"She doesn't need rescuing," Cole growls from behind me, voice rumbling dangerously.
Asher jumps a little, laughing uneasily. "Yeah, well, it seems I was a little misinformed. Now, if you would kindly let Jade down, maybe we can all talk this out."
"Jade?" I ask. Isn’t that a stone?
Asher just points to the girl on the wall who is glaring at all of us. If it were possible for her to cross her arms, I imagine that's what she'd be doing. And maybe tapping her foot impatiently as well.
Two can play at that game.
I step forward, cocking my hip. "Will she promise not to shoot at us again?"
"Jade!" Asher rolls his eyes and throws a sidelong glance at the girl, who is suddenly looking up at the ceiling as though it's the most interesting thing she's ever seen. "I thought we talked about this," he teases. "Speak first, shoot second. Or, you know, shoot never." And then he turns to me, still grinning easily, as though his face doesn’t understand any other sort of expression. "We're still working on it, but she'll play nice, I promise."
"I can hear you, you know," Jade chirps, still latched to the wall. Though I notice her muscles are strained as though she's trying to break through the binds. Then she sighs exasperatingly. "Besides, we both heard her crying and screaming. I thought he was hurting her."
Cole snarls quietly. "I would never hurt her."
"Well, you could have fooled me," Jade retorts.
They glare at each other. Stormy eyes meeting fiery ones, equal in strength and fight, neither going to back down anytime soon.
I look at Asher, unsure what to do. But he pleads with me silently, imploring with his plum-laced eyes. And I relent, using a smidge of magic to loosen the vines, remembering a time when those violet-hued eyes were the only thing giving me hope that someday I would eventually find a place where I belonged. At the time, I thought it would be by his side. But—
A thought bubbles to the surface.
"You died!" I exclaim suddenly, remembering the announcement back at the base, the one that made me realize I couldn’t spend my life in hiding any longer. New York City had fallen, the magic holding it hostage had disappeared, Queen Deirdre and Asher had been defeated. So how is he standing before me now, very much alive?
I jump closer to him, pulled by a magnetic force. My fingers find his, latching onto his hands, yanking on him until I know I have his full attention.
"You got rid of your magic, didn’t you?" I ask, begging for more information. "You released it? How? When? How?"
I'm too excited to think clearly. Too overwhelmed to realize how close I'm leaning into him. Too stunned to notice that two sets of furious, jealous eyes are now watching the spot where my hands clutch Asher's.
But he's not.
Gently, he shakes free of my hold, glancing quickly toward Jade with a hint of guilt clouding his expression.
I don't understand why until the thunderous voice behind me asks, "How, exactly, do you two know each other?"
My eyes find Cole's.
My mouth goes dry. My tongue feels heavy. For some reason, I feel the sudden urge to apologize, to explain myself, even though I know I didn’t really do anything wrong. But before I can answer, a different female voice chimes in.
"So I wasn't the last to know?" Jade comments lightly, too soft for a girl I already know is made up of hard edges.
"To know what?" Cole asks darkly.
Jade glances pointedly from me to Asher, then back to Cole, smiling sharply. "Omorose and Asher," she starts slowly. Her voice simmers, and I can't help but notice a protective edge to it, as though she's silently claiming her ground. "They're engaged."
Oh, for the love of—
"What?" Cole growls.
I jump in immediately, reaching for his trembling arms, getting close enough that I force him yet again to maintain control. His gray eyes are little more than churning storm clouds, dark and tumultuous as they look down at me. "We were," I say quickly, emphasizing the word were. "But that was a million years ago, in a different world, before the earthquake, before everything changed, before I met you."
His brows twitch, and instantly I know it's not fury he's feeling, but hurt. Deep, painful hurt. "Why didn’t you tell me?"
I swallow. "Because I thought he was dead. I didn’t think there was anything to tell. And even if he was alive, I didn’t think it mattered. Not anymore. Not with everything that's happened, not with everything we've been through together."
"Ha!" I hear suddenly, and it's Asher's triumphant cry. "I told you!" he exclaims. Jade frowns. But at the same time, the corners of her lips are pulling up, as though she is secretly thrilled. "I told you she would say that. I told you she wouldn't care. I win. You lose. Next time we're home, you owe me one movie of my choosing. Something with a little less explosive destruction and a little more warm, gooey feelings. Ha!"
I blink a few times, utterly confused.
Jade doesn’t respond, but her grin takes over. With her face soft and joyous, she looks so beautiful, radiant even. And so does Asher. The space between them fills with something palpable, electric, making me feel like the intruder.
Uncomfortable, I take a small step back, unaware how close I was standing to Cole until my shoulder presses into his hard chest. I lean into him, hesitant, hoping. Every part of me warms when he reaches down along my arm, searching for my hand. We clasp each other, holding tight. With his skin pressing against mine, I realize I was waiting for that small bit of contact, that unspoken signal that I've been forgiven. My heart feels lighter, and a different sort of heat passes through me as he begins to trace circles on my hip with his thumb.
Asher turns away from Jade, looking from Cole to me and back again. His brows pull together for a moment before he shakes his head slightly. "Why don't we both start from the beginning," he says gently. "You go first. Why does everyone at the base think someone called the beast kidnapped you? And why are you here looking very much at peace and not at all like someone being held against her will?"
"It's a long story," I mumble. But I can't help but notice how Cole has leaned away from me. His eyes burn the back of my neck.
"The beast?" he comments.
"Um," I murmur, biting my lip. "That's sort of what the people of Earth call you."
He snorts. "Really? No wonder you were afraid."
My tension releases and I smirk. "You did that all on your own."
He grins too. Our little inside joke.
"Okay, so he's the beast?" Asher asks, trying to make sense of everything.
"He's Cole," I jump in. "He didn't kidnap me. I just made it look like he did."
Jade and Asher shake their heads. Each raises an eyebrow at me, silently questioning for more. Even Cole watches on, intrigued by this story that I haven't told him. I take a deep breath. This is going to be a long night.
"You guys must be freezing," I say, ushering them toward the library door. "Why don’t we all sit by the fire and figure out what the heck is going on."
They nod.
We walk as a group out of the room. Jade doesn’t even try to hide it when she reaches down to grab her discarded gun, tucking it back into her pants. Asher tosses her a look but she just shrugs it off, staring back. They both remain stubborn for a moment, but Asher relents quickly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his side. Jade is almost as tall as he is, and her long slim body is all muscle. He would never be able to move her anywhere she didn’t want to go, so I know she leans against him willingly, because she wants to.
Without my magic, I would have been no match for her. She's a fighter. One look is all it takes to realize that. But it's just as obvious that Asher's not, he never has been. How did these two find each other? They're complete opposites, yet at the same time, deep affection ties them together. Love. Clear as a cloudless sky. Sparkling between them every time their eyes meet.
A little part of me wonders if they see it every time I look at Cole?
Every time he
looks at me?
The idea lingers as we all take a seat near the fire. I settle into my normal spot, tucked into Cole's side. Pulling my feet into my chest, I bundle up, small and delicate compared to the muscular arm cradling me close. Jade and Asher don't say anything as they take their seats, but both of them watch me curiously. He stretches his feet close to the fire and she crosses her legs. In the space between their bodies, their hands come together, meeting seamlessly in the middle as though second nature.
"I guess I should start at the beginning," I say, breaking the silence. "I think we all remember the earthquake, and I know you both must have stories you could tell me of how that day changed your life, how it disrupted everything. But this is mine. On the day of the earthquake, I was with my father, traveling to see you, Asher."
Nodding, he says, "I remember." Then he pauses, frowns. "My mother was preparing for your arrival."
I want to ask why such a haunted expression just passed over his face, but I know I'll hear his story in time. Right now, they all want to hear mine. "When the ground settled, my father and I woke on one side of a dividing line. He and I were in an open field, and just fifteen feet away rested a town in ruin, a town full of things I didn't understand. Buildings. Clothing. Things like cars and phones. Things that were beyond my comprehension. We were terrified and alone, and the people of Earth captured us. For that first year, we lived behind bars, until my father offered to tell them everything he knew about magic and how to destroy it. They moved us to the Midwest Command Center, and in exchange for our information, they kept us fed and safe, they let us live among them."
I take a deep breath. Cole caresses my arm with his thumb, silently giving me his strength. "But something else happened on the day of the earthquake. My mother died, and I inherited her magic. So for ten years, while we lived among the people of Earth, I had to keep that power locked inside. I had to hide it, hide myself, pretend to be something I never could be. Normal."
Jade gasps quietly. I glance at her but she shakes her head. "Sorry," she murmurs, gentler than I realized she could be. "I held magic once, I felt it. I could never imagine keeping something like that contained. Never."
I scrunch my lips, aching to ask questions. What magic? How? Isn’t she from Earth? Or was she a princess, like me?
I swallow them back down, continuing my tale. "But a few weeks ago, something inside me snapped. The general in charge of the command center made an announcement, he told us all how one of the queens had fallen, how the people of Earth had won a huge victory against the magic. I listened to hundreds of people cheer and chant, utterly jubilant to hear that someone with magic had been killed. And I just had to get away. I couldn’t take it any longer. I wanted to embrace my magic, not hide it. I wanted to find someplace I could belong. I wanted to be free. So I ran away. But my father stayed behind, and in order to keep him safe, we tried to make it look like I was kidnapped, not that I left of my own free will. I didn’t want anyone to grow suspicious, to think I had magic, to believe my father couldn’t be trusted. I didn't know how long—"
I pause when I notice Asher's lips part. He doesn’t speak, but I can practically hear the questions burning his tongue.
"What?" I ask.
He meets my stare, eyes downcast with an unspoken apology.
A fist clenches around my heart. Panic. "What, Asher?"
He winces slightly. "You said your father was there?"
"Yeah," I answer smoothly. "Actually, I'm surprised he didn’t tell you I came here on my own, that I didn't need to be saved. Why didn't he stop you from coming after me?"
Asher turns to Jade.
She glances at him, biting her lip. An emotion I can't read passes over her face, lasting for a short moment before she looks away, cool expression returning. Cole's grip tightens, as though he knows. Asher spins back to me, gaze incredibly soft. The smile normally crossing his lips vanishes.
"What?" I whisper.
All the air has gone out of me in one fell swoop.
Because I know.
Without Asher having to say it, I know.
"Omorose, your father wasn't there."
My whole body deflates. The only thing holding me upright is Cole. Every ounce of strength seeps out of me, sinking into the floor, disappearing.
"They thought," Asher continues, unsure of what to say. "I mean, they told us he was kidnapped too. He disappeared a few days ago. They thought he was here with you."
"They thought…" I mumble, trailing off. The world is in slow motion, yet at the same time, everything is happening too fast. My mind whirls, but I can't speak. My movements are sluggish even though my brain zips at breakneck speed.
"Cole!" I screech, too loud, too high.
I'm on my feet. I'm pacing. Am I running? I can’t process what's happening. The room blurs as my heartbeat turns rapid. I breathe quickly, sharp inhales and exhales. Alarm courses through me. Alarm and fear. I can’t speak. Can't think. I'm trapped by my own body.
Be brave.
That voice tries to whisper.
Be brave.
But I can’t. Because it's my father. And he's gone. And my world would be nothing without him. He's the only family I have left. I love him too much to be brave. The idea of losing him is too overwhelming. Too much to handle.
"Omorose!" Cole calls fiercely. "Omorose!"
He's calling me back from the brink. I blink, clearing my eyes, trying to see through the panic overwhelming me. His hands cup my cheeks, and his smoky eyes gaze into mine with a fire that sparks me back to life.
"I'll find him," he whispers. "If he's anywhere on these mountains, I'll find him. Have faith in me. Trust me. Trust these words. I'll find him. And I'll bring him home for you."
I nod. But I can’t find any words.
So I cling to his.
I wrap his promise around me like a warm blanket, comforting and secure.
Cole looks at me for another moment and then he turns, running toward the door. As soon as he's through it, he shifts, this time into a golden hawk I've never seen before. Wide, powerful wings, pump once, twice, and then he's out of sight.
Only when he's gone do I realize all of my hope flies with him.
When I turn back to the fire, shivering from something much deeper than a chill, it's not Asher's arm that comes hesitatingly across my shoulders.
It's Jade's.
I melt into her embrace, surprising us both, and collapse against her, knocking her off-balance. But her reflexes jump in, holding up my weight as she leads us closer to the fire. We sink slowly as she controls our movements, and I drift to a seated position.
The flames warm my frozen body, but my mind won't stop picturing my father's dead corpse buried somewhere beneath the snow on the mountains. Or his mangled body ripped to shreds by the wild animals not part of Cole's kingdom. The image switches between deathly cold, blue skin and red-hot, blood-stained snow.
Cole will find him.
I try to reassure myself.
Cole will save him.
But those two oscillating morbid pictures won’t go away. And each time they flash before my eyes, they seem worse and worse, and more and more certain.
Asher comes to sit by my other side. He takes my hand gently, trying to warm my frigid fingers. And for a moment, his kindness makes me want to cry. Asher didn’t need to travel all this way to rescue me, to risk so much for promises made when we were children. But he did. And genuine concern laces his eyes, genuine caring. In another life, he would have made a good husband. My seven-year-old self never needed to be afraid of a future with him. And in this new world, I know I'm still safe with him, even if the terms have changed.
"Distract me," I whisper.
"What do you want to know?" he asks softly.
I shake my head. "I don’t care, anything." And then I pause, biting my lip as I remember the cheers back at the base, the victory chants. There is something I desperately want to know, one topic that might actually pull me away fro
m my dark thoughts. "How did you get rid of the magic?"
Asher and Jade share a quick glance and then both turn back to me. I'm not sure what just passed between them unspoken.
"What do you know about the magic? About the curse?" Asher asks.
I sigh. "Probably more than you. Cole told me everything. How a long time ago, we stole all the magic from the world and bottled it up inside ourselves. How the faerie priestesses used their dying breaths to lay curses down on all the humans with magic, to contain the power and to bind it to our blood, giving all the other species hope that one day the magic would be freed and released back into the world."
Asher frowns. "Huh?"
"Never mind," I say, shaking my head. "He can tell you the story later, it's not entirely mine to share. The only thing that matters right now is that we both know my magic was stolen, that it was cursed, and I want to let it go. So far, the only options I've found are breaking the curse and death. Since you're very much alive, I have to know—did you break your curse or did you find another way?"
I want so much for him to have the answer I need.
To say that he found another way.
To say that he uncovered a secret option number three, one I haven’t in all my research been able to find.
To say that he knows how to save me.
"Do you know what my curse was?" Asher asks instead of answering.
My heart sinks. "No," I whisper, unable to fully find my voice because with that one question I know—he broke his curse. That's how he got rid of the magic, and that's all I need to hear. Because my curse is time and it’s impossible to break.
Asher doesn’t know how to help me.
I listen halfheartedly as he launches into a quick explanation.
"My family's curse was to never find love," he confesses, gaze focused on the fire. An edge of sadness latches onto his voice, a bit of darkness even this always happy man can’t shake. "I'm not sure if you remember my mother's magic from when you visited our kingdom so many years ago, but emotion was her power. She could steal the feelings deep inside people's hearts, leaving them empty shells. She used her magic to take people's love and fear, their longing and hope, everything no one would willingly give her. By the time I was born, she was so wrapped up in the power, it had consumed her. She was beyond anyone's ability to love. And when the earthquake merged our world with Earth, I took the opportunity to run away, and I worked for ten years to try to bring her down. A few weeks ago, Jade and I did what I thought would be impossible. We put an end to my mother, and when the magic was passed on to the heir, we realized something—the curse was already broken. We loved each other, and the magic disappeared the instant we told each other that truth."
Withering Rose (Once Upon a Curse Book 2) Page 15