chapter thirty-two

Thea's cheeks burned as she disappeared around the corner to the alcove with the water spring. It must have been the paste the beast applied to her cheek; surely it couldn't be anything else.

Not the beast. Zared...

Putting a name to the beast changed so much about how she thought of him. She'd never seen him as a true monster, but now he really felt like a person—a person who was trapped behind a curse his family abandoned him for. It made her sick to think about. She never realized how blessed she was to have a loving family until she was torn away from them forever. Everyone deserved to be loved like that... even beasts.

She could hear the beast shifting on the bed in the other corner of the cave, and she resisted the urge to scold him for moving. She wasn't quite ready to speak with him yet. Not because he'd done anything wrong, but because she couldn't seem to get her heart to stop hammering every time she looked back at those stormy gray eyes .

She bit the edge of her lip, not bothering to budge as her water bowl flowed over and spilled onto the rocky ground. She could still feel his touch brushing against her bruised lip. His claws had come so close to her skin, grazing her as lightly as a butterfly's kiss but never leaving so much as a scratch. Who knew someone so coarse could be so gentle?

Thea's heart started racing again, and she jolted out of her thoughts long enough to stop the bowl from spilling further. She splashed her face with some of the extra water, careful not to wash off the medicinal paste Zared had applied. It felt strange to think of him by his name, but the more she repeated it in her mind, the more she liked it. It suited him and those gray eyes.

What would Zared have looked like if he wasn't cursed?

She tried to imagine it, but all she could picture was Ceyden. She decided she liked his beast form better. It made sense why he wanted to be rid of the curse, but in truth, was it really that bad? He didn't look nearly as terrifying as he believed himself to, but that could always just be her opinion. Those in Olympia were far more judgmental...

She returned to the center of the cave and placed the bowl of water on the table. The rose caught her eye, its petals sparkling in the water's reflection and filling the space with its sweet aroma.

"The flower seems to like you," the beast said from the bed. "Not surprising that the beautiful rose prefers the pretty girl over the ugly beast."

"Ugly? That sounds a little harsh," Thea said, turning around to face him.

"The truth can be harsh."

"Yes, but lies can be much worse." Thea sat down on the stone chair, the cool rock chilling her skin beneath the thin dress. "You look different, sure, but I wouldn't call you ugly."

"You were right about lies," Zared huffed. "The least you can do is be honest. Your eyes work as well as mine. I'm sure my brother doesn't have a snout or hooves."

"No, but he's far more repulsive than you are," Thea said with a roll of her eyes. "And I'm not lying. Sure, you're cursed, but I bet you would have been rather handsome under all that fur."

Zared tilted his head. "Handsome?"

"Well, your eyes are certainly attractive." Thea's chest tightened the moment she said her intrusive thoughts out loud. What was she doing?!

"You think so?" Zared asked, his voice low and surprisingly shy. "I suppose they do look the most human."

Is that why he thinks I like them? Because they're normal?

"They're more than just human ," Thea explained, pushing aside her embarrassment. "They're transparent. It's like looking through a piece of stained glass. The glass is beautiful and draws your eye even from across the room, but it's really the view you see through the glass that leaves you staring. There's a lot going on behind those eyes, and I find that fascinating."

Zared didn't reply at first, his eyes locked onto Thea's, as if letting her confirm her theory. She felt a little awkward looking at him after she just exposed her inner thoughts, but true to what she said, she couldn't look away, either. It felt like he was staring through her as well, like they were opposing pieces of glass, refracting light back and forth until it was too bright to see.

"Can you tell me more about stained glass?" Zared asked, finally blinking and breaking their gaze. "I've seen broken glass and glass bottles before. It's usually clear or a dark color, and it's also rather sharp and ugly, but the way you describe it sounds so beautiful. I would like to know more about what makes it stained."

Thea smiled, her cheeks warming as she admired the child-like curiosity in his expression. "I would love, to. Maybe I can tell you about other things above the surface while you're stuck in bed recovering. "

"I'd like that." Zared attempted a smile, his fangs slightly in the way, but his furry face still brightened. "And maybe you can tell me about tea and how it's meant to be made."

Thea laughed, remembering the strange cup of leaves he had first presented her with. "Only if you promise to take notes. What you last served me was more monstrous than any curse."

"I tried my best!" he argued, but all Thea could do was laugh.

Perhaps unraveling the rose's secrets with him would be fun. Even if they were stuck in the labyrinth, at least she wasn't stuck with any monsters.