Despite my instincts screaming to run, I reached out toward the boundary.
The rot reached back.
rune
. . .
Thick,frigid magic latched onto my finger, and in that half-second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even draw a breath into my lungs. It was so unlike any other poison or venom I’d been in contact with.
Coralynn had mentioned that magical essence rot was a byproduct from a dark magic ritual, so that meant it must’ve been rare. I hadn’t even heard of it before…but it was essentially a toxin. Wasn’t it?
Arms wound around me from behind, and my senses filled with daisies and jasmine.
Slater.
He yanked me back, his arms still wrapped tightly around my waist as we hit the root-covered dirt. His body broke our fall beneath mine as I landed sprawled across his chest. My heart was about to burst from my ribs just from our proximity.
“You alright, venom baby?” he breathed, voice tight. “You weren’t supposed to touch the rot.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered, staring at my hand. My finger throbbed, sending twinges of agony up my arm toward my chest.
“Fuck.” He gripped my wrist to examine the spreading mark before the phantom started to scream again.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured us both.
The trapped phantom shrieked with such force it bent the trees around the circle, twisting them outward, splintering bark. My bones vibrated with it. Any higher pitch, and I’d think it was a banshee and not a phantom.
I leaned into Slater’s chest on instinct.
“This isnotfine,” he insisted, holding me close. The heat of his body against mine made my magic fight a little harder against the rot. “What can I do?”
My skin prickled like it wanted to peel away, and my magic flared within my body, fighting the rot as it ate away at my magical essence.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “It just eats my reserves, right? It’s not like it’ll kill me.”
“But then you’ll lose your supernatural powers. We need them.” His red eyes filled with worry as he stared down at me. “Especially if you’re going to pass.”
“I’m stronger than my powers,” I promised with a wince as the pain throbbed up my arm. “Let it eat away my reserves. I can always fill it again.”
“What do basilisks feed off of?” Slater frowned. “I don’t actually know.”
My legs rippled as scales threatened to take form, but I forced myself to calm. “Basilisks need to shift to fill their reserves. Thanks to my special power, though, I can consume poisons or be injected with venom to fill mine, too.”
“Venom?” He shifted us up to where we were sitting with me in his lap. “Like a snake bite?”
“Yeah, that’ll do it.” I sucked in a breath.
“Snakey.”Slater’s snake manifestation formed, curling around my arm and opening its mouth, its fangs flashing beautifully before they sank into the flesh of my wrist.
White-hot pain dissolved into pleasure as his venom pushed through my veins. I bit down on my lip to contain a moan as its venom filled my reserves.
His snake’s fangs pulled out, and his little tongue ghosted over my cheek before fading.
I collapsed into his arms a little more, euphoria from the venom making my limbs feel jello-like. “Snakey?”
“I named him when I was four, okay?” he mumbled shyly, his hands resting on my lower back. “Feel better, venom baby?”
“More than better, Havoc baby.” I grinned before bringing my finger in front of my face. “Would you consider the rot a poison?” There was still the trail of green-black rot curling up my index finger-like ivy. It pulsed with the rhythm of my heart, already trying to burrow itself deeper into my veins. “I touched it, but maybe if I taste it...”
