Page 7 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

Aurelia

My pulse quickened as my own senses finally identified the scent and movement of something creeping through the trees. Just outside the barrier but crawling closer as if it could see right through to where we stood. I strained for a glimpse of whatever it was but didn’t have to wait long. A second later, a flash of black-as-death eyes confirmed Sonoma’s words, and my breath caught at the sight of it.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a pale-skinned fae male with haunting, obsidian eyes—but I knew pure evil lurked inside that form.

The Obsidians had been fae until Heliconia twisted them into something else with her dark magic. I’d heard stories about children and parents alike being taken from their beds and painfully transformed. I ached with empathy at the way my people’s lives—and souls—had been stolen from them in such a horrible way. To be remade into a mindless monster enslaved to a wicked queen was a fate worse than death. But now, facing one in the flesh, my only emotion was fear.

Even from where it still huddled in the brush, the foulsignature of its dark magic was stronger than anything I’d felt before.

Sonoma gestured at me to fall into a formation familiar from our practice sessions. But this was no practice, and for a moment, I stood frozen. She gestured again, never taking her eyes off the creature yet somehow managing to project her impatience and irritation.

Move.

Out of sheer will and muscle memory, I got into my fighting stance. Sonoma stood beside me with an unyielding stare that had felled enemies much worse than this one. Then she lowered the barrier.

“Is that wise?” I hissed. “It can’t reach us inside the wards.”

“It can see us,” she said grimly. “The damage is done.”

We watched as the Obsidian crawled toward us on all fours, its movements more animal than fae.

A shudder went through me that wasn’t fear. Anticipation. Or maybe a reaction to the immense power that rippled out of the elder Aine warrior. In Sonoma’s hand, Latha gleamed as if it, too, relished the idea of a fight.

But the Obsidian was mindless enough to ignore the warning. Almost too fast for me to see, the creature lunged from the undergrowth. Not at Sonoma. At me.

Large onyx eyes glinted with unnatural hunger before it was nearly on me, its mouth open and sharpened teeth aimed for my throat. I brought my sword up just in time to crash the hilt against the creature’s jaw. It stumbled sideways as Sonoma whirled, her footwork flawless as she brought her body around to shield me.

The Obsidian hissed, the sound thick with malice. Its pale fingers, sharp as claws, stretched toward Sonoma as it advanced.

She lifted her blade to meet it. Latha sliced clean throughthe creature’s wrist. Its hand fell to the ground with a thump. Blood poured from the severed limb, and the creature screeched, making me cringe.

With renewed determination, it lunged with its remaining hand outstretched, but Sonoma was quicker. She dodged, spinning out of the way and slashing her blade across its chest. The creature stumbled, its dark blood spilling onto the forest floor, rotting the ground where it touched the earth. When it straightened, Sonoma no longer stood between us.

The Obsidian realized it too.

“Keep your blade up,” Sonoma snapped at me.

I lifted Dorcha higher, my heart thudding so hard I thought it might crack my ribs. My breaths came in short gasps.

I had trained for this.

Trained.

It felt like pretending compared to standing before the wretched thing now. My blood crawled with distaste—but also with something that felt like recognition. Whatever this Obsidian was made from, it called to me.

It sang inside me.

That scared me more than the fact that it wanted to kill me.

As I stared, its face began to change shape. Instead of a male fae with a shock of chestnut hair and dead, obsidian eyes, it was a woman. She was beautiful with long dark hair that fell straight down her back. Her eyes were depthless and, unlike the hollow obsidian gaze, held a vastness of secrets—and rage.

The smile that curled her lips was cruel and knowing. “Hello, Aurelia.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

Sonoma screamed and brought her sword down, but the creature danced out of reach.

The woman’s eyes glittered. “Sonoma. Is that any way to greet a sister?”

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