Page 36 of Beast of Blood and Roses (Dark Ever After Fairytales #1)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Fierro

Unbearable pain rippled through my body like molten metal in my veins, each wave more excruciating than the last. My bones felt like they were breaking and reforming, muscles stretching and contorting back into their cursed shape. I gritted my teeth against the agony, tasting blood.

But beneath the physical torment was something even worse: the memory of what I’d just lost. Rosalie’s kiss had been a gift beyond measure, like cool water offered to a dying man in the desert. Her lips had been soft and warm against mine, her breath sweet, her touch gentle yet electric.

I had kissed women before—countless encounters over the years that meant nothing, forgotten as soon as they ended.

But none had ever left me breathless like this, none had ever made me want to be better, to be worthy of such tenderness.

None had ever made me want to spend eternity learning how to please them, to see that look of wonder in their eyes again .

The taste of her still lingered on my lips even as my mouth stretched and deformed, fangs erupting through my gums with sharp bursts of pain. My hands, which had just been stroking her hair with human fingers, curled back into claws that scraped helplessly against the floor.

But that perfect feeling—that glimpse of what we could be together—was gone, ripped away as violently as it had appeared. It was replaced now with crushing agony, both physical and emotional. The curse wrapped around me like chains, dragging me back into the prison of my monstrous form.

I wanted to tell her it was worth it, that even thirty seconds of being human with her was worth a lifetime of this suffering. But all that emerged from my transforming throat was a broken roar of anguish that echoed through the empty house.

Rosalie grabbed my claw with both hands, her fingers warm against the rough, transformed skin. Tears welled in her amber eyes, threatening to spill over. “Beast, tell me what to do. Please, there has to be something!”

The desperation in her voice cut through my agony like a blade. Dark magic was coursing through me like poison—those white streaks from The Witch’s Heart had done more than attack me. Volaris had done something terrible, added another layer to my suffering. Cursed me again somehow.

I gritted my teeth against another wave of torment that felt like my very soul was being torn apart.

“Dark magic...” I forced the words out through clenched fangs.

“Need...need...” But I couldn’t finish the sentence as another surge of agony gripped me, stealing my breath and making my vision blur with pain.

Marcel appeared beside us, blood trickling down his forehead. He placed a hand on Rosalie’s shoulder, his weathered face creased with worry. “I believe he needs The Witch’s Heart back, ma chérie . Without its protection, the dark magic is consuming him.”

She grabbed Marcel’s jacket. “Where does Trystan live? I have to get it back. Beast is dying!”

Tears streamed freely down her cheeks. The determination in her amber eyes was fierce, almost wild with desperation.

“No.” Despite the agony coursing through me, I managed to grab her arm with my claw. The thought of her walking into Trystan’s territory alone sent terror shooting through me stronger than any physical pain. “Too dangerous...He’ll kill you...”

My words came out in ragged gasps, each syllable a struggle as another wave of dark magic twisted through my body like razors.

Marcel rushed to Rosalie’s side, his weathered hands shaking as he tried to steady himself after being thrown into the doorframe.

Colette, positioned by the living room window, suddenly went rigid. Her face drained of all color as she pressed her palms against the glass. “ Monsieur ...” Her whisper was thick with dread. “The wolves…They’re here.”

Fighting through the pulsing agony, I forced myself to turn my head toward the window. Through my blurred vision, I could make out golden eyes gleaming in the growing twilight at the very edge of my property line.

And there, standing among them at the property’s edge, were two figures. Volaris still clutching The Witch’s Heart, and the massive form of Trystan Hunter himself.

Why hadn’t they left?

“I’ve got to get The Witch’s Heart.” Rosalie looked out the window toward the property line where golden eyes gleamed in the growing darkness.

“No,” I gritted my teeth and gripped her arm tighter, even as another surge of agony made my vision blur. “You’d have to get past them.They’ll tear you apart before you reach your father.”

“I can’t let you die.” Her amber eyes blazed with fierce courage that both awed and terrified me.

I panted heavily, each breath feeling like fire in my lungs.

Images flashed through my mind—all the things I’d done, the lives I’d taken, the innocent girl who’d only asked for help.

Guilt clawed at my chest, more painful than any physical wound.

I didn’t deserve her forgiveness, didn’t deserve her at all.

“Rosalie, I’m a monster...I was a monster long before any curse.

” Another brutal wave of agony gripped me, arching my back until I thought my spine might snap. “Maybe I deserve this.”

The magic was systematically tearing me apart, piece by piece, from the inside out. What had Volaris done to me? This wasn’t just the curse returning—this was something far more vicious and personal.

My words came out in ragged, shaky gasps as realization dawned.

“Volaris’ spell...It’s making me feel every sin, every life I took.

..the pain I caused...” Each atrocity from my past slashed into me like a whip, faces of my victims flashing before my eyes, their terror, their pleas for mercy I’d ignored.

The young witch reaching out for help. The countless people I’d drained for Enzo.

Every drop of blood on my hands felt like acid burning through my soul.

“It’s punishment...for everything...until it kills me. ”

I forced myself to meet her eyes, even as tears of pain leaked from mine.

She was looking at me like I was worth saving, and it broke something inside me that I didn’t know could break.

“But you’re good, Rosalie. You’ve been selfless your whole life, sacrificing everything for people who didn’t deserve it.

” With tremendous effort, I loosened my grip on her arm.

“I set you free. Don’t...don’t waste your life.

..trying to save someone who can’t be saved. ”

“Beast, I won’t let you die. I promise.” She broke free from my weakened grasp, my claws scraping helplessly against her skin as she pulled away.

“Marcel...stop her.” The words came out like dying steam, my strength ebbing with each passing second. It took everything I had just to speak as another slash of spiritual agony tore through me, this one so vicious it felt like it had torn something vital inside my chest.

Blood suddenly welled up in my mouth, metallic, warm, and far too much of it.

I could taste copper and salt as it rolled down my chin in thick rivulets, staining my shirt crimson.

My body convulsed as I coughed violently, spraying blood across the hardwood floor in dark splatters.

Each cough sent fresh waves of pain through my chest, and I could feel more blood seeping from somewhere deep inside.

As I watched her disappear toward the door, heading straight into mortal danger, something beyond the physical pain tore through my chest. The thought of losing her forever—of never seeing her smile again, never hearing her voice—hurt more than all of Volaris' magic combined.

The truth hit me with more force than any of his magical attacks. I loved her.

My vision blurred as weakness washed over me. Marcel scrambled after her, but she was already moving with desperate purpose. Through my fading consciousness, I could only watch helplessly as the woman I loved walked into a trap to save a monster like me.

I was dying, and I’d never even told her how I felt.