Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Whoever it is, I press my hands together and bow my head. Father Francis tried to teach us about his God, and he would smile if he could see me now, praying to an unseen presence.
“Please,” I whisper. “Please.”
When I lift my head, I feel a sense of peace. I could be imagining it, but the room smells like flowers. Roses or something stronger. Something sweet.
Bella
* * *
The scent of roses wakes me. It smells like roses and lily of the valley. My mother’s signature scent.
The room is too hot, the air pressing in. There’s a slow beeping sound that’s driving me crazy. My skin feels tight, and my mouth is too dry.
I open my eyes. I’m in my bed. Kaiser’s beside me, asleep with Viking Thunder propped open on his chest. Like he was reading and fell asleep. I lick my lips. I need water.
Moving makes me dizzy, and there’s a dull pain in my right arm. I glance down and see something stuck in the crook of my elbow, taped there. A needle that leads to a tube that leads to an IV.
What the—?
I pull the tube, and the IV stand shakes.
Kaiser’s eyes pop open. “Bella?”
I grit my teeth and dig my nails under the tape on my elbow. It hurts as it peels away.
“Bella. You’re awake.”
“Get this off me,” I croak.
He grabs a bottle of water, breaks the seal, and holds it to my lips. I drink a few mouthfuls until he makes me take a break.
I lick my lips again. It tastes like someone’s put cherry Chapstick on them. “How long have I been out?”
He looks around blearily for a clock. “Fifty-two hours.”
Hecate, help me. That’s a long time. I knew I’d have a temporary reaction to all the poisons I took, but this is a little dramatic. I overdid it.
My father would say I told you so. Kaiser looks like he lived through a war. He helps me drink more water, and I feel better. I scoot until I can sit up, then get back to peeling off the tape until I can rip out the IV. He reaches for me, and I flinch. I don’t want him touching me. I can still feel the poisons swirling under my skin. They’re not killing me anymore. I’ve assimilated to them. They’re a part of me but still deadly.
He hesitates with his hand hovering just out of reach. “Do you feel okay?”
“I’m fine.” I look up and see a stranger walking through the door. “Who’s this?”
“Your nurse,” Kaiser says.
“I’m Tommy,” the stranger says, grabbing a stethoscope and approaching. “I’ll just check your vitals.”
Kaiser seems fine with this, so I lie back and let the nurse do his thing.
“Temperature’s normal,” the nurse sounds surprised. “I’ll inform Atticus.”
Kaiser tells me Atticus has been overseeing my care. I nod absently. I notice a stack of old notebooks on the bedside table. They look familiar. I wait until the nurse leaves to ask Kaiser, “What are those?”
“Your mother’s journals.” He stands beside the bed, looking worried.
“Oh.” I reach out and stroke the closest one. It has a pretty cover, blooming peonies on a green background.
I remember Kaiser’s voice rising and falling close by. I was in the dark and couldn’t see, but I could hear him. “You read them to me.”
“Yes. I thought it would help. Your father found them for us.”
I raise my head. “Did he visit me?”
Kaiser looks like I’ve punched him in the gut. “No.”
I sigh. I guess I can’t be disappointed.
“Bella.” Kaiser sits on the bed. “He wanted to. It’s my fault he didn’t come.”
“What?”
“I told him I would kill him if he tried to see you.” His face holds no expression, but I know him well enough to know he feels guilty. He’s torn up about this. “I thought he had done something to you.”
“No. He wouldn’t.” I pick at the bedspread. I like that Kaiser defended me to my father. “When my father poisons someone, no one ever finds out.”
“Bella, why did you do this?”
“I was testing something.” I quote one of my favorite movies. “I’ve built up a tolerance to deadly iocane powder.”
Kaiser doesn’t smile. He looks like someone died. “I thought…” He shakes his head. “I thought you were dying.”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
“Fuck,” he breathes out and drops into the armchair next to the bed.
“It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”
He rubs his face. He’s got a few days’ worth of golden stubble covering his jaw. “Your father told us this happened before. He didn’t seem concerned. The last time you were sick like this was when your mother died.”
I think back over the years. I would’ve been five. Darkness tight on my skin. Burning heat. The memories are blurred, but they’re there. “I remember.”
“I shouldn’t have threatened your father. He cares about you. ”
“Not enough to—” I cut myself off, but Kaiser knows what I was going to say. Not enough to stop this arranged marriage.