Chapter 67
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Knox
“You’ve returned,” Bertie said as she fluttered into the room.
When I released the branch, it settled back into place. “What happened to the tree?”
A beautiful smile lit Bertie’s face. “Briar’s potion is really helping to nourish the plants! They’re all thriving under our combined care.”
This should have pleased me; instead, it only irritated me more. Not only had she and the other sprites disobeyed me, but so had Dromon. “I left instructions that she was not to touch any plant other than the bleeding heart.”
“Yes, but once we realized her potion was working miracles, we believed it best for her to help us with the others.”
“I didn’t ask for your thoughts!” I spat. “I asked for her to be kept away from the other plants!”
Bertie’s curious look vanished as an unfamiliar expression of anger settled over her features. “We can’t keep up with everything and need help. The plants and roses are healthier than they’ve ever been.”
“This isn’t your kingdom!” I roared.
Bertie flinched before her shoulders went back and her chin lifted. I’d never yelled at her before; I never would have dared, as she only meant the best and had the biggest heart of anyone I knew, but this was the final straw in a long line of them.
“No, it’s not, but if it was, I wouldn’t be so foolish as to reject the much-needed help of a woman who clearly knows what she’s doing,” she retorted.
“And when she leaves? What will happen to the plants then?”
“If she leaves, then I’ll get the recipe for her potion, and we’ll continue to use it, though I don’t think it will work as well for us. She has a natural touch and her own brand of magic.”
“She’s leaving, Bertie.”
“Is she?”
“Yes,” I growled. “Once I find somewhere for her to go, she’s going.”
As I said the words, the beast rebelled against them, but fuck him too.
“Why?” Bertie asked.
“Because she’s a caster, and they are not welcome here.”
“I’m not sure what she is, Knox, but she’s certainly not a caster… or at least she’s not like any of the ones you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I meant exactly what I said. What else is there to mean by that? She’s not a night or day caster; she’s something different. I suspect she has powers we know nothing about… and neither does she. She’s not bound to the sun or moon; she withstood her Needing and, in doing so, became something more.”
“Do you think she could break the curse?”
“She’s different, but I’m not sure one caster alone could ever be powerful enough for that. However, you’d be foolish to send her away before discovering what she can do because you don’t like that she makes you feel again.”
I recoiled from her, uncertain of how to respond, but before I could, Bertie let out a huff and departed with a rapid flutter of wings.
“Oh, and she’s in the healer’s room.”
Bertie’s words drifted to me from down the hallway. I almost yelled after her that I didn’t give a shit where Briar was, but I couldn’t bring myself to utter the lie. I was excited to see her, but I hated myself for it.
I’d spent the past few days pondering where she was and what she was doing. I’d vowed never to let her back into my life and was failing miserably at keeping her out.
Running a hand across the black stubble on my head, I studied the tree as I pondered Bertie’s words. Is Briar something more?
She had a gift when it came to potions and plants, but many casters were good with potions and plants. They unleashed those fucking vines on us in the harem, after all.
Bertie must have seen or sensed something different about Briar, and once I found her and calmed down, I’d have to locate Bertie to discover what she knew… if she’d talk to me.
Sighing, I made my way around the tree and down the hall toward the healer’s room. I was almost there when I realized ogre blood still covered me.
I should shower and change before finding Briar but decided against it. Not only had everyone in the castle disobeyed my orders about her, but so had she, and I would make my displeasure about that clear.
My mood didn’t improve as I stalked past rosebushes clearly healthier than before. While some still struggled, they weren’t nearly black anymore.
A stone dropped into the pit of my stomach when I realized they’d probably let Briar into the throne room too, which meant she’d seen the roses on my mother and father’s thrones.
No one else would have dared to sit on those thrones, so I knew my parents’ location.
They were the only two rosebushes I knew for certain.
I almost reversed and headed for the throne room, but I was nearly to Briar. I’d check on my mother and father afterward.
When I arrived at the healer’s room, I strode through the open door prepared for a fight. Briar wasn’t there.
The cauldron sitting on a cooling rack emanated steam and a sweet scent. Nearby, glass jars were ready to be filled with potion.
“Where is she?” I muttered.
Leaving the room behind, I stalked back through the castle, scenting the air as I tracked her, but her aroma had permeated the residence. I was almost at the tree when I detected a somewhat stronger trail of her and followed it to the windows overlooking the back of the castle.
Once there, I studied the sloping, shaded hills full of earth moss, but Briar wasn’t there. And then I spotted the open door in the wall. My heart leapt into my throat when I realized she’d fled.
Spinning away from the window, I raced through the corridors, down the stairs, and flung open the back door to the mossy hill. While I ran, the beast burst free; it twisted my body and snapped my bones as it forged me into something more powerful.
My boots shredded, and my claws dug into the spongy earth, tearing it up. As I ran through the door and past the walls, I let the beast unleash completely. The creature who’d started to emerge on the day I reached maturity and escaped the harem now fully appeared.
Before the day I stopped aging, the beast wasn’t strong enough to present itself fully, but on that day, the secrets within me came to light. I rarely let the full beast emerge; that was my secret to keep, but I gave it free rein today as I tore through the forest.
The monster Marina had created thundered through the woods, toppling trees and trampling everything in its way as it followed Briar’s scent. And once I found her, she’d pay for running.