“What do you want with us?” Talula asked.
“What I wanted all along. A Grove of my own where I can be king.” His cheerful, empty smile sat wrong on his face like a mimicry of genuine emotions. “Unfortunately, you need a Green Man to create a new Grove, and as you can see, I’m no longer green,” he smirked. “Luckily, this one is now old enough to help me out.“
“Shit,” Kat swore softly. They had walked Rance into a trap.
“You’re a monster!” Octavia screamed.
“I’m what you made me.”
A loud crack echoed in the room as the vines holding Octavia crumbled. She fell to the ground, motionless.
Kat covered his mouth to hold back a scream.
Rance threw up on the floor.
“You’ll have to toughen up to be a Green Man. Only the strong can channel all that magic, or maybe not. I could just take you over.” He scratched his cheek. The sound of wood scraping echoed in the cavernous room. “Yes, that’s a much better plan,” he announced in the same cheerful tone.
“You can’t have my son,” Talula growled.
“Don’t worry, Dear, I don’t just want him. I’ll eventually want you all. I can’t have a Grove with no other dryads.” He leered at her, leaving no question about what he wanted them for.
“There’s no room in the Grove for someone like you,” she sneered, her eyes cold. “We won’t bow to a self-proclaimed king.”
“You’ll change your mind once your son’s life is on the line. You will submit to me, or I will destroy him. I’ve been a lone tree for a long time. I can be one again.”
Maybe that explained his madness, or perhaps he’d always been that way. Kat didn’t care. It was time to distract him until Xavier could intercede. He might not be much of a fighter, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t.
“I’ll never help you,” brave and stupid Rance proclaimed.
“Shush,” Kat hissed. Stupidly brave teenagers needed to stay quiet. Blight would hesitate to harm Rance, but he wouldn’t be as careful with everyone else.
“You will, or I’ll kill her.” Blight's vines grew thicker around them, and the corrupted magic hung heavier. In response to his anger, free tendrils of the vines whipped around. Kat watched as one of them scratched Xavier’s face, just enough for one drop of blood to slide down his cheek and onto the vine holding him hostage.
Kat bit his lip to hold back a shout of encouragement.
Distraction time.
Snow magic was more flexible than people thought. Because snow was crystallized water, and ice could shatter things. While Blight monologued, Kat focused on freezing the vines wrapped around Xavier. His mate must’ve felt the vines becoming colder because he nodded at Kat when the vines iced over.
“Now!” Jared shouted before transforming into a Chimera and spitting fire at Blight from his lion mouth.
The vines caught fire.
Blight screamed.
Xavier took the chance to shatter the vines surrounding him. He landed hard. Kat winced at the snapping sound that said nothing good about Xavier’s landing. Xavier slid his fingers across his cut cheek and pulled a knife out of nowhere. Without hesitation, he sliced open the palm of his left hand. While Jared distracted Blight, Xavier dripped blood on the floor. Seconds later, a loud crackling emitted from the remaining vines, shattering and freeing their prisoners. The cell bars exploded into dust.
With Blight’s attention still on putting out Jared’s fireballs, Talula grabbed her son and pulled Rance down the hall after her.
“No!” Blight grew fresh vines. Swiping Jared across the head, he sent him slamming into the wall.
Everything cascaded after that. Kat watched as the other dryads were quickly knocked unconscious. Kat whipped up a snowstorm, freezing the new branches as fast as they were formed, while Xavier kneeled on the ground, painting something with his blood. He couldn’t see what from where he stood between the angle and the growing blizzard.
“You think you can stop me!” Blight screamed. “I’ve been around since before you were even born!”
Kat tried to keep Blight distracted. Xavier would finish any second now. He was proud of how Xavier was doing until a vine cracked like a whip and stabbed through Kat’s chest.
CHAPTER14
