Page 132 of The Incendiary

“Fuck!” Elias leapt back and unsheathed his sword in a quick, graceful flourish. He struck something on the ground with the tip. A hiss sounded, then faded. I leapt up and rushed forward to see a snake, roughly five feet long, pinned to the ground at his feet.

“Fucker bit my arm.” Elias looked more aggravated than concerned as he peeled back his sleeve to observe the wound. “Well.” He picked up and tossed the snake’s body beside the bonfire with his uninjured arm. “There’s supper, I suppose.”

I started down at the serpent’s limp form. It had pale brown scales, a triangular head, and catlike pupils in its eyes. Inside its mouth were two long, hollow fangs.

It was ironic that memorizing every page of Gavin’s books would help me save someone he despised.

“It’s venomous.” I reached out to stop him from wrapping the wound. He’d already rinsed and cleaned it, but that wouldn’t be enough.

He eyed me warily. “How venomous?”

That I didn’t know, but I remembered the signs of a venomous snake, and the consequences of their bite. “It’s possible you could lose the arm if we can’t stop the venom from spreading. Or worse.”

“How do you know that?”

“I read a lot.”

He looked at me like he didn’t believe me, even as I cradled his bloodied forearm in my hands and studied the bite. It was deep. I had to act fast.

“It doesn’t look that bad,” he remarked.

I huffed out an unamused laugh. “You might think you’re fine now, but you probably won’t be within the next ten to twenty minutes.” If the venom spread to his heart or other organs… I bit the inside of my lip, because I only had one idea how to do this without revealing my powers to him, and it didn’t feel like a very good one.

I was going to regret this.

“I’ll suck the venom out.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

ARYELLA

Knowing you, it’s unlikely you’ll heed this advice, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Please do not endanger yourself for someone who doesn’t deserve it.

—FROM THE BUTCHER OF NYRIDA’S LAST KNOWN LETTERS TO QUEEN ARYELLA I

“You’ll what?”

It wouldn’t work. I knew that, but he didn’t seem to. Sucking venom out of a wound was dangerous and ineffective, but I had to do something to mask using Viridian’s power to heal him enough to keep venom from spreading through his veins.

“Do you want to die today, Elias?” I snapped, voice strained.

Pleasant surprise graced his features. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d called him Elias. Not Commander.

“No, I’d rather not,” he answered.

“Then if you don’t want to watch, I’d suggest you close your eyes.”

I’d already had someone else’s blood in my mouth one time in the last few weeks. What was once more?

“Sit down against this tree and stay still.”

He retreated and slid down to the ground as instructed, keeping his forearm supinated and outstretched.

I knelt in the dirt beside him. “Are you still feeling all right?”

He nodded, his throat bobbing with a swallow.

Gods help me, I thought before fastening my mouth over the two bleeding holes and sucking as lightly as I could. My cheeks hollowed to make it appear like I was pulling more out than I was, and I closed off my throat to avoid swallowing. I barely managed not to gag at the sour, metallic mixture on my tongue. The warm liquid sloshed in my mouth, nearly distracting me from reaching into my wheel for Viridian, but I reached for his spoke on the wheel and let it flow.