Her small body trembles.
I want to hold her because I remember the day not so long ago that I felt the magic burn my soul for the first time. I'd never felt pain like that before. I want to tell her everything will be all right, even though I know it won't. I want to comfort her. Most of all, I want to tell her the same thing my father told me so long ago.
Don’t use it.
No matter how hard the magic is to resist, live.
Don’t give your years away.
Don’t let the curse own you.
But I can’t say any of those things because as the magic sinks beneath her skin, the world fades. The light of the fire dims and my awareness recedes.
I use these last few seconds of my life to memorize every curve of her face, to silently apologize for never finding her. My deepest regret will be that I stopped looking. Because if I had known, I never would have condemned her to my fate.
But now, there's nothing I can do.
The curse binds to her soul.
My sight goes black.
And I disappear into nothing.
Electric fire zaps my chest.
Am I in hell?
The pain strikes again, burning through me.
And then there's pressure on my chest. One. Two. Three. As though someone is dropping boulders on my heart, trying to crush me. Cool air blows through my lips, filling me up. Then the pounding weight returns.
I must be in hell.
Until right now, I never believed in those Earthly gods. But where else could this place be? Trapped in the dark, being poked and prodded by shadows, a cycle of never-ending pain. For the first time, eternity stretches before me. The curse is gone. And yet, I want it back because I can't spend the rest of my afterlife like this.
"Come on," a voice urges.
The electric fire is back.
All of a sudden, my mouth opens, sucking in a long, excruciating breath. Every inch of me prickles, stinging back to life. I start to cough, choking on air, as my lungs blaze with heat. Tears spring to my eyes, and I try to blink them away. My vision is blurred and confused.
Is that Asher above me?
What is he doing here?
Did he die too?
"Omorose!" a voice shouts.
Another head comes into view, pale skin and smoky gray eyes, a face I would recognize anywhere. Cole. And he's grinning so widely.
Maybe I'm in heaven after all.
My arms are too heavy, they won't lift. But he bends down closer, filling my entire field of view as his fingers run through my hair, and his lips sprinkle kisses all over my face.
Now, this is the sort of eternity I could get used to.
I stop struggling to move, to see, and instead just bask in his touch, sighing softly. Time can just go on and on as far as I'm concerned. I never want this to end.
Cole pulls away.
I grumble in protest.
He laughs, and the beauty in that easy sound makes me shiver with pleasure. "Omorose, it's time to wake up."
When I hear that bossy command, I realize something. If this were a dream, the stubborn bear king wouldn’t be taking over. Cole's lips would still be pressed against mine, they wouldn't be far away and demanding.
I blink.
The room gradually comes into view.
I blink again.
Cole kneels over me, but so does Asher and so does Jade. No offense to them, but in my dreams, Cole and I are normally alone, doing things I don’t really want other people to see. Which means maybe I'm not dreaming.
Maybe…
"Am I dead?"
Asher snorts, but my eyes are on Cole.
He brushes his palm through my hair, gazing at me like I'm everything. "No," he murmurs. "You're very much alive."
My brows come together. This can’t be real.
Can it?
And then Cole grins. "You're stuck with me, Omorose Bouchene. Did you really think I'd let a little thing like a curse take you away?"
I don't answer.
I just grab the back of his neck with my hands, yanking Cole down and smashing my face against his, catching my beast off-guard. He loses his balance, falling on top of me, crushing me with his weight. But there's no better pain in the world than that. And I should know, I've experienced my fair share.
Someone coughs.
I ignore it. For the first time, happily ever after sounds like a very real possibility. My heart has swelled so wide I actually think it might burst, and I'm not really in the mood for interruptions. Most of my life has been tainted with a fear of what other people might think, and right now, I couldn't care less. Let them watch. And let them wait. Because I'm kissing Cole, and I'm going to take my time.
"Ahem," a deep voice coughs a little louder.
Nope. Sorry.
Not happening.
But Cole has other plans. He's laughing against my lips as he reaches back and unlatches my fingers from around his neck. Deep in his eyes, the hungry beast still watches me, but the human king has regained control.
I take a long breath and glare at Asher.
A moment later, Jade punches him in the upper arm.
"Ow." He flinches, gripping the newly sore spot on his bicep and turning to her. "What was that for?"
Jade shrugs. "I recognized that look in Omorose's eyes, just figured I would help her out."
"I'm not sure I like what's happening here," he murmurs.
I grin and sit up, crossing my arms. "Well, I do."
Asher glances at me, raising his brows. "I just saved your life, you know. I think a gushing thank you is more appropriate."
That stops me, bringing a blush to my cheeks as I bite my bottom lip. "Sorry," I murmur. And with the euphoria gone, it all comes rushing back. The curse. The magic. The void. And worst of all, my sister. My eyes go wide. "But I did die. I know I did. How did you bring me back to life?"
"With a handy little thing I like to call electricity," Asher says, very proud of himself, holding up some contraption I don't recognize.
Cole reaches over, gripping my hand. His voice, I notice, isn’t quite as cheerful, as though the memory still haunts him. "Your heart stopped." He swallows and his fingers tighten just a little, just enough to let me know how truly terrified he was of losing me. "You were dead. I couldn't feel a pulse, couldn’t hear a beat in your chest."
He looks to Asher, at a loss for words.
"When we left last week, I couldn't help but notice that you had a bit of a noble, selfless sort of air about you," Asher says, wrinkling his nose. "I hate those sort of airs, they always mean trouble. I knew you were going to do something idiotic, just like I'd seen another person do in the past…"
He glances pointedly at Jade.
She raises one eyebrow, not backing down.
The corners of his lip twitch, revealing just how much he loves pushing her buttons. "Anyway," he continues, "we were going to send the wolves back alone with the medicine for your father, but something in both of our guts urged us to see it through. So I grabbed an emergency medical kit to bring with us, something a friend of ours back home who's training to be a doctor taught us how to use. A little CPR, a little shock from the portable defibrillator, and here we are."
He gestures nonchalantly, but I know it had to have been more difficult than that, especially when he catches my eye. Worry lines still flicker deep in his indigo irises, flashes of lavender concern.
"Thank you," I tell him, putting every ounce of gratitude I can into those two words. Then I turn to Jade. "Thank you both for saving my life. I don’t know, I didn't think. I mean…" I sigh. "Just, thank you."
And I realize something in that instant.
The curse did kill me.
The magic stopped my heart.
But friendship brought me back to life. In the end, love did conquer the curse. Just not in the way I ever imagined it might.
"It's over," Cole whispers into my ear. "It’s all over."
But as soon as he says
those words, another face fills my vision. Sweet. Innocent. With green eyes that glimmer with the sunshine of a warm summer day. "No," I murmur, "it's not." Cole stiffens behind me, but I turn my attention to the faerie standing at the back of the room, crossing her arms and scowling at us. "And she's going to help us."
The faerie lifts her brows, as though silently asking, who, me? When I don't look away, she shakes her head. "No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are," I say, voice strong. I'm not the weak little girl I once was. I'm not going to be afraid of her. "I saved your life, you owe me."
She rolls her eyes, deepening her glare. "You just expedited the process. I was going to be fine."
"Are you sure about that?" I ask, tone as hard as stone, no longer delicate like a flower.
Her lips twitch into a frown as a wave of doubt passes quickly over her face. But when she replies, the bite is back. "Either way, I got out of the business of helping humans a very long time ago, when their greed murdered everyone I know. One act of kindness doesn't undo all the harm your people caused, all the lives they destroyed."
"What about helping me? My kind?" Cole adds softly.
The faerie winces, shifting her gaze toward him. Everything about her turns tender. The hard shell vanishes. "I'm sorry," she confesses. "I really am. What I did to you, I did out of desperation. Believe me when I say there was no other way. I never wanted to hurt you, but I needed magic and I needed it fast."
His eyes widen. "You’re a priestess, aren’t you?"
My jaw drops.
"All faeries have a little magic," she responds noncommittally. "But that's not the point. Yes, I borrowed your magic. Borrowed. The spell was going to run its course and the magic would have been returned to you no matter what. I left your magic alone and I left your parents' magic alone, so the three of you could still guide your people until that day came. I wasn't trying to hurt you."
"Well, my parents are dead, so your plan didn't really work out."
She purses her lips, releasing a deep breath. "I'm sorry for that. I am. But there are things I need to do, people I need to see. And I can’t waste my time helping a human, least of all a human who possessed stolen magic, not when other people need me."
"Would it be a waste of time to break a curse?" I interject. "To free some magic? To give it back to those people you claim you want to help?"
Her eyes narrow. She turns to me, suspicion gleaming in those beautiful irises, which I now see are bright blue. "What do you mean?" she questions slowly, voice growing harder by the second. "Your magic is gone, otherwise I'd feel it."
"My curse isn’t broken," I say simply.
"What?" Cole growls.
I grip his hand, shaking my head slightly. "It's not me. When I died, my magic transferred to an heir I didn’t know was still alive." I lick my lips, throat tight as I recall her dirty, soot-covered cheeks, and her narrow, starved frame. "My sister. My little sister. My spirit traveled to her. I saw her. I saw the magic consume her. She inherited my curse. And I have to save her. I'd do anything to save her."
"I'll help," the faerie responds immediately.
Now it's my turn to be wary. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
She shrugs, crossing her arms and tossing her luscious blond hair over her shoulder. "I have a soft spot for children."
But there's a calculating gleam in her eyes, and I don't believe her words for a second—the newfound compassion is clearly a cover.
Yet before I can question her further, a man comes crashing through the front of the tent, stumbling on feet that have forgotten how to work.
"Cole?" he wheezes.
I know who he is even before Cole jumps to his feet, pulling the man in for a tight embrace.
One of the wolves.
One of his uncles.
Cole always said he looked just like his father, same hair, same eyes. But his smile, I realize now, that came from his mother. Because the grin spreading across his uncle's face is one I've seen dance across Cole's lips a hundred times before. He doesn’t need to turn around for me to know it's there now, and I wouldn't want him to.
I want him to hold on to this moment.
To lose himself in it.
Because he's been waiting fifteen long years for this dream to come true. And I literally went to hell and back to give it to him.
"Papa," I whisper.
For the first time in weeks, he eases his eyes open, blinking the fog away. The moment those dark, umber irises turn toward me, the world stops.
"Omorose?" he asks, voice scratchy and weak—yet so incredibly beautiful.
"Papa!" I cry, falling over him and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "I was starting to think you'd never wake up."
He shifts, trying to hug me back I think, but he's too weak to really move. "What happened?"
I sit up, wiping my tears away as I dribble some water between his dry lips. "So much, I don't even know where to begin."
"The beast?" He coughs.
A smile pulls at my cheeks with the mere mention of Cole, and the way my father's brow pulls tight in suspicion doesn't go unnoticed. We can have this conversation another time, when he's a little healthier. The last thing I want to do is shock him to death by admitting I fell in love with the King of Beasts.
So I shake my head slightly, and instead reach down to grab his hand, moist with sweat and still a little warm with fever. "Papa," I murmur, "my magic is gone."
He gasps.
Immediately, a glow I haven't seen in a decade sparks to life in his eyes.
"That's not all," I say before he has time to comment. "Sissy is alive. I saw her, Papa. She's alive."
"Alive?" he whispers, voice cracking.
I can’t even speak, my throat is closed tight, and my grin is no longer about Cole. It’s about me, my family, and a sort of love I thought I had lost forever. So I nod and squeeze my father's hand tighter. And we stare at each other, not uttering a word, yet sharing more in that moment than I think we have in my entire life.
"Omorose?"
The soft question stirs my attention. I glance away from my father, looking over my shoulder to see Cole's head poking through the front of the tent.
"It's time."
I nod, turning back to the bed. "I have to go, Papa. But I'll be back soon to tell you everything. Go back to sleep, get some rest. And I'll be here when you wake up."
Before I've even finished speaking, his eyes have drifted closed. But now, his face is utterly at peace, not frowning with the torment of disease. He'll heal. Now that he knows everything will be all right, he'll be able to heal, eventually.
I brush my fingers through his hair, straightening it one more time, before I get up and leave, finding Cole right outside the tent. Immediately, his arm wraps around my shoulder, and I snuggle against his side.
It's hard to believe that little more than two weeks ago, we were surrounded by nothing more than wild animals and even wilder wilderness. But already, Cole's new kingdom is underway. Wooden frameworks for houses have started going up, some stone cottages are halfway built. Fires light the entire valley, which has been cleared of snow to make way for the construction. Children play in quiet circles while their parents work. Many of the women have banded together to tend to fragile fledgling gardens while the men grind away at the construction. Everyone is human, for the time being at least.
After I awakened the faerie and my magic vanished, the bubble of power blocking the electricity vanished too. Cole still had his magic, and so did his people, but for some reason it didn't obstruct the energy fields the way my stolen magic or the faerie's stolen magic did. Their power is more natural—it's not fighting for control at every moment, not charged by the constant battle for release. It’s subtler, more nuanced. Just easier, like breathing. And I think that ease is what keeps it from interfering with the electricity.
When Asher and Jade returned to the base, saying that the bombs almost killed hundreds of innocent people who were now stranded
in the mountains, tons of soldiers volunteered to help, needing some way to assuage the guilt. They brought tools and food and supplies. They brought medicine and doctors who treated my father. And some of them are still here now, building alongside Cole's people, helping resurrect the city they destroyed. And as long as the shifters remain in their human forms, no one suspects anything. We've had a few close calls in the cold hours of the night. But hearing a wolf howl to the moon isn't so unusual in these mountains—at least, that's what we told the visitors.
The faerie was a little harder to explain.
Even on a starless night, her skin somehow shimmers with sunlight.
So we've mainly kept her out of sight. Under extreme supervision. Which is why four of Cole's uncles are stationed at each corner of her tent, blocking any possible chance of escape. They step aside as we enter.
"Finally, it's about time," she grumbles immediately.
I have to admit, I'm not going to miss her. At all. Not even in the slightest. "My father woke up," I murmur, knowing that won't mean anything to her.
And it doesn’t. After a brief pause, she crosses her arms, maintaining the same superior attitude. "Are you ready to do this or not? Because like I said before, there are plenty of other things I could be doing besides helping you."
"I'm ready," I hiss, annoyed. Two weeks with her were two weeks too many. And I can't wait for her to be gone so I can get some peace back in my life. Every second she's away is another second closer I am to having my sister again. "There's just one more thing we need to do before we let you go."
Her brows rise to sharp points.
Cole snarls under his breath behind me, copying my feelings exactly.
"A blood oath," I say, sounding a little more ominous than I intended.
She snorts. "A blood oath? Really? I already promised I would find your sister and bring her back."
I cock my hip, crossing my arms. "Forgive me if I don’t believe you."
She sighs and rolls up her sleeve, baring one arm up to the elbow. "Let's get it over with then. I can't wait to leave this place, to go somewhere warm, somewhere I can feel the sun."
Withering Rose (Once Upon a Curse Book 2) Page 20
