Page 13 of When Ashes Fall

I was used to the acidic potion she added to her roses. I’d encountered it countless times over the years. Because of this, I didn’t try to tear my arm away; I wouldn’t let her know her touch sickened me more than it hurt.

“Daughter, all we want is for you to return home.”

She ran her thumb across my flesh as it continued to sizzle. I’d stand there until she burned me to the bone before pulling my arm away.

“Just end this and⁠—”

Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off as Knox’s large, clawed hand snaked across the table. When he grabbed my mother’s wrist, pain and disbelief flickered through her eyes as her mouth parted.

“As I told Malakor,” Knox snarled, “no harm will come to my prisoner.”

My mother gasped and released my wrist. She tried to flex her fingers, but Knox refused to release her.

“Knox,” Alwin warned when the other night casters stepped forward and my sister started to rise.

Knox’s pupils slitted as his nostrils flared, but with a jerk, he tore the rose from my mother’s wrist, tossed it on the table, and smashed it with his fist. When his fingers unfurled, he revealed the blisters and burns marring his palm and fingers.

Before anyone could speak, he grasped my arm and pulled it toward him. With more care than I ever would have believed possible from him, he turned it over to reveal the perfect, rose-shaped burn there. One of the blisters was already popped and oozing.

His fingers caressed the edges of my brutalized flesh, but he showed no sign that his injuries bothered him. My mouth went dry as he stared at the mark with sorrow.

Knox’s fangs were clearly visible when he lifted his head and leveled his gaze on my mother. “Try that again, and I’ll tear your fucking hands off and shove them down your vile throat. Do you understand me?”

His words were deceptively calm, given the message they delivered. My mother’s blood-red lips pursed as my sister rose.

“That is enough!” Alwin said sharply.

A blast of power radiated throughout the room. It knocked me and the casters back a step while Knox swayed briefly.

“Devnair, take the girl for a walk,” Alwin commanded.

I almost told him that I had a name, but there was a time and place for boldness, and this was neither the time nor the place. Things were far too tense in this room; one small move could ignite a flame that burned the whole place down.

With the look of someone about to be eaten by a dragon, Devnair studied Knox as he approached. “We won’t go far,” the elf said.

Knox’s grip briefly constricted before he released me. He didn’t look at me as he retreated to the other side of the table and finally settled in his seat. His gaze remained on Devnair as the elf slid his arm through my unburnt one.

A loud, scratching sound pierced the air, and I turned to discover Knox’s orange eyes watching our every move. With his shoulders hunched forward, his muscles bulged as his claws gouged the table.

Like a panther poised to spring, he looked ready to leap over the table and come after us, but he didn’t move. I held his stare before turning away.

I didn’t look back as I walked out the door with Devnair. Dromon trailed us.

CHAPTER TEN

Briar

We only made it ten feet out the door before Devnair turned to Dromon. “I’d like to speak with her alone.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Dromon replied.

“Then can we at least get some distance?”

Dromon’s penetrating brown eyes shifted to me. When he bowed his head, the dark, wavy blond hair flowing around his shoulders fell forward to shield his face a little.

“If you try to run, I’ll stop you,” he told me.

“So will I,” Devnair said.