Page 4

Chapter 4

Hunger

brIAR

“O h, fucking fuck,” I grumble, rubbing the back of my head. My body is aching like I just fell off the roof.

I’d know. It’s happened before.

Well.

Fell, jumped - is there a difference?

Before I can open my eyes, I feel very large hands on my back and under my knees, carrying me and then sitting me gently on the couch.

My eyes flit open, and I stare at a dreamy man with dark, sexy tattoos. His bright blue eyes are stern and bore into me, but I catch a tinge of concern. My mind is hard to corral, singularly focused on the sheer size of his hand as it provides steadying support to my back.

Just one of those fingers…

I shake the thought from my head. Next to him, an equally gorgeous but strikingly different man is kneeling front of me. All I can think about is what it would be like to be wedged between them, all large hands and plush lips on my -

Wow, I am starving.

His eyes are the color of fresh honey and remarkably kind. One of his hands rests on my knee. I don’t miss that they’re more than enough to satisfy. Not as large as the other man’s, but still.

“Briar, are you okay?” Mister Kind Eyes says, his voice soft and calm like water. I still wince a little at the sound. It echoes in my pounding head.

“I... yeah, I am. Sorry. I just haven’t eaten in a while.”

The large hand is removed from my back, and he stalks into my never-used kitchen, slamming open cabinets. “Why is there no food in here?” His banging around sets my teeth on edge, and I groan before grabbing a pillow to wrap around my ears.

“Because I don’t eat food, asshole.”

Damn, I’m mean when I’m starving.

He stops searching my kitchen, and if I were looking at him, I am sure he would be just as rigid as his brother in front of me. Mister Kind Eyes is currently Mister Surprised Eyes, and I can see the questions swirling in his mind.

I sigh and pull my legs up underneath me on the couch, making sure my skirt covers enough not to show my underwear but just enough so they see my thighs, and maybe they’ll start to crave me. “Get in here, Big Boy, so I only have to say this once.”

Surprised Eyes chuckles quietly and darts his gaze to a large wolf that somehow has been in my house all this time, and I did not notice.

Big Boy comes over and stands in front of me, arms crossed and sneering at me.

I roll my eyes. “So intimidating. I just collapsed on my floor, and you feel the need to threaten me with your delicious brawn? A strong wind could take me out at this point.”

“Delicious brawn?” He quirks an eyebrow.

That looks hard to do. I’ll need to practice that when I don’t have their attention searing into me.

Surprised Eyes is back to Kind Eyes, and he sits beside me. “What do you mean you don’t eat food, Briar?”

I forgot I told them my name, and now I feel bad calling them Kind Eyes and Big Boy. “Who are you guys?”

The brothers exchange a look, and Kind Eyes takes my hand. “We told you. Do you not remember?” I shake my head. He points at Big Boy. “That is my stepbrother, Gerrit,” he tells me, and Gerrit wrinkles his nose and pins me with a glare. “I’m Hans,” Kind Eyes finishes.

“Okay, those are much nicer names than Kind Eyes and Big Boy.” Hans lets out an audible snort, and if I didn’t know better, I would swear that the wolf just chuffed out a laugh. “And the wolf? Which, by the way, are you always so rude to bring an animal into someone’s home without asking?”

Hans has the decency to look sheepish. “That’s Flint, he’s my familiar. Unfortunately, there is no keeping him out.”

I wrack my brain for mentions of familiars but am too fuzzed to remember. What I do remember is that familiar means magic. My mouth waters at the thought.

“The food, witch. What do you eat if not food?” Gerrit implores.

“Why, little children, of course,” I say, wiggling my fingers at him. He blanches and stumbles backward. I howl with laughter, which causes a stabbing pain in my head. Worth it to see the fear on his face.

I ask Hans, “Is he always so easy to rile up?”

He grins. “Literally always.”

Provoking Gerrit may not be a good idea. He’s huge. I’ve never seen someone as strong as he is. His shoulders are broader than the door frame, and his arms look like a normal person’s thigh. My starving body aches to find out just how proportionate he is, and my eyes flick to his crotch momentarily. He catches my glance, and I briefly register a look of triumph on his face before he schools his expression to his omnipresent scowl.

“I do eat people, though,” I say quietly. “I mean. Kind of. I sustain myself with blood. There have been… accidents, though.” Embarrassment heats my face, and I duck my head. “I just get so hungry sometimes that I can’t stop. I don’t mean to, I swear. It’s just that I have been going so long without food. When food wanders into my prison, how am I supposed to turn it down?”

The men exchange indecipherable looks, and I feel left out of a secret. “A prison?” Hans asks, eyes concerned. “This is a prison?”

I can’t look up. I can’t bear to see their disgust when they learn how monstrous I am. “I’ve been here for centuries. I’m not even sure why I’m here. Maybe at one point, I knew, but now it’s so far gone that I cannot remember anything but being here. The fairy circle keeps me from going out, but sometimes, it can trap me a meal, so I guess it’s not all bad. My Banisher comes once every twelve moons and gives me things like clothes, books, or pitchers of blood, but it’s never enough.”

I hate how whiny I sound, but I can’t help it. I’ve been miserable for ages, and now I’ve got two very sexy men here, and the first thing they did was ask me about myself. Who wouldn’t unload all the angst that they keep inside?

Gerrit suddenly lowers himself onto my couch, which creaks with his weight. I worry it will snap, and I’ll be stuck without a place to sit for eternity, but I would never tell him that.

“So, you’ve been here, trying to survive, for centuries?” His tone is softer than I’ve heard yet.

“Well, yeah. This is my life. It’s lonely, and I go so long between meals that I’m almost glad people no longer wander into my circle. I worry I will lose control again. Better to starve than risk it. It’s not like I can die.” I wrinkle my nose. “I mean, I don’t think I can die, but to be fair, I haven’t done thorough testing.”

Hans scratches his arm in contemplation. “How long has it been since you ate, Briar?”

“Snacks, like small mammals, or a full, real meal?” My skin feels tight, and I shuffle uncomfortably on the couch. I haven’t talked this much in ages, and about myself, no less. This conversation feels unexpectedly intimate.

“An actual, satisfying meal,” the kind man answers.

I try to do the math, counting the moons, wracking my brain back to the beautiful man who got trapped here last. “Maybe fourteen moons or so?” The brothers blanche, and clearly, I said the wrong thing. “What?” Gerrit shakes his head and stands, motioning to Hans. Wordlessly, Hans rises, and they walk out the door.

It’s an effort not to run after them. For the first time, I’m glad for the fairy circle. I’m not ready to be alone again.