Page 2 of Beasts of Briar
My brothers and father had warned me to stay away from this cat woman. They told me if I ever encountered her I was to turn and run, to find them. But she didn’t seem so bad. Besides, if I ran home, I’d get in trouble and then I’d never get to go to Crystal Pond.
“So you like to swing from vines?” she finally said.
I gave an unsure nod.
“Well, then you must come to the lake on the other side of the forest.” She pointed a long claw toward the trees. “It doesn’t just have a vine you can swing off of.” She leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper. “It has a cliff. A tall, tall cliff you can jump from. And a waterfall.”
I gasped. I’d never seen a waterfall, other than in books my brothers read to me.
“Come,” she said, curling her tail around my waist. “I can show you.”
“Get away from her.” A voice rang out over the field.
I whipped around to see my seven brothers marching toward us, all of them with various shades of blond and brown hair. Whereas I took after my father with my dark hair and fair complexion, they took after our mother with their lighter strands and pale skin.
The cat woman hissed at them.
“Really, Mother, this is low, even for you,” Jorah said.
He was the oldest of my brothers, the tallest, and his long blonde hair glinted under the ribbons of green flashing in the sky, wavy and resting on his shoulders.
Ryder stepped forward. He was the second oldest, the bossiest. “Come, Bellamy.” He gestured for me with his thick arms. He was the stockiest of my brothers, which also made him the one that gave the best bear hugs.
I stuck out my tongue. “No.” I didn’t want to go with them. I wanted to jump off a cliff.
The cat woman snickered behind me.
“She’s your daughter,” Jorah said, voice hard as stone. My other brothers crowded behind Jorah, all of them glaring at our mother.
“She’s not my daughter,” the cat woman snapped.
Unexpectedly, tears sprang to my eyes. Maybe a small part of me had hoped we’d bond if I went with her. That she’d recognize me. That I could finally have a mother.
“Oh, Bell.” Solomon, the youngest, stepped forward and wrapped me in his skinny arms. Even though he was eight years older than me, he was closest in age, and I’d always felt a kinship with him. “It’s alright.”
I sniffled as he drew me back with him.
“Leave her alone,” Jorah said. “If you try something like that again, you will have us to answer to.”
“Unless she wanders again,” the cat woman said, not seeming remotely bothered by my brother’s threat. “Tell your little pet to stay where she belongs. Otherwise, she’s fair game.”
I swallowed as she disappeared into the trees, and Solomon drew me tighter into his chest. Then, I slowly felt all my brothers crowding around, hugging me, kissing my hair, murmuring that they’d always protect me. If only that were true. If only I could promise the same to them.
Chapter One
BELLAMY, FIFTY YEARS LATER
It smelled like rotting fish. I stood on a dock that jutted out into the Silver Seas as the blustery wind barreled through me. Snow blanketed the small fishing town of Fyriad, and the dark blue sea spread out as far as I could see.
Ships bobbed in the harbor. I’d need to find passage on one of these, but it wouldn’t be as simple as paying or batting my eyes and asking nicely. Not that that was something I was good at anyway. I was more likely to force my way onto a ship than flirt my way onto one. But I wasn’t here today to do either of those things. I just needed to identify a target. Someone who would make the perfect captain for my journey, a malleable person who would be easy to manipulate with my magic, someone with a small enough crew that there wouldn’t be pushback. Someone with a big enough ship for me and my companions.
I shivered under the gusty breeze and adjusted the satchel strapped around my shoulder. Snow moved in swirls and loops around me before landing on the ground or in the ocean, whereit disappeared. From here, I could see hulking icebergs and big walls of ice that shot up into the sky. Ships had to carefully navigate these blockades. So I’d need to find a skilled captain as well.
I looked behind me at the bustling little village. And I needed to hurry. I didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. I’d already spent five days scouring these docks for a captain, but none of them felt right. I was starting to think there would be no right person for this job. Just someone. I just needed to pick someone.
“Captain, how long are we staying?” a tall, lean woman asked the dark-haired man striding next to her, away from their ship and across the network of docks that made up this pier.
“Not long,” the man said. “We leave tomorrow.”
