Rafe entered as soon as I’d set the glasses on the table, and I turned to smile at him. “Do you have a radar for food?”
“I must, because I suddenly felt the strongest desire to come down here.”
I gestured to the spread I’d laid out on the table. “Only the finest cuisine for you, good sir.”
He grinned. “Looks amazing.”
We sat and helped ourselves. The food ended up being better than I’d expected, and we were nearly finished by the time I blurted out my exciting news. I just couldn’t wait any longer. “I can break the curse. Tonight.”
He blinked at me, stunned. The last slice of pizza, which was currently on its way to his mouth, stilled. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really. The biggest part was finding out exactly what the curse was. Once I knew that and Aria sprouted the flower seeds I brought back, I had everything I needed.”
He blew out a breath and set the pizza down. “Do we need to go somewhere special to do it, like the island?”
I shook my head. “We can try here. I think it’ll work. If it doesn’t, we’ll go to Avalona.”
“All right, then.” He stood, the food abandoned. “Let’s do it.”
I hopped up, excitement and nerves making me jittery. “Let’s go up onto the hill. It’s the perfect place.”
“Do I need to bring anything?”
“Just yourself.”
On the way out of the house, I collected the pallet of small plants Aria had sprouted for me, along with the bag of supplies I’d collected from the Aurora Coven headquarters. Rafe took them from me and carried them up the hill toward Lavender House. I passed the quiet building and kept climbing, wanting to get closer to the top.
Once I’d found a good patch of grass that was relatively flat, I said. “You can lay the pallet down there.”
Rafe did as I asked, and I knelt and gently removed a root ball from the plastic container, careful to keep the dirt intact around the delicate roots. I held the orange blossom in one hand and pressed my other to the dirt, murmuring, “Foramen.” A small hole appeared in the dirt, and I placed the root ball inside, letting the flower stand tall above the grass.
I repeated the process with the remaining flowers, creating a circle of blooms similar to the one I’d seen in the vision. When I was done, I pulled the bottle of gray powder out of the bag I’d brought. I poured a thin line of the fire-repressing powder on either side of the ring of blooms, surrounding them with the dust. Then I pulled the matches from my bag and looked up at Rafe, who watched quietly in the moonlight. “Do you recognize the flowers?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Were they part of the curse?”
“They were, but I’m going to use them differently.” I stood and gestured for him to enter the circle. “Come on. We’re ready.”
He nodded and joined me, his jaw tight.
“Are you worried?” I asked.
“This really feels like the last chance,” he said. “Before, with the Jade Sorceress, I was convinced it was the last time. But this is somehow so much more final.”
“Well, the good news is I’m going to succeed.”
“I love your confidence.”
I could tell from his tone that he meant it, and pleasure flushed through me. I loved having confidence in myself. It was a new feeling, and it never would have happened if I’d stayed in my old life. I had so many reasons to love Charming Cove, and this was one of them.
“All right, time to light this baby up,” I said.
“Light it up?” He frowned.
“Yep. I’ve got the ring planted, and now it’s time for them to burn. That’s what the gray powder is—it’s a fire repellent to keep the blaze from spreading. But the flowers themselves will burn.” I pulled the matches from my pocket and bent to an orange bloom. I dragged the match across the rough strip of paper on the bottom of the box. It flamed purple, and I held it to one of the small petals.
The orange flower ignited, burning purple and pink thanks to the magic imbued in the match. The flames began to lick at the next blossom, then the next. As the fire traveled around the circle, I stood and returned to Rafe, stopping in front of him. Soon, we were surrounded by a ring of burning flowers. Sparkling smoke filled the air, and I began to chant.
I’d memorized the curse when I’d heard it, and now I recited it backward. I’d practiced several times, thank fates, and I didn’t stumble over the words. Rafe’s gaze burned into me as I pressed my hands to his shoulders. Since I wasn’t trying to read a curse, he didn’t need to take his shirt off. A good thing, too, since I couldn’t afford any distraction.
Around us, magic filled the air as the flowers burned. The seeds had contained the remnants of the magic that had kept Rafe’s curse strong, but as they were consumed, I could feel it weakening. Exhaustion and excitement fought within me, and I kept the words flowing, my gaze on Rafe. Tension filled the air as I neared the end of the spell. It felt like the curse was fighting back, but I was stronger.
The fire died abruptly, and with it, the curse finally broke. It felt like a champagne cork popping inside me, and I gasped.
Rafe stumbled backward, shock on his face. He blinked rapidly, his gaze going blurry. His breathing stilled.
“Rafe?”
“I—remember.” He shook his head, dragging a hand over his face. “I have family. Parents. Friends. A home.”
I smiled, tears pricking my eyes. Tears of joy for him, tears of sadness for me. “I’m so glad.”
He nodded, his gaze a million miles away.
It had all happened so much faster than I’d expected it to. One minute, he’d had no memory. He’d essentially been all mine, though I knew that was an absolutely ridiculous thought. Also selfish.
But now he had a whole life that he remembered.
“You should go to them,” I said. Did he have a girlfriend back there? Worse, a wife? No, it had been over ten years. He would have been too young to have a wife, and any girlfriend would have moved on.
“They might not even remember me,” he said.
“I’m sure they do now. If the curse broke on you, it broke on them. They’ll be searching for you.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
I knew what he meant by the words. He couldn’t imagine anyone caring about him. He’d been alone so long that the idea was entirely foreign.
I care about you! I wanted to cry.
Instead, I pinched my lips closed.
“We’re going to finish your house first,” he said.
“You can’t keep putting me first.”
“You’ve been putting me first. Insisting we go away to Avalona, to Wales, all while you’re on a deadline to finish this house if you want to keep it.”
He was right. It had been my fear that I’d put a man’s interests before my own. But it was different with Rafe because he also put me first.
We’d been putting each other first all along.
The enormity of it made my throat tighten.
This felt real—real in a way it had never felt before.
“Isobel.” He stepped closer, his voice rough. He reached out to cup my cheek, and I leaned into him. “I’m not leaving you until you don’t need me anymore.”
I drew in an unsteady breath. “Rafe.”