"Mom, is he going to die?"

"She gave me more than I deserved, and I thought I could keep her by my side forever, but time and her way of thinking that she could save me from my curse took her away from me."

He was no longer talking to Ian, Ave realized, as even her son had lost interest in the conversation and seemed to be distracted by something else as he watched his palms in wonderment. He was speaking directly to her, and her traitorous heart was pounding so loudly in her chest it seemed to be coming from her head.

"I wish she would look at me with the love she once had in her eyes," he whispered. "I wish I could make her believe the things I want to tell her so badly that it hurts to keep them in."