Botanicaust

couldn ’ t have been a dream.
    Guilt churned her already roiling stomach. To have sex with a patient — an unconverted patient, at that — went against all her training.
    But then, so did helping one escape.
    And what about Mo? Aching sadness squeezed her eyes shut, but she was too dry for tears. Mo had saved her life. What was he doing right now? What did he think of her? What would he think , if he knew about this?
    She opened her eyes, struck by the beauty of the big man crouching next to a fire. The muscles of his broad back flexed as he stirred the coals, flames shooting to life along with her lust. She shoved it down. The damn alkaloids would not control her.
    She focused on the familiar smoky scent of the fire, like Mo after a day of work. No, Mo after a day at work meant more alkaloid sharing fun. She needed to clear her head. Riding through the pungent smoke was another smell. A saliferous tang that called to mind the emergency with Bats. And the time before…
    Charred flesh.
    Turning to retch on the stone beside her, all thoughts of a lascivious nature disappeared.
    “ Tula! ” Levi scrambled toward her, leaning over her to press a palm to her forehead. His skin reeked of death. He lifted her head to press a water bottle to her lips and she strained to swallow. The fluid burned as it washed over her parched membranes, and she started coughing.
    “ Okay, okay. ” He held her steady until she settled.
    Coughing fit over, she lay back, unable to do more than lie there. But she was awake and alive.
    “ Hungry? ” he asked.
    “ No, ” she croaked. How could he think of eating with that stench all around?
    The tightness in his face eased. Moving back to the fire, he pulled something from the coals and gnawed at it. The smell of burned flesh grew stronger. In fascinated revulsion, she watched him chew and swallow bits of meat from some small creature. Reddish muscles and blackened little paws dripped juice down his chin. She ’ d never considered what a non-cannibal might eat in the desert. Beetles like Mo brought couldn ’ t be the only thing . But to eat another living creature seemed like such a shame.
    At least it isn ’ t human.
    He fished black globs from the coals and set them aside. Steam from the lumps released a strangely sweet and spicy scent, not unlike the agave candy she gave her patients. He held up a water bottle to the light and she saw several thumbnail sized beetles crawling around in it. Tilting it onto the fire ’ s hot rocks, he shook the skittering bugs out. They crackled and popped before he twitched them away from the fire with a long stick.
    He looked up and met her gaze. “ … hungry ? ” a string of words as he asked again.
    She shook her head minutely. Beetles she could stomach, but the overpowering stench of the dead animal eradicated the desire to put anything in her mouth. Besides, she could go for days or even weeks without ingesting food, as long as she could photosynthesize. Eventually, she would need to replenish amino acids, proteins, and some minerals and vitamins. But not for a long time.
    Levi finished his meal and retreated to the lake, rinsing water over his hands. The trees on one side of the water cast long shadows over the surface. Sunset tinted Levi orange as he waded out to an immense stand of spiky foliage. The water churned muddy as he reached in up to his shoulders and jerked a few fronds from the bottom of the pond.
    Greenery in hand, he squatted at her side. If she could have cringed any farther away, she would have, but her muscles wouldn ’ t respond to her brain ’ s commands.
    He peeled the base of the leaves, layers sloughing in rings, revealing a sticky little center core he lifted toward her. “ Medizin. ”
    When he moved to put the thing on her shoulder she squeaked and shrank away. What was he doing? “ No! ”
    He frowned. “ Good. Medizin. ”
    “ No. No. Poison. Bad. Tula no plants. ” She managed to lift a warding hand, careful not to touch the frond. “ Tula, no. Levi, yes. Tula, no. ” How could she express that what worked for him was toxic to her?
    He looked at the slimy frond, said a few words, then the word, “ water. ” He made scrubbing motions with his hands on his arms and pointed to the lake.
    Did she want to wash? The effort sounded astronomical. But between the covering of leaves and the gooey sap he ’ d likely been spreading on her, it was a good idea. No wonder she was covered in blisters and unable to