Poison's Kiss (Poison's Kiss #1)(41)

“It wasn’t me making him sick,” I say.

“You didn’t give him poison?”

“Of course not. I would never hurt Mani.” I lower my eyes to my hands. “I thought it was a problem with his lungs. But now—I think my handler has been slowly poisoning him over the last several years. Until Deven accused me of hurting him…I didn’t think it was possible.”

Japa shifts in his chair and scrubs a hand over his face. “You understand that I’m finding it difficult to trust you?”

“I do. I’m not asking you to trust me. I’m just asking you to help me help Mani. None of this is his fault.” My voice breaks. “I can’t lose him.”

Japa stands up and begins pacing around the storeroom. “So what’s your plan?”

I trace circles on the tabletop with my fingers. “There’s a village tucked away in a small valley high in the mountains—”

“The Widows’ Village?” Japa interrupts.

“Yes,” I say. “You know about it?”

“The question is, how do you know about it?”

“I…” Thinking about that day gives me a dull ache in my chest. I can almost feel the pressure of Deven’s palm against mine, the cool mountain breeze on my cheeks. “Deven showed me,” I say softly. “We went on a hike and he took me there as a surprise.”

Japa’s eyes go wide. “He did?” His voice is full of astonishment. “He must have cared about you a great deal more than I realized.”

I bite my lip. It doesn’t escape my notice that Japa used the past tense, and I try to push away the sting with a question.

“Do you think the widows would take care of Mani? If I can get him there safely?”

Japa nods. “It’s a good idea,” he says. “I think it’s likely they would.”

Relief fills my chest at the thought of Mani tucked away safe in the mountains. But there are so many steps between here and there. “I need to get him well first,” I tell Japa. “Is there a cure? Do you know?”

Japa drums his fingers on the back of the chair. “I’m not an expert on vish bimari, but from what I understand, it can only be cured with an antidote,” he says.

“So, where do I get one?”

He sighs. “Well, that’s the tricky part. You have to know the exact source of the poison. I don’t suppose you know where it came from?”

Kadru. I stand up so fast that my chair falls over. “I have to go,” I tell Japa. “Keep Mani safe.” I start toward the door, but Japa catches my wrist and spins me around.

“You can’t go now,” he says. “It’s pitch-black outside. It’s not safe.”

“I have to. Mani needs me.”

“Marinda, you promised him you’d stay. Get some rest. Wait until morning.”

I chew on the corner of my lip. I want nothing more than to run all the way to Kadru’s tent and demand that she help me. But Japa is right. Mani would be devastated to wake up and find me gone. “Fine,” I tell him. “I’ll leave at first light.”

Before I go to bed, I take a damp cloth and wipe down every inch of the bookcase in front of the safe room until it gleams like all the others. I close the door behind me and wedge a rolled-up rug into the space at the bottom of the door to block any breeze from escaping into the room above us.

Mani doesn’t stir when I pull a second pallet beside him. As I crawl into my makeshift bed and close my eyes, a kernel of hope takes root in my chest—there’s a chance I can find a way to heal Mani, a chance we can finally escape. It occurs to me that this is the first time in as long as I can remember that I’m falling asleep in a bed Gopal doesn’t own. And even with the horrible day I’ve had, the thought makes me smile.





I stand outside Kadru’s tent the next morning with my heart in my throat. All the way here I was full of fiery indignation, ready to make demands and insist on answers. But now the thought of facing the snakes has turned my resolve slushy. I wipe my palms against my sari and try to breathe through my nose. I love Mani more than I fear the snakes. I faced the snakes to get the toxin for Deven and I can do it again to find answers for the antidote.

“Kadru,” I call out, and my voice betrays me by trembling. “Kadru?”

She opens the flap and greets me with a wide smile. “I told you we’d be meeting again soon,” she says. I bristle at her self-satisfied tone, but I don’t say anything. Kadru is dressed in scarlet today. Her hair is plaited in hundreds of tiny braids that are twisted into a wreath on top of her head. Rubies hang from her earlobes and neck. Her fingernails, toenails and lips are all painted the same bright crimson.

“Don’t just stand there, Marinda,” Kadru says. “Come in.” She pulls the flap wider—white snakes cover every surface, and I have to swallow my fear to move forward into the tent. I keep my eyes trained on my sandals. I try to breathe deeply, but pulling in more air only intensifies the musky reptilian smell that makes me want to gag.

Kadru turns to face me. “Was there a reason for your visit, darling? Or did you just miss me?”

My stomach twists and I’m not sure if it’s nausea or anger. I focus my whole attention on Kadru’s face, try to pretend we’re alone so that I can speak to her without distraction. “I need to ask you about an antidote.”