Page 35 of Beast of Blood and Roses (Dark Ever After Fairytales #1)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Rosalie

“Give it to me.” Dad ripped the amulet out of my hands before I could even react, his fingers rough and greedy.

The familiar sting of his selfishness hit me harder than the feeling of his nails scraping my palm. This was exactly who he’d always been—taking what he wanted without a thought for anyone else, not even a thank you for what I’d just sacrificed.

“Dad, I—” But the words died on my lips as he turned away from me, dismissing my existence now that he had what he needed.

A loud pop reverberated around the room like a gunshot, the sound so powerful it seemed to shake the very air. The force of it knocked me backward, my feet leaving the ground for a terrifying moment. Beast immediately caught me, his strong arms pulling me against his chest protectively.

The magical shockwave sent Marcel and Colette flying into the far wall with sickening thuds. Colette cried out as she hit the plaster hard, crumpling to the floor. Marcel groaned, trying to push himself up on his elbows, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead.

“Oh god!” I started toward them, but my legs felt like jelly. Marcel was bleeding, and Colette wasn’t moving. What had I done?

An eerie golden aura began to glow around my dad, growing brighter by the second. His entire posture changed—straighter, more confident, predatory. When he looked at me, his eyes held a coldness that froze my blood.

“Shut up, bitch. I’m sick of your whining.” The words came out dripping with venom and contempt.

Shock crashed over me, stealing my breath. This wasn’t my father—not the desperate, broken man who’d raised me. This was someone else entirely, someone dangerous.

“The moment the amulet touched my skin, memories flooded back—Fierro Bastia, the accounts I’d been managing, everything the curse had hidden from me.

You’ll pay for every atrocity you committed.

Slowly, painfully. Until you die.” Power vibrated through the air, heavy and dangerous.

He raised The Witch’s Heart above his head like a weapon, the dual-colored stone pulsing with malevolent energy.

Terror rippled through me. “No, you can’t.”

White streaks of pure magical force erupted from the amulet, blazing through the air like lightning-fast arrows aimed directly at the Beast’s chest. The room filled with a high-pitched whining sound that made my ears ring.

“Rosalie!” Beast tossed me behind him with enough force to send me skidding across the hardwood floor. I hit the wall hard, my shoulder screaming in protest.

The magical streaks slammed into Beast with devastating impact, lifting his massive frame completely off the ground.

His body spun helplessly through the air, faster and faster, like a rag doll caught in a tornado.

A scream tore from my throat. No, no, no!

This couldn’t be happening. He’d given up his protection for me, and now he was defenseless.

He arched his back and let out an agonized roar that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul. The sound was raw and desperate.

“Stop it!” I yelled. I scrambled to my knees and held out my palms, desperately trying to draw on whatever power lived inside me. Something fluttered frantically in my chest like a caged bird, then raced down my arms to my fingertips in burning waves.

A transparent shield erupted from my hands, shimmering like water as it blocked the deadly streaks. Power surged through me, stronger than I’d ever felt. I could protect him. I could protect Beast.

The magical attacks bounced harmlessly off my barrier, sending sparks cascading across the room.

My father’s face contorted with fury. “Impossible,” he snarled, his cultured mask slipping completely.

He whirled around and bolted from the living room, his expensive shoes slipping on the polished floor.

As he reached the front door, he viciously shoved aside Marcel, who was struggling to get off the floor.

The older man cried out as he crashed into the doorframe, his head striking the wood with a sickening crack.

Beast’s spinning form suddenly fell like a stone, hitting the floor with a thunderous impact that shook the entire house. Dust motes danced in the sudden silence.

“Beast!” I scrambled across the room on my hands and knees, adrenaline flooding my system. “Are you okay? Please be okay!”

As I reached him, the white magical streaks that had been swirling around his motionless form started to fade and dissipate.

The twisted horns protruding from his skull began to shrink and disappear completely.

The coarse fur covering his face melted away like morning frost, revealing smooth, olive-toned skin beneath.

Sharp fangs retracted, leaving straight white teeth.

His monstrous features softened and refined until I found myself staring down at the most devastatingly handsome man I had ever seen.

Strong jawline, high cheekbones, and those same piercing green eyes that had haunted my dreams, but now framed by thick dark lashes and set in a face that was almost too beautiful to be real.

This was who Beast truly was beneath the curse.

I stroked his hair with trembling fingers, marveling at how it wasn’t coarse and wiry like before. Instead, it was thick and silky, sliding through my fingers like satin. “Beast, you’re...you’re different.”

He blinked slowly, his emerald eyes dazed and unfocused as if he were struggling to orient himself. “I am?” His voice was different too—deeper, smoother, without the rough growl that usually accompanied his words.

“Yes.” I traced the strong line of his jaw with my fingertips. “You protected me again, even when it could have killed you.”

A soft smile tugged at the corners of his perfectly sculpted lips.

He lifted his arm, which trembled with weakness from the magical assault, and brushed his fingers through my hair with infinite gentleness.

“So did you.” His touch sent shivers down my spine as he slipped his hand around the nape of my neck, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin there. “You saved me.”

Butterflies erupted in my stomach as he drew me close, his breath warm against my face. The air between us felt electric, charged with something I couldn’t name but desperately needed.

When he parted his lips, I met him halfway, our mouths coming together in a kiss that felt like coming home.

His lips were incredibly soft and tender, moving against mine with a skill that made my knees weak.

When his tongue swept into my mouth, exploring and claiming, it stirred something deep inside me; something wild and hungry that I’d never felt before.

His hands found my waist, and in one fluid motion he rolled us over, gently guiding me down to the floor.

His powerful body hovered over mine as he deepened the kiss.

One hand cradled the back of my head while the other traced patterns along my side, each touch branding me as his.

I felt claimed, cherished, completely consumed by the intensity of his attention.

I ran my fingers through his transformed hair again and again, the velvety strands slipping through my shaking hands like liquid moonlight.

Everything about this moment felt perfect, like all the pieces of my fractured world had finally clicked into place.

The scent of him surrounded me—something warm and masculine with hints of leather and something uniquely him that made my head spin.

For just this moment, there was no curse, no danger, no lies, just him and me and this overwhelming connection that felt stronger than magic itself. His skin was warm beneath my touch, his heartbeat strong and steady against my palm.

“You broke the curse,” he smiled, and the expression transformed his already handsome face into something breathtaking. His green eyes sparkled with hope and wonder. “Tinker Bell was wrong. I didn’t need?—”

His words cut off abruptly. His entire body went rigid in my arms, every muscle tensing like steel cables. His eyes went wide with shock and pain before rolling back in his head.

“Beast?” Panic seized me.

He stiffened against me, his back arching at an impossible angle as if invisible hands were bending him backward. A strangled cry tore from his throat, raw, agonized, inhuman. The sound made my blood freeze in my veins.

“No, no, no!” I tried to hold onto him, but he rolled away from me onto his back, his limbs twisting at odd, unnatural angles like a marionette with tangled strings.

He began to flicker and fade like a dying candle.

I watched in horror as the beautiful transformation reversed itself with cruel efficiency.

Sharp horns erupted from his skull with wet, tearing sounds that made my stomach lurch.

Coarse fur sprouted across his face in dark waves, covering the perfect features I’d just been memorizing with my fingertips.

His jaw elongated with sickening pops and cracks, fangs pushing through his gums as his mouth transformed back into something monstrous. His hands curled into claws that scraped against the hardwood floor.

“Beast!” I reached for him desperately, but he was lost in the grip of the curse’s return, his body convulsing as magic twisted him back into the creature I’d first met.

The man I’d just kissed—the man I was falling in love with—disappeared before my eyes, leaving only the beast behind.