Page 2 of Beast and Remedy
It doesn’t matter that I’m naked and alone in the woods. All that matters is, despite my intelligence, I’m a failure in two things.
Reducing the pain of shifting and removinghimfrom my memory.
I roll to my side and gather my knees as tremors course through me, spasms still lingering.
All I can do is breathe and wait for my heartbeat to regulate.
Slowly, I reach for the hidden clothing buried inside a tree hollow nearest me. This outfit is one of many I have dispersed throughout the forests of Belmur.
Pulling the bundle of clothes toward me, I pause on two dresses in the pile and bite back a gasp when her scent hits me.
Nutmeg, roses, and rotting wood.
Mama.
I clutch her dress tight, savoring these little things I still have left of her.
She was like me, a shifter at the whims of Leander, forced to patrol Draymenk. And I swore my sister and I had found all her hidden clothes since her death, but my heart swells at the discovery of this one.
On today of all days.
The day is memorable because she brought Marian and me into the world. We are twins, and I thought we were meant to share this gift, but the Makers deemed that burden should be cast on only one of us.
I inhale the moss clinging to the autumn season and lift my head up to the sun, peeking through the towering trees.
Memories of Mama flash in my mind, and I swear I can feel her holding my chin and tilting it higher, beyond the sky above, all so she can gaze upon me.
But her features blur away, and I note the location of the sun.
I release a long, forlorn sigh. I best get home if I want any bit of solitude before tonight.
A party.
Ugh. Aridiculousnecessity.
One my sister asked for.
Gathering the fabric of my dress, I sit up and stretch before pulling it over and tugging it down my torso. I rise slowly, gripping the tree next to me, and recognize the grooves in its bark, my beast’s territorial markings.
Glancing at the massive paw prints stamped into the soil, I shake my head in disbelief at how large my other form is and the additional sign of claiming its place. I’m half tempted to cover my tracks with leaves but decide against it.
If my beast says this area is mine, then so be it.
I don’t have many things to claim as my own, other than what is in my room, my study, and the letters I keep hidden in a loose stone area in my chambers—
Nope. Stop thinking about him, Vi.
Deities, it’s been years since—
No! STOP it, Vi.
My hands fall away from the tree, and I dust the long red cotton dress, freeing it of any cobwebs, leaves, and dirt gathered while I ensure it covers me. I wiggle my toes, surprised when they sink a little further into the ground.
I let out a light laugh.
It’s always bittersweet to stand here, barefooted, despite the disgust I usually have for anything beyond the walls of my home.
Marian would be shocked.
