He grabbed a bowl from a stack and set it on a table. Dumping the toxin sacks, he spread them out. I counted ten.

“Is there a limited supply?” I asked.

“Each Death Lily has two sacks. If they’re removed, they will grow another set, but it takes a few months.” He pointed to a ledger. “I keep track of when I harvest the sacks.” Tohon opened a drawer full of syringes. Taking one, he pushed the needle into the sack, then filled the reservoir with the toxin.

Sickened by his macabre task, I asked, “What do you need me to do? I have patients to check.”

Tohon gestured to a chair. “Have a seat, my dear. This won’t take long.”

Unease roiled as I sat. He tapped on the syringe to ensure no air bubbles were stuck.

Turning to me with the syringe in hand, he said, “Tonight I have one of those dreaded royal parties. You will accompany me. Wear the green gown.”

My mind registered party and gown, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from that syringe. When he set it on the counter, I relaxed.

He smiled. “Your emotions are such a delight, my dear. You can go from hating me, to fascinated, to repulsed, then to desiring me and back again. How am I to tell which is genuine, when you don’t know yourself?”

“At least I’m not predictable.”

“True.” He crouched down before my chair so we were eye level. “The one thing I do know is you’re getting satisfaction from your work in the infirmary, healing patients. You are finally doing what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s gratifying, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And you have me to thank. If Nasty Kerrick had his way, you would have healed Prince Ryne and died.” He rested his hands on my chair arms as he studied my expression. “Yes, I know the truth. I was helping at the Guild headquarters when the first plague victims arrived.” With a slight smirk, he asked, “Did Nasty Kerrick convince you to heal the prince?”

“No. You did.”

“Oh? Do tell, my dear.”

“Do you want a list or should I just sum it up?”

“Not nice. Well, consider this. Ryne has been defeated. Even if you somehow managed to wake and cure him, he doesn’t have the manpower or the resources to stop my army. Your sacrifice would have been for nothing. You’re infinitely more valuable than Ryne.” He paused and scrunched up his nose. “Which makes this harder to do, but it must be done.”

“Makes what harder?”

He grabbed my right wrist and strapped it to the chair’s arm. I squawked in protest, pushing at him with my left hand. Quicker than expected, he had trapped my left wrist, as well. I struggled against the bonds and kicked, but he stepped out of reach. How could I not notice the leather ties hanging from the arms?

“What…?” The question died in my throat as Tohon picked up the syringe and approached. I opened my mouth to protest, but he thrust the needle into my upper arm and depressed the plunger, sending the toxin into my body.

Logically there was no reason to be scared. I was immune to the toxin. But would the immunity still work if Tohon and not the Death Lily injected it into me?

Chapter 23

“Why did you do that?” I asked with a steady voice despite my fluttering stomach.

“You don’t seem too upset,” he said.

The toxin spread throughout my body. I leaned back and closed my eyes as my thoughts disconnected from my body. Except there wasn’t a Death Lily to connect to. Only Tohon, but there was no way into him. As if he sensed my plight, he touched my cheek. And we linked consciousnesses.

Interesting reaction, my dear. This isn’t your first experience with the Death Lily’s toxin, is it?

Hard to lie when he heard my thoughts at the same time that I did.

No. My childhood encounter played, then the one where I had pushed Flea out of the way.

I suspected as much. They won’t communicate with me.

You abuse them, steal their sacks.

They kill people, Avry.

So do you.

His amusement flowed through me. Are you going to defend me, too?

No. Stop you.

Another wave of mirth. I doubt it.

Why did you inject me?

To prove a theory. Too bad the Healer’s Guild is no more. I would have liked to gloat. Tohon dropped his hand from my cheek. He returned to the table with the sacks and wrote in his ledger.

Disconnected from him and my body, my awareness hovered. Could I send it to another place? Too bad Tohon released my wrists and grabbed my hand before I could try. Our consciousness joined as he pulled me to my feet.

You’ll feel better in a few hours, my dear.

How do you know?

I’m guessing.

We left the lab and he locked the door. As we spiraled down to the ground floor, I asked, What theory did you just prove? But the answer popped in my mind. That all healers have survived an encounter with a Death Lily.

Impressive, my dear. If you weren’t already mine, I’d be worried.

I’m not yours.

So you say.

I suppressed the desire to argue with him. As my mother had often said, Pick your battles. Instead, I concentrated on the experiment. Does surviving the toxin make us healers? Is our magic a gift from the Death Lilys? I asked Tohon.

I believe so, but I haven’t been able to prove it yet.

If I had control of my body, I would have skidded to a stop. Images of him injecting people just to see if he could turn them into healers flowed through my mind. However, Tohon kept a firm grip as he guided me back to my rooms.