Page 83 of Samhain
I saw him up ahead, galloping in the distance, seated proudly on his horse. If I didn’t stop him, he’d get through the boundary with us.
I dropped to my knees and dug my fingertips in the cool dirt, shoving my life force into the earth as hard as I could. A scream tore out of my body like I could drive more of myself into the forest with the exclamation. Hot, sticky liquid dripped down my chin, copper coating my tongue, and I didn’t know if it was blood or tears or both, but it didn’t matter.
It ripped out of me, everything I had left, like an electrical current or my very own soul.
Together, the woods and I grew a barrier of thistles, thick thorny blood-red patches all the way around Faerie, protecting the barrier in every direction, protecting the human realm from this intruder, this villain.
“Miri!” shouted someone from behind me. It sounded vaguely familiar, but nothing could stop me. I had to do this. I had to make it as difficult as possible for him to follow us.
“Miri, come on!” said another voice, another person I knew.
“Miriam,” a deeper tone called from in front of me, from the king. “Little Thistle. It’s lovely to see you again.”
That name…Little Thistle…It startled me. I jerked my head up and connected with his chaotic, hypnotizing gaze. Recognition blasted through me, punching me right in the gut.
I know him…from the crash.
The thought passed through my mind as a heavy hand landed on my shoulder and yanked me backward, out of Faerie and away from the king.
“Fucking hell, Princess!” Lex’s wide, panicked eyes came into view, his hair tussled around his head like a halo. “You’re bleeding.”
“Is she all right?”
They talked around me, but I could only focus on an obnoxious chattering sound. What was that noise? It needed to stop; it was driving me mad. As I moved my mouth to say so, I realized the chattering was my teeth and the annoying sound was coming from me.
Lex wiped at my chin with the sleeve of his shirt, and it came away bloody.
“Shit,” I said. “Am I bleeding?” I clawed at my face. My nose. And my eyes. And my ears.
“What did you do?” Ivy said.
“I stopped him,” I muttered, though that didn’t answer her question.
“No, Miri,” she said, glancing up at something above me. “What…the fuck….did you do?”
I followed her gaze to a ten-foot tall thistle bush with flowers a deep ruby color that matched the liquid on my face. It sprawled for three meters in either direction before disappearing into the ether. Into Faerie. But it was the density of the thorns that made me pause. I’d wanted the king to stay out, and it would be a massive pain to get through them.
Had I trapped them in?
Had I trapped us out?
Could anyone get through it anymore?
“Let him come after us now,” I muttered with a silly grin.
As the rest of my energy faded and the world went dark, I had only one thought.
Thistles…the flower of House Stuart.
25
Carter
The last time I’d stumbled out of these woods, I’d been beat up, exhausted, and bruised from the night before. This time was no exception. We were covered in dirt from the race out of Faerie, and I reeked like sex and wine and sweat.
Poppy hung around my neck like a baby koala, her tiny body so fragile in my arms, I’d thought I’d break her in half with every step I took. Lex carried Miri, who had gone unconscious after building that wall of thistles. The rest of us didn’t speak. We walked through town, covered in filth and shock, avoiding the strange looks from the townspeople. When we got to the B&B, Lex waited around back with Miri while Ivy and I went inside to see if Bill had given away our room.
He took one look at us and dropped his newspaper to the ground.
