Page 15

Chapter 15

Dangerous Woman

HANS

I t’s not a bad question.

I don’t want to voice it myself, but it seemed surprisingly easy to slip from The Banisher’s grasp once Briar used her power. What did he see that we didn’t?

Was that display of power enough to scare him off from forcing her to stay?

We’ve slowed our pace, her exhausted pants fill my ears, and her sweat drips down between her breasts. Her oversized trousers are stained with dirt and slung so low I can see the hollow that malnourishment has created between her hips.

Gerrit, still high and reeling from the adrenaline of the escape, has not spoken of the words from the Banisher, choosing instead to just coo platitudes at Briar. But ignoring the words altogether doesn’t seem wise.

As much as I have enjoyed my time with Briar, we have always had a right to be wary of her. What if she is a spider weaving a trap for us? She convinced us to free her. Who’s to say she won’t turn on us now?

She peers over her shoulder at me, and I am marveled by her beauty. Her wide, red eyes and lavender hair are inhuman but breathtaking. Her smile breaks my heart enough to push down any worries I have about her.

Of course, Briar is dangerous – anyone with that amount of power would be. What kind of person would I be if I believed her abuser over her? She has shown us, several times, who she is.

Her hand is on my arm, and I realize she slowed her pace to walk beside me. “Hey, Mister Kind Eyes,” she croons, making me roll said kind eyes.

I snort and hit her with my shoulder. “You trying to butter me up with sweet names?”

“Fine, you caught me, Hans . You seem worried.”

Where do I begin? How do I tell her that for the last hour, I have been questioning her motivations, questioning her , all because of a few words from the man who cared for nothing but destroying her?

“The interaction with the Banisher shook me,” is all I manage to say.

Her body shudders at the mention of his name, her eyes glassy with fear. “Me too. I’ve never heard him like that before. He’s never called me dangerous.” I look at her, trying to detect the veracity of her words. Flint stays near her feet, walking alongside Briar rather than me in an odd turn of events.

“I say I spent my whole life in that prison, but I don’t know if that’s true, Hans. I have no memories outside of that circle. That’s the only place I’ve ever known. But what if I had a life before then, and I did something to earn that home? What if I really am a monster?”

“She’s not a monster, Master,” Flint speaks into my mind, and I know it is only for me.

“How could you possibly know?” I make my face appear relaxed, casually intertwining my fingers in Flint’s coat so Briar is unaware of our conversation.

“Have I ever steered you wrong? Haven’t I always led you home?”

I absorb his words, and the realization hits me that Flint has always been my guiding path, and this is the first time I’m truly questioning him. “You said at the beginning you didn’t think she’d help us.”

“I didn’t think she would. But after meeting her and talking to the forest’s creatures, I know she’s not dangerous or evil. She was trapped and desperate.”

“You said the creatures feared her.” I feel like a petulant child, trying hard to avoid my fate, but I cannot help it. The doubt is consuming me, made worse by the sheer amount of raw power she channeled through me.

“You, too, would fear the one who brings evil into your midst.”

Gerrit stops ahead, looking around a clearing within the twisted Whispering Woods. Despite my affinity for natural magic, he’s grown more comfortable in the woods than I am. “This is a fine place to make camp,” he says definitively. The clearing is canopied by gnarled branches, reaching towards us like spectral fingers.

Briar shivers, bothered by an unseen breeze. Flint wraps around her legs, and she entwines her fingers in his fur. I watch her face relax, and a soft smile plays across her lips. Her bottom lip is plush, swollen and red from how she chews it when nervous. Her upper lip is thin. It almost disappears when she smiles, showing a mouth full of teeth that take up most of her face in that moment of joy.

I can tell Flint is talking to her, but he’s choosing to keep the words from me. A wave of jealousy fills me. Flint has always been my companion, my familiar, my friend, and now he’s sharing himself with someone else using the magic from my blood.

“Master.”

My head jerks up, and I find Flint staring at me, his yellow eyes digging into my soul. Gerrit has been making the campsite, building a fire, and dragging logs over for seats, but I have been standing, staring blank-faced at Flint and Briar.

Briar meets my gaze with hurt and fear in her eyes.

I feel my chest tighten as I look at her, guilt dropping my stomach to my feet.

It is imperative that I get out of this spiral and get my mind on something else. “We spent ages in the woods, going over it section by section, trying to find your home. Now that we have you, it won’t take long to get out and back to Greenbell,” I tell her. “And then we can see what you can do for Father.”

She drops herself on one of the logs Gerrit set up, patting it beside her. Her shoulders are tense, but her tone is kind as she speaks. “Yes, of course. Your father. We also need to plan what we will do when the sun comes up.”

“What exactly happens when you’re in the sun for too long?” Gerrit asks as he flops down on the other side of her. “Do you just burn really badly?”

She snorts and kicks the toe of her too-large boot in the dirt. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. My skin boils and sloughs off. It takes ages for me to heal.”

Flint wedges himself between my and Briar’s knees. “What if that was a curse of the fairy circle?”

“You think that’s possible?” Briar answers as I tell Gerrit what the wolf said. “I mean, weirder things have happened, I’m sure.”

“Plus, you’ll heal faster now that you can eat from us regularly, right?” My brother asks. “Is it possible you could travel during the day if you could feed from us regularly to heal any damage immediately?”

Briar’s eyes go whispy and far off. She tilts her head back, her face towards the full moon as if sunning herself. “It would be amazing to feel the sun again. I tried several times, but it wasn’t worth the pain. But if I could live in the day?” She sighs and leans her head on my shoulder. I melt under her touch. “I could maybe begin to feel a little more human.”

“But you’re not, human that is,” Gerrit reminds her clumsily. “Not that there is anything wrong with it, of course.”

“You’re right, I’m not,” she muses sadly. “But there are parts of me that long for a human existence. I have had centuries to decide who I want to be.” The stars twinkle in her eyes, and the campfire flame caresses her skin. “Do you want to know? In my wildest dreams, who I hoped to become?”

I nod at the same time that Gerrit answers in the affirmative. Even Flint gives an accepting little woof.

“Then I’ll need to tell you who I’ve been.”