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At that moment, nothing else seemed important to say. Nothing else mattered. She’d been overcome with regret because she never said those words to him. Now, she could.

His face broke into the same beautiful smile she’d always known, the scar on his mouth making his grin uneven. “Oh, Amelie. I love you, too. More than you know.”

“I love you so much.” She stroked the side of his face, running her fingertip over the scar. “I love you. I love you.”

He drew her into his lap and kissed her. All around them, the death and decay dissolved into the earth, the garden reverting to its natural greenery. The roses had not yet returned, but she believed they would, with time.

When she finally drew back from the kiss, the sky was blue and the air was warm.

“You broke the curse,” he said in his sonorous voice. “You broke it by loving me.”

Amelie tilted her head. “You knew that was how the curse was broken? Why did you not tell me?”

“My beautiful Amelie, that is not something that one can be told. Love must be given freely and without qualification.”

He kissed her forehead while she digested his words. He was right, of course, as Colette had been. Now that Amelie had accepted she was in love, she could hardly recall what she’d been so afraid of.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

Davron inhaled deeply through his nose, looking at the verdant trees swaying gently over the garden walls. “I feel free.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, sending shivers from the crown of her head to the back of her neck.

“Do you have any idea how happy we are going to be?” he asked. “Or how much I am going to love you?”

She buried her face in his muscular chest, breathing his scent—her favorite scent in the world.

“We must go to the village and tell Oskar and my brothers the good news,” she murmured. “Although, I am sure they can tell the curse is broken.”

Beyond the trees, the black cloud had evaporated, and the castle seemed to glimmer and shine.

“You did not encounter Levissina, did you?” he asked. “But what am I saying? Of course, you did not, for you are safe. I am thankful she respected the terms of the agreement, at least, and spared you her wrath.”

Davron helped Amelie to stand.

“I wish you had not made that deal,” she replied. “You almost died. I think you actually might’ve.”

He touched her chin. “I would do it all over again, to keep you safe. And everything turned out in the end, did it not?”

She moved his hand to her mouth and kissed his palm with tenderness. “I thought I was too late. I believed I was kissing you goodbye.”

“My love, your kiss could rouse any man from the dead. And the beauty of your heart could break any curse.”

He drew breath to say more, but was interrupted by a distant shout. It was a man’s voice. Amelie could not quite make out his words.

She pulled Davron toward the door. “That’s probably Marcel and Raphael. I told them to meet me here once they’d secured the village. They will be overjoyed to know you’re alright.”

“I think they’ll care more about you,” he replied wryly, following her. “I’m sure they wish they never laid eyes on this castle, or me.”

Her brothers shouted again, louder this time, from the back road to the estate. It was Raphael’s voice, she recognized as he got closer. But she still couldn’t understand what he was saying, or see him.

Davron’s grip on her hand tightened as he jerked to a stop. He stared into space, frowning in concentration.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “What’s the matter?”

He cocked his head slightly, and she realized he was trying to hear Raphael. Davron’s senses obviously continued to be sharper than the average human’s. “He’s saying something ab?—”

The sudden force he used to push her behind his back nearly winded Amelie. He held her there, his hands like vises around her upper arms. She wanted to ask for an explanation, but by the time she regained her breath, she did not need to.