Through Sightless Eyes and Unforgivable Ties

Chapter 81: Edwin's Gift

Sebastian

I sat with her in the library, watching her stare down at the unmoving pencil in her hand.

She's sick. That's all. She's sick.

I wanted to hold her. To tell her it would all be okay as I lulled her into the sleep she so visibly needed.

But I remembered the way she flinched at my touch. The way she'd reacted as if the very feeling of my hands on her was repulsive and wrong.

"Can you tell me about the dreams?" I asked softly as I watched her slowly move her gaze upwards.

She'd been bad before. She'd look away a bit too quickly or pull away faster than normal. But whatever she'd dreamed of earlier today had her frazzled beyond measure.

She put the pencil down and crossed her arms, digging her nails into the flesh to keep herself from shaking.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, the words a whisper past her clearly horse throat.

I rose from my chair and moved to the floor. I kept my distance as I sat across from her but at least we were at eye level now.

"You have nothing to apologize for my dear."

"I'm making you and Ominis worry." She said, shifting her gaze back down to her sketchbook.

"We're worried because we love you. Not because you're making us." I said trying to put on a semi playful tone.

Her lips didn't even twitch as she flicked the pages back to the beginning of the book.

My eyes gravitated to the pages as I realized the earliest ones held, not drawings, but paragraphs.

Lines upon lines of text filled the pages, the paper there crinkled and bent as if they'd been read over and over and over again.

"What is that?" I asked before she simply turned the book in my direction.

I half remembered spying her with it those days after Feldcroft. Those days when she was actually not her, but Val wearing her face like a costume.

Val's handwriting depicted stories of our interactions in the hallways.

I couldn't help the blush that flooded my face as they described the way I looked at them. The love they could see in my gaze and how much it hurt them to realize what they were tearing apart as they continued to keep that secret.

They claimed Ominis must have been a masochist to keep running back after they continued to pick fights. Orders or no they hated what they'd told him, hated the pain they'd had to put him through.

"I'm tired Sebastian." She muttered as she pulled her knees up against her chest.

I looked up at her, taking in those dark rings beneath her eyes and how red the whites had become from her rubbing at them repeatedly.

"I know." I said as I gazed over at the fireplace. "Just a little bit longer and you can sleep for days if you want to. Ominis and I can lay right next to you while you do."

"Promise?" She asked softly as she let those weary eyes flutter closed.

"I swear it."

Ominis

I paced the room as I turned over the small vial with my name on it in my hands.

This is a pensive vial. I know that. I've dealt with them enough with my wife to know that.

But what could Edwin Herondale have to show me that I don't already know?

Maybe this will tell me what that draft does. Or at least why he's pushing so hard for me to take it.