Page 163 of Taste of Thorns

“Demons,” I say, my voice shaking in my throat, the tears now running down my cheeks. “They were here. They were here and they took Fox.”

“Sweetheart,” Beaufort says, “we don’t even know if Tudor was here too.”

For the briefest of moments that gives me hope. Maybe Beaufort is right? Surely, Fox must have known the trial hadchanged. Perhaps he’s out in the Highlands right now, lost or trapped or helping some other student.

Then something catches my eyes, something winking in the pale light, buried in the sand. I step forward, crouch down, and digging my hand in the sand, pinch it between my fingers and pull it free.

It’s a ring.

Made from a plain metal. A pattern engraved across its surface.

It’s his ring. Fox’s.

“He was here,” I say, my voice sounding far far away. “This was his ring. The demons took him.”

“Took him,” Dray says, sniffing at the air, “or Fox Tudor has had us fooled all along.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Tudor told us the trial would be at the lake. Maybe it was deliberate, to trick us. Maybe he has been working with Bardin all along.”

“No,” I say. “No!”

“Bardin was the one who turned him. They were an item,” Beaufort says. “Maybe they still are.”

I scowl at the words not wanting to compute their implication.

“Little Kitten,” Dray says, “I’m not so sure the Prof was taken. I think he went willingly.”

***End of Book Three***