He ignored me and turned on Rissa. “It’s been a single day, and already Lark’s precious chosen one has ended up on our doorstep. You failed to mention she was achallenger—one who wound upinjured barely into her first trial, by the looks of it.” When Rissa stayed silent, he scoffed. “And this is who we expect to infiltrate the most notorious Alchemist in history.” He stepped closer to Rissa and lowered his voice, but I still caught his spiteful words. “I’ve told you a thousand times,Ishould be the one doing this. This is a joke, and you know it.”
Anger blazed through me, hot and poisonous. As he spoke with his back to me, my eyes landed on a familiar vial of pale yellow liquid sticking out of the basket on the counter. An idea sparked in my heated, aggravated mind, and I swiftly dabbed a bit of the oil on my tongue, along with mistletoe leaves from my pouch. Whispering a quick incantation, I pushed off from the wall and made my way toward him, ignoring the spike of pain in my side.
“Oh,I’ma joke?” I said through my teeth. “You didn’t seem to feel that way when I took down that Shifter in the forest. Or when I saw you yesterday morning. Tell me,monkey boy,” I mocked his earlier words, stopping inches from his face. His icy stare met my own. “What makes you think you’re so much better than me?”
His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to respond when suddenly, his face froze. He swallowed, licking his lips, then tried again to speak. Nothing but a grunt came out.
“Not so mouthy now, are we?” I asked coldly. Turning to Rissa, I said, “Is he always this way?”
The fox Shifter simply stared at us with her arms crossed over her chest, curiosity and amusement on her features.
Leo moved his arm to grab me, but the motion was jerky and stunted. Itsked. “Did I say you could move?” Fingering the vial of oil, I leaned in closer. “I may be a joke to you, but at least I’m not arrogant enough to let an Alchemist get near enough to cast on me.” I shoved the glass vial into his outstretched, still frozen hand.
“Now, we’re going to start over, and you two are going to tell me who you are and what’s going on. Yes?” I hissed at him.
“Yes, ma’am.” Rissa’s voice came from beside me, that smirk back on her lips. I looked at Leo, whose fierce eyes defiantly heldmine for a second. Two. And then he lowered them, his sharp jaw tightening.
“Finiscere,” I said, taking my thistle and releasing Leo from the spell. He immediately staggered forward, a snarl working itself up his throat.
“Oh, come on, Leo,” Rissa said, laughing. “You have to admit, that was good. What did you use, anyway?” She grabbed the vial from his hand and opened it. Taking a sniff, she said in surprise, “Calamus oil?”
“Among other things,” I said smoothly. Calamus oil mixed with mistletoe had been a potion I’d found in my father’s Grimoire that, when inhaled by your target, placed them under your control for a brief period. Back when I’d first discovered it, my magic had been stronger, able to hold the spell for longer periods. I’d used it for the first time when I was seventeen and caught a boy hitting young Beau. Needless to say, his schoolmates thought twice about tormenting him after that, and I further solidified my reputation as the poisoned, headstrong outcast.
But Beau had been safe—that’s what mattered.
“Clever. Perhaps Lark picked well after all, hmm?” Rissa said pointedly to Leo, who hadn’t taken his gaze off of me. “On that note, I think it’s time for a proper introduction. Leo, this is Rose Wolff—the new Feywood challenger and the person Lark has chosen to trust with our littlequest. Although, I get the feeling you two already know each other.”
“We’ve met,” Leo said curtly.
“Well, then.” Rissa clapped her hands together, seeming to enjoy this far too much. She extended a hand to me, a warm smile on her fair and freckled face. “I’m Clarissa, Rissa for short. And this is Zareleon.”
My blood ran cold. I knew those names.
My heart pounded in my chest, working its way up my throat, a roar filling my ears. Along with five words.
BranockAris sends his love.
“You’re…you’re the twins. The Aris twins,” I said hollowly, barely registering the words coming out of my mouth.
For the first time, Clarissa looked nervous. She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear and nodded. “In the flesh.”
Something venomous snaked its way through my veins, boiling over, drowning me.
I turned slowly to face Zareleon. “Your father is the reason mine is dead.”
And I launched myself at him.
22
Leo
Icaught Rose’s outstretched wrist as she lunged at me with bared teeth. She quickly twisted her arm and yanked out of my hold, reaching for a hexagonal shaped pouch hanging from her green vest. I whipped my tail around to circle her right arm, but she grabbed a hidden dagger with the other and aimed it at the length of fur wrapped between us.
Gripping her left hand just in time, I withdrew my tail and spun her around so her back was to my chest, my arm restraining her. Her ragged breaths filled the cottage, her soft skin hot with anger beneath my touch. My fingers grazed her wrist, applying enough pressure that the dagger fell to the floor with a clatter.
When she let out a sharp cry of pain, I remembered her injuries and instantly released her. “I don’t want to hurt you, but you need to calm down,” I said sharply, more harsh than I intended with my chest heaving.
She folded an arm around her right side, wincing at the contact. “I don’t have time for this,” she said, her voice shaking. From pain or barely-controlled wrath, I wasn’t sure. At the mention of our surname, it was as if she had lost control. “I have to finish the trial and get back to the palace.”
