I lunge, ready to grab the snake with my bare hands if I have to, but Griffin catches me around the middle and hauls me back, his sharp “No!” ringing in my ears.
In the next second, the creature propels itself upward with otherworldly power and snaps its jaws closed around Kato’s neck.
My heart stops utterly. I blink. I don’t believe what just happened. Irefuseto believe.
Fear and guilt rob me of my breath.I brought them here.
Kato’s eyes dilate, turning dark and huge. His arms drop heavily to his sides, and the mace he was holding thuds to the ground. He takes an unsteady step back, and then another, his tall, broad body going stiff. Under the serpent’s powerful jaws, his throat works, convulsively grabbing for air. Twin rivulets of blood slide down his neck, hissing when they hit the racing embers of his cloak.
The sight of those thin, dark lines shuts down all rational thought. I tear at Griffin’s arm. “Let me go! Do something!”
“I’m not letting you go until that snake is gone, or we know why it’s here.” Griffin’s rough words hit my temple like a warm punch. “You’re not getting in the middle of this. I will not let you.”
Flynn grabs the snake’s tail and yanks, stopping when Kato staggers and gurgles a pained sound.
Fury boils my veins. Dread ices them. Hot. Cold. About to explode. “Kill it,” I shout to the others. “Kill it!”
Flynn hovers with a knife in his hand, but Carver whips his head around. “You just told us to trust gifts from the Gods!”
“We don’t know who sent it! It’s biting Kato!”
“And it came out of him!” Carver flings his hand toward the Chaos Wizard.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the wizard. He’s immobile. Impassive. Not reassuring. Not unusual, either.
Kato’s throat stops moving, and his cobalt eyes go blank. He falls like a tree. Flynn catches him before he hits the ground, easing him down. Laid out, unmoving, Kato is so rigid he looks dead to me. Terrified, I go numb from the scalp down as the blood crashes from my head.
Flynn rears back, nearly falling over when the serpent releases its bite. The creature springs up and then dives into Kato’s open mouth, disappearing down his throat faster than I can blink.
CHAPTER 14
FLYNN CROUCHES AND LAYS HIS HAND ONKATO’S CHEST. When it doesn’t move, his head bows, and his fingers curl into a white-knuckled fist.
There’s total stillness for too many breaths. My heart throbs, each painful beat fracturing me a little more until something inside of me shatters, and I scream. Raw grief shreds my throat. Griffin tucks me inward against his body, as if the feel of his heart hammering against my back could somehow keep mine from breaking.
Kato opens his eyes, and I choke on my scream. He blinks, sits up, and I forget to breathe.
“Kato?” Flynn grips the blond warrior’s shoulder, steadying him.
Grimacing, Kato gently rubs his throat. He coughs, and then his voice rasps like a wire rake over stones. “That was one of the more traumatizing experiences of my life.”
There’s a heavy beat of silence while we all stare at him, struck dumb with relief. Then Flynn chokes out a laugh and claps Kato on the shoulder. “I thought you were dead, you Gods damned idiot.”
“Not dead. Possibly deaf.” Kato gives me a wry look. “You’re really loud for such a small person.”
A strangled noise escapes me, a sob trying to disguise itself as a laugh. I push on Griffin’s arms, and after a slight hesitation, he lets me go.
I drop to my knees next to Kato, my fingers trembling as I reach out and cautiously touch the twin puncture wounds on his neck. Kato sucks in air through his teeth.
“Sore?” I ask, inspecting the angry red circles.
He nods, his lips forming a bloodless seam.
I gently press again, and he grabs my wrist, pulling my hand down.Reflexes—normal. Speed—excellent.But there’s still a snake inside him, which can’t be good. “I have to see if there’s venom.”
“There’s venom,” he says. “The whole left side of my neck feels like a Giant took a spiked club to it.”
“Then we have to draw it out.”
