Page 30 of Treasured

That voice returned, reminding me of the Fledgling I’d killed. A chill ran up my spine, and I tightened my grip on Sebastian’s hand. The nameless vampire had hurt my Bound Partner and tried to kill me. I acted in self-defense. Again and again, I’d remind myself of that fact until maybe I would start to believe it.

“Are you alright, darling?” Sebastian asked.

We rounded a corner, and I drew a deep breath before replying. “I’ll be fine. Just… thinking.”

He didn’t say anything else, but he held me closer to him. Warmth came through the Binding Mark, and I knew he would always be here by my side.

A bitter, icy breeze blew through an open window, carrying the soft chanting of priests from somewhere in the distance. It was fair to assume there was a temple somewhere in Lightriver Abbey, just like Shadowmere, but I hadn’t yet seen it.

Lightriver looked older than most buildings I’d been to in Eleyta, even Castle Sanguis. The hallways were narrow, and the stones were cracked and broken in some places. The center of the floor was smooth from centuries of wear and tear, and the atmosphere had an ancient feeling. How many lives had these stones witnessed?

We approached the hospital wing. Quiet moans and murmurs filtered through closed doors, and incense burned stronger.

Life and death filled Lightriver Abbey, intersecting in a way I had never thought possible. Despite not knowing much about the Second Order, I felt safe here.

Hopefully, my gut was right about this place.

Eventually, the three of us stopped in front of a wooden door marked with an XIII. The incense was stronger here, masking a deep aroma of sickness that made my stomach twist in knots.

“Your brother is in here.” Genevieve grasped the metal doorknob, inhaling sharply. “Before we enter, Princess, you should prepare yourself.”

Her words were ominous, and my stomach roiled. I gripped Sebastian’s hand, unashamed of the way I was using him to ground myself. My heart raced, and wisps of shadows slipped from my palms.

“Prepare myself?” Marius’s illness wasn’t a surprise to me. He’d always been sick. Not only that, but Phyrra, Sebastian’s spymaster, had told us he was in a long sleep. “What do you mean?”

Pity and concern flashed through the priestess’ black eyes, and she shook her head. “When Marius came to us… You must understand that he was not in good health.”

“I know,” I said. Sebastian’s hand left mine, going to my shoulder and squeezing tightly. “He’s always been sick.”

The priestess frowned, fiddling with the sleeve of her robe. “This is… more than that.”

“We need to see him,” Sebastian said, his voice infused with the kind of princely charm and authority that came from centuries of giving orders.

Sighing, the priestess turned the doorknob. “Very well, but please, brace yourselves.”

She pushed open the door. A miasma of illness slammed into me, nearly bowling me over. I took in a deep breath and followed Genevieve inside.

The moment my vision adjusted to the dim space, my slow-beating heart stopped entirely for one long, eternal moment. Tears rushed to my eyes, and I could barely breathe.

A cot, much like the one Sebastian had occupied these past few days, rested along one wall. Laying on it, his thin, frail body considerably smaller than it used to be, was Marius. My half-brother had been weak from his birth, but this…

I was going to be sick.

Marius was still a child, having only seen ten years come and go, but he looked like he was moments away from death. His face was gaunt and pale, his body skeletal. Heavy blankets covered him, but still, he shivered. The only other sign of life was the steady rise and fall of his chest, the raspy wheeze of his labored breaths barely audible even in this otherwise silent room.

I rubbed my chest, trying to ease the ache in my heart.

There was no way I could have been ready for this. I had no words. I had nothing at all.

Was this what heartbreak felt like?

A Burning, Raging, Eternal Flame

SEBASTIAN

This was Luna’s brother? Rarely in my three centuries had I seen someone so ill. I could snap Marius’s body in half without a second thought. No wonder Phyrra had feared for his life when she found him.

If he made it to his second decade of life, he would be able to Mature. Right now, it didn’t even look like he would still be breathing when the sun rose.

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