Page 29 of Beast and Remedy (The Last of the Heirs #2)
We Are Family
A rippling shudder steals my breath, the hollow gasp audible.
“N-N-N-No,” I stammer.
Coldness seeps into my chest, carving and scratching . It burrows deeper, pairing with fear, making my mouth run dry. The dryness churns into bitterness, clogging my throat, and snuffing away any warmth—any hope—any sense of my future.
An apology lines Beau’s features after the devastating admission, and I feel no sense of reassurance.
Was this what he had hoped to tell me tonight? Did he not want to share the news with the others?
Marian closes her eyes, a steady rise and fall of her chest indicating she is still here.
I twirl a short red curl of hers, hating how the phantom pain of grief from losing Mama creeps its way to the forefront of my thoughts, readying to wreck my mind, my heart, and my soul all over again.
I can’t lose her.
But dread is already clawing into my skin, piercing through every nerve, tendon, and muscle, reveling in the horror rattling through my bones.
“Sh-She can’t be.” I fight to disprove Beau’s words, my instincts rooting deep to protect her from all of this.
Beau’s hushed voice lingers near my ear. “When I treated her this morning, my magic sensed something off. I wasn’t sure at first, but I remembered your letter and…”
My sister’s life and every creature and person infected are lives on my shoulders.
I shake my head. “It’s all my fault,” I choke out.
“Vi, you couldn’t have known about the infected animals harming humans,” Leo says, his voice low and comforting.
“But I did . We both did.” I gesture to Marian.
Christine’s brows knit as Jules presses gently. “H-How?”
I debate what to say, what to share, while trying to calm the well of sadness threatening to drown me. But I look at Marian, soaking up her flushed cheeks, the freckles along her nose—those perfect freckles I will never see again.
I can’t hide from this anymore.
“Because I’m pretty sure Marian and I were the ones who created the virus.”
Everyone’s expressions turn grim, and I take a long breath before explaining.
“My gifts,” I speak up. “They—they are painful . And Marian and I were trying to create a tonic for my pain alongside treating and helping wounded animals we would find in Haliver Woods. We’d been doing this for years.
But on our name day, we were helping this wolf, and during the party, it got out of its cage, trashed my study, and destroyed everything. ”
“Oh, Vi,” Jules breathes.
Christine says, “That must have been awful.”
“It was,” I agree. “And we tried to find it when it broke out, but we couldn’t. And then one animal attack was reported, and then another, and then a citizen showed up bitten by a wolf and—”
I press my lips together, everything coming to a head. The weight of it all, acknowledging it all, too much to bear. It’s too much.
Folding my arms on the table, I bury my face, no longer wishing to say more.
We were so stupid to think it was nothing. Yes, we tried to fix our mistake, and it multiplied into mayhem.
Now the infection is spreading, and so much more is at stake. And there is no telling what would happen now should anyone find out Marian and I were the cause of this.
No one would be able to protect us.
And my hopelessness and fear of losing my sister just laid that fact bare to my friends. Friends I hope truly are and will always be and not backstab me.
Sweet Makers, what have I done?
Damn my heart. Damn my emotions. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
A hand rests along my back, and I tense, the touch one I don’t deserve.
“Vi,” Beau says, and I want to scream at the top of my lungs until my voice turns hoarse.
But what good will that even do?
I pinch my eyes shut, fighting the urge to surrender to the emotions and hating every moment I consider unleashing them. I hate crying.
“Vi,” Beau urges, and again, his tenderness and his compassion are another thing I don’t deserve.
I should be chained, locked up, thrown into the dungeons and face the wrath of all the kingdoms for what I’ve done. What I don’t think I will be able to fix. What I will lose.
Marian .
I shake off his touch, letting my waves be an extra barrier as I hide. “I can’t .”
I can’t lean into him for comfort. I can’t lean into my sister.
“I can’t do anything right,” I spit, anger surging in my chest, fury and rage wanting to thrash and tarnish everything I hold dear.
I don’t know what to do.
“Rosebud, please ,” Beau utters. “Look at me.”
My body convulses, emotions tightening at the name, the pleading—the attempt at soothing comfort. I fight against it, not trusting myself. Not trusting anything.
He moves my chair and angles me toward him, his hands holding my face. “Leo is going to take Marian to her rooms.”
“I am not letting her out of my sight,” I say with defiance.
“I know you don’t want to, but you and I need to talk about the next steps. Leo, Marcel, Jules, and Christine can watch over her in the meantime.”
“ No .” Fury raises my voice an octave, ensuring the refusal was a bite. “I need to get her home now more than ever.”
Beau’s gaze hardens at my stubbornness. “I am not going to risk sending you and your sister into the forest alone.”
I go to argue, and his eyes flash with the challenge, cutting me off before words even form.
He holds my mind, body, and soul captive as he says, “You came here for a reason. And you know we can help. Let us.”
I peer over at my friends, and their features fill with hope and encouragement.
“We will escort you back to Belmur,” Beau declares, catching me off guard as he withdraws, breaking our physical contact.
I shake my head, also hating how much I miss his touch already. “I can’t ask any of you to do that. You are banished by my father.”
Jules speaks up. “But your father isn’t there.”
“Jean and Pierre are. And I have no doubt in my mind they will report it to him.”
“So, we will convince them to listen,” Christine adds, squaring her shoulders.
I glance at my sister, knowing Jean and Pierre would do anything for us as they would for Papa. We are family.
Jules offers me her open palm. “Let’s do this, Vi.”
I regard her before looking at Beau, and his two dimples appear, his soft smile undoing me.
“We’re all here for you.”
Closing my eyes, I send a prayer to the Makers, hoping Jean and Pierre will hear me out. I plead for strength to keep my mind and my heart solely focused on Marian and finding a cure.
I need to be rational, logical, in every aspect from here on out. I am getting help, and I will put an end to all of this. Nothing can distract me. No one can distract me.
Steadying for the next step, I rise, trying to relinquish any negative thoughts.
But Jules yanks me in for an embrace, and Christine chuckles and joins in. I hug them in return, not realizing how badly I missed them till now.
Marian rouses as Marcel guides her back. “Vi?”
I pull away from Jules and Christine. “I’m here, Marian. Leo is going to take you to your rooms.”
Leo lowers, lifting one of my sister’s arms over his neck.
She sighs contentedly. “That’s very nice.”
“I needed a reason to get closer to you,” Leo teases with a devious smirk, earning a lift of Marian’s lips.
He gathers Marian to his chest, his hands white-knuckling from the strain of her weight, but he appears as if he wants to be nowhere else. Leo looks down at my sister with wonder and something I can’t quite place.
Marcel asks, “You got her?”
“I’ve got her,” Leo whispers with reverence.
A vow, a promise.
My heart warms, seeing someone care for her.
I study the fierceness in his blue eyes. Gone is the antagonist and bully from my childhood, replaced by something else— someone else. Maybe he has changed.
“Thank you,” I say as Leo steps back with my sister, nodding to his brother before exiting the hall.
Marcel goes to Jules and Christine, and they bid me and Beau goodnight before trailing off to their chambers.
The quiet hangs taut in the air, and Beau’s full attention rests on me even as I stare at the ground. But footsteps move, distressing me, and when I look up, his golden irises hold mine as he extends a single red rose.
“Ready to visit your favorite place, Rosebud?”