Beautiful Beast

Chapter 33

KALISTA

He came back.

Even though she said no one ever would. Even though I tried to keep him away. He still came back.

I thought I was dreaming or even hallucinating, but then warmth spread through my limbs and my body began to knit itself back together. Much of it is a blur of light and heat that burned through me yet did not hurt. Now it is finally beginning to fade, and I feel new like I have been born again. It is as if I have emerged from a past life and now there is hope and a future spread out before me like a landscape just woken from its winter slumber.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clocks. They are ticking again. It is truly over.

My lashes lift, and I push myself up from the blankets. They are covered in blood and dust from the ceiling. Although there is no pain, my limbs feel weak and flimsy as if I have not used them for a year.

I hold a hand before my face to inspect it and I see that it glows. In fact, my entire body is glowing and the ragged black dress that I had been wearing has been replaced by a white gown embroidered with tiny, pale pink roses. Around my shoulders, my hair hangs in luscious curls; no longer tangled and dirty.

This all takes only a moment to realize and once I do, my attention shifts to the figure standing only a few meters away.

I take a hesitant step forward. "Arawn?"

He tentatively turns as if he is afraid of what he will see. His clothing is torn, blood is smeared across his right cheek, and his eyes are tired and red. Yet, he is beautiful to me.

"Kalista," he breathes.

I close the distance between us and fall into his open arms. As my glowing skin touches him, the rips and blood disappear and when I lean back to see his face, his eyes are bright with joy.

"How? I thought you were dead," he whispers, taking in the newness of my skin, of my hair, of my dress.

I shake my head. "No. You came back. That was the key to it. Galinda swore that no one would ever return to me out of love. She said it would not be true love unless they chose a beast over the freedom of the world."

Through his tears, he laughs. "You were trying to tell me this the entire time. If only I had listened to you."

I cannot help but smile too. "You were much too stubborn. I suppose that is why I love you."

Suddenly, his expression darkens. "You sent me away."

Gently, I lift a hand and touch the wound on his cheek. It fades before my eyes, leaving only a thin, faint scar. "You would have insisted on confronting them and it would not have ended well."

He scowls. "I did confront them. You were right, it did not end well and I daresay, I will be confronting them again in the near future." Then he grins broadly. "But you will be with me, yes?"

I smile at him. "Yes, I will be with you." It feels like a strange promise to make with so much uncertainty before us, but I feel light and hopeful, like a butterfly freed from its chrysalis. A whole world stretches out before me waiting to be explored. And the best of it? I will not be alone.

A slight trembling vibrates through the floor and I breathlessly pull away from Arawn. "We need to get out of here." Snatching his hand, I pull him toward the door.

"Wait. The mirror." He turns and dashes to the hearth. The mirror is lying beside the blankets and he scoops it. As he returns to me, he tucks it safely inside his coat.