Page 36 of Not Today, Satan
Sitting back on my heels, I study my arms. The shards of glass scratched me enough to raise pink flesh, but none of them broke the skin. A rush of pain burns like fire between my shoulder blades, and I grit my teeth against the sting. “I think there’s a piece of mirror in me. It’s trying to control me.”
“What?”
“My back.” I whimper. “I think it’s embedded in my back.”
Nate crawls behind me and unlaces my cape. My body shakes violently, my teeth clattering against themselves. I’ve never experienced pain like this. If this is what humans feel in our lots, no wonder they hate us. I wouldn’t like me, either.
Nate gasps as my cape falls to the ground.
“Is it bad?” I stammer, fighting the blackness threatening to overtake me.
“I don’t see anything yet. It’s… There are… You have wings.”
I jam my fingernails deeper into my ribs and groan. “I’m aware. Find the glass, Nate. Unless you’re cool with me removing your head from your body.”
“Yeah no. I need that. It’s one of my best features.” His fingers probe the back of my dress, barely whispering against the searing flesh. “I can’t see anything. I think I need to undo your dress. Is that okay?”
In any other situation, his request would land him on the floor like Ferus, but I inhale sharply as another wave of pain flows through me. “I don’t care, Nate. Get this thing out of me.”
“I had to check. Consent and all.”
He unlaces the back of my dress and spreads it open. His fingers trace my bare skin, light as smoke from a flame, until he presses a spot that sears so hot that white bursts explode behind my eyes. “There’s definitely something there, under your skin. It looks angry. Black and…pulsing? That can’t be good.”
My teeth chatter despite the sweat coating every inch of my body. I can’t hold on to consciousness much longer. “You’ll have to cut it out.”
Nate’s hands leave my back. “I can’t do that. I’m the most squeamish person ever. I can’t even watch medical dramas. And those are likeTVgore.”
I curse under my breath. “It’s skin and blood, Nate. This shard isn’t coming out by itself and if we leave it in, it’s going to kill me or you or both of us.”
He sucks in his top lip, then lifts his head. “Fine. But don’t you dare leave me here if I faint.”
“I make no promises.” I attempt to smile at him, but another wave of pain rolls over me, and I lurch over my knees. My palms dig into the ground, shards of gravel embedding themselves into my skin. “Hurry. Please.”
“Okay, here goes. Take a deep breath.” He grabs the knife from his belt and slices.
XVI.
The pain I’d felt before is nothing compared to the agony that rips through my skin when he makes the first cut. I curl my fingers into a fist and ram my jaw shut to keep from screaming. The cave swirls around me, our shadows melting down the wall like candle wax as sweat and tears blind me.
Nate grunts, and the pain mercifully dissipates. My muscles unclench, and I sink into the ground.
He holds up a shard of glass no bigger than a pebble. It blinks orange and red in the torchlight. “I think I got it.”
I take the bit of mirror from him and cradle it in my palm, careful not to break skin again. No magic voices vibrate through it. It’s so small, but it wasso loud.
I frown. “This did all of that?”
“Devica…”It hums against my skin.
Absolutely not.
I search the cave, bare except for us and the fires popping and crackling from the torches on the walls. The torches. I clutch my bodice and run to one, tossing the glass into the flames. The voice extinguishes with a hiss, and I sink to the ground, exhausted.
Nate crawls to me and takes my hand. “Devica?”
“Shhh.” The only sound is the crackling of the fires echoing off the walls. I inhale the first full breath I’ve taken since leaving Lot Eleven and melt against the wall. “It’s gone.”
My hands tremble, and I slide them under my legs so Nate won’t see. I’m supposed to be leading us out of here, and instead I was almost swallowed by one of Father’s punishments. It wasn’t exactly a shining moment.
