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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

A s he followed Melora down the stairs toward the great hall, Aurie felt ashamed of himself—ashamed that Melora had seen him at his worst. He’d been so despondent that he’d been unable to get up; he hadn’t realized that days had gone by while he’d been sinking into a haze of self pity and despair. He’d barely registered when Melora first came to rouse him. His dragon voice felt rusty. Speech was difficult. Nothing about him felt human.

Yet, looking at her determination and devotion made him want to be human again, to continue the life that felt like a fairytale. The very idea of losing everything if he remained a dragon forever lanced hot pain through his heart. That thought had propelled him to get up and follow her.

She was right. His story wasn’t over yet.

With her help, anything was possible. He didn’t think he’d ever be worthy of her, but he was grateful to have her here.

Once they reached the great hall, he continued through the front door and faced Everrose Manor in all its sparkling radiance. His mother had never liked it this way—cold and gaudy. He would restore it to it’s former charm. Though it hadn’t been fancy, it had been a comfortable and safe place to live. He took flight and circled the building. Breathing his dragon magic upon it, he willed it to turn back.

His eyes kept returning to Melora. What about her? What would she think of him once all of the gold was gone and he was nothing but a poor ex-lord once again? While she claimed to want the curse gone for him, he had seen the way she practically glowed with awe when she’d first entered the golden walls of Everrose. He remembered the delight radiating from her eyes when he had turned the ribbons to gold in front of her. She might not think she wanted all this gold, but he was certain she did.

His father’s voice echoed in his mind, crisp and disapproving, “Money is power, Aurie. Without it, you are nothing. No one will listen to you. They won’t take you seriously. And you can bet no one will want to be with you. Money is what makes the world go round.”

He shook the thoughts away and landed, feeling annoyed. Everrose winked at him in the sunlight, shining as brightly as ever. He should have known it wouldn’t work. He was a failure. His father’s disapproving face filled his mind followed by memories of his childhood—a childhood filled with failed attempts to win his father’s affection. The painting he’d given him that his father rejected… Showing his father the investments he’d made, only for the man to roll his eyes and tell him how useless he was…That slight hint of a smile when his investments had paid off…

Aurie had been chasing that hint of a smile his whole life. Gold shimmered through his vision. Gold was the only way for him to ever to find love—how could he let that go completely? His father was right.

He scowled.

“Aurie, are you well?”

Fine. His voice came out gruffer than he intended. Forgive me. I just… It didn’t work. Again. Words and coherent thoughts were becoming more and more difficult to form. Thoughts came to him in a mishmash of colors and pictures, bright with emotions. It was difficult to convey that into words.

Despite his frustration, he and Melora continued trying to use his dragon magic in various ways to reverse the curse. As usual, nothing worked.

Break? He asked after growling at her for the third time. He tried to blink away the haze of emotion. He didn’t want to growl at her. The day was fading away, and he was feeling more and more disgruntled. Why must they continue this pointless task? Perhaps it was time for them to accept his fate and move on.

But that wonderful fire of determination still blazed in Melora’s eyes, her dark hair flowing around her face and down her back. He wanted so much to be with her—but he knew he should probably send her away for her own protection. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and nuzzled her with his scaly nose in apology.

She sighed and rubbed his head, her arms coming around his neck. The action calmed the dragon within him. His heartbeat slowed to match hers, and he breathed her in. At least as a dragon he could touch her. He sighed. He could stay like this, wrapped in her embrace forever.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if you even want to be human again.” She gently stroked his scales down his head and neck. “Have you… Have you tried to shift recently?”

He grunted and nudged her hand. She’d paused her rhythmic stroking. He didn’t want to talk about being human again.

“All right, I get it.” She huffed out a laugh and continued petting him.

After a few brief moments, her fingers stilled, and she placed her tiny hands on either side of his face, turning it he could look directly at her. Her dark eyes blazed a bright caramel as they gazed at him. “Now tell me, Aurie. Have you tried to turn back into a human?”

He huffed out a breath. As he took a moment to think about her question. Yes.

“When?”

It took him a moment. Time was becoming fuzzy. Yesterday or the day before… he recalled being desperate to change back, but no matter what he did, he remained a dragon.

“Can you try again? Please, for me?”

He looked at those warm golden eyes. He didn’t want to deny her anything. She had become his most precious treasure. And yet, he was afraid he didn’t know how to try again.

Fly? He tilted his head in a way he knew she couldn’t resist, hoping to distract her.

Her lips twitched in a grin. “Okay, we’ll fly first. Then you’ll try to turn human?”

He gave his head an indeterminate bob, then nudged her toward his back, eager to carry her up into the clouds once again.

Once she was secure upon this back, he launched into the sky. His heart ignited at the sound of her laughter. He longed to continue to make her laugh. To stay like this forever. Dragon and human.

* * *

S omething was seriously wrong with Aurie. Over the past three days he seemed to have become more animalistic than he was even before she knew he was a man. His frequent growls and broken speech scared her. She could understand why he had been afraid to change back to a dragon—but now he didn’t seem to want to be human anymore. She’d done all she could to coax a promise out of him to try to shift again, and now she would hold him to it, no matter how much he scowled at her.

That scowl deepened, and he snarled after another failed attempt.

She leaned against him, needing to feel his warmth. “I don’t understand. Don’t you want to be human again?”

He nosed her cheek. With Mel… Always.

She looked him in the eye. “As a human?”

He puffed out an annoyed sound. Cursed, arrogant, jerk.

“You’re not an arrogant jerk, Aurie. At least not anymore.”

But cursed. Hurt you. His words rang, foul and frightening in her head, causing tears to well up. She forcefully pushed back at them with her own words.

“Not forever. I refuse to believe that. I’ve been thinking that we need to go to see the dragon who cursed you. Surely he’ll be able to help us untangle how to break the curse instead of guessing.”

Aurie bristled—his spines and even his scales seemed to stand on end, his ears flattened.

“Please, Aurie, at least think about it. I-I don’t know what else to do.”

Better this way.

“No! No, it’s not. We can still fix this. I’m not giving up. We are so close.”

He looked at her with hopeless eyes, sorrow pooling in their blue depths.

The tears that had been building in hers finally slipped out. The pads of a large paw caught them and whipped them away.

Stay with me.

“Of course I’ll stay with you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Love you.

Her breath caught, and she turned toward him sharply. “Aurie! I… we…” More tears spilled down her cheeks. “I can’t do this right now.”

He turned away, his expression pained.

She touched his cheek, bringing his head back toward her. “Let's first sort out your curse. Then we’ll think about the future, all right?”

He bobbed his head, but the look in his eyes was not reassuring. She prayed he hadn’t given up hope. She needed his help if they were to have any hope of breaking this curse. No one deserved this fate, especially not Aurie. Determination had served her well in the past, and it would serve her now! She wasn’t prepared to think of a future without him in it.