The Purification Clinic

Chapter 4 The Dangerous Preparation

Silas drew my blood before sunset. He held the vial to the lamp and rolled it between two fingers. Gold moved through the glass with every pulse, the same healing power I had used on Dark Moon's wounded now reduced to a sample with my name on it.

“Beautiful,” he said. “Your Alpha has no idea what he gave me. Imagine one drop of nightshade in here. I send it back as a sample, Fiona drinks it, and Fiona dies. The healers find the poison mixed with your blood. Kael would say your name while he tore you apart himself.”

My name was already on the vial, written in Silas's cramped hand. He only needed to add the poison.

Silas set it where I could see it from the cot. “The moon is full tomorrow night. Perfect for a deep cleansing. We'll use a dual-spirit bath. Come willingly and give me everything, or Fiona gets the sample. Either way, the Alpha will thank me.”

Fighting him in that room would bring the guards back before I reached the road. I needed him confident, I needed one night, and I needed something strong enough to kill a werewolf before he could call for help.

I folded to my knees and covered my face before he could read the calculation there. I forced my shoulders to shake. “Please. I can't do it tomorrow. Give me one night to accept it. I'll cooperate after that. I swear. Just one night.”

Silas watched me through the gaps between my fingers. His smile widened as I lowered my head. He let me kneel there before answering.

“One night,” he said. “Try to run, and you'll learn how little mercy your Alpha has.”

He locked me in and walked away.

Once his footsteps faded, I wiped my face and went to the back room. Damp had swollen the window frame into its casing. I wrapped both hands under the sill and pulled until old wood scraped loose with a groan. Cold night air came through the gap.

I climbed into the overgrown yard and crossed to the rickety apothecary shed behind the clinic. One blow from a heavy stone broke its rusted lock.

Dried herbs crowded the shelves, most labeled in Silas's hurried script. I checked them by shape and smell until I found a bundle of thorny Bloodwolf Vine tucked into a dark corner. It attacked a werewolf's nervous system within minutes.

A clay jar beside it held fine, shimmering Silverdust, the catalyst healers used only in emergencies. On its own it weakened a wolf. Mixed with poison, it would strip apart the body's magic and multiply the dose a hundredfold.

Too much Bloodwolf Vine would scent the bath. I pinched off only what the steam could hide, dusted it with Silverdust, and wrapped both in a broad leaf. The packet fit deep inside the cuff of my sleeve.

Boots scraped over the gravel outside before I could reach the shed door. They were heavy and uneven. The clinic door slammed, followed by a bottle striking a table. Silas had returned early, and he was drunk.

Shelves covered three walls, and the fourth was open to the doorway. There was no hiding place. A sharp stone pestle lay beside a grinding bowl. I picked it up and drove its edge into the half-healed wound on my arm.

Pain ran hot to my shoulder. I bit the inside of my cheek until the urge to cry out passed. Blood soaked my sleeve, ran over my hand, and spotted the floorboards. I dropped the pestle, collapsed beside the doorway, and let my limbs go loose.

Silas found me seconds later, smelling of cheap liquor. “What the hell?”

His shadow wavered across me as he tried to focus. He stared at the blood spreading beneath my arm and swore. “Useless b***h. Can't even stay in one piece.”

He hooked his hands under my arms and dragged my dead weight across the yard. Gravel caught in my clothes. Inside the clinic, my head struck the floor twice before he dumped me on the cot.

He was too drunk and annoyed to notice the leaf packet still pressed against my wrist.

The full moon rose the next evening. Silas led me into the bathing chamber and locked the iron door behind us. Steam clouded the narrow room, and a brown herbal mixture bubbled in the stone tub.

He faced me, eyes bright with anticipation, and began unbuttoning his stained shirt.

“Time for the purification, Luna.”