Page 60 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

“I know. But he wants the Ethereal defeated as much as anyone.”

“You’ll have no way of knowing if he’s okay.”

“I know. But I know Aurelias is very capable.”

Her eyes dropped, probably thinking about how that yeti had nearly ripped his head off.

Fang spoke to me.He’sss agreed to donate his venom.

How did you convince him?

Fang slithered toward us through the grass.Threatsss.

I grinned.What did I tell you?

Doesssn’t mean I like it.

I opened my pack and grabbed an empty vial.

“He said yes?” Larisa asked.

“Yes.” I approached the snake then kneeled. The top of the vial was pulled off, revealing a rubber pad on top of the opening where he could sink his fangs. I held out the vial in front of me and waited for him to cover the distance.

He slowly slithered forward, guarded eyes locked on me. Then he reached forward and bit the vial, his fang sinking into the padding on the top. He squirted his venom inside several times, filling the vial a third of the way. He withdrew his fangs then scurried off in a hurry. “Great. Where’s the next one?” I closed the cap and sealed it.

We have to find one.Fang slithered forward.

“We need to ask every single one?” I asked incredulously. “I thought you got this message across to all of them.”

Fang gave me a cold stare.It doesssn’t work that way.

“Fuck, this is going to take forever…”

11

LARISA

It took days to gather everything we needed, and in the end, we still didn’t know if it would be enough. There might have been more of them, but they went into hiding once they realized we were there to exploit them. I felt guilty for what we had done, but there was no other way.

When we returned to the meeting place, Rancor and Aurelias were still there with the others around a campfire. I wondered how Aurelias had enjoyed their company for the last few days, but knowing him, he didn’t say a word to anyone.

“How’d it go?” Aurelias asked his brother.

“We got it.”

“Will it be enough?”

“We’re about to find out.”

We rode back to the dwelling of the Teeth, and the gate closed behind us. So far, I couldn’t distinguish the difference between the Teeth and the Originals and the Kingsnakes, but Kingsnake had warned me of their abilities. Maybe it was best I couldn’t tell them apart.

“We’ll leave in the morning,” Kingsnake said. “We’ll rest for tonight.”

“I’ll have an escort join you,” Rancor said. “Make sure you get there safely.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kingsnake said. “The provisions are enough.”

Rancor grinned. “You don’t trust us.”