Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“I suppose you had.” With that, Tem crossed to the door and left him.
The moment Tem was back in her room, she bolted for the window.
She had no idea how long she’d been with Leo. Too long. It was late-or perhaps early-and she needed to get to the caves and back before anyone discovered she was gone. What if Leo came to her room in the morning? What if he came to her room right now?
It didn’t matter. Tem had to talk to Adelaide.
Her journey to the caves was a blur. The air held that certain electricity that came right before it rained, and Tem sprinted in an attempt to outrun it. She hurtled through the village, into the forest, and through the wall, bursting into the cave to find it empty. Tem groped her way down the passageway, not stopping until she reached Caspen’s chambers.
He was already there, standing by the fire with Adelaide.
“Tem,” he said immediately. His nostrils flared, and she remembered how he’d known she’d been with Leo after the carriage ride, how he could smell him on her. Surely, he would smell him this time. But she couldn’t worry about that now.
“Caspen,” she said. “I need to speak with Adelaide alone.”
Caspen hesitated. Tem knew he was already in the dark, already worried something was happening beyond his control. She didn’t have the capacity to comfort him.
“Of course,” he said quietly. “Take as long as you need.”
He pressed a long, tender kiss to Tem’s cheek before sweeping from the room. Tem waited until the door was closed before turning to Adelaide.
“What is it, Temperance?”
Tem arranged her thoughts before speaking. “I…can’t talk to Caspen anymore.”
Adelaide raised an eyebrow.
“With my mind, I mean. Our connection is…broken. It’s weak. I can barely hear him.” Tem paused, gathering the courage to continue. “And I can lie. For the first time in my life. Easily-the way normal people can.”
Adelaide crossed her perfectly toned arms. “Why are you telling me this, Temperance?”
Tem met her eye. “Because you know about hybreeds. And I need you to tell me what’s wrong with me.”
“I cannot be sure.” Adelaide shrugged elegantly. “I am by no means an expert.”
“Well then, guess.”
She sighed. “When did it begin?”
“Right after Caspen crested me.”
Adelaide’s golden eyes searched Tem’s. “I have never heard of anything like this before. I doubt anyone has. But it is possible that…” She paused, and it felt as if every cell in Tem’s body were tilting forward. “The basilisk side of you is…dying.”
“What? But the crest didn’t work. I’m not bonded to Caspen.”
“It did not work on the human side of you. You are made up of two things, Temperance. Perhaps the crest could only choose one or the other. It chose the basilisk.”
“You say that as if it has a mind of its own.”
“It may very well have one. Caspen had only crested a basilisk before you. So when he did it again, the crest was drawn to what it knew. The part of you that is human was spared from its effects. The part of you that is basilisk was not.”
“So…what’s going to happen to me?”
“I do not know.”
“But if you-“
“If I had to guess,” Adelaide said, “I would say that you are…wounded, so to speak.”
Tem’s heart fell.
This explained everything: her inability to speak to Caspen as easily as she once did, her newfound ability to lie. She was losing the best part of her-the part she’d only just gotten to know.
Adelaide was watching her in sympathetic silence.
“What happens if the basilisk side of me dies completely?” Tem whispered.
Adelaide sighed, answering gently. “The same thing that happens when anything dies. It ceases to exist.”
“But then I’ll be…” Tem couldn’t say the words.
Adelaide said them for her. “You will be fully human.”
The reality of this revelation sank in slowly. If Tem became fully human, she would lose the ability to crest. If that happened, Leo’s life was in danger. Bastian had said that the crest was an elegant solution-that the alternative was all-out war. If she couldn’t perform the crest, there would be bloodshed.
“How can I heal it?”
Adelaide pursed her lips. “I do not know that it can be healed. But if it were possible, it would require a significant amount of power.”
Tem’s mind was racing. Surely, cresting the royals would garner her a significant amount of power. But only if she could do it before the basilisk side of her died completely. She lifted her chin.
“How long do I have?”
Adelaide sighed. “I do not know that either. Caspen crested you days ago. That means the basilisk side of you has been dying for just as long. If the deterioration of your connection is as bad as you say, I would guess you have a week. Maybe less.”
A week. Maybe less. Tem fought to ignore the panic threatening to overtake her. “You can’t tell Caspen.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to protest.
“You can’t,” Tem insisted. “He’ll never forgive himself if he finds out this is his fault. Promise me.”
But the basilisk shook her beautiful head. “It will not matter what I promise. He will find out when he can no longer speak to you with his mind. Most likely he has already begun to feel the effects. It is inevitable, Temperance.”
Tem held back tears.
“Listen to me,” Adelaide said urgently. “That is the least of your worries. You must remember that you are bound to Caspen by blood.”
Tem closed her eyes as she realized what Adelaide was about to say. Nothing could prepare her for hearing it.
“His life is linked to yours.” Adelaide leaned closer. “If a part of you dies, specifically the basilisk part…”
Tem finished for her. “Caspen will die too.”
Adelaide didn’t linger. There was nothing else to say anyway. She left Tem by the fire, and a moment later, Caspen returned, worry evident on his face.
“Tem,” he murmured, his arms already around her. “Talk to me. Please.”
Tem closed her eyes. What could she tell him? That a part of her was dying? That he was dying too? There was no way to say it. And besides, Adelaide was right. He would find out eventually.
When Tem didn’t answer, Caspen spoke again. “Tem,” he said quietly. “I know I have not been…what you need of late. But I cannot bear it when you shut me out.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.