Foxglove’s lips curled in a satisfied smirk. Any of the uncertainty that had curved Snapdragon’s posture inward was gone. He stood straight, shoulders back and confident.

“Like what you see?” He said, with a slight toss of his head and a teasing purr. Rose felt her face flush.

“How dare you wield that sword!” Bell shouted.

Rose’s eyes slipped to Foxglove’s left hand. Snapdragon’s sword was clutched in his grip. Thin vines twisted around the hilt, down the shaft of the blade, blighting the once vibrant metal. The jewel in it’s hilt glowed insidiously. Rose shook herself, expression snapped into righteous anger. No matter how good he looked, that sword only belonged to a Knight of The Garden. Foxglove had use it to attack innocent people. She was not about to let that slide.

“I can’t believe you became joined the Night Blossom! I will do everything in my power to stop you, to fix things!” She declared.

Foxglove only laughed. The sound of it was hollow, cruel. It rang over the market, into her ears.

“You’re going to ‘fix me’? Make me in the image that The Garden wants?” Foxglove said with a curled lip. He swept his clawed hand out to gesture at them, “to turn me back into one of your perfect Knights? Beat me back into line?” Rose faltered. She glanced at the other girls. Hydrangea shook with indignant rage. Bell’s lips were thin, jaw tight. Camellia ducked behind Rose as if to hide from his words.

“How dare you talk to the Princess that way!” Hydrangea shouted at him. “After everything she did for you–”

“Oh, she did a lot,” Foxglove agreed with a jerking nod. “But her kingdom, her Garden? It is nothing but a poisoned, selfish, plot!”

“Don’t turn this back on The Garden,” Cotton squeaked. “It is not our fault you were stupid enough to be taken by the Night Blossom!”

One of the vines whipped out. In a flash, Cotton was hurled away. “Cotton!” Rose yelped.

Foxglove brushed his hair back, claws gliding through thick locks. His brows were furrowed. He shook his head, hand lowered back to his side. “That fur ball has been annoying since day one,” he sighed. “The Night Blossom is merely my tool, a means to an end. I am my own and I need–”

“What you need is to get your butt kicked!” Hydrangea stated. Her lance snapped forward, blue-white metal gleaming in the twilight.

“Wait,” Rose started, but Hydrangea had already moved.

Bright lightning crackled down her arms. She sprinted forward. Her lance arced through the air. A ringing clash of metal echoed over the market. Hydrangea planted her feet and forced her way forward. The sword blade shrieked as it slid the length of Hydrangea’s lance. One inch closer and he would be near enough for her lightning to lash out. But Snapdragon, no, Foxglove, would be familiar with that move. It was one of Hydrangea’s favorites. 

Just before she could make contact, he lashed out with his claws. With a cry, Hydrangea was forced to leap away.

“Did you forget that we trained together?” Foxglove asked with a taunting click of his tongue. He danced away, out of reach. “The Garden wants perfect dolls, little toy-soldiers to do its bidding.”

“We aren’t dolls!” Bell snapped. Her whip was bound tight in her hand, but Rose knew from experience exactly how quickly it could be unleashed.

“Could have fooled me,” he drawled. He lifted his clawed hand and gestured for the Knight’s next attack.

The battle started with a storm of blows. Knights, vines and Foxglove all launched into attack. Snapdragon had always been one of Rose’s strongest Knights, but Foxglove was something else entirely. His finely honed muscles flexed and rolled as he danced circles around them. His Knight training had been turned into a sensual dance against them. All the while, that arrogant smile never left his sharp features.

It all drove Rose crazy, made her blood boil. It was one thing to be a villain, it was something else entirely to be rude about it. As yet another of Camellia’s arrows was knocked away by Foxglove’s clawed hand, Rose stepped in for an attack. She hurled her shield with all her strength.

“You’ll need better aim than that, Princess,” Foxglove taunted as her shield whizzed by his head. Rose was right behind the shield, running full sprint at him. His sword snapped up to block her. He really should have been focused on the shield.

“I wasn’t aiming for you,” Rose retorted.

For a split second, the smile slipped and Foxglove’s eyes widened. With a deafening crash, the shield collided with a street lamp. The post wobbled dangerously, toppled and careened right for Foxglove. He barely had the chance to dodge.

Rose jumped the last few feet and tackled Foxglove to the ground.

The pair of them crashed to the street. They rolled, both fighting to come out on top until, finally, Rose had Foxglove pinned beneath her. His sword lay caught between them, cool metal pressed between Rose’s breasts. His body was a solid, hot press between her thighs. His exposed chest shone with exertion She found her eyes following a bead of sweat as it rolled down the column of his throat. The urge to touch his skin was overwhelming. Rose managed to stop her hand just a breath away from his chest.

Sudden movement flashed in the corner of her eye. She shoved herself away from Foxglove as a thick vine shot at her. Rose lunged for her shield. The vine caught her around the leg. She was yanked away from her shield, pulled over the street. Thorns bit through her boots into the soft flesh of inner thigh. Flipped onto her back, she fought against another vine that snaked around her middle. It squeezed her tight. She choked back a gasp.

Foxglove was back on his feet. A strange look passed over his face. She couldn’t even begin to guess at its meaning. Rose’s fingers brushed the edge of her shield. With a desperate grab, she snatched it up. snagged her shield. She sliced the vines away from her. Thick plant-goo clung to her uniform. She ignored the way it slid down her body as she sprang to her feet. Foxglove visibly shook himself and launched back into their fight. The vines shifted violently, determined to build a wall between them and the rest of the Knights.

The two of them fell into a fierce duel. The air was filled with the sounds of their panting breaths, the sharp ring of Foxglove’s sword against her shield. “I have never belonged to The Garden,” Foxglove told her between blows.

“Then the Night–”

“I am going to set things right, I want you to set things right with me.”

“By attacking a market full of innocent people?”

“A necessary distraction, anything to finally be worthy enough for the attention of my fellow knights,” he sneered.

Foxglove’s claws raked across her belly. She just barely felt the tips graze her skin. It made her head spin with an excitement she didn’t want to examine at the moment. She heard, more than felt, her uniform shred away with the blow.

“This isn’t the way to do it!” Rose barked. She kicked her leg high, catching Foxglove on the chin. He fell back. “I have a phone, you know!”

“Would you have listened if I had called?” H asked, swiping blood away from mouth.

“You could have at least tried!”

Foxglove shook his head. He swung his sword at her.

The edge of Rose’s shield caught Foxglove’s sword. His eyes caught hers. They were wide, not with fear, but excitement. She licked her lips and his eyes followed the movement. Something hot curled in her belly. The middle of a fight was not the time to acknowledge exactly how handsome an enemy was, but Rose couldn’t help it. Foxglove was just so–

“Princess!” Hydrangea shouted from behind the wall of vines.

Back to herself, she pushed him away. He stumbled, falling back. She raised her shield. Sprawled at her feet, his eyes were trained on her. His lips parted around an unheard word. Sunshine-bright energy burned through her into her shield. Her thoughts, her heart roared in her ears. She had a decision to make and she had no idea which one was right. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to banish the image of his body, his face, from her mind

“Go,” Rose whispered, opening her eyes to look down at him.

“Princess?” Foxglove murmured.

“Go, before the others catch up,” she urged. She turned away from him. With a cry, she released the energy in a stunning wave from her shield. The vines around them exploded. Chlorophyll gore painted her and the street around her.

“Where did he go?” Hydrangea demanded as soon as the vines had died enough for her to break through.

Rose glanced over her shoulder. Foxglove was nowhere to be found.

“I–I don’t know,” Rose panted. “He threw one of his vines at me.”

“Bastard,” Hydrangea spit.

“I can’t believe he gave into the Night Blossom,” Bell said, dark green eyes sad.

A deeply-affronted and mussed Cotton reappeared by her feet. His nose twitched angrily, “I, for one, am not surprised. Snapdragon always had terrible things to say about The Garden.” Rose frowned slightly. She opened her mouth to argue but Camellia spoke up.

“What do we do now?” She asked, wide golden eyes locked on Rose.

“We hunt this ‘Foxglove’ down, that’s what we do!” Cotton declared, paws raised in anger. “He’s a massive threat and we cannot possibly let him continue on whatever deranged mission he has.”

“This market is only the beginning,” Bell said with a nod to the chaos around them.

“Then it’s settled. We hunt down and take Foxglove out,” Hydrangea stated. She held out her hand, glancing around at the group expectantly.

Bell set her hand on top of Hydrangea’s. Camellia glanced at Rose before she placed her hand on as well. Rose hesitated, her hands tight around her shield. Before the silence could stretch into something awkward, she moved her hand to join the others’.

“We’ll find Foxglove,” she said.

To Be Continued…