Crown of Briars

by Isabella August

The wards seemed unbroken, no matter how Jenna prodded at them with her Witchsight. She let out a long breath, and stepped inside.

  The moment she set foot beyond that doorway, Jenna felt herself breathe easier. Her wards embraced her like an old friend, offering a reassuring sense of safety.

  As she closed the door behind her, Jenna glanced up at the moonstone-inlaid pentagram she’d hung over her doorframe. It was still solidly connected to the veil of light that surrounded the rest of the apartment, though she knew it was getting time to renew the spell. If she’d been able to make permanent changes to the walls, or maybe to the door, Jenna could have gone a full month before refreshing the wards — but since her landlord wasn’t super thrilled with that idea, she was forced to renew them every week instead.

  Jenna often lamented that she’d been born a Cancer witch. Her old mentor Elaine was a Taurus who could anchor her magic to anything that grew; and if there wasn’t anything green immediately at hand, at least she could always carry around her own pouch of seeds. But Jenna’s Cancer magic, potent as it was, preferred moonlight to anchor its power. Since moonlight was often in short supply, Jenna mostly had to make do with lesser anchors of moonstone and silver. Both were expensive enough that she had to hoard them for only the most important spells.

  Not that I’m overflowing with energy to use these days, Jenna thought wryly. She dropped her bag at the door, trying not to think too hard on the ungraded papers still inside it. The fever felt as though it had sunk all the way down to her bones and settled there. Exhaustion weighed on her limbs, and she knew she needed to get to bed, or else risk a full sick day tomorrow.

  Still… she forced herself to stop at her bathroom. The mirror there — the only one in the matchbox-sized apartment — should have been safe from Gabe’s magic, since it was behind her wards. But Jenna studied her own reflection there for a long, suspicious moment. Eventually, she threw a towel over the glass, knowing that she wouldn’t sleep unless she did it.

  Even so, she dreamed of the past.

  Appendix: The Zodiac

  Aries (Fire)

  + Adventure, Creativity, Exorcism, Strength, Vitality

  - Conflict, Fury

  Greater Anchor: Weapons

  Lesser Anchors: Bloodstone, Holly

  Taurus (Earth)

  + Comfort, Good Fortune, Home, Love, Stability, Wealth

  - Greed, Stubbornness

  Greater Anchor: Plants

  Lesser Anchors: Emerald, Ashwood

  Gemini (Air)

  + Communication, Intellect, Movement, Travel

  - Capriciousness, Impatience

  Greater Anchor: Coins

  Lesser Anchors: Aluminum, Elderwood

  Cancer (Water)

  + Divination, Emotion, Friendship, Life

  - Madness

  Greater Anchor: Moonlight

  Lesser Anchors: Silver, Moonstone

  Leo (Fire)

  + Bravery, Enthusiasm, Fame, Leadership, Light

  - Vanity

  Greater Anchor: Sunlight

  Lesser Anchors: Gold, Amber

  Virgo (Earth)

  + Banishing, Evolution, Grounding, Healing, Meditation, Responsibility

  - Despair, Isolation

  Greater Anchor: Writing

  Lesser Anchors: Platinum, Sapphire

  Libra (Air)

  + Beauty, Diplomacy, Glamor, Harmony, Justice, Relationships

  - Avoidance, Duplicitousness

  Greater Anchor: Feathers

  Lesser Anchors: Copper, Walnut

  Scorpio (Water)

  + Banishing, Blood, Healing, Intuition, Passion, Secrets, Sex

  - Death, Decay

  Greater Anchor: Blood

  Lesser Anchors: Iron, Opal

  Sagittarius (Fire)

  + Aspiration, Exploration, Freedom, Optimism, Wisdom

  - Inconsistency, Overconfidence

  Greater Anchor: Fire

  Lesser Anchors: Brass, Oak

  Capricorn (Earth)

  + Achievement, Ambition, Ancestry, Command, Respect

  - Moodiness, Overcaution

  Greater Anchor: Bone

  Lesser Anchors: Lead, Salt

  Aquarius (Air)

  + Rebellion, Righteousness, Intellectualism, Invention, Spell-Breaking

  - Fanaticism

  Greater Anchor: Cups

  Lesser Anchors: Amethyst, Wormwood

  Pisces (Water)

  + Artisticness, Creativity, Dreams, Illusion, Intuition

  - Cowardice, Escapism

  Greater Anchor: Water

  Lesser Anchors: Pearl, Tin

  Acknowledgments

  I owe many thanks for all the people who helped me create this book, and I’d like to make sure that they’re all given their due.

  My husband bears the brunt of the blame for Crown of Briars, by the simple virtue of his existence. After reading the first few chapters, two separate people told me that Simon reminded them an awful lot of the man I married. At that point, I decided to stop fighting it and just embrace the idea. As such, you may safely assume that almost everything you love about Simon is something I love about my husband — up to and including his saintly, everlasting patience with my own awful French.

  My partner of the pen name, the other half of Isabella August, also read and edited this manuscript more times than I can count. She constantly cheered me on, offered up some helpful dirty words (she’s better at those than I am), and went “reeeeee NO, change that NOW” when necessary. This book is a hundred times better for her support.

  I owe special thanks to Laura Elizabeth for being my personal alpha-reader, cheerleader, and always-effusive shipper. No matter what I write, she always finds a way to get excited about it — but she’s never scared to tell me when she’s getting bored, either. If you’re a writer yourself, you should know just how valuable that is.

  I must thank Julie Golick and Sophie Ricard for nitpicking my French (as mentioned above, it is awful). My husband did what he could for me, but without their invaluable aid, this book would probably read like a bad comedy to native French-speakers.

  I am absolutely required to thank Robyn Stroll for a great many things, but for now, we shall settle for a thank you regarding the silly witchy brainstorming that was required to create this setting’s magic system, and for her not-so-subtle hints about how to write a proper Scorpio.

  I would thank Thesaurus Tea for feeding my tea addiction while I wrote this entire book, but they have already taken far too much of my money as a thank you. Instead, I will simply recommend that my readers go hunt down their website and buy some of their fantastic house blends. Please, allow me to recommend the Wandering White.

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  Also by Isabella August

  Faerie Lords

  Crown of Frost (Taurus)

  Crown of Briars (Scorpio)

  Crown of Glass (Cancer - Forthcoming)