Sound returned. But it was wrong. The heartbeats drummed too close together. Rapid and frantic, almost more chilling than the silence from the moment before.
“There. Now. Lie him down,” Xiane said the words as calmly as someone waiting for their tea to cool. We pulled Pheolix from the wall, laying him flat. “Stand back.”
We pressed away, and Aegir leaned in on one knee. “Anything I should know?”
Xiane shook her head. “No idea.”
He opened and closed his fist, bright light lacing his fingers like a blinding ribbon of static, then thrust his open palm against Pheolix’s chest.
A bolt cracked the air, and Pheolix’s body gave a violent jerk.
Silence.
“Again.”
Once more, Aegir flooded Pheolix’s heart with a small jolt.
Selena watched his muscles seize with wide eyes, hands over her mouth.
The scent of burnt flesh tinged the damp air. Curled softly, Pheolix’s fingers twitched. Then his chest rose and fell in a single, erratic pump.
Lub. Dub.
Aegir stood, and we rushed back to our places. Something splashed behind us. The Naiad who dove into the water a few minutes before hurried to us now, a long, steel syringe in her fingers. Selena leaned to one side as she stood over Pheolix, injecting the antitoxin into his thigh.
“Moment of truth,” Xiane said as Aegir took a step away. “We either made it in time or we didn’t.” The Naiad with the syringe, Sicia, knelt beside Selena with her own knife. The near-silent sound of severing skin turned my stomach as she set to work on the gash. I gritted my teeth, focusing on the dark splotches across his ribs. Guiding them backwards to their origin points.
Pheolix gave a shaky breath, the sound ghosting through his lips. A sheen of sweat clung to his forehead, the tiny beads sparkling in the blue light. His eyes parted.
Sicia laid her bloody knife down beside her knee.
Color began to return to Pheolix’s skin, his eyes cracking wider. He tried to sit up, and Aegir took his upper arm, hauling him back against the rock. With labored breath, he watched his own chest as the black venom began to fade, the spider webs whisking away with each draw.
Xiane laid her knife down as well, studying the swollen muscles in Pheolix’s arm. Selena’s shoulders sagged. Aegir clapped Pheolix’s chest. “Back with us, gnat?”
Pheolix gave a weak smile.
“Gnat?” Xiane turned to Aegir. “He’s a drone?”
I nodded. “That’s how he was born.”
“He wasmade,” Selena corrected, her voice thin.
Xiane sank against her heels. “This is the strangest day I’ve seen in years.”
Pheolix propped himself higher with his good arm, his brows raised as he looked over us. “Well, that was fun,” he sighed. “Who’s up next?”
Selena burst into tears.
“Idiot,” I spat at him, snatching her hand and pulling my sister to her feet. She was still wearing Aegir’s shirt, the hem ending at her thighs. I tucked her hair behind her ears. “He’s fine, Senna. Moon-damned Naiad is like a cockroach. We’ll probably never be rid of him.”
“Whatever you were planning to do in these tunnels,” Sicia said, watching as I dashed Selena’s cheeks, “I’d recommend that he not participate. At least, not today.”
Aegir’s hand found his eyes. He nodded in agreement, rubbing a notch between his brows.
Xiane watched him coolly, dark eyes suddenly shrewd once more. “What are you doing here, Aegir of Venusia?”
Aegir met her gaze, his hand roaming to his chin to scrub at the stubble growing along his jaw. We hadn’t offered Aegir’s name, but there was only oneVidereof the Venusian Sea. He considered her in silence, weighing his words.
