Page 105 of Treasured
I moved over to the bed, crouching behind Luna and placing my hand on her shoulder. “What was it about?”
“I don’t know. Something that happened in the Broken Mountains, I think.” She shuddered, leaning against me. Pulses of sadness came through the Binding Mark. “He’s my little brother, Sebastian. I should be protecting him. Instead, when he’s strong enough, I’m going to have to tell him about our family.”
“You have each other,” I said. “That’s going to mean something.”
A pause, and then she turned. “Do you think so?”
“I do.” It was more than what I had after Athena died.
The halfling whimpered, tossing and turning. He was caught in the throes of a bad dream.
Shadows slipped from Luna’s hands, dancing over her brother in a gentle caress. The moment those dark wisps touched him, he quieted down.
“See?” I kissed her brow. “He knows you’re here.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’ll always be here for you, Mar-Mar.”
He muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath, turning before settling beneath the blanket again. It wasn’t long before his breathing steadied, and he slipped into a deep sleep.
After ensuring Marius was soundly sleeping, Luna tucked him in once more. We returned to our bed, and she fell back asleep immediately.
I remained awake for hours, consumed by thoughts of the future. When I had been in my deepest, darkest places, I had been alone. No one had comforted me. I had no family, no true friends. Just me. I wasn’t even sure what I would have done if someone had been there for me after Athena died.
But Luna wasn’t alone. She had me and Marius. I would do everything in my power to make sure they survived. Even if it meant giving myself up in the process.
What a Betrayal
MARGUERITE
An icy gale was a relentless battering ram, slamming into me from all sides the moment my shadows deposited me on Castle Sanguis’ roof. The temperature permeated my skin, dove into my bones, and gnawed away at any vestiges of warmth I might once have had.
Triboulet was dead. His blood was still wet on my hands. My Maker’s bond with Sebastian was gone, and my ruby was broken.
My. Ruby. Was. Broken.
I screamed, my voice piercing through the darkness of the night. It did nothing to ease the ache of absolute wrongness burning through me.
How could this have happened? How could things have gone so horribly, terribly wrong?
The Blood Ruby was supposed to infuse me with power, rendering me unstoppable. It was meant to let me reign forever.
I would have to visit her. After she’d helped me create the Blood Ruby, Koleta had proven to be a… troublesome houseguest. She sang her lullaby day and night, but I needed her alive in case I had questions.
Several centuries ago, I’d thrown her into a prison all on her own. There were very few people I enjoyed less than Koleta, but I had no choice. I would have to endure her presence again and find out why my ruby was broken. The last time I had visited her was over a year ago, and I would have preferred never to return.
And yet, here I was, doing that exact thing.
First, wrinkles. Now this. What else could go wrong?
A snarl ripped through me as I again gathered my shadows around myself. Moving through the Void was quick and painless. I stepped out of the darkness onto the ice, noting the rippling of several wards as I entered the prison.
Walls of thick, opaque ice rose above my head, stretching several stories tall, and icicles dangled dangerously above me. Beneath my feet, the same glaciers stretched as far as I could see. The temperature was so cold my skin took on a faint blue sheen. Had I been human, my teeth would have chattered.
Warmth was a distant memory, long forgotten in this ancient place of cold, ice, and death.
“Koleta!” I yelled. “Where are you hiding?”
A tinkling laugh. A bone cracking. Then, “Night is here; death has come; betrayal is in the air.”