corvus//kaz brekker

fifteen

Suddenly I'm standing in Kaz's room.

"For once, don't disappear," Kaz tells me. "Just stay."

I'm embarrassed by how long I've wanted him to say that.

Kaz pulls his gloves off. "May I?"

I nod my head. "Yes."

My breath hitches in my throat as Kaz wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into him. We're closer than we've ever been before. I close my eyes as Kaz touches my cheek. Kaz leans in and our lips almost touch.

This is wrong. All wrong.

"This isn't real," I state.

"We're here, Tereza," Kaz tells me. "I want you."

Our lips almost touch but I step back. I want this moment so much it hurts. But this... this isn't real.

"This isn't... This isn't real, this is..." I start. "This is the poison." I take a deep breath as I open my eyes. "This isn't..."

"Tolya, I'm here," Wylan shouts.

"Kaz?" I ask.

"Jesper? Anyone?" Wylan asks.

I try to sit up. "Wylan."

"Hello?" Wylan asks. "You're alive."

I can see Wylan through a hole in the door. "We're dying. We've been poisoned."

"Uh... Throwing up? Or hallucinations?" Wylan asks.

"Hallucinations." I groan. "Some kind of orange vapor." I drag myself towards the door. "Wylan."

"Take this," Wylan tells me. He hands me a blue butterfly through the hole. "Eat it. That might sound strange, but the poison doesn't kill them, so they might be the antidote."

I force the butterfly into my mouth. It's one of the stranger things I've ever done. Then suddenly I feel better. Miraculously I feel better.

"Wylan. We need four more," I tell him.

"Okay," Wylan tells me.

He hands me another butterfly. I rush towards Tolya.

"Tolya." I force his mouth open. "Eat this. Wake up." He gags as he wakes up. "Come quickly!"

Wylan hands me another butterfly and I give it to Tolya.

"Tolya? Jesper? Put it in his mouth," I instruct.

I take another butterfly from Wylan and shove it into Inej's mouth. She gags but wakes up. I rush to get the last butterfly from Wylan. I force the butterfly into Kaz's mouth. He struggles against me.

"Wake up," I plead. "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Kaz! Forgive me." Finally, Kaz opens his eyes and I pull my hand away. "Sorry."

"Is everyone alive?" Wylan asks.

"We're alive," I tell him.

Wylan takes a deep breath. "Okay."

"I owe you my life," Tolya tells me.

I shake my head. "It was Wylan. He saved us."

"Wylan did?" Jesper asks.

"You're welcome," Wylan tells him.

"We almost died, didn't we?" Jesper asks. "Same time... I had the most incredible hallucination. Did anyone else get lulled into a comforting sense of joy?"

"I didn't see anything," Kaz states.

"Neither did I," I lie.

"All right, what's the plan?" Tolya asks.