Page 20 of When Ashes Fall

If I made it to Terra, he’d take me in. I saw that promise in his black eyes when they met mine, and his mouth curved into a slight smile.

Knox stepped closer to the elf, crowding him with his much larger frame. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

Knox had a good nine inches and a hundred pounds on Devnair, but the elf didn’t back away. “She’s a friend.”

“You don’t even know her.”

“In some ways, I know her better than you.”

The look on Knox’s face made my blood run cold. Seeking to soothe him, I rested my hand on Knox’s chest, even though it might make him explode. When he seized my fingers, I thought he would throw my hand away, but his fingers remained enclosed around mine.

“It’s time for you to leave, elf,” Knox growled. “The shifters will escort you and the others out of Wildwood. If I discover you here again, I’ll make sure you wear your entrails as a necklace.”

“How delightful,” Devnair murmured. “You evoke such imagery with your words, Knox.”

“Get out of here.”

This time, Devnair sensed the danger as he bowed his head, edged backward, and untied his horse’s reins from the hitching post. While the casters hurried to their mounts, my mother and Rosalie stopped to stare at us.

I hated them for what they’d done to Knox far more than they could ever hate me, and I refused to break their gaze. It wasn’t until the other casters joined them that they finally looked away.

Alwin steered his horse over to Knox and stopped a few feet away. “We’ll see you at the tribunal meeting next month in Terra.”

Had it been ten years since the last one already?

The tribunal would gather sooner if necessary, like today, but its big meetings were a spectacle and occurred only once a decade. That’s about as often as they liked seeing each other.

The location of the meetings moved. The last one was in Bloodborne; I was happy when my mother went to it, as it gave me more freedom and time to spend with Seth in No Man’s Land. Our happiness ended shortly afterward.

“I’m aware, and I’ll be there,” Knox bit out through his teeth.

When Alwin nodded and turned his horse away, a gray wolf, far larger than any normal wolf, fell in behind him. As the rest of the tribunal rode away, a black panther and leopard also fell in beside them as Dromon, Pierce, and Lyra ensured the tribunal left Wildwood.

I had no doubt the shadow dragon would also make sure they left, but it wouldn’t let them see it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Knox

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

That meeting had gone almost exactly as I’d assumed it would. I’d known Marina wouldn’t break the curse without regaining the night casters’ collective powers.

Since I knew none of the other kingdoms would trust her or the night casters with so much power again, I’d been aware that my chances of getting the curse broken today were slim to none.

And as I’d suspected, the cyclops, merfolk, gorgons, day casters, and strigoi had all voted against returning their collective powers to them. The elves abstained, and I couldn’t vote.

Marina looked ready to kill Cozameal with her bare hands when he voted against her. He’d smirked as Marina’s face turned red and her nails drummed the table. No love was lost between those two.

Though I’d expected things to go this way, I couldn’t control the riot of emotions pinging through me like lightning trapped in a bottle.

I planned to scrub my flesh raw after being in the room with those fucks. From experience, I knew I could never wash away the memories of those assholes on me, touching me, breathing on me.

Marina especially haunted my memories. Her voice, her words, and her repulsive touch haunted my nightmares. The way she would sit and watch as others abused me, her legs crossed and her foot swinging as if she were bored. One day, I’d cut off each of her toes and feed them to her.

I shuddered at the memories as bloodlust thrummed through me. I had to get away from Briar. I couldn’t stand to be around anyone anymore… especially not a caster.

But I also wanted to crush Briar against me and never let her go. That’s the last thing I should crave after being in a room with those soul-destroying pricks again, but seeing her with that elf, and the smugness in Devnair’s eyes, rattled me more than I cared to admit.