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T heo jolted awake. He wasn't in the snow or on the edge of town. Instead, he was now lying in Sebastian's bed. The room was quiet, and he rubbed his eyes as he tried to see if Sebastian was somewhere behind the sheer curtains.

"I'm here, don't move," Sebastian called. "You need rest."

The moment he heard the prince’s voice, relief washed over him. "You're alright?"

"I'm alright but I don't matter right now," Sebastian said as he tied the curtain back and sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Your ear." He reached up and lightly brushed the bandaged ear on his head. "Did Lyle hurt you too badly? Where is he?"

"It's a light burn. It'll heal. And Lyle's contained." He hesitated. "Theo, what do you remember?"

"Not much. I know you got hurt." He thought it over and his shoulders slumped. "Lyle told me your Chosen is the cure to this curse. Is that true?"

"It is," Sebastian said with a nod.

"So, it can't be me." His heart cracked under the weight of his words. "That's why you pushed me away."

"I hope you can forgive me. I had to be realistic. My people being free depends on me finding my Chosen, and far as I know it wouldn't be a human."

"I know your Chosen might come, but I don't care. Let's try and make it work until then. When your Chosen comes, if they really have your whole heart, I will let you go. Just let me be with you right now."

"Do you remember getting burned?" Sebastian asked, ignoring his plea.

He looked over his body and saw faint burn marks. "Must not have been that bad. Why are you changing the subject?"

"I need you to listen," Sebastian said with a gentle smile. "You were so burned I was scared you were going to die. I thought I lost you."

"If that's the case, how long was I asleep?" he asked, surprised looking at his arm again. "They seem mostly healed."

"A few hours."

"I'm not following. Did you heal me with some enchanted medicine?"

"I didn't." He took a deep breath and met Theo's eyes. "I'm just going to ask it outright. Are you certain you're human?"

"Of course I am. My parents are human." He laughed it off, but Sebastian stared at him seriously. "I would notice if my parents weren't human. Why would you ask me such a thing?"

"I mean, no offense, but all the signs point to you not being human. You said you breathe better in the veil, and your family always crossed in and out to the veil with ease."

"They practiced. I told you that."

"They sound like children of the veil, like us." Sebastian wrung his hands. "I really don't want to overstep, but you told me that when your parents died, your mother pleaded with the plants. That sounds like a nymph using their connection to beg the veil for help. It's a rare thing we do only in desperation. I did it right after the curse did this to all of us. We haven't been able to connect to the veil in years because of the curse, but we all remember what it looks like."

"Maybe my family is unique, but that doesn't make them nymphs."

"Theo, I saw you use nymph magic."

"What?" He was sure he misheard but Sebastian went on.

"You reached out and roots sprung from the veil and ensnared Lyle. You wielded them and nearly killed him. Then some snaked around you and healed your burns. I haven't seen something like that since before the curse swallowed the kingdom."

"You're sure I did that? Maybe it was one of you."

"I'm positive. Jacques is a floral nymph, but he certainly didn't do it. He was just as stunned as the rest of us."

"There has to be another explanation."

"You know, after the curse hit me, I felt this pull in my chest. An urgent yank towards something outside the gate. I thought it was because I was trapped. It persisted for years day in and day out. It got worse on spring nights. It was so bad it was borderline painful. I only ever mentioned it to Henri because he noticed I behaved strangely and confronted me about it. We were all trapped, and we were all suffering, so I felt selfish mentioning it to anyone else. Then one night, ten years later, you showed up mentioning your nightly travels every spring."

He laced his fingers in Theo's and smiled down at them. "The moment you arrived, the pull quieted. It got slightly louder the night you tried to escape with the lantern, and I wanted to find you. It guided me your direction like a compass. I thought I was imagining things. Then it came back full force the night you left, and I thought I'd never see you again. The moment you were back, the tug vanished. I wasn't being called outside the gate because I was trapped. I was being pulled to you. For some reason ten years ago, I was tethered you. Every time you walked into the veil it was like I could feel the fact that we were that much closer in my bones.

"I fought the signs because it didn't make sense at the time. It had to all be a coincidence. No matter how optimistic, a human touch won't break a curse." Sebastian's eyes welled slightly now but he still smiled. "My chosen mate is someone that can free us. It makes sense that my Chosen would be a nymph. It makes more sense that they'd be a floral nymph at that. From the moment I saw you, no matter how much I denied it, I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to consume you but also to hold you. Theo, in this endless winter, you are my summer. You can't be human because I'm certain what I feel for you is real. I love you. I love you so much it terrifies me. I don't know definitively what you are, but I know that you're mine."

Theo pulled Sebastian into his arms on the bed and held him tight. "I love you, too." His voice cracked and his heart swelled as he said it. "I love you so much. I don't know how I'm a nymph, but I'll do everything I can to be worthy of being your Chosen and fix things. Then I'll take you to hot springs, rivers, lakes, and the sea. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

Sebastian held his face and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I can't wait."