Chapter 23 Briar #2
A series of metallic clangs echoed through the hall as several gray-armored guards dropped their weapons. The sound rippled like a wave across the marble floor. A few guards fell to their knees. The guests cowered in the center of the room, arms raised in surrender, heads bowed low.
I looked up at Vad, the pulsing light between us casting him in an ethereal glow. Our bond thrummed, no longer fragile but alive and unbreakable.
To our left, Colm and Calla Lily hovered midair, their wings keeping them aloft. Both stared at the scene below, their expressions twisted in disbelief.
Ryker pack-linked to Ember and me. We've dealt with the gas, and there weren't many guards down here.
We took most of them out. But they were ready for us and set traps to keep us in here.
The main door is shut, and the other passages are blocked due to the earthquake.
We need someone to open the door from the other side.
Ember's concern radiated through the pack link. She looked at me.
I motioned to the groom’s door. Go. We've got this taken care of here. Can you find your way?
I'll trace my steps back to where we split off and then follow Ryker's scent. Ryker, you guys did go through the main entrance, right? Ember swept her hair back over her shoulder.
Yes. Thought we'd handled them all, too, but some of them were sneaky bastards, Ryker responded. Be careful.
Make sure you have your sword, I linked back to her. I stepped forward and found that the barrier that had kept us there briefly was no longer present. It had vanished with the guardians. Contact me immediately if you need backup.
"What are you doing?" Colm roared, his voice cracking with fury. "Pick up your weapons! That’s an order!"
One of the soldiers near him stepped forward and removed his helmet, revealing a weathered face and piercing blue eyes.
“You said this was Fate’s will. That you were purging corruption,” the guard called, his voice carrying across the suddenly still hall.
“But Fate just spoke through the Guardian Beasts. They’ve blessed King Vad and Queen Briar. We all saw it.”
His words hung in the air like a spark over oil. Murmurs rippled through the remaining soldiers.
Colm’s face twisted with rage. He shoved the merlinite orb into his robes, shot downward like a streak of shadow with his wings tight, and seized the man by the throat. With a violent thrust of his wings, he rocketed up and slammed the guard against a marble column.
His claws tore through flesh. Blood poured down the man's neck, soaking the dark-gray collar of his armor.
“It is not your place to question,” Colm snarled. “Only to obey. And if you cannot obey, then you’ll serve in other ways.”
The man choked, struggling in Colm’s grasp. “No…please—”
Colm ignored him. With his free hand, he drew the orb from his robe. Cracks webbed across its surface glowed with dark blue light. With a vicious sneer, he jammed it against the man’s forehead.
The guard stiffened, and a guttural scream tore from his throat as his skin blistered and blackened.
“No!” Vad shouted. Shadows snapped from him like whips, lashing toward Colm—
Calla Lily threw up a barrier far smaller than the one the guardians had put over us. But even though it was small, it was efficient, catching Vad’s shadow magic mid-strike. Vad’s power recoiled, flickering out.
“Stop!” I yelled, scanning the debris for something—anything—I could use to break through the shield.
The orb sank deeper. Flesh hissed and bubbled. The man's eyes rolled back as a hole burned through his skull, the scent of scorched flesh drifting in the air. The guard's screams weakened as his body began to shrivel within his armor, his skin turning ashen.
Colm’s wings darkened before my eyes, the smoky gray shifting to a slick, oily black threaded with pulsing crimson veins. His aura thickened, turning so dense it seemed to choke the air. Nausea twisted in my gut.
He flung the charred body aside, and it crumpled to the marble floor with a sickening crunch.
He turned to Vad, a cruel smirk stretching across his narrow face.
Smoke blades formed around him. “It used to take so long to siphon magic from others, but thanks to your little gift, it’s so much easier now. ”
His gaze swept down to his guards. “Now then, insolent wretches, pick up your weapons and fight, or I’ll give you a fate far worse. Fight well, and maybe I’ll forgive this act of cowardice.”
Several guards scrambled for their blades, desperation on their faces.
The wolves growled low and crouched.
“Don’t do this, Colm,” Vad warned, stepping in front of me and pushing me gently behind him. “Release them and surrender. You’ve lost their trust. Everyone sees you for the liar and fraud you are.”
Calla Lily glided toward Colm and laughed. She laid a many-ringed hand on his shoulder and tilted her head mockingly. “There’s nothing fraudulent about the pain we can deliver.”
“If anyone should surrender,” Colm purred, “it’s you. I've just consumed another fae's full life force and magic, the entirety of his essence. Can you even begin to understand just how powerful that makes me right now?”
Without warning, he lifted a single clawed finger toward Calla Lily. She gave a barely perceptible nod, and I realized too late that she was dropping the barrier.
Colm clenched his fist.
A concussive blast erupted, the force slamming Vad backward into me.
I screamed as we crashed to the floor. My wings cushioned some of the impact, but pain lanced down my spine as benches toppled and the shockwave rattled the hall.
Colm and Calla Lily laughed, the sound echoing through the hall like a warning.
“Maybe I should offer you a chance to surrender again, but I no longer feel generous.” Colm flew toward the bride’s door, leering down at us. “Now, attack.”
When no one moved, his eyes narrowed at the guards below. Many of them gripped their weapons, but they glanced between us and Colm again.
“I said, attack!”
The hired guards stiffened, and then two dozen of them surged forward with weapons drawn, moving mechanically, eyes glassy, as if their bodies weren't entirely their own. Some charged with eagerness, others with visible reluctance, but none stopped.
Veralt swung a bench like a club, cracking it across the nearest attacker’s helmeted head with a brutal crunch.
Thalen stepped forward, hands sweeping wide as glowing wind blades shimmered to life around him. “You really shouldn’t bet against us,” he shouted.
I shoved myself up, and pain rippled through my side. My wings flared wide, casting long shadows. “You fucking bastards, we’ll end you once and for all.” Magic pulsed hot in my veins.
Colm sneered. “Handle her, Calla Lily.”
He slashed his hand through the air. A streak of gray light exploded from his palm, forming a magical smoke rope that wrapped around Vad and flung him like a rag doll across the chamber. He crashed into the double doors with a thunderous crack.
A jolt of pain seared through the bond.
“Vad!” I shoved myself up, my wings flaring out behind me.
Calla Lily dove toward me, her wings blazing with fire and her eyes full of bloodlust. "With pleasure," she snarled.
Flames danced between her fingers, and she hurled a fireball at me. I rolled aside, my back muscles shifting instinctively to move with the wings I didn’t know how to control. The fire struck the marble behind me, charring it black.
I’ve got her, I linked to Vad. You handle Colm.
My wolf howled within me, no longer distant but vibrant and ready. Power surged through my veins, ready to break this bitch apart. I'd shift soon, but this fight needed to happen in my human form.
"I've been waiting for this," I growled, planting my feet and raising my blade.
If you need me— Vad started, but I cut him off. I will, but don’t worry. I’m fine.
Annoyance flared through our bond. Not funny, but I’m counting on your word.
Calla Lily hurled another fireball at me, the heat blistering the air. I rolled aside, my wings flexing on instinct. They beat once, lifting me off the ground. The sensation was disorienting but exhilarating—my wings simply obeyed my thoughts.
I launched myself at Calla Lily, sword raised.
“Pathetic.” She twisted in midair, easily dodging my swing.
Below us, Colm’s soldiers fought the wolves and my friends.
Vad’s shadows boiled as he lashed out against Colm, and Colm struck back with smoke blades.
Vad’s hooked shadows pierced stone walls and pillars, but didn’t fully strike Colm or land on him as he was too quick.
Frustration flared through our bond, and I guessed that Colm was faster now.
Calla Lily’s fire scorched past my cheek as I swerved in midair. The heat singed my skin, but I barely registered the pain. My new wings responded to my instincts faster than my thoughts.
“All you had to do was return to your little human life,” Calla Lily spat, flames curling around her hands. “If you’d gone home to Earth and returned to your pathetic family, none of this would’ve happened.”
I twisted and flew higher. “This is my home,” I snarled. “And I’ll burn before I let someone like you take it.”
She sneered. “It could have been so simple. Prince Vad dying peacefully in his sleep. Elara too. Such a tragedy, but she was always such a weak, simpering little thing." She lifted her hands and sent out a broad blast of hot air.
It slammed into me like a freight train, sending me spiraling backward. My wings flailed, and I crashed against the groom’s door wall, the impact jarring every bone in my body. My head snapped back, striking the stone.
I’m coming, Vad linked.
I slid to the floor, gasping. Stars burst across my vision. My limbs refused to obey my order to move, becoming dead weight, dragging me down.
"Fuck," I gasped. She was stronger than I’d thought. My wings hung limply behind me, muscles trembling. My wolf snarled, furious, pushing me to move. Focus on your fight. I can take her.
Above, Calla Lily hovered, smirking victoriously. "You see? You're nothing. You’re already dead, Briar. You just haven’t realized it yet."
I fought to get up, but she was already descending, her hands cupped together. Flames licked between her fingers, illuminating her face with an eerie glow.
“It can take hours to burn a body completely,” she purred. “Consuming essence gives us strength—gifts beyond our kind. And fire…” She grinned. “Fire is my favorite. I love slow-roasting my enemies and watching them scream—”
Suddenly, the fire between her palms sputtered and shrank to half its size. The brilliant light in her wings dimmed, the flames that had been dancing along their edges flickering weakly.
She stared at her hands in shock. "What—?
How is it used up already?" Snarling, she shot into the air above the crowd and snatched a young nobleman by the collar.
He screamed, fire flickering from his fingertips in a feeble attempt to defend himself.
She slammed his head against the wall with a sickening crack, then jammed the orb against his skull.
He convulsed violently. Magic fizzled and died on his skin as he shrieked, his body arching in agony.
I forced myself upright, my fingers fumbling for my fallen sword.
A concussive blast ripped through the hall, but this one was from Colm.
The shockwave sent rubble and bodies flying. A second blast followed, even stronger, tossing me backward and ripping chunks from the ceiling and hurling them across the chamber. Screams echoed off the walls.
Colm cackled as I slammed into the wall and cracked my head. Blood streamed down my forehead and into my eyes, my ears ringing.
Vad linked to me, disoriented and in pain just like me. Briar, you’re hurt?
So are you; just stay focused on your own fight. I partially closed the bond so he couldn’t feel me as intensely, and I focused on the bitch in front of me. I froze when I spotted Colm flying toward the bride’s side of the dais.
Thalen was hunched on the staircase, clutching his bloodied head. Colm landed beside him and seized him by the front of his tunic. Colm slammed him back against the staircase and then struck him with the merlinite orb.
“Thalen!” I screamed. Pain lanced through my skull as I pushed to my feet, but I ignored it. Blood blurred my vision, hot and sticky, but I wiped it away and staggered forward. The floor lurched beneath me, and my stomach roiled.
I barreled toward them, looking for Vad. He was surrounded, but his magic and sword handled his attackers with ease.
Thalen was in more trouble.
Colm ground the orb against Thalen’s forehead. His silver-white hair was soaked with blood, his face twisted in agony.
“Let him go!” I roared, my voice drowned out by the ringing in my ears.
Like a lightning bolt of fury, Myantha burst from behind a pillar, her face contorted with a feral rage I’d never seen in her. She leapt onto Colm’s back and choked him with surprising force, one arm locked around his throat, the other tangled in his hair.
Colm stumbled, his grip on Thalen faltering. Before he could recover, Myantha bared her teeth and bit off his ear with savage precision. Blood spurted as she tore through cartilage and flesh.
His scream carried through the hall, high and piercing. He thrashed, trying to throw Myantha off, the merlinite orb slipping from his grasp and clattering down the steps.
Myantha spat out his ear, her face twisted in disgust as blood dripped from her lips. She leaned in and whispered something that made Colm freeze, his eyes widening in shock.
Seizing the opening, Thalen shoved free and kicked Colm square in the chest, his boot connecting with a satisfying thud. Colm staggered, flailing his arms as he tried to maintain his balance.
His face contorted in rage and agony. “You beastly little wench!” he shrieked, clutching the ragged, bleeding stump where his ear had been.
Then he threw himself backward into a wall hard, right against Myantha.
Her shout rent the air as she was crushed between his weight and the stone. Her arms fell limp.
I’d nearly reached the dais when something slammed into me from behind.
Calla Lily.
She stood on my back, her heel grinding into my neck like she meant to snap it.
“I’m freshly powered now, Briar,” she cooed, voice dripping with malice. “The real question is, how creative do I want to get with making you suffer?” She pressed down harder, until pain flared sharp and hot as her heel bit into my skin.
Footsteps approached fast.
For a heartbeat, I thought it was Rhielle—but no. I looked up into Kaylen’s icy eyes as she stopped beside us, hands perched on her hips and a smirk curling her lips.