16
Fatal Flaws
Istareddownatthe wooden bowl in the center of the cluttered work table. A silver substance bubbled and churned in the container, and I choked as the foul odor of something dead wafted through the room. Not even the aromatic scent of the drying plants could block it out.
“What is it?” I asked from behind my hand, trying to staunch some of the horrid smell.
“It’s a poison like you wanted me to make.” Tarra grimaced. “Well, not exactly the same, since I don’t really have a manticore on hand, but it’s one I’m familiar with making for the empress.”
My stomach twisted, and I glanced up from the silver goo. “You mean the hallucinogenic?”
Tarra’s pretty face pinched in confusion. “You know about that?”
I nodded.
“While it has a similar base, I altered this poison a bit so you can dip your weapons in, and it’ll kill rapidly and efficiently, not just disable. It’s way more effective than the manticore poison, which paralyzes first and kills slowly.”
“What changed your mind?”
Tarra hung her head. “The more I thought about it, the more I realized if I didn’t help you, that was just as bad as if I were the one to kill you myself.”
“Tarra. That’s not true. It’s not your fault if someone else wants me dead.”
“But it would be my fault if you died because you didn’t have the protection you needed—protection I could provide.”
“Tarra—”
“It’s okay, Kaleah.” Her eyes moved up to meet mine. “I tried convincing myself Ryker doesn’t want you dead—you’re the only one who thinks he does. Or that if he did, you’d be able to win him over, but I still couldn’t stop worrying about you. And after the look I just saw on his face—” She shuddered. “I’m not so sure you were wrong.”
I still couldn’t figure out why Ryker would be so mad—I was just teasing him. Standing there beside Tarra in the earthen walled workroom and staring down at the blade, I should have felt relieved. I couldn’t. After facing that Outlander in the dungeon, there was no way I could hurt someone, let alone kill them. Especially not someone I knew. Especially not Ryker.
“Anyhow,” Tarra’s voice snapped me back. “I’ve already tested it out a few times and—”
“Wait, you what?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to get your hopes up without making sure it worked.” She pointed behind me. I glanced to the door, where Judex’s large form stood just outside the frame—Clay was once again tucked in between two shelves in the small room—and only then did I notice a half lidded wicker basket beside the door with a pink rat tail sticking out of it. So that’s where the smell was coming from.
“Here.” She snatched a lump of folded cloth off the table and held it out to me. I took it, and peeling back the corner, found the dagger that had almost killed me—the one I’d left behind without even a second thought—sitting in a tightly woven leather sheath. I stared, not sure what to make of it.
“That’s what I wanted to give you.” Tarra offered me a sheepish smile, playing with the hem of her shirt. “I didn’t feel safe carrying it around the palace, but I wanted to make sure you had it, just in case. Be careful with it though, it’s been dipped and dried in the poison. I do have the antidote if you need it—”
“Thank you.” I pulled Tarra into a quick hug, cutting off her nervous rambling. “I truly hope I won’t have to use it.” I wasn’t about to tell her I was too much of a coward to ever wield the gift she’d just given me.
“Me too,” she whispered. “Being an accessory to murder isn’t high on my to do list.”
I laughed, taking a step back. “Mine either—”
Judex’s roar reverberated off the walls, and I spun around, heart in my throat. My blood golem loomed in the doorway, his massive armored back to us, blocking off the main corridor. Clay lunged forward, placing his back against Judex and double barring the doorway. Shouts in a strange language filled the hall beyond, sending shivers up my spine. I’d heard those curses before in the dungeon.
“The assassin!” Orassassinsfrom the sound of it. I tightened my hold on the dagger Tarra had given me as Judex roared again. But he didn’t move from his position, and I couldn’t see those on the other side of him. I stumbled backward, crashing into Tarra. She whimpered, staring wide-eyed over my shoulder at the golems.
“Is there another way out of here?” I asked.
She jumped, and shook her head. “No, it’s just a simple workroom.”
Something clattered against the dirt floor, and a small object rolled between golem’s braced stances. Tarra and I cowered back, and I screamed as the thing exploded spewing large clouds of black smoke in every direction.
I coughed, choking on the thick substance, and held Tarra close with my free hand as she buried her face against my shoulder. Judex howled his fury and charged down the hall, the vibrations of his footsteps trembling through me. My stomach wrenched at his absence, but thankfully we weren’t alone.