Free Poison Kissed by Erica Hayes Page A

all this death would be for nothing.
    I yanked my phone from the slim pocket at my thigh and typed a terse text. U holding????? It took me three goes to get it right. I jerked through the address book for my trader’s number and jammed my thumb on SEND . I leaned my head back on the cool glass and clutched the phone in sweaty fingers, waiting for the comforting buzz that meant Cobalt was here, and had what I needed.
    Music screeched in my ears, scraping like thorns, the distorted chorus bass vibrating my guts to nausea. Before me, dreadlock bitch was fucking her snack now, riding him with her torn black skirt rolled up on her thighs, peeling back his shirt to lick blood from his fangslashed nipple. Wet flesh slicked and tore. He whimpered, pain and longing gnashing sharp teeth in my ears. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t block out the sound of his violation, but I damn well didn’t have to watch.
    “Looking for some light, pretty girl?”
    I jerked, and the phone slipped from my fingers as I went for knives that weren’t there.
    A lissome golden fairy smiled down at me, her wings frosted silver like a spider’s web in the rain.
    My fingers shook, scarily empty. I scrabbled on the ground for my phone, begging it not to be broken, not now. The screen lit, and relief slashed my nerves. Still no reply. I clutched it tight, like a lifeline. “No, thanks.”
    “Smell like you are. All broken glass and blood. Sure you’re not hungry?” The fairy gave a toothy white smile, her sweet musical voice like warm lotion on my tortured ears. A light scar caressed her gold-brushed cheek, like she’d been burned long ago, and she held her head selfconsciously askance, hiding the mark with her long silver hair like she didn’t want anyone to see.
    But she was still beautiful, her forestgreen scent an enticement. She looked interesting, intriguing, experienced. Not just a disposable china doll like me. I swallowed. Hungry? I was ravenous. “Really, I’m fine. Thanks anyway.”
    Silvery silk flowed as she reached out a long dusky arm. Her three-knuckled fingers unfolded, claws glinting silver. In her narrow palm sat a long glass vial. Inside, emerald liquid sparkled, twinkles of gold and silver winking at me like a demon’s tempting eyes, colored shadows dancing over her palm.
    My gaze locked on that shimmering green prize, and a hot ache flowered deep in my belly.
    My mouth stung dry. I had to wait for Cobalt. If I sparkled out now, I’d miss his message, and only Cobalt knew for sure how to help me. But . . . “I’m . . . I’ve got my score coming. I can’t—”
    Her eyes glinted. She darted forward, her cool arm sliding around my neck, her smile hot and conspiratorial on my ear. “But mine’s special, snaky girl. So bright and angry. I made it just for you. Drop of agony, splash of bitterness, bloom of rosy revenge. Make you feel special. Send you dreams. Give you what you need.”
    Her honey breath danced on my tongue, ripe with weird fairy insight. She slid long delicate fingers over my collarbone, trailing golden dust down to where my pale breast swelled. Goose bumps stung, and my nipple reacted, twisting tight.
    Desperate chemical need crooned deep in my throat. I could have thrown her off me easily enough. I wanted to shove her off me, to slap her lovely face and stalk away. But I wanted what she was selling more.
    She swept the vial up under my nose, where I could smell the cursed stuff as it dampened the cork, rich and citrusy like preserved lemon. I could hear it, the tempting effervescence tinkling like tiny demon bells, and my body ripped and tore inside with an addict’s helpless yearning. My breasts ached. Glands swelled to painful hardness between my legs, and poison throbbed full and threatening in the sacs under my tongue. I wanted it that bad.
    The fairy’s long tongue curled along the top of my bodice to the soft crevice between my breasts, and dipped inside. Slick, warm, inviting, the maddening scent