Page 62 of Stolen Magic

I didn’t know what to say. My heart tugged in two directions—towards the memories I’d lost, and the emotions that remained. “But magic wasn’t strong enough for me to forget you,” I said hoarsely. “Not completely. Something in me keeps reaching for you, like my soul remembers even if my mind doesn’t.”

She turned away. “Don’t do this.”

But though deep down I knew I shouldn’t, my heart guided me forward. “Please. No matter what’s happened, you can’t tell me what we had didn’t matter…Lysa.”

She turned to face me, tears falling freely now. “It mattered, more than you’ll ever know. But you don’t belong with me—you belong with Gwendolyn.”

The silence between us pulsed with everything that had been stolen and sacrificed. She didn’t move, but I could see the warin her eyes—the same storm I had been trying to navigate now rising inside her.

“I just want one final moment,” I pleaded. “One memory. I just…need to know.”

She shook her head. “You already do.”

“No.” My voice frayed but I continued, needing to share all that I felt in case I never found another chance. “I feel it, but I don’tknow. I don’t remember the way your hand felt in mine, the sound of your laugh, the way you looked at me the first time you realized I saw you.” I took a step closer, careful not to breach the measured distance she left between us. “Give me one moment so that I can stop being haunted and finally choose what I do with it.”

She turned her face away, her jaw tightening. “We can’t. You're promised to Gwen. And I’ve already taken too much.”

“Then don’t give me everything,” I said. “Just help me fill in the missing pieces.”

Her lips trembled. “No matter how much I want to, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Please.” I slowly extended my hand, palm up in invitation. “Let me see if my soul can truly remember what magic tried to take.”

Her gaze flicked to my hand. I could see her battling with herself—caught between her loyalty to Gwendolyn while also trying to protect both me and herself. But then she tentatively reached out, fingers grazing mine.

The moment we touched something ignited, the recognition its own form of magic, as if my suppressed memory had its own power. Her hand fit in mine like it had always belonged there, like rereading a page from a beloved book.

Countless forgotten fragments stirred at the edge of my thoughts, like frost beginning to melt. The warmth of her skin, the ache I couldn’t explain every time I saw her, thequiet knowledge that whatever I’d been trying to create with Gwendolyn could never match what had I already kindled with Lysa.

She hastily withdrew her hand, as if the contact had burned her. Heartache filled her teary eyes as she met my own. “I’m sorry, I can’t allow you to remember everything.”

“Regardless of whether you restore my memories completely, it changes nothing,” I said. “Magic might rewrite thoughts, but not hearts. No matter what spell you cast, mine still chooses you.”

Her chest hitched with the breath she couldn’t take but she stepped back, increasing the distance I would do anything to bridge. “You only believe that because your heart is good, but kindness isn’t the same as love.”

She turned to depart, but I couldn’t let her walk away again. “Lysa—” I seized hold of her wrist and gently tugged her to a stop. She didn’t turn, but her shoulders tensed. “Please,” I said, more softly now. “Tell me the real reason you made me forget. Don’t pretend it was just about doing the right thing.”

Her eyes glistened with tears in the glow of the fading day. “Because in truth I don’t deserve you. You gave me your heart…only for me to betray it.” I started to shake my head, but she talked over me in a rush. “You don’t remember…but I do. I came here with lies, took what wasn’t mine and stole you—your affections, your time, every tender word. The woman you knew was someone I crafted just to get close to the crown. I thought if I had your love, I could steal back what your throne took from me. And when I realized I couldn’t, I made you forget instead.”

Her confession tore through me—not because of the betrayal, but because of the heartbreak woven into every word, the guilt and grief with the war she waged against herself. I cradled her cheek, my thumb catching the single tear as it escaped.

“If you’d truly taken from me, then there would be nothing left for me to want to give you now, no sense that I’m missing something without you. Love cannot be forced, and if I chose it once before…I can do it again.”

Lysa drew in a sharp breath as she looked up at me with wide eyes. “You…loved me?”

“Without a doubt,” I answered. “The details might still be hazy, but the way I felt about you—the way my heart was joined to yours—is undeniable.”

For a heartbeat she leaned against my hand, accepting the affection in my touch, as if she couldn’t help herself…before severing our fragile connection. “I would give anything to accept you…but I cannot. Not only are you too honorable to go against your duty, but love isn’t enough to undo what I did, nor can I sacrifice my loyalty to my friend. You deserve everything I can’t give you.”

Her gaze held mine for a long, quiet moment—full of longing and pain and something fragile that hadn’t yet died. Then, barely above a breath, “Goodbye, Callan.” With that, she turned and left me standing alone beneath the settling twilight, a sharp pain twisting inside me. The ache was far deeper than the unsettling feelings I’d had until now, but I couldn’t regret rediscovering the truth.

I stared after her—this woman who had turned my world inside out without me even knowing it. No matter what came, I wasn’t done remembering or ready to lose her again.

CHAPTER 21

LYSANDRA

With every step I took away from Callan, my heart desperately tugged back towards its keeper. I didn’t dare look back. Each stride felt like tearing a page from the only story I’d ever wanted to live inside. I didn’t stop until I’d rounded the hedge and reached the shelter of the herbarium, my fingers gripping the frame until my knuckles turned white.

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