Caspian's POV
You're dead, I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I went to your funeral. I watched them bury you.
The woman who looks exactly like Aurelia's mother smiles. You watched them bury an empty coffin, darling. I've been very much alive for the past ten years. Just... occupied with more important matters.
Aurelia makes a sound like a wounded animal. Mom?
Hello, sweetheart. Did you miss me?
You let me think you were dead! Aurelia screams. I mourned you! I cried for months!
And it was very touching, Seraphine says coldly. But necessary. I needed you isolated, vulnerable, and dependent on Thorne so he could control your abilities while I worked on my real project.
My mind is racing. You're the one who's been maintaining the curse. Not Thorne. You.
Clever boy, Seraphine says. Thorne was useful for keeping Aurelia distracted, but he was always too ambitious. He wanted her power for himself. I just wanted her... contained. Unable to reach her full potential.
Why? Aurelia demands, tears streaming down her face. Why would you do this to your own daughter?
Because you're not just my daughter, Seraphine says. You're my masterpiece. My greatest creation. And I'll be damned if I let some curse-breaking nobody steal you away from me.
She snaps her fingers, and suddenly I can't move. My body is frozen, locked in place by some kind of paralysis spell.
Aurelia tries to run to me, but she's frozen too.
Let him go! Aurelia shouts.
Oh, I will, Seraphine says pleasantly. After I extract the curse from both of you and take your memory-keeping abilities for myself. You see, the curse Caspian cast accidentally created something beautiful. Every time you two forget and fall in love again, your powers grow stronger. More refined. More pure. I've been harvesting that energy for ten years, and tonight, I finally have enough to complete my transformation.
Transformation into what? I force out through gritted teeth.
Into the most powerful memory keeper who ever lived, Seraphine says. I'll be able to control the memories of entire cities. Entire nations. I'll rewrite history itself.
Aurelia's eyes widen in horror. That's why you killed Dad. He found out what you were planning.
He was weak, Seraphine dismisses. He wanted to use his gifts to help people. What a waste. Power isn't meant to help, darling. It's meant to rule.
She walks over to Aurelia and runs a hand through her daughter's hair. Aurelia flinches.
You could have been magnificent, Seraphine says sadly. If you'd just stopped falling for this boy, I could have trained you properly. Made you my heir. But you kept choosing love over power. So disappointing.
Love isn't weakness, Aurelia says fiercely. It's what makes us human.
And that's exactly why you'll always be inferior to me.
Seraphine begins chanting in a language I don't recognize. Dark energy swirls around her hands, and I feel something being pulled from my chest.
The curse. She's extracting the curse from both of us.
But there's a problem. If she removes the curse this way, violently and without consent, it will kill us both. Our minds will shatter.
I try to warn Aurelia with my eyes, but she's focused on her mother with pure hatred.
Stop fighting it, Seraphine says, annoyed. This will hurt less if you just let go.
Never, Aurelia spits.
The extraction magic intensifies, and I scream. It feels like my soul is being ripped apart. Beside me, Aurelia is screaming too.
Memories flood through me not just the recovered ones from earlier, but ALL of them. Every moment with Aurelia across ten years. Every kiss. Every goodbye. Every heartbreak.
It's too much. My mind can't handle it.
I'm about to pass out when suddenly, the door to my office explodes inward.
Riven bursts in, wielding some kind of magical weapon I've never seen before. Behind him are Dr. Isla Novak very much alive and untied and three other people I don't recognize.
Get away from them! Riven shouts, firing his weapon at Seraphine.
The blast hits Seraphine in the chest, and she staggers backward, her concentration breaking. The paralysis on Aurelia and me snaps, and we both collapse to the floor.
Impossible, Seraphine gasps. You should be at the warehouse. The video
Was fake, Dr. Isla says, stepping forward. Did you really think I wouldn't notice when someone tried to kidnap me? I've been working with Riven for hours, tracking you down.
Seraphine's face twists with rage. You interfering
She throws a massive burst of dark energy at all of us. Riven's people create shields, but the impact is devastating. The whole building shakes.
I grab Aurelia's hand and pull her behind an overturned desk.
We have to break the curse, I tell her urgently. Right now. It's the only way to stop her.
But the seventh kiss
Will either save us or kill us, I interrupt. But if we don't try, your mother wins. She'll take your powers and destroy everything.
Aurelia looks at me, and I see the fear in her eyes. But I also see determination.
Okay, she says. Let's do it.
We stand up together, still holding hands, as chaos erupts around us. Riven and his team are fighting Seraphine, magical blasts lighting up the room like fireworks.
I love you, I tell Aurelia. No matter what happens next.
I love you too, she says.
We lean toward each other, about to kiss, when Seraphine screams.
NO!
She throws everything she has at us massive wave of memory-stealing energy that will erase us completely if it hits.
But we don't stop. We don't hesitate.
Our lips meet.
And the world explodes with light.
The curse doesn't just break it detonates. Ten years of trapped magic releases all at once, creating a shockwave that throws everyone backward.
I'm flying through the air, losing my grip on Aurelia's hand.
The last thing I see before everything goes dark is Aurelia's face, her eyes wide with shock.
Then nothing.
I wake up in a hospital bed.
My head is pounding, and every muscle in my body aches. I try to sit up, but someone pushes me back down gently.
Easy, Riven's voice says. You've been unconscious for three days.
Three days? I croak. What happened? Where's Aurelia?
Riven's expression is carefully neutral. She's alive. She's in the next room.
Did it work? Did we break the curse?
You broke it, Riven confirms. The seventh kiss shattered the curse completely. You and Aurelia are free.
Relief floods through me. Then why do you look so worried?
Riven hesitates. The curse broke. But there were... complications.
What kind of complications?
When the curse shattered, it released all the memories it had been holding. Ten years of memories, all flooding back at once. For both of you.
That's good, right? We remember everything now.
Caspian, Riven says quietly. You remember everything. Aurelia doesn't.
My heart stops. What?
The memory overload was too much for her. Her mind shut down to protect itself. When she woke up this morning, she had no memory of the past ten years at all. She doesn't remember the curse. She doesn't remember meeting you seventeen times.
Does she remember me at all? I whisper.
Riven's silence is answer enough.
I want to see her, I say, trying to get out of bed.
Caspian, wait
But I'm already moving, ignoring the pain, stumbling out of my room and into the hallway.
I find Aurelia's room and push open the door.
She's sitting up in bed, talking to Dr. Isla. When she sees me, she smiles politely the smile of a stranger.
Hi, she says. Are you one of Dr. Novak's colleagues?
The words hit me like a knife to the chest.
She doesn't know me. After everything we've been through, after seventeen cycles of falling in love, after breaking an impossible curse she doesn't remember any of it.
I'm Caspian, I manage to say. Caspian Vale.
Aurelia's expression doesn't change. No recognition. No spark. Nothing.
Nice to meet you, she says.
And my heart breaks into a million pieces.