Pulse

Chapter 35

Cian

The quality of my vision was rapidly deteriorating, as everything about my body was. Caprice was a mere blur as she stepped back inside my bedroom, waltzing in front of me and placing her hands on her hips. I blinked, trying to clear my burning eyes. "Where's my brother? Lucie? Where are they?"

"I couldn't care less where they are," Caprice muttered, brushing her thumb across my lip. I scowled, spitting at her, and she scowled back, examining the drop of black fluid upon her thumbnail. She harrumphed and cleansed herself with a Kleenex. "That's demon venom, alright. How long have you been coughing that stuff up?"

I dragged a hand across my mouth, unaware I'd recently spit any up at all. I rolled away from her, wincing at the profound aching of my bones. I faced the wall and dug my nails into my palms until the skin bled. It was all I could do not to reach back and scratch the rash on my back, because in the end, that would just speed up the toxin's destruction.

Which, I thought as every fluid ounce of my blood scorched through my body, might not be a bad thing.

"Since last night," I murmured in response to Caprice. "Like you care."

"Wow!" Caprice exclaimed facetiously. "You'd think I'd be here, little one, if I didn't care? I don't like you, but that doesn't mean I want you to die. That would be an inconvenience."

I paused, letting my eyes flutter closed. I thought about last night, about sheltering Lucie, her dark eyes staring up into mine, wide and stunned. My wings were around us, a black canopy, a fleeting moment to ourselves. In that moment, nothing could touch us.

My voice was guttural, something deep in my chest. "You can't take my wings away from me."

"Maybe not. But the Order can."

"Caprice!" I yelped, ignoring the pain searing through me as I shot up, reaching for her. My muscles screamed in protest, my back writhing. Caprice was quicker and stronger, however, as the immortal often were, and had pinned me to the bed faster than I could comprehend.

Her hands held my arms to the bed, her hair hanging down in her eyes, which, this close, I could see were flecked with green and gold. Her wings had escaped her shoulder blades, much more elegant than mine had ever been—they were ancient dark sculptures that were marveled at and awe-inspiring, priceless. I could tell by the smile on her face that she knew it, too. "Goodness," she said with a smirk. "You're stupider than I thought."

"Get off me," I hissed through gritted teeth; she was pressing my back against the bed, and the rash against my skin was grinding excruciatingly against the sheets. The more pressure she added, the more it felt like the ends of a whip were burying themselves in my veins.

"No one is going to sit here and watch the demon venom slowly kill you," Caprice replied calmly. "And it will be slow, and brutal, and all because you were too prideful to let your wings go. I'm calling the Order down, Cian, because it's no longer your decision."

I turned my head to the side and sputtered, more of the viscous night-black fluid flowing past my lips. It was bitter on my tongue, acidic poison searing through every inch of me. "I want Vinny and Lucie here."

"Vinny and Lucie left, because I told them to," Caprice said as she eased off of me, hopping off the bed. "Trust me, now. They don't want to see this."

I had the feeling she was right, though it hurt to admit it. My hand ached for Lucie's; I wanted to be able to look into my little brother's eyes and know he'd always be there. It was them. It was the people who were always at my side, who always made me feel like I belonged somewhere—it was them that always seemed to make pain bearable.