“It wouldn’t have worked.” I shook my head, still reeling from the shock of his betrayal. “You’re a murderer.”
“No, I will be hailed as a savior, for I have rid the kingdom of you.”
“What?” I said in shock.
“When the envoy from Florin learned the prince’s new wife was a daughter of Eville and heard the rumors of how much the prince and king hated the arrangement, he approached the king with a proposition. He wanted you, and King Gerald wanted peace and the witch’s spawn gone. Earlsgaarde laid out a trap to get you away from the palace and closer to Florin.”
“You became the beast and created a trail for us to follow.”
“The kingdom has been plagued with tales of a harmless beast that roamed the woods for years. I just turned that fairy tale into reality.”
“You killed Thomas. And that’s why Herez screamed when she saw your cloak. You tried to kill her.”
His eyes glittered with joy. “No, I did kill her. You didn’t think Herez really ran home to her parents in the middle of the night. I couldn’t let her live, in case she told others. I killed her and the others, all laying the trail to get you far away from the palace, past the wards and into Earlsgaarde’s hands.”
“The failed kidnapping.” I nodded in realization. “And you were the one who shot me!”
Gaven nodded. “Xander is stupid. He doesn’t see you for how evil you truly are and tried to protect you.”
“No, you’re the evil one. You are murdering in cold blood.”
I was secretly relieved to discover it hadn’t been me. I wasn’t the beast. But Gaven’s story still didn’t explain who killed the kidnappers in the forest.
The whole time we were talking, I had walked, drawing him farther away from Pru, who had used my distraction to run away, hopefully for help. Now it was just the two of us.
When Gaven noticed his prisoner had escaped, he gnashed his teeth. “No worries. I’ll hunt her down soon enough. After I kill you.” He lifted the black fur over his head.
The air hummed with the current of magic as he changed and I gathered power to me, preparing to cut him down. I watched as the fur bonded to his skin, shifting and stretching. Two large horns grew from his head, and his mouth elongated, sharp, pointed teeth filling his muzzle. A brackenbeast—the legendary creature of Sion with the head of a lion, horns of a bull, and the strength of a bear.
Even though he loomed before me, a terrifying beast that had killed and hunted down people in cold blood, all I could think about was the man who had made me smile in the stables, danced with me in the ballroom, and had even tried to kiss me. These were basic human emotions my mother warned would make me weak, and I struggled with them.
My hesitation was a fateful error, as he lunged straight at me. Slipping on the wet leaves, falling backward, I released a bolt of lightning that missed Gaven. I slid down a small gully, my head smacking against a rock before I collided with a rotting log that rolled over my body, pinning my leg underneath. Pain filled my mind, and while I tried to push it away and escape, I was hopelessly trapped.
As the brackenbeast drew close, his hot, rank breath warm against my neck, I looked up as its mouth opened in a snarl and saw its deadly teeth. I was paralyzed with fear, unable to think or conjure a spell in the midst of this great horror.
Of all the deaths I had seen in my lifetime, I had never seen mine—until now.
I closed my eyes and prayed over my soul, wondering briefly who would see my death vision.
A blur of fur brushed past my face, and then the brackenbeast was gone, knocked away from me by the sudden attack of a second beast—a great copper wolf the size of a horse.
The wolf placed himself in front of me, his hackles raised against the much larger brackenbeast.
The fight between two beasts of fey lore was both terrifying and awe inspiring. The brackenbeast was larger and more massive, but the wolf was quicker and more agile.
The wolf growled in challenge, his back tense as he paced, most likely looking for a weak spot to attack. The brackenbeast wasn’t intimidated; lowering his head, he led with his horns and charged. I heard the