There’s an awful rattling sound in his chest. I place my hand there, in the same place he touched Ma to heal her.
“I'm here now. Don’t leave me.” I bow my head, willing him to push off the effects of the curse.
This is what happened to his father. He knew it would happen. He sacrificed himself.
Remember me when the moonflowers blossom and glow.Goosebumps shiver over my skin. When I last saw him at the beach… he was saying goodbye.
“You can’t die. You haven't claimed me yet. I’m your Omega, remember? And that makes you my Alpha. We belong together!”
All around us, thewhispsare dismantling the castle. Great chunks of the roof fly away and light streams in, gilding his features. The suns touch his marred cheeks and the disfiguring scars around his eyes. His face isn’t so bad, really.
I squeeze his hand, leaning over him. My tears splash on his brow. Onto his ruined face, so beautiful to me.
“I need you,” I whisper. “I want you to come back to me.”
There’s a pause, and I sense the whole of the castle holding its breath. The stillness rushes in and I realize… the rattling in his chest has fallen silent.
“No. No. No!” I howl. I need medicine, or magic. Something. I reach out, wildly, for anything—as if thewhispsmight have medicine or something that could help. But all that comes to hand is a moonflower vine. It will have to do.
I find a single, sharp thorn and drive it into my palm, slicing my skin. I grit my teeth against the pain and do it again, stabbing my flesh until the scarlet blood runs down my fingers.
I touch my fingertip to Bestian’s lips. “Live. Live for me.” I lean down close enough to kiss his cheek. “I love you.”
Another second of silence. The ground quakes.
A sudden, fierce wind whips around us, blowing back my braids. Lights burst behind my eyes. The walls of the palace crumble away.
Bestian’s chest is rising and falling again. I can sense him trapped in his stone body, yearning. Connecting with my newfound magic, I reach in and pull forth his soul.
All Bestian’s pain, all his wanting, and the poison saturating his body—I draw it into myself. It burns like the hottest fire and I roar, loud as an Alpha, welcoming the pain.
I am as big as the universe—and I can contain it.
There’s a resounding, explosive boom, and the last of the outer walls crumble away.
Then everything goes black.
When I come to, I’m on a warm surface that’s rising and falling in an easy rhythm.
With immense effort, I raise my head. I feel wrung out. “Bestian?”
The gray crust on his skin is cracking, the stony scales crumbling to dust. The scarlet rash recedes to reveal healthy, teal-colored skin with brilliant green markings. His eyes blink open and he takes a startled breath. “Rose?”
“I’m here.” Tears sting my eyes. “I claimed you.”
He cups my cheek. “You came for me.”
“Yes,” I croak. There’s something flaking off my face. I touch my cheek and my finger comes away smudged with gray dust.
Bestian’s eyes widen. “What is that?”
I cough. My mouth feels like it’s been years since I brushed my teeth. “I think it’s part of the curse.”
He snaps upward, pulling me into his lap. I guess I don’t have to worry about his recovery. He’s patting me all over, moving all his limbs just fine. “What happened? What did you do?”
I lick my lips, tasting metal. Blood? “I did a thing. I claimed you. I think.” I rub my cheek again, scraping it with my nails, feeling my face. My skin is coated in gray dust, but there’s no rash, and no stony scales. I think I’m okay. But there’s an ache in my chest, and when I go to rub it, Bestian does the same thing—to his own chest.
We both stare at each other.
