18. Xavier

Chapter 18

Xavier

I didn't regret my decision for a moment. While I knew I would be stone forever, stuck in the forest, overgrown by trees and lost to everyone in town and eventually forgotten, I had saved Amber. She would be expelled from Beastly Falls, but her dishonorable male was dead and would never bother her again. She could return to her old life and family and know that she was safe. Maybe she would remember me. Maybe not. It didn't matter. I loved her and was content with my path.

As the stone overtook my body, it felt different. It was no longer a shell, but something deeper. It was my whole body turning stone, something difficult to come back from. I knew this was permanent. I would not be returning at nightfall. As my head began to solidify, I heard words I longed to hear forever.

As if from a distance, I heard crying, words being spoken, but they seemed distant, muffled. As the stone crept higher, dulling my senses, I resigned myself to my fate.

Suddenly, Amber stood before me, her face streaked with tears. She threw her arms around me, her touch warm against my rapidly cooling skin.

"Xavier, please!" she sobbed, clinging to me desperately. "Stay with me! I accept you, I accept the bond. Please, don't leave me!"

At that moment, realization struck me like lightning. It wasn't Amber who had been rejecting the bond—it was me. I had been so afraid of trapping her, of becoming like those who had cursed our town, that I had closed myself off from the very thing I longed for.

The ghostly figure from before materialized, visible only to me. "Open your heart, Xavier," it whispered.

Taking a deep breath, I finally allowed myself to truly feel - to hope, to love, to trust. I opened myself fully to the bond, and it flooded through me like a tidal wave of warmth and light.

The stone encasing me began to crack and fall away. I felt life surge back into my limbs, my heart beating strong and steady. As the last of the granite crumbled, I wrapped my arms around Amber, pulling her close.

"I'm here," I whispered, my voice hoarse with emotion. "I'm not going anywhere."

I cupped her face in my hands, wiping away her tears with my thumbs. Then, finally, I kissed her. It was a kiss of promise, of new beginnings, of a love strong enough to break curses and transcend time.

As we broke apart, both breathless and laughing through our tears, I knew that whatever challenges lay ahead, we would face them together. The curse was broken, and our future—bright and filled with possibilities—stretched out before us.