A finger bone, like she’d stolen from the dead girl in Eren.
Eyes glued to Zera’s gray face, Kreya listened to her breath. And she listened to Jentt, lightly snoring on the floor. She hoped he’d forgive her for this. She hoped she’d survive for him to yell at her. She’d happily listen to days of his unhappiness, if this worked.
Carefully, she maneuvered herself on the bed so she could reach down to Jentt’s waist. She withdrew his knife. He always kept it so beautifully sharp. The edge glinted in the predawn light.
She laid her left hand on the bedside table, spread her fingers, and raised the knife. She steadied her breath. Cleared her mind. “Sorry for the mess, Amurra,” Kreya said.
And then she, in one hard swift stroke, sliced her own finger off.
Pain spread up her arm, as fast and terrible as lightning.
Hissing between her teeth, she wrapped her hand in a bedsheet, tying it tourniquet-tight. It continued to throb, so hard that her vision swam and then blackened.
Briefly, she lost consciousness. She didn’t know for how long. Seconds, she hoped. The blood was still bright red and wet. And Jentt still slept beside her. She had managed not to cry out, which was good. Now, to complete the rest.
Pressing her severed pinkie finger against Zera’s chest, she whispered, “Give me your pain, give me your poison, give me your rot, give me your sorrow.Iri nascre, evert sai enrara. Iri prian,evert sai ken fa. Iri sangra sheeva lai. Ancre evert sai enrara. Sai enrara ray.”
Some of the words were guesswork, albeit based on years of research and experience. None of it had been tested, though.
She held her breath, ignoring the pain in her hand and arm, and watched as her finger dissolved into Zera’s body. Her blood stained Zera’s nightshirt, the only trace left behind.
Then Kreya felt the venom flood her body, darkening her sight.
Before she plunged into pure darkness, she called out to Jentt, “She will wake!” She meant to add,And so will I,but she couldn’t be certain her mouth had formed the words before she lost all grip on the world.
“I hate you,” Kreya heard Zera say.
Eyes still closed, Kreya smiled.
“Hah, you’re awake. Knew it.” Raising her voice, Zera called, “Jentt, she’s awake! Just faking it now to mess with us.” Her voice sounded brittle.
Squinting, Kreya tried to open her eyes. Sunlight stabbed them, and she closed them again. She’d seen enough to know a figure loomed over her, probably Zera, which meant she wasn’t dead. “It worked,” Kreya croaked.
“If you mean you almost killed yourself, then yes, it worked.”
“You’re alive.”
“I know I’m supposed to say thank you,” Zera said, “but I’m too pissed at you. There was no guarantee you’d survive the venom a second time. You were unconscious for days.Again.Idiot. Selfish, stubborn idiot.”
Her hand didn’t hurt, she noticed. Someone must havestitched up her wound and bound it properly. Her body felt like it had been flattened with an enormous rolling pin, but she could feel it, which had to be a good sign. “You’re welcome.”
She heard footsteps nearby and cracked her eyes open again. Zera was beside her, in a chair, and Jentt now filled the doorway. She managed a smile at him. “Are you going to yell at me too?” She was aware the question sounded pathetic.
“No,” he said.
But he didn’t come closer than the doorway.
“You’re angry.” It wasn’t a guess. It was an obvious fact. “I’m sorry I risked myself, but Zera was on the brink of death, and I knew—”
“You didn’t even wake me. Much less talk to me first.”
That was true. But she’d been afraid of what he’d say, that he’d try to talk her out of it. Not talking it over first allowed her to be brave. “I thought you’d tell me not to do it.”
“I could have helped you,” he said. “Instead I woke to you bleeding and unconscious. And missing—” He sucked in air as if trying to compose himself. “You used my knife, and you didn’t wake me. We’re supposed to be a team, Kreya. All of us, remember?”
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the pain in his face.
“I know you’ve been on your own for a long time, but I’m here now—”
