Page 31 of Treasured

How could anyone live when they were so… broken? I’d seen sickness, of course. I was no stranger to illness and death. But this wasn’t a random patient. This was my brother-in-law. He meant the world to Luna, so he meant the world to me.

Luna was unmoving beside me, her hand squeezing mine so tightly that her nails dug into my skin. I didn’t pull away, instead taking a moment to study my brother-in-law further.

His hair was the same shade as Luna’s, and their noses were similar, but that was where their similarities ended. Marius’s ears were pointed beneath his curly brown hair, a mark of the Fortune Elf blood running through his veins, and he was frail.

Luna had never been like that. She was short, but even before I Made her, she had an inherent strength. From that first night when she came to Eleyta and stood before a crowd of vampires, I knew she was far stronger than she believed herself to be.

This sickly halfling had none of that. He was nothing but nearly-translucent skin and bones.

I held Luna close, wrapping my arm around her. “Darling, maybe we should—”

“No.” As if she had divined the direction of my thoughts, Luna tugged out of my grasp and ran to the bedside. She fell to her knees, taking Marius’s frail fingers in hers. “I won’t leave him.”

Pure agony pulsed through the Binding Mark as Luna made no effort to hide her sorrow. She had no reason to. I would be there for her, in both happiness and heartbreak.

Why couldn’t this have been a happy reunion?

Crimson tears ran freely down Luna’s cheeks as she pressed her face against her brother’s skeletal hands.

Genevieve inhaled sharply. “Blood tears.”

My spine stiffened, and alarm ran through me as I turned towards the priestess. “You can’t tell anyone,” I said. Violence echoed in my voice.

She gulped. “I won’t, Prince. You have my word.” She pressed her hand upon her heart. “Your wife is… special.”

“Very.” Wanting to move the topic of conversation away from Luna, I asked, “What can be done for him?”

“He hasn’t woken, Prince Sebastian,” Genevieve said quietly. “When that happens… It’s not a good sign.”

Luna’s entire body shook as she clung to her brother’s hand. Her tears looked even more out of place, the red streaking down Marius’s pale skin.

Touching Genevieve’s elbow, I gestured to the hall. “Can we…”

“Of course.” More loudly, she said, “We’ll just be outside, Princess.”

Luna didn’t even look up from where she knelt at her brother’s bedside. “Okay.”

She knew I wouldn’t leave her.

The door slipped shut behind us. Once I ensured the hallways were empty, I erected a privacy ward and crossed my arms over my chest. “How bad is it?” I asked bluntly.

“The truth?”

I nodded briskly. “I need to know.” For Luna. I couldn’t protect her if I didn’t understand what was happening.

Genevieve’s mouth pinched together before she shook her head. “You must understand, Prince Sebastian, we have recently worked with hundreds of cases of this illness. As such, we know the path it takes…”

“You don’t need to mince your words with me.” There wasn’t time for that.

She wrung her hands together. “When humans contract the illness and fall into a deep sleep, they never wake.”

“You mean…”

“Sometimes they sleep for days, others for weeks, but the Wasting Illness inevitably ends in death.”

My fists curled at my sides as her words echoed in my soul.

That wasn’t an option. Luna loved her brother. She needed him.

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