Page 214 of Beast and Remedy
She squirms and fusses, but I wrap my arms and legs around her, ignoring the pain from my back scraping against the broken glass.
I have to keep her from damaging the cure further. I need one to save her.
Beau…
He’ll be here soon. He’ll help Marian. He has to.
My sister digs her nails into my skin and thrashes. “Let go of me, you bitch!”
“Marian,pleaselisten,” I beg, trying to reach my sister through her clouded and infected mind. “Don’t listen to the shadows and whispers. Listen to me. I’m your sister. I love you, and I am trying to help you.”
“Yeah, you’ve done a shit job of that now, haven’t you.” She bucks, trying to slam her head into me.
I dodge but yelp when her heeled shoes stab the tops of my thighs.
She wiggles. “The shadows have done more than you ever have. Now, let. Me. Go!” Marian rears back again, her skull catching the side of my face.
I groan, my vision spotting and my grip slipping.
Marian claws away from my hold and rolls off me. She pushes my stomach with her feet.
I yelp from the piercing contact meeting my ribs and the broken shards sliding against my back.
She bounces up, grabbing the last box on the table and lifting it above her head.
Towering over me, she breaks into a vicious grin. It’s haunting and terrifying.
I’m in pain. I’m disoriented. And I’ve lost her.
I’ve lost her!
Her breathing is ragged, pupils blown out as she seethes. “Now everyone will get to see how hopeless, pitiful, anduselessyou are. Now the Makers will see that everything is your fault.”
She smashes the box on my head.
In a dark, gloomy void, light urges me to open my eyes. But I shrivel away, seeking Letum rather than confronting the consequences of my actions.
A voice begs through the unyielding darkness.
“Please, please, please wake up. I can’t lose you, Rosebud.Please.”
Brightness shimmers, soothing and gentle, as if it too needs to be coaxed and restored to its full shine.
I drift, hesitant when it comes closer. A surge of warmth and comfort envelop me, and I sink into the peace, my surroundings spotty as my vision clears.
Gold, so liquid and molten, circle the rim of dilated pupils. Wrinkles pinch at the corner of almond-shaped eyes. Disheveled blond hair barely covers pinched features, and a stricken face I would recognize anywhere stares back.
“Vi,” Beau chokes out in relief, his magic emanating off him in waves and casting over me.
He covers me, holding my cheeks. A buzzing balm of energy surges up to my skull, pulsing.
But memory clicks into place, and I push him back. “No, stop. You can’t be doing this!”
“I can, and I will,” Beau says, barricading me.
I fight against him, but he doesn’t budge. “No! We need to find Marian.”
“We’ll find her later. I’m sure she’s fine. You, on the other hand, are not. Why did you think you could move the vials all by yourself?”
