Poison's Kiss (Poison's Kiss #1)(66)

The Nagaraja shrieks and rears back, releasing his grip on Mani. The dagger is still lodged in his eye, and thick rivulets of blood gush from the wound. My own head is throbbing too. I scoop Mani into my arms. Pain shoots through my shoulder, but I push it away. My injuries are nothing compared with Mani’s. I run with him to the far end of the cavern. His face is pale and his breathing is shallow. I risk a glance at his arm and bile rises in my throat—it looks like ground meat. And there’s so much blood. I lay him on the ground and put pressure on his arm with both of my hands to try to stop the bleeding, but it’s not working. His arm is torn up in too many places. Soon my hands are soaked in red, and blood is oozing through my fingers.

“Stay with me, Mani. Stay with me.”

Deven runs up beside me. He kneels down, yanks the sleeve from his shirt and wraps it tightly just above Mani’s elbow. Gradually the blood stops flowing. A sob escapes my lips. “Thank you,” I say. Mani is so pale. I can’t lose him. I lay my head on his chest.

“Please,” I whisper. “Please don’t die.”

Deven lays a hand on my shoulder. “Marinda, you need to go now.”

My head snaps up. “I’m not leaving him.”

“If my father finds you—”

“I’m not leaving him!”

Deven nods and sits back on his heels.

“I’m surprised you bothered to come,” I say. I smooth the hair from Mani’s forehead.

“Of course I came,” he says. “But I was too late. We all were.” And I would have been too if I hadn’t escaped. The Raja may have cost Mani his life. Deven touches my shoulder and I shrug him away.

The Raja’s soldiers are swarming through the cavern, detaining the few Naga that haven’t scattered. Gita is several paces away from me, her hands shackled in front of her, her face pinched with worry. Our eyes meet and the door in my heart that I used to let her walk through slams shut. I wonder if she feels it too—the loss of who we used to be to each other. The cavern looks utterly ordinary now. The Nagaraja has disappeared along with the smoke. For a moment I let myself hope that he might be dead, that the Raja’s men succeeded in killing him when I couldn’t. But I know it’s not true. There’s a corner of my mind that still feels the snake’s fury. His frustration. His hunger.

He’s still alive.

“Marinda,” Deven says. His voice is low and urgent. “I promise I will take care of Mani, but you have to go.” I open my mouth to protest, but he shakes his head. “You’ll go back to the dungeon when these soldiers realize who you are. You’ll probably hang. Mani will never forgive you if you leave him.”

I chew on my lip. I don’t know which is worse: to leave Mani when he is so badly injured or to risk never seeing him again. A sudden vision of his face as I held the dagger above him flashes through my mind, and I think I might be sick. I don’t want that to be his last image of me.

“Where would I go?”

Deven exhales forcefully, as if he’s been holding his breath. “There’s a place you can stay in the Widows’ Village.” His eyes flick up. “Iyla can take you there.”

“Iyla? She’s here?”

“I’m here,” Iyla says softly behind me.

I spin around and relief floods through me. She’s here. She didn’t leave Mani to die at the hands of the Naga. Her expression is guarded and unreadable, but I’m so happy to see her. Deven shoots a worried glance at the soldiers.

“Time to go,” he says. I feel like I’m being ripped in half.

I press my lips against the top of Mani’s head and my tears dribble down his cheeks. “I can’t leave him,” I say.

Deven lays a hand on my arm. “I’ll bring him to you when he is well. I promise.” He scoops Mani into his arms and my heart breaks. If I lose Mani, nothing else matters.

“Please,” I say, grabbing a fistful of Mani’s shirt and burying my face against his chest. I don’t know if I’m pleading with Mani to live or with Deven to take care of him, but I can’t stop saying it—“Please, please, please.”

“Marinda,” Deven says, “I need to get him out of here. You have to go. Now.” Deven shoves me toward Iyla. “Don’t forget what I said,” he tells her. His voice has an edge to it—maybe from the exertion of lifting Mani. He holds her gaze until Iyla nods.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says to both of us. “Now go.”

Iyla grabs my arm and drags me into the dark passageway. I can hear the echo of Deven’s voice across the cavern. “We need to get this boy to a physician now!” I wipe the tears from my eyes as we make our way out of the cavern.

And I leave the only person I love behind me.



We are nearly to the Widows’ Village when I spot the cloak peeking out from Iyla’s bag. The coppery scales glint in the waning sunlight, and the sight of them sends my stomach spinning. I stop walking.

“You didn’t come to the Snake Temple to help. You were there with the Naga.” I can see from the expression on her face that I’m right.

She sighs. “It’s complicated.”

“No,” I say. “It’s really not.” She turns her back and keeps walking as if I haven’t spoken.