Descendant (Secrets of the Makai) Read Online Free

plants, really I am. But the balance would be affected more greatly if you were the target. If you are out of the way, there will never be an antidote and this poison can carry on unhindered. It's you who needs the antidote, not these samples."
    Dorian glanced at her hands, coated by the gray murk from the water. Her scolded pride trickled away with the realization. "But we needed samples. How was I supposed to get them?"
    "What's done is done. I'll ask that you not shower, lest we spread more toxins. I'd also suggest you don't touch anything. I'll handle the plants and you guide me for a change."
    "Do you really think I—" Dorian didn't dare finish the thought. If the man arrived in the dark and the plants were dead by dawn, it had to be less than eight hours. "You touched my hair."
    "So I did." Gram dropped the gloves she was about to put on and took another sip of tea. "So let's figure this out. What could be so driven?"
    "I'm so sorry, Gram. I wasn't thinking."
    "It's alright, dear. Focus on what you know."
    Dorian took a breath. "Plants seeking a destination with a purpose is reasonable. But I'd never be able to convince them to be so destructive against something so harmless. Its own life energy would have to be, I don't know, mutated or something."
    "By man or nature?"
    "Does it matter?" Dorian raked her fingers through her damp hair, determined to find a solution as quickly as possible. She could handle paying with her life for her own stupidity, but never Gram's.
    "You've persuaded plants to survive against nature. Why, I'm surprised you don't have the water dwellers roosting up in the trees. Couldn't you convince them there's plenty of water in the air?"
    "Gram—" Dorian stopped herself. She probably could get the water plants to survive in the trees. "It's the objective that bothers me. It'd be like telling the lilacs that the periwinkle plotted to kill you, therefore killing the periwinkle would be the right thing to do."
    "Ah, but the lilacs and periwinkles would never do such a thing. Or would they? From what you've said, the periwinkle can be quite mischievous at times."
    Dorian raised an eyebrow.
    "Not even as a personal favor?" Gram patted Dorian's hand and smiled. "I'm only trying to get you thinking, dear. If nothing could be so cruel...."
    Dorian sucked in a breath, shocked by a thought. "What if I'm not the only one who can understand the will of a plant?"
    Gram's sudden silence drew her attention to a figure standing at the doorway partitioning the front and back of the store. A man in dark clothing.
    Dorian mentally instructed the trees within visual range to relay his description to the plants by the dead spring. Gram remained where she stood—frozen, expressionless, snared in some invisible trap.
    Every instinct screamed for Dorian to run while she still could, but she stayed motionless.
    "I'm here on business," the man said, his tone making her retreat a few steps. His narrowed eyes wouldn't let her turn away—not even to get closer to Gram.
    The back door slammed shut on its own.
    Gram walked stiffly to the corner of the room and lowered herself onto her rocking chair with her face remaining blank. She shut her eyes.
    Dorian glared at the intruder.
    "She's fine," said the man. "I assure you."
    "I assume you'll free her only after I do what you want?"
    He tossed a small black bag of coins to the workspace. "Gold."
    Dorian almost objected. They usually traded for essentials and nothing more. "You can't just barge in making demands—"
    "I want the antidote."
    A million things raced through her mind. The man had to be the one who poisoned the water—the description fit. "Antidote?" How could she free Gram?
    "Don't play dumb."
    "I haven't had time!" Dorian watched the man's eyes skim over the samples on the table, then very close to where she'd hidden the jar of glimmering sand. She clenched her teeth to keep from speaking.
    "Then make one. Quickly."
    "What if I don't?"
    The man circled the