Page 27

Chapter 27

Why Did It Have to Be Winged Snakes?

As we stood at the front door, waiting for someone to answer, I began having second and third thoughts about my “brilliant” plan. Mostly because it was dark, and I swore I could hear movement within the shrubbery. The slithering kind of movement.

I glanced over at Nylian and the elf appeared as confident as always, not showing any signs of discomfort or worry. The sneak even smirked at me, as if he knew I was panicking.

I tried to talk myself down from my mental ledge. I’d faced his uncle, who was a far better swordsman, and survived with my dignity intact. Sort of. This should be nothing. I could handle a few snakes.

Just as Nylian was lifting his hand to use the large metal-ring doorknocker again, the massive wooden door creaked open and golden light spilled out across us like a warm beacon of hope. Except that beacon was leading us to a woman who specialized in snakes and poisons.

A short, balding man with a bland, expressionless face and an impeccable livery of black and silver stepped into the opening. He bowed his head at us. “My apologies, sirs, but Lady Covington is not welcoming guests this evening.”

“Good evening. Please extend our apologies to Lady Covington for this intrusion,” Nylian said. “But Prince Xeran Elrich of Wolfrest and Prince Victor Montcroix of Edros request a brief audience with the duchess.”

The butler’s half-closed eyes popped wide and a flush rose to his pallid cheeks. He stood there with his lips moving, but no sound was coming out. Clearly, the arrival of two foreign princes was enough to break his brain.

“Yes, please come in,” he managed at last. He stepped aside and opened the door wider, motioning for us to enter. We followed him into a small but nicely decorated parlor, where he paused long enough to light some candles before leaving us to alert his employer.

“This is a good start,” I said, clinging to a positive.

“ Mn ,” Nylian grunted, gazing about the room while remaining in the center. “There are a lot of snakes in this house.”

I stopped my wandering and edged closer to the elf. “How can you be sure?”

“I can smell and hear them.”

“They’re in cages, right?”

Nylian flashed me a broad smile. “No.”

There was no point in voicing my hope that it was only the nonvenomous snakes that she allowed to roam free in her home. That was silly, though I now had questions about how the servants worked every day in this place without constantly worrying about being bitten. Were the snakes that well trained? Or did the servants rely on a steady diet of antivenom to remain alive?

“Just remain close to me and you’ll be fine,” Nylian reassured. He attempted to slide his arm around my waist, but I jumped away from him at the first touch. Yeah, now I was super paranoid. It was bad enough that I was afraid of snakes, but add in flying, deadly venomous ones and I was lucky to be conscious.

I almost wept with joy when the butler returned a short time later to show us to the rear of the house. We entered a giant glass conservatory that rose more than two stories in the air. Most of the enormous room was filled with trees and plants, while a stone path wove through the large fern fronds and palm leaves. The soft, distant splash of water created a peaceful atmosphere. The only thing that was a bit creepy was the regular movement of the leaves, despite there being no breeze. There were definitely snakes in this room.

Closest to the entrance were several high wooden tables and shelves covered in glass vials and other containers, reminding me of a chemist’s workplace. Was this where the duchess harvested the venom to make her poisons and antidotes? At the very least, it seemed like a peaceful place to work, if you didn’t mind being surrounded by snakes. But considering her chosen profession, I was going to assume she didn’t mind at all.

Minutes later, a stunningly young and beautiful woman swept into the conservatory, wearing a long, elegant black gown that revealed creamy pale shoulders and a long, swanlike neck. She had an adorable heart-shaped face with hypnotic dark eyes that glittered in the flickering lamplight. At a guess, she appeared as if she couldn’t be more than twenty years old, possibly even younger. This was the accomplished King’s Poison Maker of Lockeheim?

Her tiny smile grew even wider when her gaze settled on me. “You look surprised?”

“You’re so young.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.

Bright, tinkling laughter slipped from her lips, and she clasped her dainty hands together in front of her bosom. “I am. The youngest poison maker in all of Lockeheim. Certainly, the youngest to be named the King’s Poison Maker.”

“And I’m sure that will give you ample time to become the most accomplished King’s Poison Maker in all of Lockeheim’s long history,” Nylian said smoothly. “It is a great honor to meet you, Lady Covington. I am Prince Xeran Elrich of Wolfrest, and my companion is Prince Victor Montcroix of Edros. We apologize for showing up on your doorstep so late in the evening.”

She gave another laugh and wandered over to a divan framed by a pair of chairs on spindly legs. “You would be astonished by how often people feel that the only time to visit the King’s Poison Maker is during the dead of night.” She sat on the divan as if she weighed no more than a bit of dandelion fluff and motioned for us to sit in the pair of chairs. “What can I do for two such handsome princes?”

Nylian and I glanced at each other for a heartbeat, and I gave him a tiny nod to continue. He was the one with all the social graces and smooth speech. He was the one of us least likely to insult the woman and most likely to weasel out the information we needed. I’d probably call her a kid again or some other nonsense.

“We are very much hoping that you can provide us with an antidote to a poison and some information,” Nylian began as he edged out onto the thin limb of hope.

“You didn’t come for a poison? Well, now I’m intrigued,” she cooed. She rested her elbow on the curled side of the divan and placed her head in her palm.

“My brother, Prince Orian Elrich, was poisoned with Witch’s Spite. As everyone knows, you’re the only person in all the world who can produce that poison. We hope you can provide us with the antidote to Witch’s Spite as well as the name of the person who purchased it from you.”

I was so proud of how calm and even Nylian’s voice was as he spoke of his brother. It couldn’t be easy to remain so emotionally detached when it was his beloved brother’s life who hung in the balance.

“Well, now it’s become disappointing,” Helena murmured with a tiny pout of her bottom lip.

“What do you mean?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat. The urge to shake her was rising. Why couldn’t she just spit things out? I didn’t want to be in the snake house any longer than necessary.

“First, I offer anonymity to all of my clients. Not even the king can have access to my records.” She gave a little giggle and smiled at me, but there was a new, cold sharpness. A darker feeling slithered up from my stomach to chill my soul. I’d underestimated this woman. I’d been so caught up in her youth and kewpie-doll appearance that lent her an air of innocence. I’d forgotten that she specialized in creating something that killed people. “If people were worried about me sharing who bought what from me, no one would dare to use my expertise.”

Oh, no. What a shame…

She turned her attention to Nylian and cocked her head. “The other problem is that I don’t have an antidote to Widow’s Spite on hand because no one survives that poison. I’ve never heard of such a thing. It’s too fast acting. Are you sure he was poisoned with Widow’s Spite and not something else?”

“The royal healers are quite positive that was the poison. They have placed my brother under a spell to stop time around him, which has halted the progress of the poison through his body, but they can’t remove it until we have the antidote.”

A soft grunt escaped her that made me think she might be impressed with the healers of West Vale. “Not a bad ploy, but only temporary. That would last a few months at best. But eventually, the poison will win.”

“That is why I came here as soon as I found out what poison had been used. We’re running out of time, and I need an antidote to save him.” For the first time, Nylian’s words took on a harder edge.

My heart sank as I watched the smile on Helena’s lips wilt into a frown. This wouldn’t be good. “I’ve never been a fan of making antidotes to my poisons. A poison typically has a single job. Some are destined to kill, while others exist to maim or take over the mind of their target. To take an antidote is to keep a poison from its ultimate destiny, and if I allow that, why do I make poisons in the first place? It’s almost like saying I shouldn’t exist.”

Yeah, this was going downhill fast. I was struggling to follow her twisted logic, but the short of it was that she wasn’t a fan of antidotes.

Clenching my teeth, I looked over at Nylian to find him lounging in his chair as if her words didn’t bother him, but I could see the muscles in his jaw tensing. His hand on the arm of the chair had also tightened to the point of his knuckles turning white.

“But Orian doesn’t deserve to die,” Nylian replied tightly.

Helena shrugged one shoulder. “I’m sure most people in the world would argue that they don’t deserve to die. It’s not my job to decide that. I just make the poisons. Besides…” She lifted a slender arm into the air and there was a sudden flapping of leathery wings. My heart jumped into my throat to see an actual black-winged cobra gliding across the conservatory from where it likely had been wrapped around a tree limb. When it reached Helena, it coiled its long body up her arm and tucked its wings in. Its triangular-shaped head turned toward us, and its hood flared out. It hissed a warning, revealing curved fangs. This was a living nightmare, and I was never fucking sleeping again.

“My babies are so very rare and make such valuable venom. To waste even a drop is a crime,” she continued, stroking the snake’s dark scales with her fingertips.

“So, you’re saying you won’t help us,” Nylian said, as if her answer wasn’t the most important thing in the world to him.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I remember that the person who purchased that poison was quite adamant about either you or your brother dying.” Her eyes remained on the snake as she spoke, caressing her darling pet. “I’m thinking now if you were to suffer an unfortunate accident while you were here, my client might be interested in paying a bonus.” She leveled her gaze at me and her smile slithered across her face. “But I will give your companion a fighting chance. If he runs now, he might make it out the door before my babies get him.”

Nylian nodded twice. “That is one way to go, but I have another suggestion.” His head whipped to me. “Get the door!”

I jumped to my feet and ran to the heavy double doors that led into the conservatory. From the corner of my eye, I could see Nylian leap up with one hand still wrapped around the arm of the chair. He spun, lifting the piece of furniture, and flinging it into one of the massive windows. Glass crashed. I reached the doors and slammed them shut as the butler was turning in the main hall. I twisted the deadbolt, locking us in, and shoved a nearby broom through the door handles to keep anyone from joining us.

Jasper and Adeline should have heard the glass breaking. Their job was to clear a path for our escape when we got what we were looking for.

As I pivoted on the balls of my feet to face the room again, I nearly screamed as a snake flapped its wings, speeding toward me. Nylian’s sword flashed out, slicing the creature in half before it could sink its glistening fangs into me.

“No! My baby!” Helena screamed. “My sweet baby!”

“Lockhart, go search that bureau there for an antidote,” Nylian ordered. “I’ll keep an eye on Lady Covington and her snakes.”

I ran across the room, my eyes skimming over the labels on all the vials for something marked antidote. There were plenty of chemicals and what looked to be a lot of different poisons, but nothing that seemed helpful. In fact, there were only three vials of antidotes in all of her collection, and those were located on the very back set of shelves. She’d been serious. She was not big on making antidotes to her poisons. Psychopath.

My heart raced, and I started going over the vials a second time, all the while aware that the longer we stayed, the more danger we were in. In the background, Nylian’s sword whooshed through the air and Helena’s screams grew more crazed.

“There-there’s nothing here! She was telling the truth. There’s no antidote,” I shouted when I’d looked over everything for a third and final time.

“There has to be?—”

Another crash of glass filled the conservatory, and my heart threatened to stop. Did the duchess have guards we’d missed?

“Did you find the antidote?” Jasper’s voice rang out.

“No! She doesn’t make antidotes!” I called back, panic causing my words to tremble.

“Search for a vial labeled ‘black-winged cobra hearts’!”

“What the…”

We all stared in the direction of the voices. A moment later, Jasper and Adeline appeared through the leafy greenery. Adeline deftly sliced through snakes as they attempted to strike while Jasper ran to us, his grimoire bouncing on his hip. He was pale except for spots of color in his cheeks. For once, Master Binx was not riding on the top of his head, but I thought I saw him peek out of the folds of Jasper’s robes near his collar.

“The hearts of black-winged cobras are a well-known panacea. They can cure nearly any poison if used in the antidote!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Helena screamed, balling her hands into fists. She took a step toward Jasper as if she meant to attack him, but Adeline was right there, backhanding her hard enough to send her staggering to the divan.

The mercenary stood over her, glaring. “I’ve seen too many good people die from poison. I have no respect for what you do or who you are.” She spat at the woman’s feet, then moved to join Jasper at the table, where we were now searching for hearts taken from black-winged cobras.

“Even if you find the hearts, I’m not making you the antidote,” the duchess sneered. “Let Prince Orian die. You can all die.”

“I don’t think any of us would trust any antidote you claimed to make for us,” Nylian countered.

“Jasper, check those books over there,” Adeline barked. “She would have the recipe for the poison written down, right? Makes sense the antidote would be in the same book.”

“Yes! You’re right!” Jasper darted away to the bookshelf to work his way through the various tomes while I continued my search.

My shaking fingers fumbled over vials, causing them to clatter and fall over in my haste to read every label. At last, I located a small red jar with a winged snake drawn on it and a red heart was around it. I popped off the top and inside were what looked like tiny shriveled-up black beans. Nearly tripping over my own feet, I took it to Jasper.

“Is this it? Are these black-winged cobra hearts?” I demanded, practically holding the jar under his nose.

Jasper grabbed my hand and lowered it so he could more clearly into it. Master Binx scrambled over to Jasper’s shoulder and stood on his tiny hind legs to peer in as well.

“Yeah, that’s it. I think that’s it,” Jasper said, relief thick in his voice.

Master Binx also let out a chirp that sounded like an affirmative. Finally, something was going our way.

But that felt like the last thing.

I didn’t know whether it was his tiny squeak or his appearance out in the open, but a snake noticed and dive-bombed us. The chipmunk squealed and raced for cover. I didn’t think. My hand shot out, catching the snake behind the head before it could reach the chipmunk or Jasper with its venom-filled fangs. Just as quickly, I flung the creature into the trees and bushes.

Unfortunately, my arm slammed into a large vial of blue liquid, sending it flying toward the trees as well. It slammed into a slender branch and exploded in a shower of glass and chemicals. As soon as it touched anything, the liquid burst into flames. In a matter of a few breathless seconds, a quarter of the duchess’s private forest was engulfed in fire.

“Well, that’s not good,” Nylian muttered.

No, and it got worse. All the snakes that had been hiding in that forest were now flying and slithering in our direction to escape certain death. I tucked the jar of dried hearts into the pouch on my hip and turned back to Jasper, who was frantically paging through a slender book.

“Any luck?”

“Maybe. I-I-I don’t know. There are so many.” His hands shook as he searched, nearly ripping pages as he flipped them in haste. I snatched another book off the shelf and began searching as well.

“Jasper! We are out of time!” Adeline shouted.

Jasper and I glanced up at the same time to see a black cloud of snakes shooting through the air. There was no way Nylian and Adeline could fight them all off. There were too many. I swallowed hard, my heart squeezing so tight I thought it was going to be pulverized to dust in my chest.

Beside me, a book thunked heavily on the floor. I turned my head in time to see Jasper throw his hands in the air toward the racing snakes. Master Binx shrilly squeaked from the top of Jasper’s head, pulling on his long hair with both tiny paws. Jasper changed the arrangement of his hands slightly and shouted a single word.

My entire body was tense, waiting for pure magical chaos.

Frosty white surged from Jasper’s fingertips, filling the sky like a dense cloud. As soon as it touched the snakes, they were encased in thick blocks of ice and plummeted to the ground. I didn’t know whether they were dead or temporarily trapped, but it was fantastic.

“No!” Helena screeched. Another scream left her, but it was cut off suddenly. I jerked my head around to see Adeline’s sword buried in the center of Helena’s chest, the woman’s hands still outstretched to Jasper as if she meant to claw his eyes and tongue from his head.

“No one fucks with my brother,” Adeline snarled. She kicked the woman in the stomach, pushing her off her sword and sending her colliding with her divan.

“Jasper! Lockhart!” Nylian barked, snapping me from my moment of shock. No time to celebrate.

I clutched the book I was holding to my chest and snatched up three more. “Just grab as many as you can carry. We’ll sort through it all when we’re not in danger of burning up or being bitten.”

Jasper nodded frantically and joined me in tucking poison recipe books under his arms. With Nylian in the lead and Adeline bringing up the rear, we made a mad dash out of the house as the fire continued to spread. Servants screamed. A few attempted to stop us, but Nylian cut them down with a flash of his sword.

This had not gone according to any of the insane plans we’d cooked up, but I thought we still had a good chance at healing Orian. It was just a shame that we didn’t have the name of the person who’d bought the poison.