Ezryn goes still. Stiller than I have ever seen him. For a second, I think the image beyond the window has completely frozen, and I’ve lost all connection to the Enchanted Vale. But then a rumble more beast than fae erupts from him. “Keldarion didwhat?”
“Ezryn.” His name on my lips is the only thing keeping me together. I feel like I’m in the Briar with him, the rain pounding upon my skin. “I want to go home.”
“Rosalina, I—” Ezryn reaches forward, and for a second, I clutch the tip of his leather glove. Then a sputter sounds, and the light bursts into blinding white, before fizzling out altogether.
Mist trails up from the cracked moonstone, and my body suddenly feels weak.
But I look at my hand, wet with rainwater. And I know something deep within that smoldering place inside me.
I will tear apart the veil between our worlds to get back to them.
7
Ezryn
Mybodyisentirelynumb, mind void of thought. I have to push everything down, at least for a moment, or else I will shatter.
The pond is dark and empty where only a moment before, her face had rippled in water and light. At first, I’d thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me again. How many nights have passed where I’ve heard her phantom voice calling to me from the dark?
I thought you would keep me safe.
The tears streaming down her face… The broken sound of her voice. She thinks I abandoned her.
Ididabandon her.
Kel banished me.
I can do it no longer. I can’t keep the feelings at bay. A guttural howl looses from my chest, and the Briars quiver with fleeing animals. My wolf strains to break free from my flesh, but I keep it contained with pure stubbornness.
I want to see Keldarion’s traitorous face with my own eyes.
Dark clouds swirl overhead, making it appear nightfall in the Briar, though I know the sun is somewhere behind the storm. Rain pelts down upon my armor but I can’t feel the cold or the wet.
There is only rage.
Every reckless decision, every deceitful act, every moment of apathy, I have stood behind Keldarion. Made excuses for him. Protected him. Forgiven him.
Farron’s quiet voice plays in my head:“Kel… Where is she?”
“Gone,”Kel had said.“She’d had too much. After she learned the truth of the Enchantress, she said she couldn’t stay here anymore. She wanted to return to the human world and forget the fae. I took her back where she belongs. We must honor her wish and pretend she never came into our lives.”
Another feral yell reverberates from beneath my helm, and I snatch out my sword, swiping uselessly at the briars. My pace quickens, mud squelching beneath my gait.
I can’t think of her huge brown eyes wavering. The way she said my name. The way I left her broken and deserted.
Because I trusted Keldarion.
My cape snaps in the harsh wind, and sharp thorns scrape against my armor. I push out of the thicket and stare up at Castletree. It’s been months since I’ve been home; I couldn’t stand the silence, or the dullness in Farron’s eyes, or watching Dayton self-destruct himself again and again.
Thorns crawl across every inch of the bridge as I storm toward the door, but I barely notice. I’ve been living in the Briar for so long now, they are familiar company.
But the ice cracking beneath my boots… That’s new. Looking up at the condition of the castle, I don’t feel empathy.
I feel disgust.
That selfish bastard.
I throw open the door and stride into what used to be home. It’s so dark and cold, it makes me want to bring the whole cursed place to the ground. It’s nothing less than the master of Castletree deserves.
