Page 69 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

I thought immediately of the Obsidian who’d gotten away.

My pulse quickened, but I focused on my breathing and pushed out my senses to check for any threats. The soldiers ahead of us were tense, their eyes darting toward every rustle in the trees. I could feel it too—the unease. The feeling that we were being watched. My magic stirred restlessly inside me, but I forced it down, unwilling to betray my secrets.

There was no need to use it, I told myself. Not with Callan’s soldiers at our side.

Except I couldn’t shake the doubt that seeped in even as I thought it.

The road narrowed as we moved deeper into the forest. A breeze rustled through the leaves, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. One of the soldiers let out a low whistle, and I tensed. Callan’s gaze swept the trees, his hand resting tightly on the hilt of his sword.

Then I saw it.

A flash of movement from the shadows, too fast to track. My horse reared with a startled whinny, and I barely kept myself from falling off. Shouts rang out from the soldiers, their weapons drawn as a figure burst from the underbrush.

Pale skin, eyes like a starless midnight, and the stench of rottedsouls clinging to its flesh.

An Obsidian.

My horse bucked again. This time, I felt myself slipping and leaped away before I could land beneath its hooves. I grunted at the impact then straightened and drew Dorcha.

Behind me, a soldier cried out.

I whirled in time to see the fae’s throat sliced open. The Obsidian’s clawed hand came away red with the soldier’s blood, but it didn’t stop to revel in the kill or even check that the soldier had been truly disabled.

Focused and vicious, it cut its way through Callan’s warriors.

This Obsidian wasn’t like the ones I’d faced before. It was larger, faster. It moved with precision, not the mindless violence I’d come to expect. Over and over again, its eyes, dark and bottomless, darted to me with a predatory gleam.

Movement to my left drew my attention. A second Obsidian cutting a path toward the rear of our line. And then a third from the middle, splitting our ranks. Where the fuck was Callan?

Probably running again, I thought disgustedly.

There was no time to check. Just across the path from where I stood, the first Obsidian cut down the last of the soldiers between it and me. A bloodied sword, swiped from Autumn soldiers, dangled from each of its hands.

Closing the distance faster than I’d ever seen, the creature lunged, and I barely managed to draw my second sword in time. The force of the steel’s impact knocked me back a step, but I held my ground, deflecting its blow with a sharp clang.

Dark magic crackled in the air.

Energy pulsed deep inside me, responding to something ancient and dangerous.

The creature lifted its hand and shot a blast of pure darkness straight at me. My magic surged in defense, slipping free before I could call it back—a burst of power that erupted infuryfire. My onyx flames slammed into the Obsidian’s power, shoving it back and burning holes through it that fell like ash. Furyfire caught at the Obsidian’s clothing, spreading quickly until those same flames licked at the creature’s flesh, burning and melting it off.

Still, it came for me.

My pulse thundered in my ears. I took a single step back to regain my posture for my next attack, and my foot caught on a body.

I stumbled, glancing down to see an Autumn soldier lying dead at my feet. The moment of hesitation cost me. My furyfire winked out. When I looked up again, the Obsidian’s eyes gleamed—it had me.

Scrambling, I raised my blades, preparing to block the next strike, but I knew even as I hurried to make it that my balance was completely wrong.

And then, behind the Obsidian, something moved.

A second later, the creature staggered, a flash of steel cutting through its chest. I leaped aside as it careened face-first to the ground, dark blood pooling beneath its chest. Its waning life force seeped into the air, tendrils of it snaking toward my ankles. Before I could stop myself, I reached for it.

The power inside me sighed as it sipped.

Delicious, it seemed to whisper.

My senses sharpened. My power pulsed, renewed.

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