“Your body is fighting the poison,” Atticus says. “We’ve given you painkillers and a few of my own formulations that will boost your immune system.” Jaeger and Kaiser nod as if they know what Atticus is talking about. I remember Kaiser saying that Atticus cared for them after their fights. They’re used to him patching them up. They trust him.
“A little activated charcoal in case you ingested any of it.” Atticus sighs, rubbing his shaved head. “But since the compound was designed to be absorbed through skin contact versus your digestive system, I don’t know if it will help. We just have to wait and see.”
“What about my blood?” I ask. My voice sounds almost as raw as Kaiser’s. “It might hold the antidote. I’m immune to poison. There might be something you can find in my blood to save him.”
“That’s an idea,” Atticus says, sounding thoughtful. “There was a man who developed super immunity to snake bites through repeated exposure, and he gave his blood to a lab to create a universal antivenom. We might be able to isolate an antitoxin from your blood. How many poisons did you ingest?”
“As many as I could. I’ll write you a list.”
“And you’re immune to all of them?”
“To most poisons, yes. Some of them still cause a reaction, though.”
“That’s why you were in a coma for a few days.”
“Yes.”
“And the senator? How did you poison him?”
Atticus is prying for more information, knowing that in this desperate emotional state, I’m likely to give him anything he wants. I can hear my father warning me not to give away any proprietary formulas, but I don’t care about protecting our secrets anymore. “It was a blend of several compounds mixed into a lotion I put on my palm.”
“Ricin?”
“No. He would have to ingest that. I used compounds distilled from cassava and oleander, along with a compound my father invented to make it faster-acting.”
Atticus’s eyes narrow. “And Alfredo Vesuvio?”
Despite feeling rotten, I smile. My secrets are out. They all know I’m the Poisoner now. “Good old arsenic and belladonna. Aqua Tofana.”
“Nobody knows that recipe.”
“My mother did.”
“And what about Bella’s blood?” Jaeger asks. “Can it help my brother?”
Atticus rubs his face. He’s thinking about what a bad idea this is. “It’s risky and it might not even work. I’d need to test it.”
“Just try.” I hold out my arm. “Please.” Atticus waves to his team, and two nurses come to my side to prep my arm for a blood draw.
I don’t even feel the bite of the needle. I don’t feel anything at all. Jaeger leans over Kaiser. They speak softly to each other. Then Jaeger hovers his hand over his brother’s head, not touching him. He stands frozen like this for a moment, then turns and strides out of the room without another word. If Kaiser dies, Jaeger will probably kill me.
If Kaiser dies, I’ll probably beg him to.
No, it won’t come to that. I’ll nurse Kaiser back to health, I don’t care what I have to do. I can’t lose him. He’s all I have. Without him, I’ll be all alone.
“All done,” Atticus says. He and his team now have several vials of my dark blood.
Kaiser lies still and quiet. Only the rise and fall of his chest tells me he’s alive.
“We’ve done all we can do for him, for now.” Atticus takes a deep breath, hesitates. “Except… we have a salve for his skin that should help with the blisters.”
“Okay...” I say, confused.
“We want to apply it but?—”
It dawns on me what Atticus is hinting at. Of course he knows Kaiser’s secret weakness. “He doesn’t like to be touched. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
