The sound of my name hit me, a shaky semblance of whatever was left of my civilized self. It was not enough.
I bit her. I bit her right through her scarf, my fangs long enough to pierce straight through.
She yelped and pushed and shoved.
I drank, but it just came back up. I couldn’t swallow it; it tasted purely acidic.
I shoved her away quickly as I turned toward the wall, hunching over and coughing, expelling the black blood onto the floor. It was like my body didn’t want it to go past the esophagus in the first place. It was worth a try. Even if it was to trick my body into thinking it wasn’t as hungry as it really was.
“Why,” she cried, yanking the scarf from her head and inspecting the black stain on it.
“I’m starving.”
“Blood sharing is?—”
“I know,” I groaned, turning around to lean on the wall. “I don’t know what else to do, Edith. She’s starving me out.”
“I don’t care what you have to do,” Edith nearly hissed, something I hadn’t seen from her before. “Make amends with Alina. Barter, beg, subjugate yourself—I don’t care. If you think she will forgive you if you wait it out, don’t bother. She is not a woman of mercy.”
“I will not beg?—”
“Then you can die.”
Her lip quivered, staring at the floor paces away, fidgeting with the stained scarf.
For the first time, I was able to see the fine, jagged line across her throat. A faint white that was easily missed. The mark of creation, her greatest shame.
Her bleakness took me back, like this was a prediction rather than a suggestion. I wasn’t sure if this was just from my fever or if she was being serious. The look in her eyes told me she was sincere. In my own disbelief, she shook her head at me and left.
Except when she left, I barely recognized the creature Edith had become. I was frankly unsure of whether to be proud or concerned.
Something in me twisted.
In hunger or shame, I didn’t know.
36
THE POISONER
My nose tickled. A slight tingle, just barely felt, brushing over my nose, then my cheek. Somethingfurry.
I peeled open an eye to a tail in my face. Though when I snatched it, it was utterly limp.
We do not have pets.
“Twenty.” Silas’s voice came from the corner of my room.
My view was blocked by a brown pelt. Leaning up, I could see him laughing at me just over the fur.
“Excuse me?” I cleared my throat, pushing the pelt down only to reveal another.
Around me was an assortment of such clutter. Rich browns and tans, spots and stripes, silken and coiled. He had built the most expensive nest around me, and I was surprised I hadn’t suffocated in my sleep.Smotheredwith gifts would be an appropriate term.
“I was able to cover you in twenty coats before you began to wake,” he laughed. “You sleep like a corpse.”
Another one hit me in the side of my face when he tossed it at me, only to be caught in his hand after I failed to notice he moved closer.
His cold eyes drifted, and I found myself grasping what appeared to be a mink cloak to make myself decent.
