Thorn Queen. Richelle Mead

it in a flash, needing no weapons save his own brute strength. His hands closed around the creature’s arms, and he managed to pull them loose enough for me to slip out of its grip. Once free, I was able to get a good look. It was a…

      Huh.

      I wasn’t really sure. It was furry, brown, and tall, with rounded ears like a mouse or bear and hooves like a deer and a whole other assortment of random animal parts. It gave a strangled roar of displeasure, and I braced for it to turn back on me. Usually, that was how it worked. Creatures who came after me usually had one of two goals: either rape me on the spot or kill me to prevent me from fulfilling the prophecy.

      But Smokey the Bear, or whatever it was, was going after Kiyo, ignoring me while the kobolds watched gleefully. Kiyo socked the creature hard in the chest, and I noticed a faint ripple of light spread through it that faded quickly. Smokey then returned with a punch that took Kiyo hard in the face and sent him toward the wall. It was hard, too—that punch had been meant to kill. Kiyo’s reflexes were too fast, though, and he caught himself before his skull could smash against the solid concrete.

      I leapt into the fight then, pulling out my Glock. I’d loaded it with silver bullets earlier and was glad I’d done so. I got off a couple of shots into the monster. Each time, I saw its form ripple, but it still didn’t come after me. It was too intent on killing Kiyo. The two grappled further, and I continued firing, knowing I had to be weakening it. Nonetheless, one lucky blow knocked Kiyo off his feet and onto his back. The kobolds cheered when he remained still.

      Me, I screamed in rage, taking my wand in my other hand and facing the furry monstrosity head-on. It attempted no killing blows on me and merely kept trying to get a hold of me as I fired and began the banishing words. Suddenly, Kiyo was on his feet again, thrusting himself between us.

      “Stay the hell away from her!” he snarled. I saw all the muscles in his body tense and had a feeling he was on the verge of shape-shifting.

      Smokey looked angry and turned into full assault mode again. “Get out of the way,” I said. “I’ve got him.”

      “I’m not letting him lay a hand on you,” retorted Kiyo, eyes fixed on his foe. A flash of gold glimmered in Kiyo’s eyes. Gold like a fox’s.

      “He’s not trying to kill or rape me,” I argued, as Kiyo dodged another crushing blow. “He wants to subdue me—you he wants to kill.”

      But Kiyo was dead set on protecting me, and I finally decided he’d be safest if I hurried up and just finished the banishing rather than attempt to protect him. Firmly channeling my power into the wand, I again began opening a gate to the Otherworld. As I did, though, I kept thinking about those ripples I saw when I’d attacked the beast, like it couldn’t quite stay together. An idea struck me, and rather than direct the banishing magic into ripping open the fabric of this world, I directed it toward Smokey—or, rather, toward the Otherworldly magic holding Smokey together. Kiyo sprang away from the fight, realizing what I was going to do.

      Sure enough. A spiderweb of light suddenly covered the monster, fragmenting his form. With the wand, I destroyed the magical bonds, and suddenly—he exploded.

      But not like Aeson had exploded. It was more like he fell apart. Gone was the large, hulking, furry form. Instead, scuttling on the ground was a swarm of woodland creatures: mice, rabbits, a deer, and a couple of ducks. The mice and rabbits immediately scurried into whatever nooks and crannies they could find. The ducks looked confused. The deer ran up the stairs.

      With the banishing magic already started, it was easy to complete the actual opening to the Otherworld and send the kobolds through. Just before they vanished, Kiyo leaned toward them—keeping out of the magic’s way—and fixed them with a dark, angry expression. The blood on his face from the fight only added to his fearsome appearance.

      “Tell whoever sent you here to leave her the hell alone, or I will come after him myself and rip him apart limb by limb. And I’ll do the same to you guys while I’m at it. None of you are ever going to lay a hand on her again,” he growled.

      The kobolds’ faces reflected true fear as they disappeared from this world. Silence fell, aside from the quiet and confused quacking of the ducks who still didn’t know what to do with themselves.

      “Well,” I gasped. “That was one of the more convoluted schemes I’ve seen yet.” Would-be rapists often did attempt to distract me with a seemingly ordinary banishing and then would swoop in unexpectedly. This person had sent the kobolds to lure me out and then that woodland conglomeration to actually subdue me and bring me back as a war prize. Kiyo, as an obstacle to that plan, had had to be eliminated first. I took in his ripped shirt and blood. “Are you okay?”

      “Fine, fine,” he said, wiping his face. “It’s superficial. What the hell was that?”

      “Some monster that a gentry put together with magic. Bound all those animals into one stronger form and ordered it after me.”

      “Will it come back together?”

      “No. I broke the bonds, and they’re all spreading apart anyway.”

      “Um, Eugenie?” Wil’s voice suddenly rang down the stairs. “Is everything okay down there? A deer just ran through the living room….”

      Kiyo and I both decided later that it was a good thing Smokey had disbanded like he had. Otherwise, if they’d seen his full form, Trisha and Wil would have had enough Bigfoot material for their forums to last until the next century. Goodness only knew what kind of threads and rumors this event alone would start.

      Trisha paid me in cash once we frisked the deer out of the house, and I told her she was on her own for the other animals in the basement. As we were leaving, Wil briefly caught me alone, his goofy, paranoid expression replaced by a much grimmer one. “Have you found Jasmine yet?” he asked in a very soft voice.

      I bit my lip. No matter how absurd I thought Wil was, whenever I saw how much Jasmine’s disappearance grieved him, it broke my heart. I’d never told him the truth of her heritage. The only information I’d given him was that she was on the run and hadn’t been kidnapped. I thought he’d take comfort in knowing she wasn’t being held against her will, but it hurt him to think she didn’t want to be with him. He truly loved his sister, no matter how much she despised the human world. It was really quite sad.

      “No, I’m sorry. I really am.”

      His face fell further, and he gave a weak nod. “Yeah. I figured. I know you’ll keep looking, though. And you’ll let me know if you find her?”

      I tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Sure.”

      The truth was, I didn’t know if I would tell him. It all depended on what state I found her in. If I found her pregnant and bent on conquering the worlds…well, I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d do then, but one thing I felt certain of was that there was no way I was ever going to let her return to this world.

      Chapter Six

      Kiyo always healed quickly, and when we got home that night, he was in fine condition to see who could put on the highest-quality performance in bed. Consequently, he woke in a very cheerful mood the next day, though he still couldn’t help a little grumbling about following along yet again. I knew it was all gruffness, though. He liked knowing I was safe, and that warmed something up inside of me.

      “You tricked me,” he remarked once we’d crossed over to the Otherworld that morning. I was hoping these bandits would be as easy to dispatch as the kobolds, unnatural hybrids of small animals aside. “After that thing you did in bed…” He sighed happily at the memory of a particularly skillful feat my mouth had performed last night. “Well, you know I’d agree to do anything now.”

      “Come on,” I said, still feeling a bit proud. “It has nothing to do with that. Don’t you want to see justice served to those who dare torment my subjects?”

      “Careful there. People might think you’re acting like a real queen.”

      I