Aurelia's POV
The memories hit me like a tsunami.
I see everything. Feel everything. Remember everything.
Ten years of love compressed into ten seconds of absolute clarity.
I'm sixteen years old, scared and alone at the Midnight Market. A strange man named Thorne has been following me for weeks, ever since my parents died. He says he's family, but something about him makes my skin crawl.
Then I meet Caspian. He's twenty-two, already a skilled curse-breaker, and he has the kindest eyes I've ever seen.
We fall in love fast. Dangerously fast.
Thorne doesn't like it. He tries to force a magical bond with mea spell that would give him control over my memory-keeping abilities. But Caspian steps in. He casts a protection curse to make me forget any man who tries to claim my heart.
The spell is supposed to target Thorne. Only Thorne.
But it backfires because I already love Caspian. The curse catches us both, trapping us in an endless cycle of meeting, falling in love, kissing, and forgetting.
For ten years, we've been prisoners of Caspian's mistake and Thorne's manipulation.
The memories stop flooding, and I collapse to my knees, gasping.
Caspian is on the floor too, his face wet with tears. I remember, he chokes out. God, Aurelia, I remember everything. I'm so sorry. I tried to save you, and I trapped us instead.
Thorne screams in rage. No! You weren't supposed to break through!
I look up at him, and for the first time in ten years, I see him clearly. Not as my brother. Not as my protector. As my enemy.
You've been using the curse, I say, my voice steady despite my shaking body. Every time Caspian's spell made us forget, you reinforced it. You kept us trapped on purpose.
Of course I did! Thorne snarls. Your power is wasted on love and happiness. You should be using it to build empires, to control nations. With me guiding you, we could have ruled everything.
I don't want to rule anything, I say, standing up. I just want to be free.
Caspian stands beside me, his hand finding mine. The touch sends electricity through both of us not just attraction now, but recognition. We know each other. Finally, completely, we know each other.
You can't fight me, Thorne says. I have four memory thieves with me. You have a failed curse-breaker and recovered memories that are making you weak.
We have something you don't, Caspian says.
And what's that?
Each other.
Caspian squeezes my hand, and I understand immediately. We've done this before six times before. We've fought together, loved together, lost together. Our souls know how to work as one even if our minds forgot.
I pull on my memory-keeping powers, and Caspian channels his curse-breaking magic. Together, we create something new something that shouldn't exist.
A memory curse.
We throw it at Thorne and his thieves, and the magic hits them like a hammer. Suddenly, they're forgetting why they're here, forgetting their powers, forgetting how to fight.
Thorne staggers, clutching his head. What did you do?
Gave you a taste of your own medicine, I say. You'll forget everything in about thirty seconds. Your name. Your powers. Your plans. Everything.
No! Thorne lunges for me, but Caspian blocks him.
It's over, Caspian says. You've lost.
Thorne's eyes are already going blank, his memories draining away. His thieves collapse around him, unconscious.
Caspian and I stand there, breathing hard, holding each other up.
Is it really over? I whisper.
Almost, Caspian says. We broke through the memory block, but the original curse is still active. We still can't kiss without triggering the forgetting.
My heart sinks. So we remember everything now, but we can never
Never kiss again, Caspian finishes. Not unless we break the curse completely.
How do we do that?
I don't know. I've been a curse-breaker for ten years, and I've never seen anything like this.
We stare at each other, finally remembering our love but unable to touch the way we want to.
There has to be a way, I say desperately.
Caspian's phone buzzes. He pulls it out and shows me a text from that same unknown number.
Congratulations on remembering. But you're not free yet. The curse has one final test. Kiss seven times, and the curse breaks forever. But there's a catch: the seventh kiss must be given freely, with full knowledge of the consequences. You both know now that kissing triggers the forgetting. If you choose to kiss anyway if you choose love over memory the curse will shatter. But if you hesitate, if you let fear win, you'll be trapped forever. You have until sunrise to decide. Choose wisely. A Friend
I look at Caspian, my heart racing. The seventh kiss breaks the curse. But only if we choose it knowing we might forget again.
It's a test, Caspian says slowly. The curse is testing whether our love is stronger than our fear.
Are you afraid? I ask.
Terrified, he admits. What if it doesn't work? What if we kiss and forget everything we just recovered?
Then we find each other again, I say. We've done it six times. We can do it a seventh.
But we might not have time for an eighth, Caspian argues. This could be our last chance.
We stand in his destroyed office, surrounded by unconscious enemies and broken furniture, facing the most important decision of our lives.
I don't want to forget you, I whisper. Not again. Not when I just got you back.
I don't want to forget you either, Caspian says, pulling me close. But I also don't want to spend the rest of my life afraid to touch you. Afraid to love you the way you deserve.
We're inches apart now, both trembling.
If we do this, I say, we do it together. No regrets.
No regrets, Caspian agrees.
He cups my face in his hands, and I rise on my toes.
I love you, I whisper. I've loved you for ten years, through seventeen cycles of forgetting. And I'll love you for seventeen more if that's what it takes.
I love you too, Caspian says. You're worth every risk. Every sacrifice. Every forgotten moment.
We're about to kiss when my phone buzzes.
I glance at the screen and freeze.
It's a video message from an unknown sender.
I open it with shaking hands.
The video shows Dr. Isla Novak the memory expert I consulted. She's tied to a chair, bleeding from a cut on her forehead.
Behind her stands a figure in shadows.
Hello, Aurelia, the figure says. The voice is distorted, unrecognizable. I see you've recovered your memories. Impressive. But before you break that curse with your seventh kiss, you should know something: I have your precious doctor. If you want her to live, you'll do exactly as I say. Come to the old warehouse on Pier 19. Alone. Both of you. And don't even think about kissing until you get here. Because if you break that curse before I get what I want, Dr. Novak dies. You have one hour. The clock is ticking.
The video ends.
Caspian and I stare at each other in horror.
It's a trap, he says.
I know, I reply. But we can't let her die.
If we go there without breaking the curse first, we're walking in powerless.
And if we break the curse now, she dies.
We're trapped again. Different cage, same helplessness.
Who would do this? I ask. Thorne is unconscious. His thieves are down. Who else wants to keep us cursed?
Caspian's face goes pale. Unless Thorne wasn't working alone. Unless someone more powerful has been pulling his strings this whole time.
My blood runs cold. Who?
Before Caspian can answer, all the lights in the building go out?
In the darkness, I hear footsteps.
Multiple people, surrounding us.
A voice speaks from the shadows female, cold, familiar.
Hello, children. Did you really think Thorne was smart enough to maintain a curse this complex for ten years? Please. He was just my puppet. And now that he's failed me, it's time for me to take what I want directly.
A figure steps into the dim moonlight coming through the window.
I recognize her instantly from Caspian's recovered memories.
It's Seraphine Cross.
My mother.
Who died ten years ago.
Except she's standing right in front of me, very much alive.