Page 94 of When Ashes Fall

I shut the possibility down as red filled my vision. If I found out she was lying and she really did do something to them, I couldn’t kill my mate, but I’d make her beg for death.

“Is it dead?” I barked when she didn’t answer me.

Briar squeezed her eyes closed before opening them and focusing on the rose again. “It could still be alive, but if it is, it’s very weak.”

“Did you do this?”

Her eyes shot up to me. “Why are you always so determined to believe the worst of me? Why can’t you trust and believe me? I didn’t do this. Zephyr didn’t do this. Something else is going on here!”

“And what is that?”

“I don’t know!” She tried to throw up both her hands, but my grip on her elbow stopped her. “If I knew, don’t you think I’d tell you?”

She jerked at her arm again, and this time, when I refused to release it, she huffed out an angry breath and swung at me. I was so astounded that Briar, a woman whom I’d never seen unleash violence before, threw a punch at me that I didn’t catch it until it was only inches from my head.

Her fist thudded against my palm as I encased it in my hand. As I leaned toward her, she kicked.

“Fuck you!” she shouted as her boot connected squarely with my shin.

I didn’t so much as flinch. “Do you think that hurt me, mea perfidas eveto?”

“I don’t care if it hurt or not!” she spat.

Her eyes told a different story as they burned with rage.

“I’m not sure what you’d tell me and what you wouldn’t,” I told her. “These roses were fine until you started pouring your potion on them.”

“They were thriving yesterday! If my potion did this, they would have died weeks ago.”

“Maybe that was part of your plan. Maybe you were determined to reel us into letting you work with all the roses before you poisoned them.”

Her ire died as anguish bloomed in her eyes and her face fell. The look on her face made me feel like the biggest piece of shit, but I shook it off. I couldn’t see Briar doing this to the flowers, but what did I know anymore?

The fight left her as she went limp in my hold. “You’re right, this was all part of my master plan. I can’t fool you, Knox. I never could. You’re just too smart and powerful for me.”

My eyes narrowed at her sarcasm. “So you admit it then.”

“Yep. It was all me. Lock me up, kill me, do whatever, but I’m done with you.”

A sneer curved my lip as I pushed her toward Dromon and Pierce. “Take her to her room. I can’t look at her anymore. And make sure she doesn’t have any access to anything that can make a potion.”

Briar didn’t say a word as she strode away with her chin held high. I couldn’t read the look Dromon gave me, but it certainly wasn’t happy.

I turned my back on them to focus on the dying rose. “Bertie!” I shouted.

The queen of the sprites flew over to hover at my side. Her orange butterfly wings created a small thump in the air.

“She didn’t do this, Knox,” Bertie said.

“You can’t know that.”

Bertie didn’t speak for a while before she whispered, “But you can.”

Every instinct I had told me Bertie was right, but I was too pissed about Briar teaching Zephyr the potion to care about my instincts. She’s planning to run.

I was absolutely convinced of that, even more so than I was that she didn’t do this.

“What happened to the roses?” I demanded.