Withering Rose (Once Upon A Curse Book 2) (27 page)

I feel her immediately.

The magic calls to me, and I respond,
wrapping her in vines, coiling them around the sled, and then
sending them toward me.

"Cole," I whisper, trying to get his
attention.

This time, I really think he doesn’t hear. I
can barely hear myself.

So I do the next best thing, I let go of his
fur and fall, landing hard against the snow. That pain is nothing
compared to the torment of the curse rolling through me. Cole stops
immediately, turning toward me with those smoky gray eyes, more
mournful than I've ever seen them.

"Pull," I cough hoarsely.

I can see he doesn’t understand what I'm
trying to say.

Using more magic, I wrap the vines around
his paws, struggling for words as the power and the curse rip
through me, euphoric and excruciating all at once.

His eyes go wide.

He lets go of the rope connected to my
father's sled and sinks his teeth into the vines. He pulls.

The magic vanishes as the final ounces of my
strength give out, and I collapse against the frozen land. At the
edges of my vision, I see the faerie. The ground to either side of
her is gone, and I know her magic is the only thing keeping her
escape route intact, as though it knows we’re doing everything we
can to save her. The last remnants of the city wall crumble. Slate
roofs all around her drop away. The front gate falls sideways,
crashing against the ground and rolling back before disappearing
over the edge.

Cole yanks.

The sled moves closer. And with each inch of
ground gained, the empty road behind her drops away.

A boom splits the air, the sound of the city
shattering against the ground far, far below. A cloud of ash and
dust erupts, shrouding the faerie in darkness.

For a moment, the earth stops.

There are no sounds.

The mountains are still, silent.

Rocky particles glimmer like ashen snowfall,
almost beautiful.

And then a dull, golden light shines through
the shadows, too low to be the sun. Cole grunts, but he doesn’t
stop until the sled is right next to my father's, using his claws
to slash through the vines my magic created.

The faerie woman is peacefully asleep.

Unchanged. Unaffected.

Cole collapses, discarding the form of the
bear and landing on his knees, head bowed to the floor as his fists
clench tight in an emotion I don’t know how to read. Relief I
think. Overwhelming relief.

"Cole," I murmur, trying to find my voice.
"You…you risked everything."

He looks up, capturing me with his fierce
gaze, charged with lightning fire. "Omorose, you are everything,"
he confesses softly. I breathe in deep as those words steal all the
breath from my chest. "I'd do anything to keep you safe."

I don't know what to do as he crawls closer,
pulling me into his arms, burying his head into my neck, breathing
in my scent. I want to throw my arms around him. I want to kiss
him, to hold him, to tell him I love him.

But I'm frozen.

You are everything.

I’d do anything to keep you safe.

Everything.

Anything.

Suddenly, I'm nauseous.

Cole risked everything to be with me. He'd
do anything to keep me safe. Because he doesn’t know. Because I
never told him.

He thinks I'm his forever.

And I wanted so badly for that to be
true.

I wanted so badly to be his forever.

But time is my curse. Time is the one thing
I can't give him.

I'm going to die. The magic is going to kill
me. He's going to be alone, and I'm going to leave him broken and
crushed.

Unless…

The idea I’d been pushing away flies to the
surface, no longer able to be ignored. I've known for a while how
this would end, ever since I first touched that faerie and felt her
magic pull me under. I wasn't ready to face it then, but now, I am.
Knowing that Cole loves me, that he was ready to give up everything
for me, makes me want to do the same for him. So I open my heart
and my soul and let the truth wash over me.

I know how to get rid of my magic.

I know how to awaken the faerie.

My curse is too strong to break. All I can
do is surrender and be satisfied with knowing I won’t be leaving
Cole alone, that my sacrifice won't be in vain.

My death will make all of his dreams come
true.

I wait until Cole is fast asleep before I roll free
of his arms, leaning up on my elbow to look down over his face,
peaceful in slumber.

This is going to be the hardest part.

Saying goodbye.

As I brush my fingers through his
wonderfully unruly ebony hair, I try to find comfort in knowing
this is the only way. This is how it was always supposed to end. If
the general was willing to bring down a mountain, risking who knows
how many innocent lives, then he'll never stop coming after the
magic—after the faerie or after me. I'll never be free. But Cole,
he has a chance. I can give him that chance. If the magic is gone,
the general and everyone at the base will think they've won. With
the magic free, Cole and his people can pretend to be innocent
humans caught in the crossfire. Or they can flee to the mountains
and remain as they are now, a kingdom of animals in the wild. The
point is they will have a choice, they will have each other, and
they will have freedom.

"Cole," I murmur, not sure where to begin.
There are so many things I want to say, and yet, nothing sounds
right. "You made me feel alive for the first time in my life. In a
world where I felt so impossibly trapped, you gave me a taste of
freedom, and I can never thank you enough for that. And I know this
isn't how you want it to end, and I wish so much that things could
be different, that I could be different for you, but I guess that's
not how life goes sometimes. I hope you know that no matter what
happens, I'll always be with you, and you'll always be with me. In
that small way, we can still have our slice of forever."

He sighs, turning toward me. A smile passes
over his lips.

It breaks my heart.

"Please forgive me," I whisper, bringing my
palm to his cheek. And then I lean down, kissing him softly,
missing the silky touch of his lips the instant I pull away. And
because it's my last chance, I say the three words I've been too
afraid to say, the ones I somehow knew would always mean goodbye.
"I love you."

Then I force myself to look away.

I force myself to crawl quietly toward the
front of the tent, easing one flap aside, leaving the warmth and
entering the cold, dark night.

Animals rest peacefully on the snow all
around me, not at all fazed by the damp, frozen ground. We only got
here a little while ago. Cole spent hours pulling my father, the
faerie, and me through the mountains toward the spot where his
people were waiting for us. All the effort it took is the only
reason he's sleeping so soundly now, the only reason I had any hope
of escaping his embrace without waking him up.

Eyes watch me as I cross over the open
field, feet crunching on the ice. The wolves stationed themselves
outside of our tent, keeping guard over their king. But they don't
try to stop me. They have no reason to—they don't know enough.

I visit my father first.

He's alive. Barely.

My presence soothes him, as though he can
somehow sense I'm near. He mumbles softly, nonsense, and shifts his
face toward me, nudging the pillow. Just in case he can hear me, I
don't say anything as I wipe the sweat from his brow and tuck the
blankets in closer. I don't want him to know this is goodbye. I
want him to think it’s just another visit, one of many to come. I
want him to stay lost in his imagination, to stay wrapped up in the
only happy ending he'll ever find.

The medicine Asher was supposed to send
never arrived. But maybe it's better this way. Maybe it's better if
my father slips peacefully away, never knowing all of his dreams
for me didn’t have a chance to come true.

After a few more silent moments, I slip back
into the night.

One of the wolves is standing right outside
the tent when I emerge, watching me with a cocked head, eyes
piercing through the darkness.

"Go back to sleep," I urge.

But he doesn't.

He follows me as I step quietly toward the
faerie's tent, eyes boring into my side like a physical weight.

"Go to sleep," I order again.

But he just continues to stare.

Stubborn.

Everyone in this entire kingdom is so
frustratingly stubborn.

But I can't risk him waking Cole. So I take
a step closer, putting my hand out. He steps into my palm, allowing
me to scratch behind his ears. And then he flops over onto his
back, rolling his tongue out to the side like a puppy searching for
a belly rub. Such a softy.

"Not now," I chide. He whines. "Cole asked
me to check on her."

At that, his ears perk up, and he
straightens.

"That's right," I continue, keeping my voice
even and low. "Your king is trying to get some much-needed rest
after dragging me all the way here, so go back to sleep and don't
disturb him."

His head cocks, perceptive.

I wonder if he can taste the lie in the air?
Or do my human instincts give me away? Can he hear my blood
pounding in my ears? Can he smell the salty sweat on my palms? Can
he sense my fear?

I'll never know.

He stays where he is but drops his head down
to his paws and closes his eyes, giving me the privacy I asked for.
And that will have to do, because the moon is rising higher
overhead, shining a silver light over the mountains, reminding me
that it’s only a matter of time before Cole wakes and realizes I'm
gone. It won't take him long to find me.

I slip silently into the faerie's tent.

The golden glow blinds me.

I blink a few times, allowing my eyes to
adjust.

There she is. Same as always. Blond hair in
perfect disarray. Skin shimmering with an inner glow. Features
fluid, yet always stunning. Magic radiating out, almost tangible.
The events of the day haven’t touched her.

What does she see behind those closed
eyes?

What dreams does she live in?

What nightmares?

I take a step closer, feeling the magnetic
pull of her power wrapping around me, recognizing me for what I
am—the only thing that can save her. I should have realized it a
long time ago, the first time I ever felt that mesmerizing lure of
her magic. And maybe I did. But now, standing over her, I can't
deny it.

She's a faerie.

She's a flower.

She's dying. She's been dying. It's the only
explanation for why she stole the magic from Cole's people. She
needed it to heal herself and to be protected while the spell ran
its course, however long that might be.

But I'm here now. And I can give her life
the same way I give all nature life—by giving up my own.

As I sit by her side, my fingers tremble. My
eyes start to burn. There's only an inch of air between our
fingers, but the small space is filled with vast meaning. I can't
close the distance.

Am I ready to say goodbye?

Am I ready to die?

I close my eyes, pulling my hand into a
fist, stilled by doubt, letting my imagination take over. In my
mind's eye, I see Cole reunited with his people in a bustling new
home filled with humans and animals alike. I see them free, no
longer pursued, no longer hunted. Children shift from pups to
toddlers in the bright light of day, not afraid. I see the man I
love smiling and laughing openly, his cloudy eyes have cleared, and
somewhere deep within them there's a memory of me that he holds
close to his heart.

And I see myself back in a place I never
thought I would find again. Home. With my mother and my sister,
with all the people we left behind. Eventually my father will find
us too, and in that beautiful afterlife, we'll be a family
again.

I hold on to those dreams as I uncurl my
fingers.

Maybe, for once, my hopes can come true.

Maybe the curse has been the answer all
along.

Maybe in death I'll finally be free.

I sense the heat of her skin before I touch
it, pausing.

Be brave
.

A voice whispers.

Be brave
.

And for the first time, I realize, that
voice is me.

Not my mother. Not my sister. Not my younger
self.

But me. The woman I've become.

Strong. Brave.

And ready to face whatever comes next.

I close the distance.

Our hands clasp tight, and the faerie pulls
me under. I don't resist. I surrender to the magic. I let hers
overtake me, and I open my soul, freely giving away every ounce of
power within. My sense of self vanishes. I'm no longer Omorose. I'm
pure, untainted energy. And I disappear within the faerie, zipping
straight for her heart, realizing for the first time how rotten it
is.