Page 152 of Taste of Thorns

She hisses. I close my eyes. I don’t want her face to be the last thing I see. I think of my sister. I think of Fox. I think of Dray and Thorne and Beaufort. I think of Blaze. I want them in front of my eyes instead. I want all those happy fleeting moments skipping around in my head.

Laughing with my sister. Lying in Fox’s arms. Dancing with Dray. Walking through the forest with Thorne. Kissing Beaufort’s mouth.

Flying on Blaze’s back, high up in the sky. Away from all of this.

I wait for the pinch, the sting, the slice through my neck.

I wait for her to end me.

But then the air cracks.

A dragon howls.

Warm fire kisses my cheek.

A pair of strong arms lift me.

I open my eyes.

Beaufort.

“Briony,” he mutters before the world swims away.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Beaufort

I lift our mate up into my arms. Her face is pale, but her body warm, her breath strong. I clasp her fragile body tight to my chest and peer out across the cave. The Madame is on her knees, Thorne’s shadows wrapped around her body, binding her arms tightly to her sides. Dray’s wolf stands guard alongside, snapping its jaws towards her throat. The dragon crouches behind me.

I turn to the Empress at my side.

“There,” I say, sternly. “There is your proof. The Madame has been killing and feeding on talented students from the common Quarters. Has been for years.”

The Empress, a look of disgust on her face, considers the injured girl in my arms and then the Madame before us.

“We would not have believed it, if we had not seen it with our very own eyes.” She shakes her head. “Veronica. You have been a trusted servant all these years and yet … Killing students. Young people entrusted to us by their parents. The future custodians of this realm. We can’t imagine a worse betrayal.”

The Madame doesn’t say a word. I’d always imagined she’d try to justify her actions. Or at least attempt to lie her way out of her predicament, twisting the evidence, claiming we’d got the story all wrong. Instead, she stays still and silent, simply scowling across at us.

“What will you do with her?” I ask.

“She’ll be taken to Onyx to stand trial. Where we’re sure she will be found guilty and sentenced to banishment, and ultimately death.”

“You’re sure?” my usually quiet, bond brother says, obviously not satisfied with that response. “Aren’t vampires immortal? And will they definitely find her guilty, anyway?”

“Even a vampire cannot survive the savage attack of a hoard of demons,” the Empress says. “And the evidence speaks for itself.” She lifts a hand in Briony’s direction.

“You saw her strike out at Briony,” I add. “This wasn’t the first time. She attacked her in the maze trial as well. She was lucky to survive.”

“Exactly. We are certain she will be found guilty.” The Madame’s eyes ignite but still she says nothing. “And she will face the full force of the law.”

The white wolf growls and snaps his jaws some more as if offering to bypass all that nuisance and put an end to the Madame right now.

But justice is what Briony seeks. This is what she wanted. I nod, satisfied.

“And the girl?” I ask.

“Your thrall?”