Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
“But how... do you know all of this?” Foalan swayed on his feet.
“I know because Alisdair told me.”
Scoff. “Make sense, girl!” another voice put in. “You just said if he told you, then it’s not truth, because he can’t speak of his affliction.”
“What he did to Constance isn’t the affliction,” I snapped. “It’s what she did to him that is. You can exploit the rules of a curse if you’re clever, like telling a princess the names of your family, so you hold on to them just long enough.”
Whispers broke out behind me. They didn’t understand that last comment, and they didn’t need to.
“Alisdair could tell me about a horrible woman and the misery she spread everywhere she went. But he couldn’t tell me that misery took his soul, and turned him into a beast. Even so, he gave me the final piece of the puzzle, hoping my slow wits would put it together. Argh!” I belted, hitting the stone harder. “How the curse came to be, and how to break it.”
“Do you know how to break it!” a voice shouted.
“Of course, I do.”
Alisdair’s lips moved. I couldn’t hear him over the clamoring, but I thought he whispered, I love you.
“Well, it’d be more honest to say your soul gave me the final pieces. Hanging off my wrist, it beat that deceptive heartbeat in my ear when I thought fondly of you, pondered you, lusted after you, and loved you.” I laughed softly. “All the while, it was banging the truth into my head.
“If hatred ripped out your soul and turned you into a beast”—I cracked the jewel in half—“then only love could give it back. And I do, Alisdair.” Gathering the broken black diamond, I blew on it—sending all of my love with it.
“I love you too.”
Glowing, golden wispy tendrils rose from the jewel that wasn’t a jewel—enveloping his fur-matted limbs, curved fangs, black snout, and long, fuzzy ears.
His eyes snapped open.
“Alisdair? Alisdair!”
He shot into the air, toppling the throne and hovering above it. The glow swirled around him—faster and faster. Glowing brighter and brighter.
I reached for him, then clapped my hands over my eyes—crying out. Too bright!
Alisdair burned as bright as the sun itself. He was the sun itself.
Warm and protecting. Harsh and steadfast. The same sun that nourished the flowers in the meadow, scorched the desert soil. He was maddening like long, summer days that beat on your neck while you wished for clouds and rain. He was brilliant like those same summer days—spent laughing and splashing in the river with your siblings.
Like the sun, his soul was always there, always protecting me, always guiding me, always loving me. Even if some days, the clouds came between us. Alisdair never left me.
“Little bird.” He kissed me, trapping my gasp.
And he never would.
Hot, fiery, and passionate—our tongues tangled, battled, and curled around the other, no part of us ever wanting to let go. I moaned, throwing my arms around him. Alisdair, Alisdair, Alisdair! He was finally mine.
We broke apart, grinning into each other’s eyes. Our real eyes.
The real him.
“No horns,” I whispered. “No claws. No fangs. I did it.”
My love was whole and handsome. He once told me I would’ve fainted if I saw him as he was, and Meya, take me, I swayed on my feet—stunned not by the beauty of his perfectly sculpted face, but the way his true and genuine smile transformed it.
“I can’t believe I really saved you.”
His gaze traveled over my head. “Not just me.”
Foalan touched his handsome face—again and again. No matter how many times he did, the fur and snout didn’t come back.
Bradach spun in circles searching for the wings on his back. Gone.
“Eadaoin?” A tall, muscled soldier broke through the pack of joyous, tearful people, and stopped in front of a young woman with smooth skin, a pert nose, and full lips. “Wow,” he breathed. “You are... hideous without fur.”
“What! Keefe!”
Bursting into guffaws, he swept her up, spinning her off her feet. “I jest, my love. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. And you always were.
“Marry me.”
Eadaoin hid her face in his chest. That didn’t stop me seeing her beaming smile. “Maybe,” she purred. “If a better offer doesn’t come along.”
“It worked.” I shrieked in delight, jumping up and down. “And— Wait!” I spun on Shadi. “Do you still have your magic?”
Twinkling, colored sparks burst out of her hand. “I would say so.”
“What about Riordan? Where is he?”
“Don’t worry. True healers came halfway through and took over. They heard someone screaming for help,” she said. “He’s going to be okay.”
“Of course he is.” I threw myself in Alisdair’s arms. “Because nothing can go wrong on such a perfect day. Make it more perfect by telling me everyone, everywhere, is truly free of the beast curse?”
“They are, Calli. All of Elva.” He nipped the tip of my nose—naughty to the last. “I’ve taken so much of her power within me, I gave more power to the beast curse infecting me. I fed it. I helped it spread. But of course, if I was the cause, I was also the solution. Freeing me from the curse freed everyone.”