“Reece, you have to take them out so the antidote can get in. Okay?”
“Mm-hmm.” Biting my lips, I nodded, tears lining my eyes. Lifting my hands, I searched for the best angle to rip them out of his butt. But despite my hands moving around as if performing a spell, I couldn’t find a good opening. My chest stung.Oh my Gods. Oh my Gods. What the fuck do I do?“Uuuhh… uummmm, you see—I…”
Laken’s head snapped up from where it hung. “Reece.”
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to do this. What if I hurt you? What if I hit another quill and poison pours into your butt blood? What if I hurt you worse than you already are and—”
“Reece.” His tone turned deep and stern, the challenge in it shutting down my nerves. “My girl, I need you to do this.” Judging from his reflection in the mirror, he stayed calm and relaxed—waiting patiently for my shit to gather.
“What if I hurt your ass?”
“You aren’t going to hurt this ass.”
“I could! I remember you got stung by a bee when we were fifteen and your ass was very sensitive!”
“Reece, my ass has changed. This isn’t the same ass.”
Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.“Has it… seen some shit?”
Laken’s head dropped down. “Reece, now!”
Right.“Okay, okay, okay…” My teeth clenched so hard I thought they’d break off. I released another shriek.
“Reece!”
“Fuck! Okay!” I exhaled one more time and yanked blindly. I mean, I watched but I didn’t debate the angles or pain or length.Oh my Gods, I thought as I plucked,these bitches are longer than average. “Alright, alright, take the pants off.” To give the antidote, I needed his bare ass. Luckily, little to no shame remained between us and Laken dropped the pants to his ankles with a little shaky shake.
“How much do I give you?”
“Ten milliliters.”
“Ten milliliters altogether or ten milliliters for each quill?”
“Ten milliliters altogether.”
Holding the vial in my hands, I steadied the needle and pulled back the plunger. It was a good thing I didn’t go to school to be a healer, I thought. I sank it into the liquid, tipped the bottle bottoms up, and dragged the antidote into the needle.
I glanced up as little drips of blood flowed over the curve of his ass, the dark red contrasting with his pearly-white skin. Maybe he should’ve tanned nude. But more blood came out, and I couldn’t feel my skin or my limbs, I couldn’t—“Shit.”
“What?” His head snapped up.
“You’re bleeding.”
“How bad?”
“Like… three whole drops.”
“Gods, Reece.” His tone deepened with worry, and I knew I’d vomit soon. “You might as well put me out of my misery, you and your poisonous porcupine. Write my eulogy, will you?”
Ass.
I can do this, I told myself mindlessly. If I could conquer fire-spitting chickens from hell and a trickster raccoon (which were all to be determined), then I could save Laken’s life (also to be determined). Wiping the blood with an extra gauze, I sank the needle into his skin and pushed the plunger.
After covering it with more gauze and a gaudy amount of medical tape, I collapsed back onto the floor and leaned against the wall, wiping the sweat from my hairline. I could finally breathe, assuming I’d done everything correctly and Laken didn’t fall to his death.
Laken buttoned his pants back. Staring at me from where he stood, he shook his head. “Are you alright?”
I shrugged. “I think I’ll make it.” And despite not wanting to rise from the floor, I helped him to the bed where he dropped onto his stomach. I lay next to him, brushing the hair from his clammy face—I knew he’d been nervous. The fly-aways framing his face were dampened with sweat. “You know, I don’t claim to be a healer or anything but—”
