“What about its teeth?” Thalia asked, turning to the two Vampyrs.
“What about them?” Keegan’s lips pursed.
“Its bite causes madness, right?” The two Vampyrs nodded. “What if there was a way to extract the poison so you can test out potential cures?”
Cassius raised an approving brow as Keegan shook his head. “I tried prying the mouth open, but it won’t budge.”
“What do you mean?”
Keegan went to the wall, grabbing a pair of metal pliers. He tried shoving them between the creature’s lips, but he couldn’t pry its jaws apart. It was if the creature’s mouth had been fused together.
“Let me try.” Cassius stepped in. But even with their combined strength, its mouth wouldn’t open.
They stopped only when the pliers snapped in half.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Thalia said as Cassius chucked the pliers into the corner.
He cast her an annoyed look. “I didn’t see you stepping in to help.”
She rolled her eyes, nudging him out of the way so she could get a better peek at its head. Thalia crouched down so she was at eye level, placing her hand on top of its smooth skull. “Why won’t you open?”
The creature’s jaw popped open, its tongue unfurling. Thalia yelped, jumping back and hitting the hard planes of Cassius’s chest.
“How did you do that?” Keegan asked from across the table, his blade drawn. Thalia shook her head, just as confused as them.
Cassius kept hold of her waist, leaning closer. “The poison is still in the teeth.”
Indeed, a greenish sheen seemed to glow within the creature’s sharp rows of canines. He reached out a hand, but Thalia stopped him.
“You shouldn’t touch it.” She gave him a look, then glanced at Keegan. “Neither of you. If the poison is still in its teeth, that means there’s still a chance that if it gets in you, you’ll go mad.”
Cassius pulled back his hand. “When will Camilla get here?”
“I sent a raven an hour ago. But given the flight from Perden, probably two days,” Keegan said.
Cassius cursed, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “We need to get it extracted now. Only so it can be ready for her when she arrives.”
Both Vampyrs stared at the creature. It seemed they would have to pull straws of hay to see who got the task.
“I’ll do it,” Thalia blurted out.
Cassius turned to her. “What?”
“I’ll do it. If its teeth somehow cut me, I’m not a Vampyr; it won’t affect me.”
“We don’t know what it will do to a human,” Cassius said lowly. “The poison could still affect you, just in a different manner.”
Thalia shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean?” Keegan asked, curiosity lighting his handsome features.
“In the forest, there was a moment where it had me cornered but it didn’t attack me,” Thalia said, thinking back to when the creature had pressed its snout against her chest. Almost like it recognized her in some manner.
Cassius crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it. But I’m doing it; it’s less of a risk.”
They glared at each other, tension rising.
