The Beast And The Blessed

Fifty-Eight: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

Cyrus threw up for a long while. The healers pushed me aside when it went from stomach acid to blood. As much as I detested vomit, even though I was able to hold back some of my own, I stayed. He needed people, and I needed answers.

A line of sweat appeared across his forehead, and every time his eyes instinctively closed as he lost his stomach, he would jerk them right back open. He hadn't been kidding about the darkness he saw when he closed his eyes.

He looked haunted and terrified. The man, who typically looked like a teenager, was nothing more than a scared little boy right now, and it broke my heart.

Tobias had his chest to my back with his hands on my hips. While half of my mind was on Cyrus in bed, there was nothing I could do until this wave of nausea passed.

The other half of my mind was zeroed in on how Tobias had his thumbs sliding along my waist to show that he supported me.

It was so comforting, but I was still waiting for him to tell me that I smelled different or that he could hear or feel a little heartbeat inside me. I wondered if he would know before I did since I was stalling.

Once again, I pushed aside those thoughts. I didn't have the courage to take a test right now, nor did I have the time to run to a store, get one and then take it without anyone seeing me.

Deal with Cora first.

I had to keep reminding myself to stay on task. Cora was the threat here; the potential of a baby inside me was not. It was a distraction, one that I could push aside until I received confirmation that it was even true. Until then, I could continue to pretend it wasn't real and focus on the actual issue.

When the healers stepped back, they looked uncertain and uneasy. Flora's hands were up like she was backing away from a rabid animal and looked exhausted.

She had healed him several times, but it hadn't held. Trauma and magic were powerful things.

He took a large sip, gargled it, and spat

and my mouth watered as I fought back the bile pushing its way up my

demand made Tobias tighten his hands on my hips slightly, and while he was worried, I also sensed his amusement at my statement. I needed to get answers and get

that, I would look weak, and it

tasting his vomit. His lips pursed, and his eyelids lowered

We didn't have time for more delays. We needed to be ready to

to her, to Rona. I don't know how it worked, and it was

kid, and I assumed that Cora controlling her had been recent. So, I still

Rona was trying to find out what Cora was up to, but she didn't figure it

This was it.

she was so determined to find out what I was. Rona didn't want my power for herself; she just wanted to find Cora's weakness. She wanted to figure out what my connection to Cora

of his bed to stay out of the way of any vomit or

words about Rona, but I didn't want to upset Cyrus even more by speaking so ill of someone he had bonded with before they died. They may not have been friends or anything more than that, but they went through something awful together. He had been there, in her mind, when she died, and that would be enough to make anyone protective of the

how Rona had taken her mother's powers without performing the ritual on her. Once she figured that out, she spliced the two spells and found a way to get to me without facing me." A tear leaked from his eye, and he wiped it away quickly. "The first attack hadn't been strong enough because she only had an item of mine that she found in my last hideout. She needed

was already going to hell from my past actions, but those were all intentional, and

his life would

Rona woke up in her body, and it was like the wall between us had solidified. I could still feel her, but this time I could see through her eyes and feel her pain. We were trapped in her body, but I couldn't talk or move. Cora was

Cora for most of his life, but he looked just as lost as I felt.

anyone I could remember, and I had to wonder what else I had been

that she should have done what

"What had Rona been

when Cora started cutting and chanting. I couldn't understand anything she was saying at that point. I didn't even know if it was Rona pulling at the

across the dining hall when I was trying to save him. He had used his magic; he just used them through his body and hit me instead of through Rona's to get to Cora. I wasn't even sure if that was possible, but by