Page 62 of Beauty Reborn
“I’m still afraid of the unknown,” I said, my eyes never leaving his, “and afraid of the past too. But you’re worth the risk. And I don’t care what changes—the castle, the gardens, the library. It can all go. I don’t care. You’re the kindest man I’ve ever met, and I’ll take the risk to be with you forever.”
“Beauty ...”
I saw the fear in him too.
“Ask me. If you want. If you love me.”
“I do,” he whispered.
And here I’d thought my heart could rise no higher.
“You don’t understand,” he pressed. “I am as bad as the man who stole your confidence and freedom. I also tried to seize what wasn’t mine. I brought my punishment upon myself.”
“You reached for a rose.” But I smiled as I said it. “We all have some greed in us, and yours is nothing like his.”
The fact that he hesitated said it all—that he thought of me when I offered to give him freedom, that my feelings meant more than his escape.
A strange prince indeed. One worth loving.
“Stop this!” Astra grabbed at his arm, but she could not move him.
“Beauty, will you marry me?”
“Yes”—I laughed, because everything was different this time, because everything was right—“with all my heart.”
“Nothing will happen,” Astra sneered. “For all your talk, your beast is just a beast.”
But even as she said it, a tingling spread beneath my fingers, sharpening almost to needles. I let out a small gasp, releasing Beast even though I didn’t want to.
A faint blue glow swept across Beast’s dark fur, leaving pale skin in its wake. His claws and pointed ears and fangs disappeared, leaving human hands, human ears, and a gentle human smile. His yellow eyes softened to a beautiful hazel, nearly amber.
The change was so instant that when I blinked and shook my head, I could have been convinced he’d looked this way all along. A human in a baggy velvet suit.
He hadn’t shrunk much—he was still a foot taller than I was—and I took comfort in that.
Not everything had to change.
He turned his palms upward, staring at them. Then he pressed his hands to his face.
I smiled.
He reached for me, pulled me close. I raised on my toes to kiss him. He was as gentle in the kiss as he was in everything else. This was no consuming fire. It was comfort. Safety. And a little thrill all the way down to my soul.
My sister’s shriek in the background reminded me she was there.
As Beast and I broke apart, another blue glow caught my eye.
“Here is completion,” said the fairy, deadpan. “Never again may you claim a wish.”
Beast angled himself between me and the fairy, a sweet gesture.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” he said.
“I suppose some do.” She cocked her head at me. “A wish is still available to you. The world and its riches are open.”
I threaded my fingers through his. “I have all I need.”
“Give me a wish, fairy!” Astra burst out, flaming red from her cheeks to her ears. “Make me more beautiful than she.”
