake, yeah, I already know that… but that he’s also half Tinkerbell! How did I not know this?

“So, you can use magic?” I ask, my eyes looking him over like I haven’t known him since I was a child. Like c’mon, you think you know someone and then you’re hit in the face with this.

“Sometimes, when there’s a desperate need for it. The rest of the time, I’m lucky if I can make a glitter fart,” he bursts out laughing, and my face must tell him how disgusted I am.

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