The whinny of horses up ahead made Bri’s mare buck. Bri lifted her head to find the source of the disturbance, but the road ahead was clear. The ride back toward Swifthill was a somber one. The wrathful vengeance that had swarmed through her died the moment she saw the witch hunter king’s face. He and those that stayed with him were no longer a threat to anyone. It probably would have been a mercy to kill him; his punishment now would be to live with all that he had done and slowly wither away. His fae healing would keep him going, only extending his misery, until he finally succumbed to whatever disease plagued him. She shuddered, making a note to get a cleansing tonic from Cole.

Another horse whinnied up ahead. Bri exchanged glances with Lina and Carys. “The horses are spooked,” she murmured. “That can’t be good.”

Lina straightened on her mount, her eyes narrowing to survey the shadowed forests. A deep growl rent the air and Bri jolted, her head snapping toward the sound.

The trees swayed as something prowled through the underbrush, appearing on the path before them. Her breath caught in her throat.

What strange sort of monster was this?

At a passing glance, it looked like a lion with a billowing black mane, but it was larger than a horse and had tusks that curled toward its whiskered nose and gnarled horns twisting out from its skull. It looked similar to an Eastern mountain lion, crossed with some sort of beast she didn’t know . . . but what was it doing in the Western Court?

Her horse bucked again and she struggled to regain control. With a final kick she tumbled from her mount into the gravel. A sharp pain shot through her shoulder as it took the brunt of the fall. Lina shouted her name, dismounting her own horse before Carys could stop her.

Lina appeared, crouching next to Bri and grabbing her arm. “Get up,” she commanded.

Before Bri could move, a bellowing growl boomed through the trees and the horses screamed, bolting into the forest. Lina dropped over Bri, shielding Bri with her own body, their heads tucked together as they narrowly avoided being trampled. Lina pulled back and Bri panted, her eyes hooking into Lina’s for only a split second, but that one look made lightning skitter across her skin. It was the Queenly thing to do . . . it was the soldierly thing to do too, but Bri knew that’s not why Lina covered Bri’s body with her own.

Another snarl broke their gaze, and Bri unsheathed her amber dagger at the same moment Lina pushed off Bri and grabbed the axe off her own back.

Shouts rang out through the forest as the guards tried to regain control of their horses. Carys and her mount had disappeared too, leaving only Lina and Bri standing before the giant monster.