Page 82 of Queen of Whispers and Mist

As if sensing her mounting frustration, the wind whipped through the trees, sending a few leaves tumbling to the pockmarked ground. Another gust sent the leaves rolling along the dirt.

Squinting, Reyna eyed the smooth stretch of earth left in its wake, the little divots left by falling drops of water cleared away. She gasped as an idea took shape, and she darted for the nearest pile of leaves and a similarly rough bit of terrain.

“What is it?” Ronan asked, following her.

But she didn’t have an answer for him yet. Selecting one of the leaves, she drew it along the ground, her suspicion confirmed when the patch was returned to the same undisturbed state as the village.

“Ronan,” she said carefully as she stood, her eyes lifting to the trees. “I don’t think we’re looking for a someone.”

“Then what are we looking for?”

The snap and crack of branches overhead had her reaching for her dagger.

“Something.”

CHAPTER26

RONAN

Tracking with Reyna was always an experience. He considered himself fairly skilled, but there was no question her knowledge of the forest far surpassed his own. She may not have grown up here, but her knowledge of the earth and trees was unmatched, and her eyes noted details he couldn’t begin to detect.

When she’d cocked her head to listen to the wind and then dropped into a crouch, he knew better than to interfere. When she picked up a fallen leaf to draw it across the ground, he realized she’d figured something out. And when she tensed and reached for her weapon, he followed suit.

“Ronan, watch out!”

But even her warning wasn’t enough to prepare him for what happened next.

As one, dozens of vines dropped from the branches above them. Some serpentine in their movements, others shooting out like whips. They were thicker than normal vines, their stalks as wide around as his wrist, the leaves jagged on the edges calling to mind the image of little saws. There were also a series of furled buds on them about the size of his head.

“Don’t let them touch you.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he muttered.

Wishing for his axe, Ronan lunged out of the way of a vine making its way toward him and used his power to heat the blade of his dagger so he could better cut through the thick stalk. An inhuman shriek rent the air as the vine fell. It wiggled and rolled across the floor like an animal before finally turning a sickly gray and shriveling up.

As if in retaliation, three more vines shot his way, their slithering movements synchronized as two aimed for his feet and the third his neck.

“Reyna, I think they might be sentient.”

“You think?” she snapped, her hand impossible to track as she lashed out at a vine currently attempting to wind itself around her wrist.

Ronan was about to ask her what a fucking plant would want with a bunch of humans when one of the buds on the closest stalk unfurled, revealing a set of teeth that would have made the nightdrake envious.

“Mother’s heaving tits. Carnivorous plants? Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell is wrong with this realm? Why does everything want to kill you?”

Reyna darted past him, taking care of the vines near his feet while he dealt with the one by his face. “You’re starting to sound like Bast,” she panted.

Maybe Sebastian was onto something.

“Mark my words. I’m never picking a bouquet of flowers again for fear of retribution. I already know my dreams tonight will be filled with images of being eaten alive by a field of damned daisies.”

He caught her grin as she spun and threw her dagger, cutting down a dangling fucker sneaking up behind him. Taking up position at his side, she said, “Flowers are a useless gift. Decaying bits of floral genitalia? No thanks. If you’re ever of a mind to buy me something pretty, Butcher, make it something that lasts. A weapon would do nicely.”

He paused in his attack only long enough to ask, “You want me to give you a weapon in place of a romantic gift?”

“A weaponisa romantic gift.”

His answering laugh was cut off by the sharp sting of teeth piercing his shoulder.

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