Page 52 of Premonition of Peace

“Fading,” she said in a barely audible whisper. “I’m just at a loss.”

I sighed. “I wish I could help you. I don’t know any more than what I’ve told you about it. It was always vague, at best. Sounds like Señora Rosara knew far more.”

“Deep down I think the objects of fate will help me save you. I don’t know how to explain it.” Staring out the window, her shoulders slumped slightly. “How am I supposed to find three threads amongst the countless, Marcel? It’s the universe’s ‘fuck-you-riddle’.”

Tilting my head back to rest on the wall again, I closed my eyes. I was so tired, but my sunbeam needed me. “Might as well be searching in the dark,” I muttered.

“What’d you say?” she asked, her voice lowered, and I shot my eyes open. She’d stopped pacing and had turned to me, her arms at her side. “Say that again.”

“You might as well be searching in the dark?”

Nathalie went blank for a moment as she thought, and a panic started to fill me. Before I said anything more, her mouth fell open. “It’s how I found my way in the darkness . . .”

“You found your way, what?” I asked, sitting up straighter and no longer leaning on the wall.

She began to pace again, flexing her hands. “It’s something a . . . friend said. ‘Eyes don’t help you see what’s already there.’ You visualize what’s real. Everything else, you imagine . . .” She trailed off, a crease forming between her brows before she muttered, “‘My other senses became enhanced. It’s how I found my way in the darkness.’ That’s it, Marcel!”

I stared at her blankly. “You’re going to have to tell me what that means. I don’t know what’s happening right now.”

“Sit with me,” she said in a rush, coming to the bed and sitting on the edge, patting beside her. I scooted toward her, completely confused. It was like she was having a conversation with someone else right now, and I was definitely not included. “Stay quiet. Not a sound.”

Nathalie closed her eyes, and we waited in silence. The white noise of the fan hummed. I focused on her breathing as it became rhythmic and steadied. I had no idea how much time had passed. I watched in awe, recognizing that something was happening, some discovery was being made, and I wasn’t about to interrupt her.

She licked her lips and murmured quietly, holding out her hands as though she were waiting for an offering. “The shears.”

I practically choked on air when the space above her outstretched hands began to shimmer like someone was sprinkling gold glitter. An unremarkable pair of shears, plain bronze and antiquated, materialized in her hand.

Nathalie opened her eyes, a brilliant smile spreading across her face as she looked from her hand to me and back. “I think I’ve figured out how it works.”

A cough wracked through me as I tried to smile and tell her how amazing she was. Instead, I tipped over, curling into a fetal position on the bed. Exhaustion overwhelmed me, and my body was screaming to rest. I had overdone it. But how could I not? My days were numbered, and I’d give anything to spend each hour with Nathalie.

"Marcel!” she yelled, jumping up from her spot and rubbing circles on my upper back.

August called from down the hall, surprising both of us. “Nat?”

“Slow breaths. Slow. It’ll pass,” she said, though I was sure she was trying to convince herself instead of me. August rushed into the room, making me feel worse than I already did. She looked at him, her glamoured eyes pleading. “Help me get him moved? He needs to rest.”

The incubus scooped me into his arms and set me further up on the bed while Nathalie placed pillows under my head. A part of me died on the inside that he’d just picked me up. I wanted topush him off and tell him I could do it myself, but the truth was, I was too weak to even fight it.

When my coughing subsided, she pulled the covers over my chest. Brushing her hand over my forehead, she leaned down to place a gentle kiss on my lips.

“Don’t go,” I said, though it was barely a whisper.

“I have to,” she replied softly, stroking my hair. “I will be back, Marcel. I promise. Hold on for me. I can fix this. I know I can. Hold on for me, okay?”

My eyelids fluttered closed as I tried to hang on to consciousness and her voice faded out.

I would hold on for her, as long as I could. Whatever darkness she’d spoken of earlier, she’d found her way out. She wouldn’t stop trying to save me. A black, dreamless sleep had me in its grasp, but there was a bright light in the distance.

My sunbeam.

eighteen

NATHALIE

Watchinghow quickly Marcel declined terrified me, but I had a direction now and that needed to be my focus. It was confusing to feel the tug between priorities, and the mixture of adrenaline and fear was rampant. The drive back to my apartment passed in what felt like seconds.

“Lucifer!” I called out as I opened the door.

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