Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(76)

“Now what will you do, monster?” He grinned at me from around the kid.

I pulled back, lowering myself so my jaw was on the ground. Theseus held his sword pointed at me, his other arm around the youth’s neck. “What’s your name, boy?”

“James.”

“Well, James, have you ever seen the inside of a snake?” Theseus laughed the question. The crowd pulled back farther, a rumble going through them. Theseus glanced at them, and I slithered forward again while his eyes were averted. I had an idea of what I was going to do; I just didn’t know if it would work. If I could pull it off and still save the boy.

“You think I should not protect myself? That one of your lives is not worth my own?”

His words told me all I needed to know. Ernie was right; Theseus could be killed by me and my venom, or he wouldn’t have run. I stared at him, watching sweat curl down one side of his face. I had to be patient, to wait for his confidence to override his common sense.

Theseus glanced over his shoulder at the crowd and opened his mouth. This was my chance.

I shot forward, my mouth clamped shut, as I drove my head between James and Theseus. I shoved Theseus to one side of my body and blocked him from James and the rest of the crowd.

“You think you’re so smart,” he snarled.

I had only one answer for him. I reared up, pulling more of my body into the air than ever before. I almost doubled my height as I reared above him.

“Monster!” He pointed his weapon at me. “Do your worst. Good will prevail.”

I dropped from the sky, my mouth open, eyes closed. I didn’t want to see this happen.

Theseus jammed his sword into my mouth as I tried to close it on him. He dug it in, encouraged by my own momentum, digging the blade into the soft palate. I ripped away from him and writhed on the ground, the pain in my mouth blinding me.

Screams rent the air around me, and I tried to still my thrashing.

“Stymphalian bird, pin her,” Theseus bellowed. “And for all that you hold dear, do not let go.”

A set of claws settled above my head, and a weight held me down. Beth. Had she killed Sandy? My heart clenched at the thought . . . they were best friends. How could she have turned on Sandy?

I rolled my eyes to stare up at Beth. She bent and tried to peck my eyes out. I bucked and writhed and managed to throw her off balance, knocking her with one of my coils. She fell to the side and scrambled up, and I snapped at her, desperate to keep her away, to keep my eyes intact.

Except I underestimated my lunge . . . or maybe my Drakaina knew exactly the distance between us. My fangs buried deep into her flesh, cutting through the metal feathers that covered her like they were made of tinfoil. I jerked away as fast as I could, but even I knew it was too late.

Theseus laughed. “You should finish her off, but you won’t. It would make my life easier, one less monster to deal with in the end. So let me do it for you.” He flicked his sword hand at Beth’s bird form as casually as if he were waving to her.

He cut through her neck, taking off her head as if it were nothing to him. I stared, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Theseus smiled at me. “You see? She was a tool, like all the others. But your venom . . . it would have killed her anyway. This was a mercy I gave her.”

I reared up, grief for my friend driving me. It wasn’t anger, exactly, but a sense that if I didn’t do this, no one would be able to—Theseus wouldn’t stop with me, he’d kill Sandy next. And then Tad. And Remo. And Dahlia. He’d clear out the north side of the Wall, killing supernaturals, even as he found ways to make them turn on one another.

I felt it then, a true understanding of who and what I was to the Super Dupers. I could be the one who tipped the scales in our favor. I could not only stop Theseus, I had it in me to be the monster that made the world realize we weren’t all evil. We weren’t all true monsters, but were of value to the world as we were.

I unleashed my full speed on Theseus, wrapping coil after coil around him and squeezing for all I was worth, but he slipped through.

“You think I don’t know how to kill you?” he screamed, the heat of battle driving him. He drove his sword into one of the open wounds, a battle cry on his lips.

I didn’t flinch, despite the agony that roared through me. Finally, I wrapped a coil around him, pinning one arm to his body. I squeezed harder, lowering my face so we were eye to eye. I saw now why Hera held him back . . . he was mad with power, with his hero status. Perhaps she saw that.

He laughed at me, eyes wild, breath coming in gasps. “You can’t squeeze me to death; I’m a demigod.”

I wanted to tell him he would die, that I would kill him. I settled for flicking a single fang out and leaning over him. I let a drop of venom fall, and then another, like adding just enough flavor to a cake. Wouldn’t do to waste. He squirmed and thrashed as the venom fell from my fangs, avoiding it at first.

And then a drop landed in his eye. He screeched, his mouth wide open, and a second drop fell into his mouth.

He gulped once, stiffened in my coils, and slumped over. I didn’t let him go, but I did pull back, my head cocked to one side, listening closely.

From the group of reporters I heard a single voice speaking, the woman reporter from inside the courthouse. “As you can see, the madman has been dealt with by a powerful guardian. I believe our city is a safer place with the Drakaina looking out for us.”