When I get to the back door, I pluck out the men trying to get in. I kick out one’s knee and punch the other until he goes down. More men rush toward me, screaming. But they’re not coming for me. They’re trying to get away.
“It burns!” they shriek. “It burns!”
I stand aside as they run past me, clawing at their faces.
What the fuck is going on?
The soldiers are down, fallen where they stood, blanketing the floor. The lucky ones die fast with mouths open in silent screams. The unlucky ones are still writhing and twitching, blisters forming on their faces.
The air feels like razor blades, slicing my throat. I cough, throwing up an arm to shield my eyes. My eyes burn like they’re being seared in my skull, but I can’t look away from Bella.
She’s still standing in the center of the greenhouse. Her hair is soaked, plastered to her face and bare shoulders, and she has a triumphant smile on her face. She looks like the supervillain she wants to be.
Something moves behind her from the ground. It’s Sal, raising his arm. He’s got a gun. He’s squinting through the swelling on his face, taking aim at Bella.
No!
I race toward Bella through the poison rain, praying I won’t be too late.
* * *
Bella
Liquid poison slicks my hair and coats my face. The compounds in the acid rain affect the lungs, skin, and heart. If I weren’t immune to all of them, it would definitely burn. The shape of a man blurs in front of me.
There’s a loud crack like thunder but too close. The noise shatters my hearing.
Then I see Kaiser throw himself in front of me, only to fall. The shock hits me like a bullet.
He was shot.
“No,” I cry. Kaiser is face down on the ground between me and Sal. Sal is propped up on his left arm, gun in his right. Blisters bubble on his cheeks as he bares his teeth at me.
I’m screaming. I race over to Sal, snatching a pot off a worktable. The rest of the planters go flying, ceramic shattering on the stones.
Sal fires again, but I’m already on him, rage coursing through me. I smash the pot on his head, and Sal’s body sags. I kick the gun away and grab his hair to pull his head back. Blood covers his face. His hands rise to defend himself, but he’s too weak from the highly concentrated poison. I pull out a vial of hemlock from my pocket and rip off the top. I force it into his mouth, pouring the liquid down his throat and slamming the vial past his teeth until it shatters and he chokes on glass. I let him fall to the ground, convulsing. It won’t take long for him to die. I feel like a Valkyrie.
But then I remember Kaiser.
He’s still face down on the floor where he fell after being shot. He’s not moving. The poison rains onto his bare arms and the back of his neck. “Oh no, no, no, no.” I bend over him, blocking the rain with my body. “Stop,” I scream. But the rain keeps falling.
I’ve got to get him out of here. I grab his right arm with both hands and start dragging him out of the greenhouse. He’s so heavy, each inch takes an eternity. But I finally get him outside. Away from the poisonous rain.
He’s not breathing, and his face is raw and blistered.
Fuck, I did this.
I rip open the vest he’s wearing, my hands coming away blood-soaked. “Hecate, help me.” There’s so much blood. From the bullet wound? He was wearing a vest, but he must have been hit.
And if the bullet doesn’t kill him, the poison will. I don’t know what to do. There’s a balm I can use to help his skin, but what about his lungs? The compound is designed to kill fast. Papa and I agreed we would use it as a last resort. I didn’t make an antidote because I’m immune.
Kaiser coughs, and the sound stabs my ears. He groans, coming too. “Shh,” I say. “Just rest easy. You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay.” But he coughs again, and blood and sputum froth at the corner of his mouth.
“You were shot.”
“No, knife. Stabbed.”
