Page 86 of The Cannibal

I took his hand, turning his palm upward and gravitating toward the wrist. Even as I inspected for a good play for a firm bite, I could feel the ache in the roof of my mouth. The dryness of my throat made it as if he were water in an oasis.

“Clench your fist,” I instructed.

The wrist was close enough where I could see the small ticking of the veins as fresh blood coursed through him.

I opened my mouth, the fangs pulling forward without the help of my tongue this time.

Without a second thought, my fangs disappeared below the skin. Except this time I didn’t wait to bite down fully. After another pulse of my jaw, I released the arm from my fangs. His hand was open still.

When I looked up at him, he was distracted by the cabinets and the mess on the counter.

“Luka,” I said, shaking his wrist, “I said clench your fist.”

His brow twitched before looking back. “I am⁠—”

We both stared at the hand.

Slack, open flat, and a slight paleness to the fingertips.

He pulled his hand from me and held it, pinching the palm, the fingertips, flexing it carefully.

“I thought you said it wouldn’t work.” I touched his hand; it was cold.

He could curl his fingertips, but that was it.

I used the scalpel to poke his palm in several places, but not even as much as a flinch.

When I looked up at him, he just stared at his palm. For once, the man had nothing to say, not even a jest.

“I assumed it wouldn’t be potent, even if I had any.” I went to my journal, the pen moving faster than I could think about the situation at hand. Clearly color was not an indication of strength, not reliably.

This was more than numbing—it was paralysis.

Not only was my venom chemically different from the rest, but the Vipera had no antibodies to combat it.

“Clearly you have something. Not sure what that is.” He held his arm to his chest, inspecting it carefully in his bewilderment. He checked his watch. “You bit me at ten forty-two. Write it down.”

I scratched the time into my notes before checking my wristwatch. “How long do you think it will take to wear off?”

“I don’t think it’s a matter of wearing off, but a matter of when my nerves will repair themselves.”

“Are you saying it’s a local paralytic?” My eyes broke from the page to stare at his hand. “Nerve damage?”

“That would be the logical direction.”

“It will repair, right?”

“Through metabolic detoxification, yes,” he confirmed. “I’m not worried, just surprised. We have Viperic regeneration and metabolism to thank.”

“I didn’t mention worrying⁠—”

Except it wasn’t only Vipera I’d bitten.

Everything in my hands fell and I pushed past him as if he were never there in the first place. Every step became faster, harder, until I was at a light jog, then picking up my skirts to run.

There were two girls in the hallway.

“Have you seen John?” I grabbed one’s shoulder, which startled them. The look of bewilderment only made me move on, quickly approaching the parlor.