Page 219 of Beast and Remedy
Beau freezes, his eyes widening, and Marian knees him in the groin, laughing maniacally. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He grunts in pain as I drop the torch.
Air rips away from my lungs, my heart racing and my mind screaming at me to breathe.
Beau and Marian meet my gaze, and my sister laughs bitterly. “What? You thought it was someone else?”
I remain quiet.
Unmoving.
Unfeeling.
My vision turns spotty, Marian’s words ringing and echoing in circles around me.
“You killed your own mother? Why?” Beau asks underneath her.
She snarls through a vicious sneer, kneeing Beau again.
He yelps, tortured and stuck, as Marian grabs the bloodied discarded arrow faster than I can follow and shoves it into his shoulder.
She twists it and puts her weight into driving it further into Beau, reveling in his agonized bellow.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Marian asks, her carnivorous scorn turning on me. “Mama always preferred you to me.”
Her brown irises are dark and bloodshot, her breathing long and drawn out. Bubbly saliva creeps out from the corner of her mouth as she licks her lips.
This is the virus. Ithasto be.
A chilling anguish seeps into my bones, grief rippling through me at her sinister laugh.
Beau’s pained expression remains still, not knowing if she is speaking the truth.
Yet her crazed eyes hold mine, a terrible image—nightmare—as she grins wider. Her mannerisms turn skittish, frantic as she grapples for control.
“Every moment of every day, I wanted her to treat me like she treated you,” she seethes. “We are twins, after all, so I never understood why I felt neglected.”
The infection iskillingher. It’s already reached her mind…
I furrow my brows, trying to reason with her. “Mama loved both of us, Mar—”
“She didn’t!” she hisses, pushing the arrow deeper into Beau’s shoulder, nailing him into the ground so he cannot move.
Beau roars, the sound permanently searing in my mind as I scream, “Stop, Marian!PLEASE!”
She holds my stare, her hands remaining on the bolt as Beau thrashes beneath her. “Everyone has always loved you more, Vi. And I never understood why. No matter what I did, no matter what hobbies I pursued because Mama did, or our friends did, our family did, everyone always preferredyou.”
Beau’s eyes find mine, remorse and regret lined in them.
My heart caves in before I blink quickly, hardening my gaze on my twin. “You know that’s not true.”
“Oh, but it is! The shadows and whispers confirmed it themselves.” She grimaces, disdain and hatred oozing from thebite in her voice. “And I thought if we both gained power, the balance would shift. But when I began attempting to learn and prepare for my magic, Mama started casting me aside, refusing to let me see her use her gifts. So, I tracked her down, confronting her before she shifted.”
Shadows and whispers… She mentioned that earlier…
Warning words reverberate through my skull.
Be careful of the shadows.
