[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The dagger shone electric blue, then lit up every vein in his body as it burned the poison from within.I looked away when he screamed in agony, but I could feel the heat of the flames close to my skin.I heard the dagger drop to the ground amongst a mound of ashes that quickly blew away.It was over.I won.Without blood, without counting.I had stayed calm, and I won.I picked up the dagger and carelessly shoved it into my pocket.A flash to my left caught my eye.I heard a loud cracking noise and flew backward, unable to understand what had happened.Then the pain came, burning hot in my stomach.Humans dotted the streets; I could hear their whispers like thunder, yet that was quiet compared to the beating of their hearts.I pressed the wound, and blood drenched my fingers.The pain stopped.Not a good sign, but I was too tired to think about it.My eyes closed by themselves; my whole body felt weightless.Not right.Feeling strangely empty, I struggled to open my eyes.Ignoring the dizziness, I rolled over slowly.I got to my knees first.Slow and steady.The blood still flowed; I could see a puddle on the ground, but I had to ignore it, had to move, couldn’t bleed out—not right there on the ground.I managed to push myself to my feet.I staggered on, trying to remember who lived close by, because I needed help.I pressed on the wound again, wondering why it didn’t hurt.It felt slippery; I concentrated on that because all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep.I kept going, trying to stay upright.My vision blurred at the edges, and I had no idea where I was headed.I just knew I needed to keep moving.Then I heard my name.Someone grabbed me, held me tight.Peter.“I.I think I’ve been shot,” I managed to croak.Of everything that could happen to me, this was the last thing I expected.He nodded.“I know, she warned me something would happen.I’ve been ringing you, come on.We’ve all been looking for you.I’m taking you to the bookshop.”“No,” I moaned.“Not him.I need to go home.”“Trust me, Ava,” He ushered me along.“I can’t.” I wanted to, but everyone felt like the enemy.“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” He sounded frustrated.“On silent,” I said through wet lips.“It’s okay.We have to hurry, come on.”I let him help me along but, after a couple of steps, I coughed, and blood poured out of my mouth.“It’s fine,” he kept saying over and over again.“It’s fine.”He eased me into his car and sped off.I was afraid to speak because I could taste the blood in my mouth, and after a couple of minutes the pain cut through the daze.“It’s hurting now,” I said.“Think that might be a good thing.”He glanced at my wound.“We need to get the bullet out.Looks like it’s healing over it.”“Can’t be.I can’t do that.”He shrugged.“I’ve seen you heal wounds before.”“Not anymore.Never works.Need to spit now.”He glanced at me, then opened the window.The breeze cooled the sweat on my face as I spat a glob of blood outside.“If the skin heals, the bullet will be stuck inside.You’re not healing properly on the inside, so we have to get it out.” His voice shook.I shivered, unwilling to think about what that might mean.No chance of a hospital, or even a doctor, and painkillers had never worked on me before.I gave a little cry of pain when Peter pulled over outside Eddie’s place.He pushed Eddie out of the way and helped me inside, half carrying me up the stairs.I gripped his coat and pressed my face against his chest to keep from screaming.The pain worsened, and the blood kept bubbling in my mouth.Peter laid me down, and I chanced taking a look at my stomach.It was covered in blood, but the wound didn’t look so bad.“I’m sorry, Ava,” Peter said, his face paler than usual.“I might have to hurt you.”I bit my lip and nodded.I had no choice.“I have something that might help her, but it’ll take at least twenty minutes to work,” Eddie said.Peter pushed him out of the way.“No good.She could bleed out by then; look at her.”He poured cold liquid over my skin as I fell in and out of consciousness.I heard Eddie whispering, but I was losing my grip on reality; his words meant nothing to me.I felt Eddie clasp my hand; Peter used my own dagger to try and open the wound and force out the bullet which had buried itself inside.I tried not to scream, but I couldn’t help it
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]