Page 8 of A Drop of Venom

I’d never met a serpentae, but I’d seen them depicted in art and heard stories since childhood. Their kingdom, Izaelon, was many leagues from here, on the other side of the farthest mountains and on the coast of the warm seas. They seldom ventured far from the comfort of their native climate.

In almost every artwork I’d seen or story I’d heard, the serpentae were depicted as ugly, ravening beasts, twisted and misshapen and forever tempting human women so they might debauch them and then either force them to bear monstrous offspring or devour them whole.

But this male was not ugly, nor misshapen, nor a ravening beast. And surely if he meant to devour me, I would already be in his belly rather than cradled in his coils wearing the white cotton shift I’d packed in my satchel.

Was he not typical of his people, then? Or had the stories all been lies?

His long, forked tongue emerged from his human lips and flicked the air between us. He let out a soft hiss that should have made me even more afraid, but somehow it didn’t. Perhaps I was too much in shock.

“You’re bleeding, my shelshi,” he said, pain in his voice as if he were hurt too. “Where is your injury?”

I touched my lips and flinched at the stinging pain in my tongue. “I bit myself,” I said, my voice rough from sleep. “It was an accident.”

“Show me.” The serpent-man cupped my chin and the side of my head gently with a hand more than twice the size of my own. “Please.”

Reluctantly, and feeling more than a little foolish, I opened my mouth and showed him the injury on my tongue.

With his free hand, he brushed his finger across the tip of one of his fangs, gathering a drop of amber liquid.

When he reached toward me with that dripping finger, I recoiled from his touch. “No!”

I tried to back away, only for my retreat to be blocked by a thick coil that rose up behind me like the back of a chair.

He made a settling gesture with his hands. “Peace, please, my shelshi. I only mean to heal you.”

“That’s your venom,” I protested. “It will kill me.”

“It won’t,” he said immediately. “I swear it on my life. For you, it heals.”

I shook my head. “Not possible.”

“Look at your body,” he said urgently. “Do you remember how badly you were hurt from your fall? I’ve healed all your injuries with my venom, just as I offer to heal you now.”

I looked down at myself, at all the unblemished skin where cuts and bruises had once been. And my ankle…

Careful to keep myself modestly covered by my shift, I stretched out my leg and stared at my ankle that had been so badly swollen that I could barely put any weight on it. It seemed to have healed completely. I rotated it back and forth without a hint of pain.

“How?” I breathed. “Is this the magic of your people?”

“That is part of the answer.” He reached for me again, his gaze troubled. “Please, may I heal you?”

“It’s just a little injury,” I protested, though I leaned forward and stuck out my tongue just enough for him to see where I’d bitten myself.

“I cannot abide your pain for even a moment.” Very slowly, perhaps so he didn’t spook me, he gathered another drop of venom and cradled my jaw with the other hand. “Just a touch, my shelshi,” he murmured.

Holding me steady with one gentle hand, he drew the very tip of his finger lightly over the wound in my tongue. I braced myself for it to sting, or for it to go numb or tingle or be foul-tasting, or for the worst to happen and my body to succumb to his deadly toxin.

Instead, I felt only a pulse of warmth. The taste was very pleasant—similar to wine, but smoother and less sharp. Sweet, like summer cider.

As he cupped my face and jaw, I licked my lips without meaning to. His gaze zeroed in on that tiny movement as if he were a hawk and my mouth were a rabbit. For many heartbeats, neither of us moved.

I wanted to cover his hand with mine and lean into his touch.

I wanted him to cradle me again so I could burrow against his hot chest scales.

I wanted to move farther back so I could look at all of him.

I wanted to explore this cave and figure out where I was, and perhaps find some water to drink.