Page 19 of Veil of Monsters

“No,” Emerson ends the discussion. “Lorenzo, tell Solandis she is in charge of the army but not to move until I’m there. Find me if there is any sign of the Rift King attacking Junepit City. Lorenzo, I want you to focus on the refugees. Make them aware that Faebane is spreading, and isolate the sick.” Lorenzo murmurs in agreement, even when I can tell he doesn’t want to agree. “You will stay, and you will heal her. Your job for your king is to make sure she doesn’t die.”

The poor male healer sounds ready to jump from the window to escape. “I’m afraid there’s little more I can do for her. I give you my word, my king. I have done everything in my power. The potions will keep her fever low. But, Faebane, it is brutal, as you well know, and she is weakening. There is no cure for it. Once it infects, it burns through the body. It is the goddess’s decision if she survives this or not.”

Emerson only holds me tighter, like he can hold me from the clutches of death. “Your Majesty, I am deeply sorry to inform you of this. There is nothing I can do for her. I will pray to the goddess for her life.”

Posy all but shouts at the healer. “You plan to stand here and watch her die?”

“Child,” the healer begins. “Many have stood by their relatives’ sides and watched them die of this terrible illness. If I could have saved any of them, I would have done. I’m sorry, but do hold her hand. No one deserves to face this alone. Love can be a powerful medicine to fight off death.”

I’m sure I doze off to sleep or pass out, because when I wake up, I can only sense Emerson in the room, holding me on the bed as we are both under sheets that stick to my body. It’s too hot. I try to push the sheets off, but I can’t make my arms work. “Calliophe?”

“Y-you used to call me Doe,” I manage to murmur. “I’m too hot.”

The sheets are off me in a second’s breath. I try to keep my eyes open to look up at him, but even doing that, it feels like I need more strength than I have. Emerson leans over me as I lie on what feels like a dozen pillows. He has a five o’clock shadow, and dark circles lie under his eyes. How long have I been sick? He brushes off the hair from my sweaty face. I’m almost embarrassed he is seeing me like this. A total mess.

“As a boy, there was a doe that somehow got into the fae castle. Everyone wanted to kill it, but my mother stopped them. She said does are beautiful and sent from the goddess herself, as they are her sacred animal. I cared for the doe in the stables until she was an adult, and she went back into the forests to be with her own kind. If I called you that, it would have been because I thought you were the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, and the goddess must have sent you to me.”

Tears fall down my cheeks, and he leans over me, kissing each one. He never told me that story or why he called me Doe. I thought it was because he thought I was weak and common, like a mortal in his eyes, but it was always a compliment. “You’re not allowed to die when I don’t know why my heart burns for you.” Emerson’s voice is sharp and angry. I feel the bed dip before his arms are wrapped around me and he pulls me onto his lap. I tuck my head into his chest, breathing in his scent, every inch of me hurting like a thousand knives are stabbing me through my skin. It’s so hot. It’s too hot in here. I focus on Emerson’s breathing as my own heart races.

“Y-you know.”

I feel sick just speaking a little, and I can’t hear anything else as darkness blackens my vision and my head rings. I know I must have thrown up and blacked out, because when I wake up again, I’m on the sofa, still with Emerson. I can just about open my eyes, tasting sick in my mouth, and I look up at him. He’s watching me intently, unable to hide the worry on his face. “Why does it feel like if you die, then I’m going to want to die to be with you?”

“Mate.” I whisper the word, and for once, he doesn’t tell me I’m wrong.

The look in his purple eyes is nothing short of vulnerability. “I’m the Wyern King, but one difficult breath from your lungs, and I want to be on my knees, begging you not to leave this world yet.”

“D-don’t b-beg,” I softly reply, my throat burning. I love him so much. I don’t want to die, not when he can’t even remember us.

Even in his confusion about everything between us, he loves me. His soul loves me. “I’m not going to let you go.” I watch him. “You don’t get to slip away into the darkness just yet. Only I decide if you get to leave this world.” Some part of it makes me want to smile. Even against death, he’s possessive of me. I want to lift my hand to cup his cheek. I want to kiss him and tell him everything is going to be okay. But all I can focus on is the burning of my skin. How sick I feel.

I vividly remember the last outbreak of Faebane in the city. I helped so many of them, so many that their faces just blurred together into death. I’ve caught fae fever before, but that was nothing compared to Faebane, which spreads faster and deadlier than fae fever ever could. The royal fae died of fae fever, and nothing could save them, so there’s a good chance I’m going to die. There’s so much I haven’t said. So much I haven’t done. To leave Emerson alone right now… it would be cruel. I just need him to remember who I am. He links our fingers together and pulls the blue blanket tighter around us both.

Lorenzo steps into the room, and I vaguely see him leaning over us. “How is she doing, brother? Any better? Have you eaten? Drank anything?”

“No to all those questions,” Emerson snaps with the fury of a helpless king. “Did you find another healer to see her?”

Lorenzo clears his throat. “Every healer I spoke to said the same thing. There is nothing more to be done. There was an outbreak, and so many of them are injured or suffering with Faebane. This illness attacks them when they’re weak. It’s always been the way.”

“I don’t care about the others.” He lowers his voice. “I care about her more than my own life. So find someone else. Anyone to help—” He breaks off and his voice goes, snapping my heart in two. “Please. I can’t—She can’t die.”

“You love her,” Lorenzo marvels. “What they said is true, isn’t it? The lost memories story… all of it.”

Emerson kisses the side of my head. “I might not remember her in my mind, but yes, I love her in my soul. I believe her and now I’m going to lose her. I spent the last few days watching her from a distance, unable to stay away but not wanting her to know I was there. I watched her beat up two Wyern males in combat because they hurt an innocent, and I sent Zurine in to intervene if she needed help. She didn’t. I was proud of her, this female I do not know. I’ve watched her help endless fae, who call her half breed and talk of her as the dead prince’s toy. Yet she still helped them with a smile. This female is extraordinary, and I know one thing most of all. She is mine.”

“I’m so sorry, brother. The healers offered us the same tonics that the first did, and we should give them to her, but there’s nothing that can be done. There is no cure. There is no way to guarantee her life,” Lorenzo replies, his hand touching my shoulder. “Calliophe, I know you can hear me. Posy and Zurine, along with your other fae friends, are fine. No signs of the illness, but they are praying to the goddess for you to live. I’ve banned them from helping with the fae until there are no more cases. Posy might kill us, so please live. I can’t stand to lose my brother, because I have a feeling he will die without you.”

There is so much silence following his words as he waits for me to reply, but I can’t. The room is going hazy, and I’m boiling hot again. “You should let me have her. You are fae, Emerson. Are you sure you’re not sick? You can catch this, too.”

“I will not leave her.” Emerson’s vow is the last thing I hear before I drift into darkness again. When I wake up next, Emerson is shouting at me, his hands cupping my face. “Calli, don’t you dare leave me! You don’t let that heart stop beating! Do you hear me? Do not leave! I command you as your king. I command you as your mate. I command you with my heart. Just fucking please—”

I can hear my heart beating in my chest for him. It’s beating fast, too fast, and I’m struggling to draw in every breath. Darkness comes in waves for me, pulling me faster out into the void even when I feel Emerson tugging me back to him. “I refuse to let you leave me. Wherever you go, we go together. You’re mine and I am yours, Calliophe. I will drag you back to this world because you belong here with me. Do not leave. Let me have time with you to create new memories, to have the world at our fingertips.”

I drift off into darkness again, unable to stop myself, unable to keep myself awake for him. In the darkness, I see a light shining towards me, and the light slowly begins to form a shape. The shape morphs until it’s a female with glowing pale skin and long white hair that covers her like a dress. She is holding a sword in front of her, both her hands wrapped around the hilt. “Come to my temple and I will show you the past, the future, and the sword. Come to me, blood of my kin.”

The next time I awake, I don’t feel like I’m still burning, and each breath is not labored anymore. I feel warm, but that’s only from being tucked into Emerson’s side as we both lie on a bed together under blankets. The room is dark, with only a beam of moonlight and a few weak fae lights to make it possible to see in here. I blink a few times, my lips feeling cracked before I start coughing from my dry throat. Emerson is immediately awake, helping me sit up. He leans over and picks up a glass of water for me. I try to drink the whole thing, but I only get half of it down before he takes it off me. “Slowly or you’ll be throwing it back up. Your fever has broken.”

We stare at each other, and he smiles. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile since his memories were gone, and my shoulders instantly relax at the sight. “You’re not going to die.”

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