“Come closer,” I growled. “Find out for yourself.” I hadn’t used my magic on another living creature in years—especially not in anger—but if I had to, I would.
I raised my hands defensively and tried to call on my magic… Would it even obey me in this place? My palms itched; but there was nothing more.
“You won’t be able to do any of that here, Darlin,” the guard with the lasso said mockingly.
Frustrated at myself, I curled my hands into claws—at least those could do some damage if they got close enough.
The second guard chuckled as his partner smiled grimly swung the lasso faster.
“Get it over with,” the second guard said. He pulled a baton from his belt and flicked his wrist to extend it.
“You’re making a mistake,” I said. “I’m not supposed to be here—”
“Oh yes, I’m sure it’s all a terrible misunderstandin’,” the first guard said grimly. He whipped the lasso faster and then flung it in my direction.
His aim was wide and I dodged it with ease, and the guard pulled another lasso from his belt. I tried to back away, but the pain in my left leg hindered me enough that I almost fell again, but before I could regain my balance, something struck me in the center of the back and I screamed in pain as every muscle in my body contracted.
I fell to my knees as the lasso wound around my chest, pinning my arms to my sides, and then tightened enough to make me gasp.
“That’s better,” one of the guards said. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it was almost impossible. My body was flooded with pain and my vision was blurring at the edges. The men’s voices sounded impossibly far away.
I blinked up at the black pine trees and they seemed to sway and shimmer above me. I screamed as the lasso tightened and my muscles contracted again. I fell forward, unable to stop myself as my face slammed into the ground.
This time—everything went black.
It was the smell that woke me.
The familiarly sharp tang of Nassia made me recoil as I tried to move as far away from the noxious scent of the herb as possible.
“Ah, awake. Good.”
I blinked hard and tried to lift my hand to rub at my eyes, but I couldn’t move. My face was stiff with dried mud and my hands were bound together with a length of chain that glowed red with magic.
As my eyes adjusted to the strange dark light of the stone chamber I struggled to push myself into a sitting position. I was wet, cold, hungry—and I felt sick to my stomach.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten anything. Worse than that, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been able to keep any food down.
A voice floated out of the darkness toward me.
“You have proven to be a very disruptive prisoner, Maeral Orilana. Or should I call you Evadne, instead?”
“What?” I choked out.
“But that is the name you are known by in the ranks of the Sapphire Fang, is it not?”
The dark voice came from the shadows, and I could not see the speaker’s face. All I knew was that she was female.
Was this the warden? Where was I?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“You have no secrets here,” the woman said. “There is no need to pretend that you have not done the deeds you have been accused of. Once you enter the gates of the Garden, there is no turning back. No begging for forgiveness. There is no redemption within these walls.”
I was so confused. So exhausted. And in so much pain.
I didn’t know anything about the Sapphire Fang—what had my sister been doing? She had told me so little about her life in the Hollow World… and I hadn’t asked for details.
“If I have no secrets from you, then you shouldn’t need to ask me any questions,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just leave me here and let me be.”
The woman laughed. “This is not your cell,” she said. “You will be introduced to my Garden soon enough, and we will see how you thrive among the weeds. Word of your arrival will have already spread through the vines. And if there is any truth to your reputation, you will not find it a hardship to take your place here.”
I swallowed thickly.
Maeral would have been fine.
I was fucked.
My sister had obviously been much more enmeshed in the plot to overthrow the Summer Kingdom that I had ever imagined. As far as Maeral had told me, she had been working in the human cities as a translator. The political dealings the Golden Citadel had with the Hollow World were none of my concern—I’d had my own duties in the Citadel to worry about… I was a healer. Not a warrior.
What would Mae do?
“I don’t belong here,” I said shortly.
The woman stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms over her chest. She was small, smaller than any fae I had ever seen before. The expression on her round face was stern and her dark hair was pulled back in a tight chignon at the back of her head.
“That’s what they all say—at first. But before long, they all come to realize that the Black Garden is the only place that they have ever belonged. You will come to that same clarity. In time.”
The woman snapped her fingers and red sparks flared in the lock of a door I hadn’t noticed. It opened and she turned to walk through it.
“You can’t just leave me like this!” I shouted.
The woman looked at me over her
