Page 99 of When Roses Burn

I didn’t have the answer as I regained enough control to step away from the bookshelf. I reclaimed the book on the demigods and added it to my pile. When Knox said one of their powers was the ability to speak to animals, I’d almost shit myself. There was no way I could be part demigod, was there?

I didn’t know my father, and my mother never talked about him. She’d told me he was a priest, but I’d always doubted it.

How would she encounter a demigod?

There were rumors that some survived the war that created No Man’s Land, but there hadn’t been any confirmed sightings, just whispers. While I didn’t think my father was a demigod, I also couldn’t deny that I could speak with Gizzi now.

Unless I’d completely lost my mind during my Needing or died and this was all some strange, warped reality. Although, if I were imagining all of this, I would have made it so Knox didn’t get offended by me calling him by his birth name. It could be a warped reality, but it wasn’t too warped, considering it was exactly as it was before, minus the talking animal in my head.

Whatever was going on, I couldn’t tell anyone about it until I learned more about the demigods, me, and my new abilities. I didn’t know how Knox would react, and I required time to process everything. Plus, I didn’t owe him anything.

Then why do I feel so bad about not confiding in him?

Because you’re an idiot.

I couldn’t argue with that as I left the room with my armload of books. When I emerged, I wasn’t surprised to discover Knox had already exited the library. Feeling defeated and worse than when I was locked away and going through my Needing, I gathered the other books I’d collected and descended the stairs.

I was walking around the large tree when Bertie fluttered into the room. She floated up and down as she studied me and the stack of books in my arms. Thankfully, the tomes covered the wet spots on my shirt.

“Knox sent me to make sure you get something to eat,” Bertie said.

My stomach rumbled in response to the promise of food, but the idea of eating caused a pit to form in my gut. I had to at least try to consume something; I couldn’t keep going without food.

“I have to take these books up to the tower,” I told her… and change, but I kept that part to myself.

“Meet me in the dining room after,” Bertie said before flying away.

I walked out of the library and trudged up the stairs to my room.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Briar

The next morning, when the sky was barely starting to lighten to gray, the shadow dragon swooped across the land and toward the castle. From my chair before the windows, I set down the book on demigods when the dragon bellowed.

It soared so close to the castle that the wind of its passing rattled the windows. A chill ran down my spine as Gizzi stirred on my pillow and lifted his head.

“What was that?”

“The dragon,” I answered aloud.

Gizzi yawned and lowered his head. A second later, his soft breaths sounded again.

I was about to return to my book when the dragon swept over again, heading back toward the mountains. This time, three riders followed it.

Curious about what was happening, I set my book down and rose. When I reached the windows, my toes touched the glass while I watched Knox, Lyra, and Pierce ride across the dying grass toward the mountains.

Disappointment and longing filled me as I rested my fingertips on the glass. I hadn’t seen him since he left the library yesterday, and I missed him. I had no idea where he was going, what he was doing, or if he’d return.

Over the course of my mostly sleepless night, I’d realized that saying “Seth” yesterday wasn’t just a reminder of who he once was and everything he lost; it was also a reminder of how much he hated my kind and still didn’t trust me. He might have decided he’d had enough and was leaving.

And despite how much my heart ached for him, that was probably the best thing for us.

When I finally made my way downstairs with Gizzi in my pocket, Dromon and Bertie intercepted me near the tree of unity in the great hall. They informed me that Knox, Lyra, and Pierce had left the castle to patrol the kingdom and make sure it remained safe.

Without the shifters to defend Wildwood, many eternals and creatures now saw it as defenseless. Knox would prove them wrong.

That was why the shadow dragon was here. It somehow knew they planned to ride out today… even if I hadn’t. But then, after yesterday, Knox might have made an impromptu decision to ride out today to get away from me.