23

I arrive in Kaz’s office right on time after my last class, torn between two emotions. Should I dread the next hour because of what happened with Dinah this morning? Or should I feel confident considering the clue I found about the blight?

Thankfully, I have some time to ponder it, seeing as Kaz isn’t in his office when I step through the door. Not wasting a moment of peace and quiet, I cross the room to the potion lab. As expected, Emily still lies motionlessly on the surface Kaz had her on yesterday.

As soon as I removed the sheet covering her, I freeze. Her condition has worsened overnight. The rash has spread to her face, making her almost unrecognizable, pulsing black veins accumulating around her mouth and eyes and threatening to crawl into her.

“We don’t have much time,” I mutter to myself and drop my bag on the nearest empty worktable.

Siri stirs from inside my blazer before popping her head out to see what I’m doing. She flicks her tongue in concern.

“This is the third day that Emily’s been in a coma,” I explain to her, retrieving the research I did on henbane from my bag. “And by the looks of it, she’s clinging on to life. Let’s hope I can at least slow it down with a simple antidote.”

“You found a cure?”

My heart leaps when Kaz’s voice sounds behind me. Shoving Siri’s head into my blazer, I spin around to face him, hoping my expression doesn’t betray my panic.

“N-no, not exactly…sir.” I ramble, conflicted on whether to look him in the eyes or just to avoid it all together thanks to earlier evens and certain…dream visions.

Kaz hums, almost sounding as if he expected me to not have made any progress. I’m instantly flooded with irritation. Did he actually expect me to learn everything there is to know about this blight in little over an hour *and* come up with a cure? Not even Alcove’s top healers could accomplish that!

But I will not sell myself short, especially not for anyone with the likes of him. “I did find a clue, though. After doing some research of my own, I discovered that henbane is a vital ingredient in whatever curse created the blight.”

“Henbane?” His brows furrow handsomely. “Like the poisonous flower?”

I nod. “It makes perfect sense. The symptoms of consuming henbane include fevers, hallucinations, comas and death, if only to name a few. And if I’m not mistaken, most infected Acolytes appear to go mad before…you know. Sir.”

Kaz seems to consider that for a moment, his gaze shifting between Emily and the indoor garden of herbs growing in the middle of his office. And speaking of which, I yet have to figure out why he has a whole potion lab installed in his space. It’s not a hobby I see him in.

Add that to the mystery that is Kazimir Devorak.

“So, if henbane’s an ingredient, hypothetically speaking, crafting a cure for henbane would slow down the effects of the blight,” he finally says after his thinking.

“Hypothetically speaking, yes,” I reply. “Fortunately, I can cure henbane poisoning in my sleep. All I need is activated charcoal, black salt, powdered amethyst –”

“Amazonian rainwater and rosemary essence,” he finishes my list nonchalantly, already striding towards a cupboard of ready-made ingredients to retrieve what’s needed.

I watch him, mildly surprised and impressed. He knows potion ingredients, good to know. It seems we have something in common. Again, I want to ask him how he knows these things but decide against it. If inquiring about his eyes was any indication, I don’t think he likes being interrogated.

Instead, I focus all my energy on the task at hand. Kaz delivers the ingredients to my worktop and lines them out alphabetically – another detail I paid mind to. Whether it’s by coincidence or he somehow learned I like being organized, remains a mystery.

Without another word, I get to work, starting by igniting a fire underneath my cauldron and adding the rainwater to it. While waiting for it to boil, I add the dry ingredients, stirring it slowly for everything to dissolve. The charcoal gives the potion an inky black appearance, while the rosemary leaves it smelling earthy and sweet.

Once the water is boiling, I lower the heat and induce the potion to a simmer. The last step is to charge it with magic. Without it, a potion is but an herbal mixture that any human can make – eccentric and entertaining, but useless.

Hovering my hands on either side of the cauldron and turning my palm towards it, I channel my magic, guiding it through my arms to my fingers. It is muscle memory by now, and it takes less than three seconds for my hands to emit a soft, golden glow.

Magic pours from my hands and into the cauldron, combing with the potion and creating a luminous concoction. The once black liquid now shimmers, resembling an inky, glittering sky, and the texture had smoothened to a creamy consistency. The perfect cure for henbane poisoning.

Out of the blue, Kaz appears at my side, his scent overwhelming my senses. “How…did you do that?”

I blink, truly confused about what he’s asking. “What do you mean?”

“Your magic,” he frowns again behind those shades, “it completely transformed the potion. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Panic twists my stomach. Did I just give myself away? Honestly, I didn’t even think about it. This is the only way I know how to make potions, it’s second nature to me by now. How do I explain my methods to him if I don’t even understand them myself?

Unable to lie or come up with an excuse, I decide to rather avoid the question all together. “That’s just how my grandmother taught me to make potions, sir. I’ve used this method for years.” I avoided his gaze while talking and scooped some of the potion out to pour into a vial. “Shall we test it out, then? Yes? Okay.”

Without waiting for his response, I brush past him and stop at Emily’s side. I’m overly aware of Kaz slowly following me, coming to stand right behind me to observe what I do over my shoulder. His presence radiates outward, causing my body to erupt with goosebumps and shivers of…anticipation?

What is it with him and this effect he has on me? Why am I so aware of him all the bloody time?

Banishing the thought of him from my brain, I choose to focus on Emily. I hope from the bottom of my heart this potion works, that this experiment will slow the spreading of the blight enough to buy us more time to find a cure.

Gently tilting the girl’s head up, I bring the vial to her lips and slowly force the creamy liquid into her mouth. Some of it pour down her chin, but with effort, I manage to let her consume most of it. And not we wait and see if it worked.

I hold my breath, clutching the empty vial in my hand in anxious anticipation. At first, nothing happens, and Emily remains motionless and unchanged.

But the next moment, she starts thrashing uncontrollably, her body floundering like a fish out of water.

“No, no, no.” I shoot forward to turn her on her side, watching in horror as black liquid spurt from her lips before frothing at her mouth. “Come on, Emily. Fight it. Breathe!”

But any attempt to pat her back and getting her to inhale, is futile. Her body begins to seize in my arms, jolting and shaking violently until it all just stops. My body goes cold when she abruptly stops moving, her head dropping limply to the side.

For a moment, all I do is listen for her breathing, and holding my palm to her upper back to check for a heartbeat. When I don’t find one, I hurriedly press my fingers to her pulse in her neck, realization slowly dawning on me and rendering me nauseous.

She’s…dead.

“No…” I choke, staring at her pale face and black lips. Only then do I see the black liquid staining my arms and hands from where she sputtered. Horrified, I let her go and stagger backwards, ice-cold and numb.

The potion – my potion – killed her. She’s dead because of me. I…killed…

It’s all too much.

In that moment, all rational thoughts vanish from my head. Forgetting our roles and his superiority over me, I turn to Kaz and wrap my arms around him. My tears stain his blazer as I press my face to his chest, relying on the rapid beating of his heart to anchor me.

First, his arms hover above me, unsure how to react to the situation. I can tell he, too, did expect the potion to fail. A young woman just died before our eyes, one who was my age and had her whole life ahead of her. And perhaps it was my potion that killed her, but maybe he felt like it was his fault as well for enabling me to perform that experiment.

Whatever it may be, Kaz eventually lowers his arms and wrap them around my shoulders, caging me against him. His touch is warm and comforting, his scent addictive, and among my tears and grief, I realize that I feel oddly safe in his embrace.

How ironic considering who we truly are.

An Anomaly in her persecutor’s arms.