Chapter 14 DERRICK
We sat together in the fading light, so close our knees brushed, our fingers laced like neither of us dared let go.
Every touch felt like a miracle. No claws.
No curse. Just skin to skin, warm and trembling.
I couldn’t stop running my thumb across the back of her hand, couldn’t stop drinking in the sight of her, her firelit hair, her tear-stained cheeks, the fierce, aching love in her eyes.
But she still shook her head stubbornly, so much my Rose, my heart swelled.
“Derrick, you don’t understand. I’m Alarion’s daughter. His blood is in me. That makes me bad. How can you possibly know I’m not?”
I chuckled deeply, because the thought of her being anything but good was absurd. “Because I lived with a beast for years. It takes one to know one.” I touched her cheek, cradling her face until she met my eyes. “And you, Rose Red—you’re not one.”
Her breath hitched, and a single tear slipped free. I kissed it away, but then froze. At the back of my skull, Magnus rumbled and stirred. I’m still here, he said. Not angry. Not snarling. Just present. I can still hear you.
My heart lurched. The bear hadn’t vanished.
He hadn’t died with the curse. He was still part of me.
And suddenly, I understood. The curse was well and truly broken; for the first time in nearly two decades, I wasn’t trapped, held captive by the whims of nature.
I was free to call him forward if I wished.
Change. Shift. Move between man and beast. Magnus’s presence brushed mine, steady as bedrock. For once, not an enemy. A partner.
We shook mental hands, two halves of the same soul, finally whole.
I looked back at Rose, who was watching me like the entire world hung on the next words out of my mouth. I cupped her face in both hands, kissed the salt of her tears from her skin.
“Tell me,” I whispered, “do you love me less now that I can turn into a bear?”
Her eyes widened. “Of course not!” Her voice cracked, fierce and certain. “How could you think that?”
A smile broke across my face, raw and unguarded. “Then why should I love you less? Because of the blood in your veins? You are mine, Rose. Not your father’s, not anyone’s but mine.”
She let out a sob and pressed her forehead to mine, “Always yours,” she whispered.
The forest around us grew darker, the shadows lengthened, and I became alarmed.
We would never make it back to her cottage.
Spring might be in the air, but it was still chilly at night.
But then I smiled. I could turn into a bear, the king of the forest. I would protect my Rose, and I would keep her warm.
Still, we needed at least a fire, a shelter, and food. She had to be exhausted after what she had been through. Which reminded me, "What were you doing out here, anyway?"
She tried to laugh, but it came out brittle and dry. "Believe it or not, but I was going to force Alerion to release you from his curse."
Of course she was. My brave, stubborn little Rose.
"Oh, my little flame," I groaned and pulled her closer.
I didn't even want to think about what would have happened to her had I not come.
Harrumph, excuse me, Magnus reminded me of his presence, and I sighed internally.
What would have happened if we hadn't come, I corrected. That's what I thought.
I didn't pay him any more mind, because mine was churning and my stomach was souring at the risk Rose had taken.
"How?" I pressed out, not trusting my voice to add any more words.
Her chin jutted out defiantly. "I had the arrows prepared with Hawthorne, Rowan berries, and Ash."
"I see," I managed, closing my eyes for a moment.
It wasn't bad. Hawthorne, Rowan berries, and Ash would have at least slowed Alarion down some. It wouldn’t have killed him; he was too powerful for that, but it would have given her time to get away.
Which, come to think of it—or even better, not think of it—would have been the farthest thing from her mind.
"He was weakened already. Somebody cut his beard off," I muttered, because I didn't want to discuss her act of… brave stupidity any further.
"That was me… and Snow," she declared with all the pride of a wood sprite.
"What?"
What? Magnus echoed.
"How?"
"I didn't know Grimbalt was Alarion." She confessed and told me of her encounters with the troll. This time, I couldn't help it. I chuckled. The mighty Alarion the Wise had been bested by nothing more than the kindness of two sisters, kindness they didn’t even know carried power. If that wasn’t funny, I didn’t know what was.
The hoot of an owl reminded me that it was getting dark. I rose and pulled her up by her hand, "Come, we need to find some shelter for the night."
Hesitantly, she turned away from me, her eyes gliding over to where Alerion still lay. "What about… him?"
"The wolves will have a feast with him," I responded dryly before I remembered that the despicable wizard was her father. "Unless… do you want me to bury him?" It was the last thing I wanted to do, but for her, I would.
She shook her head, "No, I suppose the wolves have to eat too, and it will be something good that came from his existence."
"That and you," I couldn't help but add.
She smiled tiredly up at me, and this time, when I took her hand to pull her away, she didn't hesitate to follow me.
"Where are we going?"
That was a good question. I had nothing. Magnus could live off the land. I considered turning back into him and hunting something down for Rose, then we could make a fire and—
"I have things," my little Rose interrupted my thoughts. Proudly, she presented her bag, filled with blankets and food, including bread and honey. "I didn't come unprepared." She added proudly.
"That's good," I agreed, “now we just need to—" this time I interrupted myself when the last rays of the sun hit something sparkling and shiny by the rocks.
“Hold on.” I strode toward the rocks, crouching low. The fading light caught something wedged between them—metal, dulled with age but unmistakable. Coins.
My pulse kicked.
There, Magnus rumbled inside me, fierce and certain. The little wretch’s greed left trails even here.
I pushed aside stones until a gap yawned open, dark and narrow, a cave hidden in the earth. The smell of damp soil rolled out to meet me. This was how he must have gotten trapped. When he rolled the stones back in place, one must have gotten loose.
“What is it?” Rose’s voice was hushed, but bright with curiosity.
“Treasure,” I muttered, my chest tightening. “Stay here, Rose.”
Her brows rose, but before she could argue, I ducked into the hole. The ceiling scraped my shoulders as I squeezed through. It was darker than pitch, so dark my own breathing seemed to echo louder than footsteps. My eyes strained as my hands worked along the stone, feeling my way forward.
My heart pounded. Could it be here? After all these years, all the torment, was the heart hidden in this place?
Could I really save them? My father, the castle inhabitants, our subjects?
The thought of it lit a fire in me, and with each step, my chest pulled tighter, anticipation and fear tangled into a single thread.
“Derrick?” Rose’s voice floated down behind me. A warm glow followed, flickering across the stone walls. She squeezed through, holding a makeshift torch aloft, her face alight with determination.
I nearly barked at her for ignoring my warning. But the words died before they could form. Because the sight of that flame, the way it gilded her hair copper, the way it carved shadows off the vault walls, it steadied me. It also lit the path.
And gods, I was glad for it. Glad for her.
I swallowed hard, pushing deeper into the chamber as the light spread around us. My heart was hammering with hope in my chest. Somewhere in here—maybe, finally—the heart waited. The passage opened wider as I descended, the torch she made sputtering behind me.
The vault opened before us.
Piles of coins, heaped like rivers of gold. Chalices crusted with gems. Chains and crowns, enough wealth to drown kingdoms. It glowed in the torchlight, blinding and unreal.
Rose gasped loudly. The sound was muffled by the dirt around us. “It’s… it’s more than I’ve ever seen.”
And there, on a pedestal of rock in the very heart of the chamber, sat the crystal. A blood-red heart, glowing faintly and pulsing as if it had its own heartbeat.
I reached out with trembling fingers and lifted it into my palm. Heat shivered through me, alive and fierce. The curse’s lock. The key to freeing my father. My people.
"Oh my God, is this it?" Rose asked, staring in awe at the heart.
I could only nod. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Derrick. I’m so happy for you."
Then her eyes wandered all around the treasure, "Did Alarion do all this?"
“His greed did,” I replied. “It shriveled him, turned him small, mean, hollow. A man can live without love for a time. But without mercy?” I shook my head. “He withered.”
"I don't think he was a good man before all this happened." She said sadly.
"No," I agreed. "He was a Bluebeard. One of the worst. Your mother was lucky to escape."
"I'm sorry he did this to you and your family."
"Now it will all be alright again. And without it… we might have never met."
That seemed to cheer her up some. I could tell it took a small effort on her part to shake off her misplaced guilt, but she clasped my hand around the crystal, and her face lit with joy. “Tomorrow, we can free them. All of them. Is it far?”
“Two days’ walk.” I brushed a thumb over her knuckles, torn between hope and dread. “I can take you back to your mother and Snow, and send for you when it’s done—”
“Oh no,” she cut me off, her chin lifting. “I’ll be with you.”
My heart stuttered. Her words held no hesitation, no doubt. So much my Rose.
And then, softer, almost shy, she whispered, “If you’ll have me.”
I cupped her face in my hands, bending close so she could see every truth in me. “Have you?” My voice broke. “Rose, I already do. I always will.”
Her breath caught, and her lips trembled against mine as I pressed a kiss to them, fierce, certain, sealing the promise.
“I love you,” she whispered into my mouth.
“I love you,” I answered, almost roughly, because she had a talent for choking my throat by just looking at me. In the darkness of the vault, surrounded by stolen kingdoms and cursed wealth, the only treasure I saw was her.