Praetorian Rising, стр. 99
Tears fell freely down his cheeks unchecked and without notice. Words tumbled thickly from his mouth as he leaned over her, begging the Mother for help. Her skin felt cold to the touch, as did her medallion. It was wrong but he wasn't willing to accept it; she wasn't going to die, she couldn't.
Thick auburn hair glistened around her head like a wreath of fire about her face, alive and fiercely demanding of attention. He couldn't stop himself from touching it as he spoke utter nonsense to her, running his fingers through the silky strands to feel close to her, to absorb her within him just one last time.
"Cam, please, I can't do this without you," he begged, leaning his forehead upon hers gently, willing her to take another breath. "Please darling, come back." There was nothing, just pure and empty silence.
He heard her then, a soft sigh of breath through her lips, and then, without warning, she was violently awake. "Theo!" She croaked, her voice ragged with weariness and hours of misuse. She jolted upright in bed, almost slamming her skull against his. Her hair flew wildly around her shoulders, creating a lion’s mane of vibrant auburn, cinnamon, strawberry, and ruby to curl about her pallid face. Her eyes blazed with sudden heat, a sharp inky black sliding over the glossy surface before settling into a brilliant emerald with flecks of gold and a ring of forest green encircling the iris.
"Holy Ma'Nada, you're alive," Theo said on a whisper, tears streaming down his cheeks in relief. She appeared not to notice his emotional response as she stared at him, her own expression a mask of shock mixed with a tinge of horror. "What is it?" Theo asked, beginning to take note of a tremor rippling through her body.
"I saw her," Camille said, her voice raspy but firm. "Theo, I saw my mother in Charlie Town."
He shook his head in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what he'd just heard. "You what?"
"I saw my mother!" She repeated vehemently. "She's alive. I saw her face—she wasn't quite..." she said in a rambling mess, her words running into nothing as her eyes glossed over in deep thought. Her lips scrunched into a bow, and he saw her descend into the depths of her mind.
"She wasn't what?" Theo pressed.
Her green eyes turned toward him with such unbridled fear that he suddenly felt desperate to crush her to his chest and rock her into safety. Instead, he took her hands in his and sat as close as he could to her on the bed, slowly coaxing the words lodged in her throat.
"She wasn't herself Theo, but then again, neither was I," she finished lamely as her right hand pressed two fingers to the side of her temple. "How long have I been asleep?"
"A little over a day."
Camille's face lit up with unbridled excitement. "Then she is still there, in Charlie Town!" She burst out loudly without restraint. "We must go; we must find her!"
Theo's eyes squinted at her, trying to assess what it was that she was remembering and why it was suddenly so urgent to her. "Cam," he started gently. "It's not possible for Jesabelle to be in Charlie Town right now."
"She is, I swear! I saw her there Theo, I found her!"
"Cam," Theo started again, coming to a clear understanding of what was happening. "The last time you were in Charlie Town was over eight years ago."
She blinked at him, her head tilting questioningly to one side. "No." She stated it firmly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world that Theo was wrong. "I…I was just with…" she said as a cloud of confusion washed over her features. "I was just—Lunci," she said slowly, as though trying the name out on her tongue. "I was just with Lunci."
Her eyebrows drew together, the long elegant slants scrunching close in seeming desperation to join.
"Anything else that you remember?" Theo pressed, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. "What happened after being with Lunci?"
"After?" Camille said in a hushed whisper. He watched a storm of panic shift through her features. The sides of her lips twitched downward, twisting her features from hope and surprised shock into doubt and fearful worry. "I was...I saw her. My mother was at Charlie Town."
She said it with such conviction that Theo had no doubt she meant it. "What else?"
"They attacked her Theo." Without warning, her eyes flashed deadly with a surge of black spilling past the fleshy lining of her eyes and into the once bright pink flush of her cheeks.
"Hey sweetheart, it's ok. There's no need to get angry. You're in White Wall. You're safe." His hand extended toward her but stopped mid-air when a snarling growl rumble from the back of her throat.
"Did you know?" Her black eyes locked on him with deadly intent. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as he subtly leaned away from her, his Praetorian response slipping down his spine in preparation.
"Did I know what?" he asked warily.
Her voice rippled with accusation and fury, her body tensing, but fluid in motion, like a predator ready to pounce. "What they did to her? They attacked her. She was their Praetorian! They dragged her out into the street by her hair, stripped her of her clothes, and beat her. They put their disgusting, filthy hands on her." Camille began to shake, the muscles beneath the skin twitching and shaking uncontrollably as she spoke. "She begged for them to stop, not wanting to hurt them, but they wouldn't listen. They called her a monster, Theo. They whipped her, beat her, sliced into her flesh. They murdered her," she said on a gulp of air, and a slight, croaked hesitation as though she were confused again.
"Cam, I don't know what you are..." Theo started to say, but she turned on him in