Withering Rose (Once Upon A Curse Book 2) (29 page)

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.