Page 44 of Treasured

As we moved into the Void, I couldn’t help but smile. Not only did we have a plan, but tonight had given me something else, too.

Hope.

Marius would wake. I knew it. And when he did, we would solve the meaning of this prophecy and deal with Queen Marguerite once and for all.

* * *

Snowflakes as fat as my thumb drifted down from the sky as Sebastian’s shadows deposited us outside the abbey. The flakes added themselves to the already thick layer of white at our feet, glistening in the moonlight. The cool, bitter air wasn’t kind as it hit me, the icy edge promising a coming storm.

Next to me, Sebastian inhaled deeply. “Thank the gods,” he said, removing his sleeve from his nose. “I didn’t think I could handle another minute of that awful stench.”

A laugh bubbled up inside me. It was rare to see my prince so disturbed by something, but I had to admit, I enjoyed it immensely.

Sebastian groused, “Are you laughing at me?”

My eyes widened, and I shook my head. “No.” I was a terrible liar. My neck heated, and I averted my gaze.

“Luna,” he growled my name.

I snorted, tugging him towards the trees. “Fine. Yes, I’m laughing at you. Who would have thought a stinky little potion would have brought down the Prince of Darkness?”

Sebastian chuckled, helping me over a fallen log. “In my defense, it smelled very bad. Any sane person with a working nose would have found it disturbing.”

“That’s true.” I ducked under a blackened vine. “It did smell bad.”

“Truly terrible,” he agreed. “It might be the worst thing I’ve ever smelled.”

“Really? One time, when I was sixteen, my chemistry class spent a week in a laboratory studying various chemicals. Zania, one of the other students, mixed arint and clystran together.” I snorted.

The chemicals, native to Ipotha, were both components used—individually—to make cleaning supplies. They came from reedy plants that grew on the edge of Ipothan ponds. The professor had warned us to never, ever, let them mix, but Zania must not have been listening.

Sebastian’s brows furrowed. “I’m assuming that was bad?”

“The worst.” I nodded, my nose crinkling at the memory. “They had to evacuate the entire campus because of the smell.”

“I see.” He looked like he was about to burst into laughter and was struggling to keep a straight face. “And that was the worst?”

I pursed my lips. “Well, maybe not the worst,” I conceded. “Once, there was…”

We strolled through the woods, and I regaled Sebastian with tales of experiments gone wrong. He listened intently, asking questions in all the right places until I ran out of words. Then, we continued in amicable silence, enjoying each other’s company.

Sometime later, we came across a clearing surrounded by blackened pine trees.

Sebastian pulled me into it.

“This will do nicely,” he said, turning in a circle.

“Do?” I echoed, canting my head. This clearing, though eerily silent, didn’t appear particularly special. Between the obsidian bark, unnaturally dark vines, and shriveled, dying weeds poking through the snow, it looked like everywhere else in Eleyta.

Sebastian drew me towards him, his hands cupping my cheeks. My breath caught in my throat as he lowered his head and kissed me softly. There was nothing urgent in his movements as he placed kisses over my lips, my cheeks, and my nose.

“I like hearing your stories,” he murmured, rubbing my Binding Mark with his thumb. “I like watching you work. You are captivating when you concentrate. I’ve wanted to kiss you all night, but Odette wouldn’t leave.”

His lips found mine again, and I melted against him.

“It is her lab,” I reminded him, whispering against his lips. I was more than a little breathless from his attention.

“Which is why we had to leave,” he said, stealing another kiss.

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