Page 144 of Ash and Poison

His grip on my hair tightened. “Tell me what you want from me, and I’ll give it. I’ll give you everything.” His lips brushed against the shell of my ear. “My heart, my soul, my blood.”

My heart hitched. I traced the small scar on his eyebrow with a smile. “Everything.”

“It’s yours.” He pulled me down on the couch, teasing my braid, before he pulled my Lehenga up with a teasing smile.

His fingers traced the anklet around my leg. “It’s beautiful.”

“This and the plants are the things I vividly remember about my mother. My birth mother,” I whispered. “She wore anklets that made a beautiful song when she walked, and she grew beautiful flowers in her garden. She was the reason I chose poison. I still remember the way she would talk about her flowers, like they were a part of her. They were. And now they are mine,” I said with a sigh as Asher listened, his eyes wide, curious. He made me feel like I was the most important person in this world to him. “I could be anywhere, and I’d hear her walk around. That sound always made me feel safe and happy.”

“I want to make you feel the same. I want to be that happy place for you.”

“You already do. I hear your voice, I see your smile, and I feel safe, Asher. I had never been comfortable with anyone except Layne and Trina.”

He smiled then, bright and full of promises, and it was hard not to fall.

When he stood up, he looked content, happy. “I hate that we have to get out of this room. Every man is going to stare at you, and it’s going to kill me to not say that you’re mine. My woman.”

“Please, don’t. I still want to be a therapist.”

He laughed as I opened the door for him. He walked out, and I sat down, taking calming breaths, my smile never slipping.

I was happy.

I feared it, but I was learning to fight the fear, to just accept the moments as they came.

I deserve this. I deserve to feel content.

A sharp knock made me stumble up.

“Coming.”

I opened the door to see Nurse Dona and Leo standing there, their faces pale.

“What’s wrong?”

“Doctor, it’s Jim-Jimmy, he… he-he’s dead.”

It took me a moment to process that.

Fuck.

“Did you tell anyone?”

“No, I looked for Doctor Stanley, but I can’t find him. I…” Dona trailed off, looking pale.

“Okay. Don’t tell anyone yet. Stay right here,” I said, motioning them inside the room. “I’ll deal with it.”

I walked toward Jimmy’s room, my heart pounding. It was him. The one we were chasing. He was cleaning up.

I pushed the door open and winced.

He was killed the same way Mercy was, his mattress drenched in crimson.

I called Layne. “You here?”

“Yes. Asher and I just saw Jonah.”

“Bring Asher and come to Jimmy’s room.”