Page 145 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“For what?”

“I didn’t mean to use it… I just?—”

“Furious, you have nothing to apologize for. That was incredible.Youare incredible.”

His gaze softened, and of all things, he cupped my cheek. Like I hadn’t just committed the murder of a king. His own father. The way he looked at me now… the mask was gone. This was him. Vulnerable and real and…sad?

Nothing made sense.

Exhaustion tugged at me. I’d used more of my magic than I ever had, and apparently, that came with a price.

“Will you tell anyone?” I whispered. “About the furyfire?” Did he know about the death magic I’d used? The way I’d inhaled Duron’s life force at the end?

“I’ve kept your secrets since long before you even knew them,” he said and I could have sworn the ink on his skin writhed as he spoke.

Before I could ask what he meant, voices rang out somewhere else in the garden. Followed by the clang of swords. Reality crashed in around me. The Withered. My escape. I had to go now or risk being caught.

“We need to go,” Rydian said, echoing my thoughts.

He wiped his sword clean on his pants then slid it back into its sheath. His hand slipped into mine, firm and sure as he tugged me toward the path we’d been on earlier. We’d have to step over Koraz to get there. I didn’t let myself look down at the bloodied tunic or the frozen, unseeing eyes.

When we came to a fork in the path, Rydian pulled me to the left.

“Wrong way,” I said, trying to yank him in the other direction. “My bag?—”

“Vanya gave it to me,” he said. “This way.”

Uncertainty rippled through me. Vanya had betrayed me to Rydian? Considering what we’d just done, there was no time to argue it now.

We ran through a maze of hedges and came out at the edge of the gardens on a narrow walkway that led toward the road. A dark carriage waited, horses snorting, their eyes gleaming as though possessed. The driver wore black armor emblazoned with a silver sigil that caught the moonlight. A crescent moon with a sword through it. Recognition of the symbol chilled me to the core.

The Midnight Court.

Rydian tugged me toward it.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, trying to pull my handfrom his grip, but he wouldn’t let go. His gaze was sharp, unrelenting.

“They won’t hurt you,” he said.

Bullshit.

The Midnight Court were notoriously savage with prisoners. They’d torture me to learn my secrets and relish the pain they’d cause while doing it. They’d make me beg for a swift death.

Rydian knew that. And he’d sold me out to them anyway.

Panic surged as he opened the carriage door and pulled me toward it.

“Please, no.” I braced myself against the doorframe, twisting around to look at him. “Why are you doing this?”

His expression softened, a flicker of something that might’ve been regret crossing his features. “I’m keeping you safe.”

My fingers dug into the wood, every instinct screaming at me to fight, but the commotion behind us grew closer. The castle guards were swarming, pushing through the courtyard with horrifying speed even as the Withered tried to fight them back.

“Furious,” Rydian said, his tone low and almost pleading. “I can’t let him have you.”

Him. Callan.

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