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.
Chapter5
DONTTRUSTME
HANS
“Iknow what you’re thinking, and I won’t allow it,” Gerrit hisses.
“Why not?” I throw my hands out, imploring him to understand. “She’s of no use to us if she dies, Gerrit. She cannot help us in her current state.”
The image of Briar sliding out of the chair, unconscious, will haunt me. When I first sighted her today, I thought she looked unwell, but I had no idea it was this dire.
Over a year without a meal? How is she even alive?
“She said she has killed those she fed from because she was so starved!” he growls at me. “What do you believe will happen to you after so long without sustenance?”
“Good thing I have my big, strong stepbrother here to pull the waif of a witch off me before I perish,” I say, patting him on the cheek.
As soon as I cross the threshold of the home, Flint is in front of me, begging to talk. I sink on the couch next to where Briar still sits, with an odd expression on her face. She doesn’t flinch as the cushions move beside her. Flint follows me, perching dutifully at my feet.
The witch opens her mouth, about to speak, when I hold up a finger. “One moment, Briar.” I bury my hands in Flint’s fur and close my eyes, embracing the magic that ties us together.
“I am unsure it is wise to have her feed from you, Master. Big Boy is right. She could kill you.”His voice is a cacophony of snarls that my brain somehow translates into the common tongue.
