Page 181 of Beast and Remedy
She squints. “You’ve found a cure?”
“For the animals, I think,” I reply, careful not to trade one hopeful thing into another.
“And you don’t think it will work on me?”
Deities, I walked into that question. I can’t lie to her.
“I… I… I’m not certain with the mutation and different species.”
She crosses her arms in bed, scrutinizing me.
“I just want to be certain before giving it to you!” I blurt, trying to appease her. “An escape would be good for you, while also instilling some hope. Plus, I want you to be there.”
“Why?” Marian glares at me before rearing back against the pillows. “You actually want me to be there?”
“We both started it together.” I shrug, tucking a loose wave behind my ear. “I thought it poetic to finish it together, too.”
She rolls her eyes, the sister I love vanishing and withering away, the ruinous infection gutting me.
She turns to Beau. “You’re the one ordering me to stay put, and you’re actually behind this idea as well?”
He lifts his hands in surrender. “Look, I’m just there to make sure Vi doesn’t get ambushed by any other animals like we did in Belmur.”
Marian huffs. “Yeah, a bear shifter needing a hunter to protect her.” She scoffs, muttering, “Typical, Vi.”
I tense, my cheeks prickling as if she slapped me.
“Marian,” Beau says, voice sharp and clipped.
It only makes me feel worse.
Marian fusses with her sheets. “Sorry,” she says, voice annoyed.
No matter how mean she is acting, the apology reminds me she is still in there despite the insult burning my skin. My face feels so hot, and I rub it, trying to process and not be affected.
“It’s alright. You’re… you’re not yourself.”
“Is the brief glimpse of freedom going to be taken away from me now?” she asks Beau, not even bothering to respond to me.
I slump.
Beau rubs my back, and I fight the urge to curl into his comfortable support as he moves past my sister’s remark. “We offered it to you, and it wouldn’t be fair to take it away now.”
“Good. Now, what time are we leaving?” Marian asks, skipping straight to it.
“We will leave when we are ready and will come get you,” he answers, steering us toward the exit. “And we will have to have an extra healing session before we depart.”
“Why?” she demands.
Beau and I look over, her defiance and anger reemerging.
My heart stutters, pain funneling in and gripping it so tight I have to rub my chest. Our efforts to keep her with us are already overpowered by the virus.
Ineedmore time.
“Because if you want to carry your bow tomorrow, I want you to be at your best,” Beau answers. “Now, rest up, and we’ll see you in the morning.”
It’s the first time Marian’s smiled since returning to Torgem, and it takes everything in me to not falter at the small fractionof her old self I miss so much. As if Beau can sense my emotions wanting to surface, he leads us out and pulls the key to her chambers, twisting it in the lock.
