Page 45 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses (Cursed Fae Courts #1)

Aurelia

Rydian stared at me like he’d seen a specter. The furyfire had cooled inside me, but my veins swam with the life force I’d taken from Duron just before he’d?—

Before I’d ended him.

And whatever power I’d unleashed inside me went far beyond anything I’d ever wielded before. Maybe that was why Rydian looked so stricken.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“For what?”

“I didn’t mean to use it… I just?—”

“Furious, you have nothing to apologize for. That was incredible. You are incredible.”

His gaze softened, and of all things, he cupped my cheek. Like I hadn’t just committed the murder of a king. His own father. The way he looked at me now… the mask was gone. This was him. Vulnerable and real and…sad?

Nothing made sense.

Exhaustion tugged at me. I’d used more of my magic than I ever had, and apparently, that came with a price .

“Will you tell anyone?” I whispered. “About the furyfire?” Did he know about the death magic I’d used? The way I’d inhaled Duron’s life force at the end?

“I’ve kept your secrets since long before you even knew them,” he said and I could have sworn the ink on his skin writhed as he spoke.

Before I could ask what he meant, voices rang out somewhere else in the garden. Followed by the clang of swords. Reality crashed in around me. The Withered. My escape. I had to go now or risk being caught.

“We need to go,” Rydian said, echoing my thoughts.

He wiped his sword clean on his pants then slid it back into its sheath. His hand slipped into mine, firm and sure as he tugged me toward the path we’d been on earlier. We’d have to step over Koraz to get there. I didn’t let myself look down at the bloodied tunic or the frozen, unseeing eyes.

When we came to a fork in the path, Rydian pulled me to the left.

“Wrong way,” I said, trying to yank him in the other direction. “My bag?—”

“Vanya gave it to me,” he said. “This way.”

Uncertainty rippled through me. Vanya had betrayed me to Rydian? Considering what we’d just done, there was no time to argue it now.

We ran through a maze of hedges and came out at the edge of the gardens on a narrow walkway that led toward the road. A dark carriage waited, horses snorting, their eyes gleaming as though possessed. The driver wore black armor emblazoned with a silver sigil that caught the moonlight. A crescent moon with a sword through it. Recognition of the symbol chilled me to the core.

The Midnight Court.

Rydian tugged me toward it.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, trying to pull my hand from his grip, but he wouldn’t let go. His gaze was sharp, unrelenting.

“They won’t hurt you,” he said.

Bullshit.

The Midnight Court were notoriously savage with prisoners. They’d torture me to learn my secrets and relish the pain they’d cause while doing it. They’d make me beg for a swift death.

Rydian knew that. And he’d sold me out to them anyway.

Panic surged as he opened the carriage door and pulled me toward it.

“Please, no.” I braced myself against the doorframe, twisting around to look at him. “Why are you doing this?”

His expression softened, a flicker of something that might’ve been regret crossing his features. “I’m keeping you safe.”

My fingers dug into the wood, every instinct screaming at me to fight, but the commotion behind us grew closer. The castle guards were swarming, pushing through the courtyard with horrifying speed even as the Withered tried to fight them back.

“Furious,” Rydian said, his tone low and almost pleading. “I can’t let him have you.”

Him. Callan.

He’d be made king now. And he’d know I killed his father.

I glanced back toward the fray where Callan and the guards fought against the Withered who’d come to my aid tonight. Autumn would win, I could see that now, and guilt tugged at me for the danger I’d caused the magicless fae. My choice pained me: Stay to fight alongside them and risk Callan’s wrath for my crime or give myself over to the Midnight Court.

In the end, I never got to choose.

With a final push, Rydian forced me into the carriage. The door slammed shut, locking me inside with some kind of spell I couldn’t break. The horses lurched forward, their hooves pounding into the night.

The carriage rattled as we sped through the open front gates and away from Grey Oak.

My heart pounded against my ribs, the carriage walls closing in as I processed everything. Rydian hadn’t saved me. He’d kidnapped me and delivered me to the enemy. Worse, he’d handed me over to the only court more cowardly than Callan himself. I would find no friends in Midnight’s court. No allies or aid.

Rydian had made me a prisoner again. And he’d done it using my feelings for him as a distraction. Or as bait.

The hurt of his betrayal tore a hole through my heart. I gritted my teeth against the pain, crafting it into rage and resolve instead. As the carriage rolled on, I vowed to the Fates to make Rydian pay for what he’d done to me. For this, I would become my father’s daughter. A Furiosity with Hel’s fire in my veins. And before it was over, the entire realm would feel my flames.

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