Page 164 of Envious Of Fire
With a smirk, he extends it to Tristan. “Here’s to honorin’ the deal. Giving back your precious collateral. See? Ain’t I such a stand-up guy?”
Tristan stares at the tube, the dark blood swirling inside.
Kyle, too, but with a note of confusion.
“What?” asks Mance. “Ain’t you gonna take it?”
Tristan’s jaw tightens.It may have escaped your attention, but I still cannot move my—
“Youdoknow what happens if this spills, right? Wait.” His eyes gleam with wickedness. He’s getting off on this. “I never went into it, did I? You don’t know the nitty-gritty. Like, what actually happens if this dark shit spills out. Let me describe it to you. In detail.” Wiggling the test tube precariously between two fingers, its contents seesawing from side to side in front of Tristan’s eyes, Mance lowers his voice. “Every bead you ate, it was like the slowest-ass signature you’ve ever scratched on the bottom line of a contract with Death. Every bead you ate, you locked up the soul of the one you were so desperate to protect. It’s like you took that soul outta Death’s daycare, arrogantly tellin’ Death that you can take better care of it. Death listened every single time you crunched a bead between those teeth and gave a pretty little thought to your loved one. Death obliged you, too. Death let go. Their soul’s blood is trapped in this test tube whether they want it to be or not. How’s that sound? I bet you didn’t even know souls can bleed.”
Kyle’s eyes reflect terror. “Tristan … what did you do?”
Tristan stares back, silent.
“So when this lil’ ol’ thing spills,” Mance goes on, “the soul of your dearly beloved spills out, too, bleedin’ all over the place, all of it, right in front of your eyes. You ever seen what a person looks like without their soul?” He wiggles the tube again. “Just reach out and take it. Otherwise this cutie-pie you love so much ain’t gonna look all that cute in a little bit …”
“T-Tristan,” hisses Kyle, panicking.
“Why the hell aren’t you takin’ it? Tell you what. At the count of three, I let go. The moment it’s outta my hands, it’s no longer my concern. Last warning. Reach out n’ take it.”
“Tristan!” cries Kyle, shaking.
“One …”
Do you know what I miss the most about our years together?asks Tristan—only to Kyle’s mind, no one else, lips remaining still.
“Two …”
Kyle’s eyes fill with tears, lips quivering.
That nothing else existed in the universe except us.Not even our pasts.Our pain.It was only you and me, my love.
“Three.”
Only you…and me.
Mance lets go of the tube.
It spins in the air, flipping round and round.
Past their eyes, lower and lower it falls, dropping between the canyon of their bodies, out of sight.
Shatters on the floor.
A moment passes, breathless, weightless, and silent.
Even the Ferals have frozen in place, waiting.
Mance takes a step back. He squints in thought. “So … it wasn’t this Kyle guy here? I got it wrong? Who—” He points at Kyle, then Markadian, then drops his hand. “Who the hell—?”
The next instant, thick black fluid spews from Mance’s lips.
Splatters across Markadian’s face and chest.
Pours over the floor.
“What in the f—?” Mance gags through the fluid, chokes, staggers backwards, slams against the nearest table. “F-Fuckin’ fuck?! Did you—?” Then he retches again, black spilling over his chin, creating a bib down his chest.
