Page 23 of Ruin & Desire
I throw my arms around his torso.The impact of his body nearly knocks the air from my lungs. He is burning, trembling,andunstable.Every part of him radiatesheat. In that instant, the force of his presence threatens to overwhelm me, his form wild and uncontained. The sensation is both terrifying and undeniable; he is a storm embodied, his body searing and shaking with thecurse’sfury, heatpouring from every inch of his skin. Despite the danger, I hold fast, refusing to let go,and bracemyself against his immense, volatile strength.
The thorns lash outward violently, slicing across my arms. Painblooms,sharpand hot, but I do not let go. My grip is not mere desperation; it is a declaration, a vow.I will endure anything for you, even the agony of your curse, even the danger of your claws. I choose you, no matter the cost.
“Lucien!” I scream against his chest. “Stay with me!”
The Beast thrashes, trying to throw me off, and his claws scrape dangerously close to my back. The curse surges, screaming through him, threatening to tear us apart. The emissary steps closer, mask gleaming, intrigued by the struggle.
“Yes,”it murmurs softly.“Choose her. Let it consume you.”
The vines tighten.Lucienconvulses, his claws rising,poised to strike. And instead of slashing me, they slam into the floor on either side, cracking marble but sparingmyskin.
He roars at the ceiling, choosing stone over flesh.
The castle shakes. The curse howls.
I press my forehead against his chest, tears blurring my vision, blood trickling from my arms.“You are not their vessel,”I whisper fiercely.“You are not what they made you.”
The thorns surge again, desperate to separate us. I grip tighter, determined.
“I choose you,”I say, words burning in my throat.
The bond ignites,white-hot—not fire, not shadow, but something golden, hopeful. Light explodes outward from us, filling the shattered hall. The vines recoil, hissing. The emissary staggers back one step,itsmask flickering with surprise.
Lucien’s body jerks violently, his roar fractures,no longer rage, but pain, and then…
His claws stop shaking. His breath steadies. The red in hiseyesdims, andgold returns, molten and warm. His horns retract, losing their monstrous size, becoming merely a part of him again.
He collapses forward into me, not as a Beast but as a man fighting tonot lose the battle betweenhim and the Beast. The hall is a wreckage of broken stone and guttering fire.
The emissary watches in stillness, its mask unreadable. “Impossible,” it hisses in a colder, quieter voice.
Lucien lifts his head slowly.
The emissary’s voice turns to ice.“This is not over.”
Shadows peel inward, curling around the masked figure. It dissolves into smoke, leaving silence behind,deafeningandabsolute.
Lucien’s weight presses against me, heavy and real. I feel the tremor in his body, shudderingasitreturnsto normal. His chest rises and falls,breathsragged but steady, and for a moment, I close my eyes, listening to the proof of life beneath my fingertips.
He is breathing.
He is alive.
And most importantly, he is nearly human again. His hands have returned, though they remain tipped with claws, his horns have receded to a less menacing size.
His voice cracks through the quiet, hoarse from roaring, from fighting.“Youcould have died.”
I cup his face gently, ignoring the ache in my arms, the sting of blood. My hands cradle the lines of his jaw, rough and warm.“But I didn’t.”My touch is an answer to his fear, a physical reminder that I am not afraid of his darkness,because Isee the lightinside him. Our care for each other is more than survival; it is the determination to heal, to comfort, and to remind one another of the humanity we refuse to lose.
His eyes find mine,wide, gold,andsearching. There’s fear there, and relief, and something softer: awe, as if hecan’tbelieve I am still here, whole. He asks,“You stepped into the monster?”
“Yes.” My answer is simple, a thread of certainty woven through pain.
His throat tightens. I see the question trembling in him, the need to understand.“Why?”
I do not hesitate. “Because I know you. And,” I say, “because I love you.” Hopefully he will see the depth of my love. Hopefully he will see that our love can fight this. It’s all clear to me now. I know the man behind the Beast, the soul behind the thorns. I believe in the Lucien who loves fiercely, who sacrifices, and who, despite everything, tries to protect me even from himself. I know that even if he can’t say it, he loves me.
The castle is no longer screaming. The silence is thick, layered withexhaustionand the ghost of battle. Stone dust glitters in the airas it settlesonto shattered marble and scorched tapestries. The roses outside the hall arequiet,their hunger soothed for now.But for how long?
