Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Something pulled her from sleep. Not sound or touch, but cold.
It as the biting kind—winter air against bare skin, stone beneath her feet where smooth wood should be, wind that carried the sharp scent of snow.
Briar's eyes opened to darkness punctuated by soft blue light.
Standing stones rose around her, tall as trees, carved with symbols that glowed with steady azure luminescence. The border. She was at the border of the Star Court, the same stones they'd crossed fleeing from Malus, and she had no memory of how she'd gotten here.
Her heart stuttered in her chest. She was barefoot, wearing only the thin sleep shirt Eliam had dressed her in. Overhead she could see white drifting down from the sky.
Snow.
The first snow of winter. It would have been enchanting if Briar wasn’t so confused. What was she doing outside and why was she standing so close to the edge of safety?
She tried to move back, to turn around, to run, to do anything, but her body wouldn't respond. Her feet stayed planted, her weight already shifting forward, preparing for that final step.
No.
Panic flared hot in her chest. The warmth pulsed frantically, trying to push back against whatever held her, but it was weak, exhausted from the day's trials. Her foot lifted, bare toes pointing toward the invisible line between safety and—
Movement in the snow beyond.
A figure stepped into view between the standing stones, and her blood turned to ice that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Malus stood just beyond the border, snowflakes catching in his copper hair, his dark coat pristine despite the weather. He looked exactly as he had at their last confrontation—immaculate, composed, terrible in his beauty. But his eyes held something different now. Hunger. Triumph.
He smiled and extended his hand toward her, palm up, beckoning.
"Come here, dear one," he said, his voice carrying across the distance with unnatural clarity. "You've kept me waiting long enough."
Her foot moved forward another inch. The autumn marks at her throat were burning now, pulling her toward him with inexorable force. She could feel the compulsion wrapping around her like invisible chains, dragging her step by step toward the border.
"No, please," she tried to say, but her mouth wouldn't form the words. Her body belonged to the bargain, and the bargain belonged to him, and he was calling her home.
Another step. Then another. The blue glow of the standing stones washed over her skin, and she was so close now she could see the individual snowflakes falling beyond, could see the way Malus's breath misted in the frozen air.
"That's it," he murmured, his voice like honey and poison. "Just a few more steps. Come to me."
The warmth in her chest was screaming now, raging against the compulsion with everything it had left.
Golden light flickered beneath her skin, trying to manifest, trying to stop her, but the autumn marks squeezed tighter in response.
She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything but walk.
One more step and she'd cross the border.
One more step and the Star Court's protection would mean nothing.
One more step and she'd be his.
Her foot lifted—
A hand clamped around her wrist spinning her away from the border with force that nearly took her off her feet.
She crashed into a solid chest, arms wrapping around her, and she fought. Her hands came up to shove, to claw, anything to get free because Malus was right there, she had to go to him, the marks were burning and pulling and demanding—
Lips crashed against hers.
The kiss was hard, demanding, nothing gentle about it. Strong hands cupped her face, holding her still, and the warmth in her chest exploded outward with violent recognition.
It surged outward, enveloping the person kissing her like it had been drowning and just found air.
Golden light erupted from her skin, flooding through her in waves that made her gasp against his mouth.
The autumn marks recoiled, their hold shattering under the onslaught of warmth that knew—that recognized—that sang with joy at finding—
Finding what?
The compulsion broke.
Briar's knees gave out and she would have fallen if the arms around her hadn't tightened, holding her up. The kiss gentled, became something less desperate, and when it finally ended she was left gasping, her forehead pressed against a chest that wasn't Eliam's.
Arion.
She jerked back, or tried to, but his arms stayed firm around her waist.
"Easy," he said, his voice rough. "You're safe. You're still on Star Court land."
Her mind was spinning, trying to process too many things at once. She'd been walking to Malus. Arion had stopped her. Arion had kissed her.
She looked back toward the border stones, toward where Malus had been standing.
Empty. Just snow falling beyond the barrier, peaceful and quiet.
Had he even been there? Or had she dreamed it all, sleepwalked to the border in some nightmare she couldn't remember?
"We need to get you inside," Arion said quietly, his arm still around her waist. "You're freezing."
He was right. Now that the adrenaline was fading, she could feel how numb her bare feet were, how the thin sleep shirt did nothing against the wind. She nodded, not trusting her voice, and let him guide her away from the stones.
They'd barely made it ten feet when a figure appeared in the garden path ahead of them.
Eliam.
He was fully dressed, his hair slightly disheveled like he'd thrown clothes on in a hurry. His eyes went immediately to Arion's arm around Briar's waist, then to her bare feet, her thin nightgown, the way she was leaning against the Star Prince for support.
His expression went absolutely cold.
"Take your hands off her." The words were quiet, controlled, which made them more dangerous than if he'd shouted.
"Eliam, she was—" Arion started.
"Now."
Arion's arm loosened but didn't fully release her. "She was sleepwalking. Heading toward the border. I found her at the stones."
Eliam crossed the distance between them in three strides. His hand found Briar's arm, pulling her away from Arion and against his chest with possessive force. She felt him trembling with barely controlled rage, of perhaps fear, as his arms wrapped around her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked her, his voice still too controlled.
"No, I—" Her teeth were chattering now, the cold and shock catching up to her. "I don't know what happened. I woke up and I was at the border, and Malus was there, or I thought he was, but then—"
She felt Eliam go completely rigid.
"Malus was here?" His eyes cut to Arion. "On Star Court land?"
"Beyond the border," Arion said. "He must have been calling to her through the marks."
Eliam's hand moved to her throat, fingers finding the autumn marks with careful precision. They were warm to the touch, warmer than they should be, like they'd been actively working.
"He tried to pull you across," Eliam said, and it wasn't a question.
Briar nodded against his chest. "I couldn't stop. I tried to turn around, to go back, but my body wouldn't listen. The marks were—" She stopped, swallowing hard, unable to finish.
"And how exactly did you stop her?" Eliam's attention shifted back to Arion, his voice dropping to something lethal. "From crossing."
Arion met his gaze steadily. "Does it matter? She's safe."
"It matters." Eliam's arms tightened around Briar. "Because the warmth just flared. Violently. Enough to wake me from three floors away. So I'll ask again. What. Did. You. Do?"
The silence stretched between them, heavy with things unsaid.
"I broke the compulsion," Arion said finally. "However I could."
Briar felt the moment Eliam understood. Felt his whole body turn to stone around her, felt the temperature drop as shadows began pooling at their feet.
"You kissed her."
It wasn't a question this time either.
Arion didn't deny it.
The gardens erupted.
Thorns burst from the ground between them, black and vicious, driving straight for Arion's chest. The Star Prince moved, light forming a barrier that shattered the thorns into dust, but more were already growing, spreading across the path in a wave of violent wood.
"Eliam, stop—" Briar tried, but he'd already released her, shadows pouring from him like living things.
Arion raised his hands and light exploded outward, not attacking but creating distance, pushing the shadows back. "I'm not fighting you."
"Then you're going to die standing still." Eliam's voice was barely human. Thorns erupted from his palms, launching toward Arion with lethal speed.
More light, forming shields, deflecting. Arion moved backwards, his expression was hard. "She was going to cross the border. I did what I had to do."
"By putting your mouth on her?" Vines shot forward, wrapping around Arion's ankles, yanking him off balance. He hit the ground hard, light flaring as he severed the vines, rolling to his feet.
"By breaking Malus's hold however I could!" Arion's hands spread, light forming restraints that shot toward Eliam. They wrapped around his wrists, his chest, trying to bind him in place.
Eliam shattered them with a snarl, thorns growing through the bindings, breaking them apart. "There are a hundred ways to break a compulsion that don't involve touching what's mine."
"She's not a possession!" Arion's voice finally rose, anger bleeding through his careful control. Starlight gathered in his palms, forming chains that lashed out, trying to restrain Eliam's arms, his legs, anything to stop the assault without causing real damage.
"Isn't she?" Eliam dissolved into shadow, reforming behind Arion, thorns wrapping around the prince's throat. Not tight enough to choke but present, threatening. "You want her. You've wanted her since the moment you pulled her from that river. Don't pretend this was just about saving her."