Page 50 of Necromance
And that… that was almost enough to make me hesitate.
Almost.
I swallowed hard and lifted the vial between us, watching the glow shimmer in the dim light.
“Cheers,” I murmured.
Lucien’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t argue. He just watched, waiting.
I uncorked the bottle and tilted the vial back, letting the past consume me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
LUCIEN
This was a horrible idea.
I sat beside Mia’s bed, elbows on my knees, watching over her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. The fire in the hearth had burned low, leaving the room filled with a chill, but I didn’t dare move to tend it.
She had been like this for hours, sometimes thrashing, sometimes muttering things I couldn’t understand, and when she did wake, she was so drunkenly out of sorts that I almost preferred it when she was unconscious.
I scrubbed a hand down my face, exhaling sharply. She had no idea how utterly foolish this was. How reckless. How dangerous.
And yet, she had done it anyway.
Mia shifted, her lips parting as a soft sound escaped her. I tensed as her fingers twitched toward me, reaching outin her delirium. Even now, lost in whatever visions haunted her, she still sought me.
I clenched my jaw and forced myself not to react.It was just the side effects.
This was a mistake.
Not sitting here, watching over her—that, I had no choice in. At one point, she had convulsed, her body stiff with the force of whatever she was seeing. I had nearly shaken her awake, nearly pulled her out of it just to stop the sight of it.
But even in her fevered state, she had clung to my sleeve, murmuring, “Not yet… I almost have it…”
And so I had let her stay lost in it.
Because she was searching. For answers. For me. And the cruelest part of all was that I already knew the truth of my curse—The way to break it.
It hadn’t come to me in a single, striking moment, but in pieces. As soon as I had said Serena’s name, each vision had returned like brushstrokes on a forgotten painting, filling in gaps that had been empty for too long.
And then I’d felt the intense familiar pull when I’d touched Mia’s locket. I knew without a doubt then that she was my key.
I remembered now. Everything… and still, I had told her nothing. Because I couldn’t.
I had thought it would be easier, keeping it from her. That it was necessary.But watching her now—exhausted, vulnerable, doing this just to help me—made the weight of my silence unbearable.
She had no idea how close she was. No idea that I could simply tell her. And no idea that if I did, it would all be for nothing.
I exhaled slowly and reached out before I could stop myself. A single curl had fallen across her face, and I brushed it back, my fingertips barely grazing her heat slick skin.
She sighed at the touch, a quiet, contented sound that sent something traitorous curling low in my stomach. She moved closer, wanting more of my touch. I should have pulled away. I should have left the room, put distance between us before I did something reckless.
But instead, I stayed. Because if this was the price of my silence—watching her fight for me, knowing I couldn’t fight back—then the least I could do was see it through.
Even if it destroyed me.
A quiet sigh left her lips, and I tensed as she stirred. Her eyelashes fluttered, her breathing shifting from uneven to something softer, slower. Then, finally, her eyes opened.
