Briar showed surprising restraint for someone accustomed to living off just crumbs when presented with a full meal. I wasn’t sure how it would end up for a brief moment. It felt like she was sucking my soul from my body.
When she asked if she could fuck me with that breathy whisper, there was not even a second thought in my mind before I agreed. I hadn’t expected Gerrit to join in, too, but I’m not sure why I was surprised.
He’s always been so good at sharing.
Briar lays sleeping on my chest now, all three of us piled in her bed. After the revelation of the lore surrounding her and feeding from us, she fell asleep quickly.
I’m not sure what I expected when we arrived here, but it was not this. I look at Gerrit and see the same expression of curiosity and concern on his face.
“What is going on in this cabin?” he mutters, eyes locked on her sleeping face. She looks better, but she’s still too thin. She still has that fragile bird look despite the newly healthy glow of her skin.
I shake my head. “I have no idea. And who is this Banisher? That’s who we saw in the tavern, right?”
“Briar seemed certain,” he answers.
I barely know Briar, but I cannot imagine what she could do that would warrant banishment to this type of prison. Even thinking about the devastating hunger she must have felt all those years fills me with a fury I cannot put words to.
Why would someone hurt her like this?
“Do you really think she can help Father?” Gerrit’s voice is soft and vulnerable, barely audible to not wake the fragile witch between us.
“Absolutely, I do. I can feel the power buzzing through her veins. My magic is singing just being near her. Even Flint notices.”
Gerrit’s eyes dart to my familiar sleeping in front of the door peacefully. “How will she help him, though?”
My magic is nature-based. Plant life, animals, and even the earth itself are open to my manipulation. I take the responsibility seriously. I was giddy when we realized Father was tethered to the plant, thinking it would be easy to break the link. Unfortunately, my tampering somehow sped up the process. The plant withered and decayed under my direct magic.
“I think if she and I merge our magic, imbue her curses with my skills for vegetation manipulation, she may be able to sever the tie while preserving the plant.”
Briar stirs on my chest.
“Not going to work like that,” she mumbles.
I run my hand down her soft purple hair. “What do you mean?”
She rolls over and stretches like a cat in the sun. One of her breasts pops out of the red dress she changed into after her bath, and I fight hard to swallow the hunger that rises in me again.
Though the little witch must sense the desire in me because she grabs my hand and rests it on the swell of her breast.
“My curses don’t work on plants. Only on people. The better chance is for me to curse the caster of the spell. Hopefully, that can weaken their magic and break whatever magic holds the spell in place, leaving you free to entangle him from the plant.” Her voice is husky with sleep, but her words are clear.
Gerrit tenses beside her. “What would a curse on her look like?”
“Your mom cast it?” she counters, finally opening her eyes and turning to face Gerrit. Her ass rubs into my thigh, and I turn to pin it on my crotch. She gives me a saucy look over her shoulder but turns back to him.
“I think so. She doesn’t have any natural magic, though. Is there any way she could have purchased a curse?” As Gerrit answers, she grinds against me, my cock swelling and pressing hard against her cheeks. I start to twist and flick her nipple.
Briar nods animatedly, somehow giving both of us attention. “I think so, yeah. I mean. I haven’t done it or seen it done because, hello, prison.” I pinch her nipple, and she moans loudly. Gerrit narrows his eyes at me.
After several deep breaths, she continues. “The mechanics are there for it if attached to an object or something.” I can hear excitement creep into her voice. “It would be easier to break that way, too, I think. Unless the person who gave her the curse is an exceedingly powerful witch, I should have no problem getting it off your father and onto her.”
Gerrit balks. “Onto her? She’d die?”
Briar lowers her brow and stills her body. “Well, magic has to go somewhere, doesn’t it? I can’t just send it into the ether.”
A charged silence weighs between us, and then he nods solemnly. “Then it’ll be done. The consequences are mine to bear.”
My heart aches for my stepbrother. His mother may be horrible, but she’s still his mother. I attempt to meet his eyes, but the way he’s steadfastly avoiding me tells me he doesn’t want to talk about it, giving me no choice but to drop it.
