Page 47 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

I hadn’t gone far when movement caught my eye.

Along the low garden wall, a black tunic blurred past as someone sprinted away.

“Hey,” I called, my voice ringing out in the silence.

When they looked back, I sucked in a breath at the sight of onyx eyes in a pale face.

Dread curled inside me.

An Obsidian.

Here.

Inside the wards.

For a moment, I stood there, stunned. Then it snarled, and my brain screamed at me to move.

Itook off after it.

The rain clouds had grown thicker overhead, blotting out what little sunlight remained. The air smelled of a storm, and I could only hope it would hold off long enough to track the creature before the rain washed its scent away.

By the time I scaled the garden wall, the Obsidian had disappeared. I spun in a frantic circle, searching with my full senses. It couldn’t have gotten far.

Rosewood was a mile north where houses and shops sat in utter stillness—too many places for me to search before I inevitably lost the trail. On my right, abandoned fields lay overgrown with grass and wild corn that had sprung up in the absence of anything else planted. On my left, the Emerald Forest beckoned, as dangerous as it was majestic.

Near the woods’ edge, the black tunic flashed again, and my jaw tightened as I sprinted for where the creature had just vanished into the trees.

I followed, urged onward by desperation. Inside the forest, I slowed only a little, careful not to trip over tree roots and stray branches. Trees flashed by me in a blur of greens and browns.

Magic hummed inside me, begging to be loosed.

My stomach tightened as I thought about the creature running back to tell its master that it had finally breached our wards. Would it bring hordes of Obsidians, or would it bringher?

Up ahead, a loud crack sounded, followed by a vicious snarl that could only belong to an Obsidian monster.

I pushed harder, and a moment later, I cleared enough of the trees to see it. The creature writhed on the ground, its ankle caught in a rabbit trap. The thing rolled side to side, howling in pain. Even from here, I could see its burnt, boiled flesh. The wards hadn’t let him through unscathed.

It was a mild comfort; not nearly enough.

I slowed to a walk, approaching carefully. My empty handstingled with magic. I ground my teeth as I thought of Dorcha—hanging just inside the door to the kitchen. Useless now.

I’d have to rely on my magic alone.

Don’t get carried away. Interrogation doesn’t work if he’s dead, I reminded myself.Self-restraint is harder than self-defense.

I opened my palm, and a black spark erupted into a small flame that danced harmlessly along my skin. It might not hurt me, but it would melt him.

The Obsidian jerked its head up, eyes wide but not from fear. Fury, cold and determined, shone in the creature’s onyx gaze. A fae male’s eyes, once. And beneath all that determination and rage was victory. Smug bastard thought he was going to get away.

Despite the trap mangling his ankle, he climbed to his feet. “Hello, forgotten one.”

“You can wipe that smirk off your face because you aren’t going to live long enough to tell anyone what you just found,” I said.

His eyes gleamed, and he raised his chin. “Your defenses are failing. It won’t be long.”

“Those defenses nearly killed you.” I smirked, eyeing his blisters.

Not enough.

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