Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Knox
I looked at the closed pantry door as I recalled the way that rodent followed her everywhere. Not to mention her strange behavior in the woods before she uncovered the grave and the way she’d acted in the cemetery earlier.
“You and the rat are very close,” I said.
The abrupt change in conversation caught her off guard, and it took a few seconds for her to reply. “He’s not a rat, and he deserves respect. He’s my friend.”
My eyebrows rose at the vehemence of her words. “He’s your friend?”
“Yes.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot on the ground. “I was there when the basilisk tried to eat him. I gave him food, and he returned to stay with me. He helped me through my loneliness and fear while I was locked in your tower.”
“A tower you refuse to leave.”
“I will not be broken by my mother or you.”
“Believe me, Briar, if I intended to break you, I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t. I survived her, and I’ll survive you. I can get through whatever comes my way.”
I admired her strength and determination, but I could snap her like a toothpick, yet I wouldn’t, and she knew this.
I could do worse to her by caging her completely, but not even I was that heartless… at least not when it came to her.
She represented a large chink in my armor, and I hated it. If she ever betrayed me, I’d tear her wings off and smash them into the ground.
“You don’t want to test me, Briar.”
“Maybe it’s me you don’t want to test, Knox.”
I chuckled as I drummed my fingers on the wooden armchair. “What are you hiding?”
She recoiled a little before she quickly recovered. It was already too late by then. I’d clearly hit a nerve.
“I’m not hiding anything from you!”
The sound of her heart cut through the beat of the rain as I held her gaze. “You’re lying,” I stated.
“So we’re back to that again,” she spat. “It’s funny, you say I’m lying now, but you also accused me of lying before. Is that your favorite thing to do when it comes to me?”
I’d been so convinced she was the reason I’d suffered and my kingdom was cursed that I hadn’t wanted to believe her before and didn’t study her reaction to my words. I did now, and she was scared.
“You’re determined to believe I’m a liar,” she said. “Have you ever stopped to think maybe you’re someone I don’t trust?”
Those words were like a dagger straight to my heart. We could never go back to the way we were, but I hadn’t expected her not to trust me.
Why would she? You’ve never given her a reason to since taking her from the harem.
“So you admit you are hiding something from me,” I stated. “And I’d think hard before replying. Lying will get you nowhere.”
“Neither will telling you the truth,” she retorted. “You didn’t believe the last truth I told you… until now.”
“Briar,” I said in a warning tone.
“Knox,” she shot back in a mocking one.
The beast snarled within me; it didn’t like being taunted in such a way, but I understood… even if I wanted to choke her for it.
“Something changed after your Needing,” I stated.
She didn’t respond as she kept her chin high and stared into the fire.
“You developed…” I trailed off as I pondered what I’d seen from her since her Needing. “Your powers are stronger; that’s evident in your potions.”
“How would you know?” she asked. “You’ve never seen my potions at work before I came to Wildwood.”
I ignored her words while I continued trying to work everything out for myself. “You’re not bound to the sun or moon gods, and while you’ve always taken energy from the earth, it’s clear you’re absorbing more from it now.”
“Again, you knew this.”
“Your eyes glowed when you touched the tree of knowledge after your Needing.”
Her mouth pursed.
“I haven’t seen it happen since,” I told her. “But I didn’t imagine it.”
“I didn’t know that happened.”
“It’s not like you can see your own eyes.”
“What’s your point, Knox?”
“My point is that more changed within you after your Needing than I realized.”
I looked pointedly at the closed pantry door. “The rat—”
“His name is Gizzi, and he’s my friend. Please stop calling him that.”
The alpha part of me and the beast both snarled at her tone and words. “I don’t take commands.”
“I didn’t give you a command; I asked you to please stop disrespecting my friend.”
We glared at each other before Briar stood and stalked over to the window. She peered out, but there was nothing to see beyond the curtain of rain.
“The rodent,” I said pointedly. “Never leaves your side.”
She spun toward me. “Well, look at you using those super honed shifter senses to state the obvious.” She gave a long, slow clap while she continued talking. “Bravo, Knox, bravo.”
I launched from my chair and stalked toward her. She didn’t move or try to run; there was nowhere for her to go, but her eyes darted around the room.
When my hand crashed into the wall beside her head, she jumped a little but didn’t cower. “I am the alpha of this kingdom, and you will treat me with respect.”
Her head tipped back as she scowled at me while I towered over her. Determined to make her back down, I crowded closer.
While I’d anticipated her backing away from me, she didn’t. Her breasts brushed my chest with every breath she took, but she didn’t retreat.