Page 11 of A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison

11

B isma headed straight for Xander’s greenhouse. The entire way over, she’d hoped and prayed he would be in there. As she came bursting through the door, Luna hanging off her, she was glad to see he was.

He was in his shirtsleeves, the teal topcoat and waistcoat from earlier discarded. His shirt was undone at the throat, and his dark copper hair was unkempt; he seemed to be in the middle of something, but when he heard the door open, he looked up.

Shock cracked his features, followed quickly with consternation. He choked, taking in the wild look on her face and Luna. ‘Bisma, what happened?’

He strode forward, immediately taking Luna’s weight to bring her forward. Luna was whimpering with pain; Bisma had half dragged her here from the Enchanted Forest.

Even though the sun had set on their walk over, bringing a biting chill to the evening air, Luna was burning hot, her hair drenched with sweat. Her arm had gotten worse in the time it took to get here, the dark blue in her veins now extending up to her forearm.

‘Clear that table,’ Xander told Bisma.

She did as she was told and he swiftly lifted Luna and laid her down. He left, then quickly returned with a small roll of leaves; Bisma recognized the white willow, modified with something else she didn’t know.

‘Chew on this,’ he instructed Luna. ‘It’ll help with the pain.’

Luna grabbed the leaves and started chewing them, and they must have provided some relief, for her face relaxed a little.

‘It’s—burning,’ Luna choked out. ‘It feels like there’s hot coals on my skin.’

Heart twisting painfully, Bisma looked up to Xander. ‘Can you do something?’

Xander ran a hand through his hair; he radiated tension. ‘I—I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It’s different from last time.’

‘But it has to be something similar,’ Bisma said. ‘Look at the veins.’

‘Yes, but Mei was cold. Luna is hot—’ He broke off, examining Luna’s arm, which was red around the dark veins. ‘I don’t … I don’t understand. It’s traveling, as well, whereas Mei seemed to be infected straight away. Whoever is doing this has adjusted their poison …’ He trailed off.

Bisma’s throat closed. It didn’t matter who had done this or why—right now, they needed to heal Luna. ‘Xander, please,’ she said, her voice broken.

He turned to look at her. Their eyes met and held.

He shook his head as if coming out of a daze, and his frazzled look cleared. He nodded firmly.

Luna was still whimpering, but what he gave her for the pain was helping a bit at least for she was no longer crying. She held onto Bisma with her unpoisoned arm so tightly that Bisma felt her bones shuddering beneath the pressure.

Luna buried her face against Bisma’s neck, her chest shaking with quaking breaths.

Bisma stroked her sister’s hair, glad she was not looking at her own injury. Luna’s arm was blistering now, the skin peeling.

Xander returned, a mortar and pestle in his hand. He stirred it vigorously, and she saw the stretchy liquid of honey. Setting it down beside Luna, he cut a leaf from an aloe vera plant nearby, slicing it in half and scraping out the gel to add to the mortar.

The potion bubbled as he infused it with magic, but Xander’s gaze was hardly on it. He looked around, searching for something.

‘What?’ Bisma asked, impatient. ‘What is it?

‘Peppermint,’ he replied, agitated. He rummaged through different pots. ‘I know it’s around here somewhere.’

‘Are you a garden-witch or not?!’

‘It’ll take too long—’

There was a pot nearby with a small plant. Bisma plucked the plant out and threw it on the floor, then stuck her hand into the soil. A moment later, another plant sprouted.

‘Here!’ she cried.

He blinked, staring at her with awe. Then he looked at the peppermint before looking back at her. ‘Brilliant,’ he said, jaw slack. ‘You’re brilliant.’

He picked the leaves, then used magic to make them bigger. After that, he dipped them into the mixture, then came to wrap the leaf around Luna’s arm. It was a similar yet different process to what he had done for Mei.

Bisma held Luna as he worked, whispering consolations in her ear. The front of Bisma’s dress was soaked with Luna’s sweat, but she did not let go.

When Xander was done, he stepped back, rubbing a hand over his face. ‘I don’t know if it’ll work.’ He sounded afraid. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before, so I’ve never tried this before, either.’

They waited, and slowly, it seemed Luna was in less pain. She was no longer sweating as profusely, and her body ceased shaking. Bisma released a long breath. Xander rested both hands against the table, leaning forward and bowing his head.

‘It’s working,’ Bisma said.

Xander nodded, taking a deep breath before looking up at her.

But it seemed she spoke too soon.

Luna cried out again. Before Bisma’s eyes, Luna’s veins turned dark blue once more, this time reaching above her elbow.

‘Xander!’ Bisma said, fear choking her.

‘Baji!’ Luna gasped. The skin of her arm was blistered red, the veins growing darker.

Xander’s face went pale. ‘Bisma, it’s going to keep spreading,’ he said, eyes wide. ‘It’ll spread to her heart. Look at the pattern. I—I don’t know what to do.’

But she did not see what he saw; all Bisma felt was Luna’s pain. ‘What happens if it gets to her heart?’ she asked, though she already knew.

Xander shook his head, and Bisma set her jaw.

‘ No . That’s not an option.’

Luna was sobbing by then, and Bisma could not bear it, but she would not let Luna fall silent forever.

‘The easiest solution would be to amputate,’ Xander said.

‘No!’ Bisma cried. She wouldn’t have Luna permanently altered. ‘ No. Think of something else.’

Xander ran a hand through his hair, agitated. ‘We could …’ He trailed off, thinking. ‘Leeches? No, they won’t be quick enough.’

‘Would bloodletting work?’ Bisma asked.

Xander looked up at her. ‘It might,’ he said, and she could see him running through the process in his mind. ‘The problem is the poison seems to have overtaken much of her blood supply; to let it all might cause too much blood loss.’

‘What if we isolate the blood in her arm, then couple it with a fortifying potion?’ Bisma suggested, mind racing.

‘It might work …’

‘We have to try,’ Bisma said. They had no choice.

Even as they spoke, the dark veins had crept higher and were by her bicep now. The longer they took to discuss this, the further it would spread. There was no time.

Bisma held Luna’s face in her hands.

‘Luna, I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt,’ Bisma said, her words clouded with tears. ‘Sweet, I’m so sorry.’

‘Please,’ Luna begged, voice barely audible. ‘Just make it stop.’

Bisma met Xander’s eyes. ‘I’ll do the extraction; you make the potion.’

‘We have to time it properly—’ Xander began, but Bisma ignored him. She looked around to find a tourniquet, and Xander sprang into action.

He gave Luna something to help her sleep as Bisma tied the tourniquet around her arm.

‘Make that potion quick,’ Bisma ordered, picking up a scalpel. Xander was already at work, and without sparing him another glance, she put the blade against Luna’s darkened veins and cut.

The first incision was like a dam breaking loose: blood spurted up in a gush, shooting over Bisma’s hands, arms, and the front of her dress. Taken by surprise, Bisma squealed, stepping back.

‘Bis!’ Xander cried, coming to her side. His face was wild with concern as he reached for her, but she held up a bloodied hand.

‘I’m fine,’ she said. Her heart was pounding, but the extracted blood wasn’t harmful. It was warm on her skin, seeping through the fabric of her dress, but it wasn’t any hotter than blood normally was. If it was poisonous, it would have burned upon contact, since it seemed to be burning Luna from the inside.

‘Here,’ Xander said, handing her a bucket to collect the poisoned blood. Her dress was already ruined, her hands covered, but she held the bucket against Luna’s arm, drawing more incisions to release the blood, which was thick and an unnatural purple so dark it was almost black.

Luna whimpered, her face contorted with pain despite the potion Xander had fed her to put her to sleep. Bisma’s eyes burned with tears, her hands shaking as she held the scalpel over Luna’s skin. There was already a row of cuts along Luna’s arm, but Bisma hesitated to add more.

You have to , she told herself. She was already a monster, what was one more monstrous thing? Lip trembling, Bisma cut across her sister’s arm, watching as more blood flowed out. An acidic smell filled the air.

‘The potion, Xander,’ Bisma called, her voice thick. He was busy mixing it.

‘Almost done!’ he called back.

But blood was pouring from Luna’s arm freakishly fast, and Luna’s light brown skin had lost all its warmth. A gray pallor came over her, her lips becoming dry and cracked. Bisma’s stomach turned, dread seizing her.

‘Xander!’

‘Here!’

He dashed over with his mortar, the blue liquid inside splashing. Grabbing a beaker from another table, Xander filled it. Then he fed it to Luna, who swallowed it.

‘Is it working?’ Bisma asked, unsure. There was no way to tell if any of what they were doing was effective; Luna’s skin was still hot, the veins still dark. She had lost a lot of blood—too much.

‘I think it is,’ Xander said, feeding her more of the potion. ‘Look.’ He pointed to Luna’s arm. ‘It’s stopped spreading at least. Now it’s just a matter of extracting all the poison.’

But how much bloodletting would Luna survive? The fortifying potion had brought some warmth back to her skin, but it lasted only moments before she went pale again. Bisma’s entire body shook with uncertainty, with fear.

What if it didn’t work? Had she risked Luna’s life? Should they have amputated her arm? How had this even happened to begin with? Questions swarmed through her mind. She felt she was in the worst nightmare, but there was no waking from it.

‘Bis, don’t worry,’ Xander said, though even he did not seem sure. ‘I’m sure if we just keep at it …’

Xander fed her more of the potion as Bisma watched Luna’s blood pour out. She couldn’t look at anything but the blood dripping down into the bucket, splashing, a hideous sight.

Luna’s blood, her sister’s blood. Each drop felt like a prick against Bisma’s heart. Bile rose in her throat as the bucket filled up.

Then, finally— finally —the blood spilling from Luna’s arm changed from purple to ordinary scarlet, no longer thick, with none of the acidic smell.

‘I think that’s enough,’ Xander said, pressing a clean cloth against Luna’s arm. Bisma was frozen in place, unmoving. ‘Bis?’

She stared at the bucket, the contents now having fallen still.

The gruesome sight was Bisma’s only solace. The poison was out of Luna. Even as Bisma abhorred what she had done, even as she blamed herself for it, at the very least, Luna would be safe.

Her vision swam, and she wanted to collapse, but the work was not over yet.

‘We need to close the wound,’ Xander said.

Time seemed to skip. Without her realizing, Xander was at her side, his hands gentle on her shoulders as he sat her down on the table by Luna’s legs. In a daze, Bisma watched as he fed Luna more of the fortifying potion, then was transfixed by his long, clean fingers stitching up the cuts. Her gaze then went to her own hands, which were coated with black blood.

‘You did excellent, Bis,’ Xander told her, but he sounded very far away. ‘Bisma … Bisma .’

She startled, turning to look at him. The room came back in brutal focus.

‘She’s going to be okay,’ Xander said. His fingers were gently touching Luna’s neck.

‘She lost so much blood,’ Bisma whispered.

‘I know, but look,’ he said, reaching for her hand, which was limp. She allowed him to bring her fingers against Luna’s throat, pressing against her pulse.

For a moment, Bisma felt nothing, and her chest cleaved in two—until the pads of her fingers picked up a pulse. It was faint—so soft!—but it was there. She released a long breath, relief pouring over her.

‘Why don’t you get her more of the sleeping syrup while I finish up here?’ he asked, busy cleaning Luna’s arm. There were six ugly wounds along her arm, where Bisma had cut her. ‘It’s just there by the juniper berries. I’ll apply more of the numbing jelly so she doesn’t feel any pain in her sleep.’

She went to retrieve the vial, then emptied a dose into Luna’s mouth. While Luna was still asleep, this second dose would help ease her into another cycle of sleep.

With nothing else to do, Xander and Bisma both stood back, exhausted and stunned.

Luna had almost died. The realization struck her like a physical blow. Suddenly the smell and sight of blood was too much. Nausea overcame her, and before she could stop herself, she doubled over.

She had just enough time to aim into a nearby dustbin before vomiting. The sound was awful. Her throat burned, but she couldn’t stop until the contents of her stomach were emptied. Even then she stood dry heaving, gasping for breath.

It was only afterwards that she realized Xander was holding her hair back, gentle hand in her hair. She straightened, embarrassed, and he released her hair. It fell forward, and she wanted to hide, to bury herself in the soil.

Xander brought a clean cloth forward, raising it in his hand as if to wipe her face, but she turned her face, ashamed of the spectacle she’d made of herself.

‘Bis,’ he said, his voice soft, but still she would not look at him. She was on the very edge; even so, she did not wish to break down in front of him. Her body trembled.

As if realizing, he dropped his hand, stepping back. ‘I’ll just get some clean towels,’ he said, but she hardly heard him. She didn’t watch him walk away, only listened for the door closing shut behind him.

Once it sounded, she was alone. Pain spread through her and tears shot to her eyes. A sob rose in her throat, and she clamped a hand over her mouth, keeping it shut, not allowing it to release.

There was no one around to hear, but still, she would not allow herself to be vocal. The sob threatened to break, but she forced it back with both hands, as if she could stop this agony from overcoming her.

This was all her fault. Her entire body shuddered with the suppressed cries. She quickly wiped the tears away as they bubbled up in her eyes, catching them before they fell.

When the tears finally stopped, she uncovered her mouth, gasping for breath with only one thought going through her head:

What have you done?