Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"Nowhere that merits your protection," I said tartly, still eyeing the dagger as I swept past him. I held up glowing green fingers. The color was strong, but the power was a bluff, which wasn't something I was going to admit aloud. "These still work, you know."

His pale blue eyes gave me their customary covetous sweep as if I was a prized calf halfway through my fattening era before he turned to follow me. "If that were the case, the king wouldn't have made your safety my priority."

As if you'd do anything but stab me in the back the first chance you got.

Either Alec was an overzealous Brother or hopelessly in love with Ossian—there was no other explanation for the man's fanatic devotion to the fae king. It didn't matter which, for the outcome was the same: envy. Without words, he'd made it clear to me from the beginning that we weren't just rivals for Ossian's attention. We were archnemeses.

So why Ossian had assigned him to be my escort, even though he knew we detested each other, I'd never understand. Maybe because he was one of the only humans in the entire court? I didn't see how that made him more qualified, not when one of my best friends was a literal honey badger. Perhaps it had something to do with the fae-like markings on his skin?

"I'm safe within these walls," I grumbled, loathing even the act of speaking to him. "And don't you have monsters to hunt or a hobgoblin criminal to track down and apprehend?" Or small animals to torture? I didn't say.

"The other Brothers are on it. I'll join them after."

I rolled my eyes. "I know where the great hall is, Alec. Been taking my meals there twice a day for the last week, you know."

Hastening my steps did nothing to get away from him—he was too long in the leg for that—but it did bring me closer to Ossian. The sooner I was with the fae king, the sooner Alec found somewhere else to be. The two of us were never to be disturbed unless the court was threatened.

And speaking of…

I gulped and stood stock still in front of the great hall's double doors. On the other side of them was the court's greatest threat chained to the wall left of the dais.

A bear.

But not just any bear.

A grizzly the size of a mountain with claws longer than steak knives and paws so huge they could crush a man's skull like it was an overripe watermelon. He was foul-tempered and savage, hateful amber eyes glowing like saucer-sized pennies.

The Bear Prince, Ossian called him.

"And yet, twice a day, you still need help through the door," Alec observed, a little too snidely in my opinion. He put his shoulder to the nearest door, shoving it open, and my breath seized in my throat.

No matter how many breakfasts and dinners I had in that great hall, I remained terrified of that bear. I was convinced the chain would break, that the bear would rampage and kill us all. It seemed particularly intent on killing me, always lurching to its feet and roaring whenever I came into his presence. But why? I was a real-life Snow White—ask anyone. All I had were animal friends! So why couldn't I tame this bear?

"Enjoy, milady," Alec said, swatting me across the backside with the flat of his dagger.

The sting elicited a startled yelp, and I stumbled into the great hall. Great only described its size, not its features, though the lefthand wall of tall arching windows was rather impressive. It showcased the wooded waterfall ravine that separated the castle from the rest of Redbud, as well as the wide stone bridge that connected the main courtyard to the road into town.

There was a throne of black wood and gold leaf upon the dais, the top of its backrest fashioned into a stag's bust with an impressive rack of antlers. A fat cushion of green velvet squatted on its seat like a frog on a lily pad. On the right wall was the massive hearth and its blue flames, at least ten paces long and six feet tall, with a grate of leaping stags preventing any stray logs or coals rolling out. It was framed by two pillars and a matching mantle of one continuous slab of pale gray marble veined with gold. Parallel to the fireplace was the overlong trestle table where we took our meals, though it had yet to be set with our breakfast utensils and food.

And there, not chained to the wall as he should be, was the Bear Prince.

Alec wrenched the door shut behind me with a bang, and the grizzly bear roused, flinging up its massive head at the report. Paws scraped under his bulk, and he heaved himself upright. Amber eyes glowed as large black nostrils flared.

Then the bear's mighty jaws snapped open with a roar.

Ossian! Where was Ossian? I cast a frantic look around for the fae king. He was always here first, waiting for me, only his power enough to subdue the beast.

With a strangled scream, I twisted around and yanked on the doorhandle, but either Alec had locked it or currently held it shut. Sadistic laughter floated into the great hall from the keyhole, but whether it was real or imaginary I didn't have time to figure out.

The grizzly had been deliberately unchained, and it was charging right for me.

With a cry, I flung myself to the opposite side of the trestle table just as the bear's paw sliced right through the space I had just occupied. The claws caught on the table's edge, the thick oak wood shattering under the impact.

Rolling to my feet, I seized the nearest chair and hurled it at the bear. If I could distract it, maybe I could make it to the side door left of the fireplace and escape. I had only a fraction of my magic, however quick it was to recharge, and I needed to keep it in reserve in case there was no other option.

The bear only blinked to shield its glowing eyes from the splinters as the chair burst into kindling across its shoulders. With a roar that rattled the windows, the grizzly launched itself onto the table to cut off my route to the side door.

The soft leather of my boots squealed against the floor as I changed course, retreating to the fireplace. Beasts hated fire, and I was as much a hearth witch as I was a green witch. If I had to, I would fling myself into the flames and hope the Hawthorne ember in the censer at my belt could convince them—just this once—not to consume me. At least until Ossian arrived.

But the fae king was nowhere to be found. The castle wasn't small, but it wasn't huge, either, and Ossian was fae . He had incredible reflexes and heightened senses, including hearing, so where was he for goodness' sakes?

Angling himself to block off the side door, the grizzly growled and stalked forward across the long trestle table, claws gouging into the wood.

"Stay back," I shouted, raking my iron cuffs against each other.

It was an instinctual response, and of course no battle magic came. Not with my cursed core, and not with the leather guards obscuring my cuffs.

While the oak tree of my magic shivered at the command, the chain mail net of Grandmother's curse held firm. Though the "hem" of the net around the oak tree's roots no longer existed, the trickle of magic it had released wasn't enough to combat the Bear Prince, not by a long shot.

Terror clawed at me as the bear approached. I'd been deathly afraid at least half a dozen times in my life, but I'd never known true terror like I did with this bear. Oh my Green Mother. Oh my Green M—

Think, Meadow! a harsh little voice spurred me through the mind-numbing panic. Dad. Only prey panics. Hawthornes are never prey. You might be in pain, you might be in danger, but you will not panic. You will think, and then you will fight your way out.

The side door was blocked, and the main double doors were locked. That left the immediate escape route provided by the windows as an option, but they emptied out over the ravine. If the fall didn't kill me, the icy torrent of the waterfall might. Except I'd never make it that far. The bear would surely catch me if I made a run for the windows. Unable to channel the magic needed for the Rabbit Step Spell, the grizzly would have his jaws clamped around the back of my neck before I'd taken more than one step. And I'd lost my iron knife when I'd move in with Ossian. That left—

My foraging bag!

I had all kinds of witchy bits and bobs in there!

Ripping it open and rummaging around, I knocked vials and jars and other baubles aside. Not the Seeking Spell, not Caer powder, certainly not this pillow shaped like a sunny-side up egg—since when did I know how to crochet?—not this homemade notebook bound in paper birch, not masking sand, maybe the toirchim glaze? Then my fist closed around the one thing that would blow this bear right out the windows and to his death in the ravine.

The black tourmaline crystal.

What seemed like a lifetime ago, I'd imbued it with protection magic to keep Emmett and Monkfoot safe from magic hunters. Later I had altered it to protect all of those I held most dear. It would activate a shock wave against anyone it wasn't coded to protect.

Even though I was quaking like an aspen leaf, I shoved the crystal into the air between us and screamed, "Come on!"

The bear's paw came slashing down.

With a sob, I shut my eyes, steeling myself to the knowledge I was probably going to lose my hand, if not my entire arm, and braced myself for the shock wave.

It never came.

Instead, the black tourmaline crystal—and only the crystal—clattered to the ground. My hand stayed securely attached to the rest of me.

The bear had… missed?

I forced open an eye. There weren't even stipes of red against my skin where the grizzly's claws had grazed past.

But it'd still stuck the tourmaline crystal! The bear should be at the bottom of the ravine by now, not pinning me up against the fireplace grate!

One step back and I would be in the blue flames that would (most likely) devour me. One step in any other direction, and it would be the bear who devoured me.

Sweat trickled down my face and into my eyes and off the tip of my nose as the bear leaned forward, his nose snuffling the many necklaces I wore. Whimpering, I turned my face away, flinching as a hot exhale blasted against my chest. Sucking in a shuddering breath, I called on the dregs of my magic, and a green stake like a supersized thorn appeared in each fist. When the bear struck, I would ram these into either side of his neck.

As if sensing my impending attack, the grizzly bear rolled back on his haunches. His paws lifted in a sick parody of a hug, as if encouraging me to embrace him, but I knew he was just preparing to crush me against his chest and break my spine or splatter me into pulp against the floor.

The side door slammed open with a thunderous boom.

The fae king bolted into the great hall, bare feet skidding to a halt at the sight of the unchained grizzly. He was clad in his customary buckskin trousers, fitted tight like a second skin over his muscled thighs, but his torso was bare except for the red fox pelt slung over his shoulders. He'd been out hunting. The lack of clothes, letting the natural elements affect him nearly as much as his prey, was his way of honoring the hunt.

He shook his copper curls out of his jewel-green eyes and flung his arms wide as he sank into crouch, copper magic engulfing his hands like twin suns. At his throat, the gemstones woven into the golden wire necklace shone like captured stars.

"Ossian," I breathed, the control on my magic fizzling out.

"Meadow!" Ossian shouted.

The bear pivoted at the sight of his enemy and roared.