The Golden Rose: Book 2 Novels & Stories

Her peaceful bubble of life, pinned down and leaking with every new minute she spent in her old house. All of it stemmed from that single face that hovered at the edges of her nerves like a plague. Her hand that moves to adjust her pillow touches a sleek texture and the young girl pauses. The resin rose is staring up at her like it always did when she lays her gaze on it. Faintly, she remembers clutching at it before she went to sleep, but it only adds more irritation to Alina's already crumbling mood. Without a word, she sets it down with a clank, and then heads out the room with a tug of a new bubble gum pink shirt.

The girl leaned close, and the boy looked up at her, the corners of his eyes curving slightly. His gaze was full of her. He smiled and pointed to the flowerpot she had just placed nearby. Half teasing, he said, “Then Cecilia is a red rose. Delicate and thorny. Only I can afford to take care of you.” Cecilia turned and looked at the roses Lucas had placed in the room that morning. And tears streamed silently down her face.

I whisper before touching her forehead with my index finger just as she did to Malcolm. She instantly begins to scream. Her folded wings stretch out and flap desperately as she claws at her face with her hands. I stand back up to watch as my enemy writes around on the ground. My curse slowly spreads through her body and her once grey skin turns to gold. "That's what you get," Beerus barks before sitting next to me. I smile at the joy in his voice. Like me, he probably knows that Octavius will be different after this. He will be able to feel and find happiness. The dark voice feeding his insecurities will be dead.

But I didn't get a chance to call it out when she continued . “I stumbled upon this book the other day. By mistake, obviously. I thought it was a theological study on ‘Fellowship,’ but it was actually this incredibly sappy romance story about two childhood best friends who fall in love after they made a promise to marry each other if they were still single by thirty.” She let out what sounded like a nervous, high-pitched giggle. “They were very scandalous scenes in the book, Leon,” Rose murmured in a low voice. “Their…sexual escapades were so vividly described I couldn't stop blushing, but I couldn't stop reading either.” She laughed again.

she found herself saying. With a sigh of comfort, Rose lowered her arm to her side. "You inquired what you look like. Gorgeous, mistress. As always." said automatically, with no substantial feeling. Half of Grace’s awareness remained on her while the other half was directed at the book. She scowled. The dark leather was unmarred. She flipped to the middle. There was no bookmark, and the pages were new and fresh. Blank. "This isn’t my book," she mumbled. "Where’s my book? Where? This is-"

I knew I couldn't live like this any longer, yet here I was, trapped in this room as dangerous men lurked just across the hallway. As I reached for the book, memories of my past flooded back - memories of fear, of being trapped, of signing my freedom away. My heart raced as I clutched the book tight. But something drew me to the golden roses on the spine. Roese… My heart skips a beat at the sight of a rose, especially if it's pure and white. Ever since I was a young girl, their magical allure has enchanted me. I view them as an emblem of fortune and pray that with unwavering determination, one day I too will pen the final chapter of my fairy tale, and find my happily ever after.

“Please, just hold on.” A golden glow lit the water. The merman broke the surface, rose in hand. “Bring him into the pool,” he said urgently. “The rose only works in moonlight.” I dragged Kael into the glowing water, holding him close. The merman placed the rose on his chest and guided him to the center of the pool, where moonlight trickled through the cracks above. The moment light touched the rose, it pulsed—pure gold spreading like liquid fire through Kael’s body. A golden sphere formed around him, cocooning him in magic. The rose withered, its purpose fulfilled.

And simply touching her name written in the grimoire was enough for me to taste the power, and relish the feel of it through my veins. Adelaide was the start of a new age. And, with Rosalie out of the way, there was no one there to stop me from wielding it. THE END

I watched the images, and my heart was still. "They're beautiful," I said calmly. Then I snatched the book from his hands. "Rosa? What are you doing—" I threw the grimoire into the nearby font of holy water. "NO!" Kaelan screamed in horror. The moment the book hit the water, it burst into flames. White fire consumed the precious images. 998 roses turned to ash in the inferno. Kaelan lunged for it, but the second his hand touched the holy water, it was severely burned.

But what drew me most to this garden was the abundance of rose bushes, all in various colors—pink, yellow, blue, and red. They were all so beautiful I couldn’t stop admiring them. I plucked one and brought it to my nose. The scent took me back to my dream of that boy with heterochromia eyes, and I smiled, missing him already. Would he appear again in my dream? Would he still smile at me like before? Would he— “What are you doing here?” I startled at the sudden intrusion and snapped my eyes open to see Lorenzo glaring at me. He had his hand wrapped around my wrist, and I could feel his wrath in waves.