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Briar walked confidently into the clearing, her ebony hair flowing out behind her like a cape as the three human realm shifters flanked her in wolf form. With a wave of her hand, she dissolved the cage around Liam, allowing him to scramble towards his fallen parents.
“Mother, you have to stop this,” she said with a strength that made me proud as she stopped several feet away from her.
The Queen looked past her into the forest, sneering. “How did you just walk in here? Where are the rest of the guard?”
Briar smirked, almost a mirror image of our mother as she imitated her arrogance perfectly.
“Oh them? Mostly sleeping right now, though the ones who directly attacked us may have been introduced to the teeth and claws of my new friends here.”
She gestured to Linc, Spence and Hawk who had stayed close behind her in a protective formation and were baring their fangs at the Queen with low growls.
“Friends?!” the Queen shrieked, looking horrified. “They are vermin, Briar. You clearly need a reminder of your place in this world. And of how to obey me.”
The last words sent an icy chill down my spine as it triggered memories of punishment from my childhood, and I had no doubt Briar felt the same.
She straightened her spine and planted her feet more firmly, her hands now shimmering with power.
“No, Mother, I don’t,” she said calmly. “I actually need to find my own place in the world. But first, I’m going to help my sister.”
The Queen made the most inelegant sound I had ever heard from her. “Is that right? And how exactly do you plan to do that?”
Briar shrugged casually as she conjured a swirling ball of fire in her hand.
“By showing you exactly how well you trained us.”
Chapter Eleven
Cordelia
Theorbofflameshot towards my mother’s face as Briar hurled it at her, though it was easily deflected as she threw up a hand to bat it aside. Briar didn’t pause though, following the orb with several more and forcing the Queen to step back under the onslaught.
I felt the power around me thin and weaken as the Queen was forced to use her magic again, the pain easing a little and allowing me to fully breathe even though it didn’t yet release me.
“No!” Briar barked as Spencer began to move around the side of the Queen with clear intention to attack. “This is not your fight.”
The Queen released a burst of ice shards which flew out from her body, making Spencer leap aside and forcing Briar to throw up a shield of air. The spikes exploded against the invisible wall in a sparkling cascade, tumbling to the dirt and evaporating in moments as the Queen began to laugh.
“Do you really think you can win, Daughter? I know what you are capable of, and I am not impressed.”
Briar glared across at her, letting the years of hatred finally, truly show.
“Your arrogance will be your downfall, your majesty,” she promised, her voice heavy with disdain.
Gesturing to the ground, she forced thick vines to whip up and around the Queen, winding around her body in a lightning fast move and pinning her arms and hands against her sides.
“Nice,” I heard Noah murmur, but I didn’t share his excitement.
While a normal witch would be incapacitated by pinning their hands, this was the Queen, and there was no way that this fight was over yet.
True enough, it was only moments before the vines were crumbling to dust before our eyes and she was stepping out of them, shaking off the dusty flakes with a smirk.
“Not bad,” she mused before gesturing at my sister and sending her flying up into the air.
Briar screamed as she suddenly rocketed upwards and my heart pounded as I fought against the hold my mother still had on me. The Queen gestured again as my sister came tumbling back down towards the hard-packed earth, catching her on a cushion of air at the last moment before dropping her the last few feet.
That was when I felt it. The power it took to catch Briar’s weight finally broke her hold on me and the circle of magic around me cracked and fell away, leaving me gasping in relief but refusing to crumple to the ground. Noah’s arms enveloped me from behind, smoothing hair from my sweat-coated face, and I gave him a quick squeeze before pushing out of his hold.
“Enough!” I yelled, dragging in a deep breath and advancing towards my blood family.
