Page 21 of Beasts of Briar
I gasped. There. The nettle weed. It crept over a large trellis and spread across the ground in a tangled, thick mess, covered in pink flowers the color of rouge. It looked beautiful. But underneath those pink petals were the thorns waiting to prick you should you try and pick a flower. The nettle weed spread out and up the castle walls. It was all over the garden. My heart thumped hard at the sight of it.
“There it is,” Driscoll whispered. “Now we’ve seen it, so let’s go back down the mountain and come up with a better plan. You know, one that’s not just ‘let’s waltz right into the garden and just hope we survive.’”
I shook my head, a stubbornness rising in me. He didn’t understand what it was like to be trapped in the Wilds, knowing your brothers were cursed and there was nothing you could do but wait to be freed. I’d done nothing but wait. I wouldn’t do so any longer. I’d seen the vision. I knew my path forward. I started toward the garden, but Leoni held out an arm.
“How are we going to get it?” she asked. “That doesn’t look like something we can just easily pull from the ground.”
I just shook my head and pushed her arm away, creeping forward.
“No shears? No gloves?” Driscoll asked, raising a brow.
It was clear he wouldn’t drop this until I gave an answer.“Gloves and shears would defeat the purpose. Breaking dark magic like this requires a great sacrifice.”
Leoni translated and Driscoll just huffed while staring at my hands. “They’re so pretty. Soon they’re going to be all scarred and ugly and deformed and?—”
Leoni elbowed him.
“Right.” He cleared his throat and patted me on the shoulder. “You’re doing a really great thing. Super nice. Your hands don’t matter. Who needs hands anyway?”
“You should’ve just stopped at ‘you’re doing a really great thing.’” Leoni shook her head, eyes rolling upward.
I shoved past him and walked toward the garden. The sun stretched over the grassy land in front of the castle, but the garden was shaded. I didn’t see any shadows, no sign of this Spirit Shadow luring about. It was so still, so silent, I might’ve thought this place abandoned.
A black iron gate caged the garden, even though weeds and invasive vines had snaked through the bars from the outside. No one had come storming out of the castle yet.
“You know,” Driscoll whispered as we walked toward the garden. “Maybe Spirit Shadow sleeps during the day. I mean, itwould make sense, right? Maybe he’s averse to the sun like his shadows are.”
I’d never read anything like that about Spirit Shadow, but it would make sense. That could also be why he hadn’t discovered us yet. Hope swelled in my chest as I unlatched the rusted gate. It swung open with a loud creak. Leoni winced.
“Well, let’s hope he’s sleeping,” she said, “because if not that certainly would have alerted him.”
A chill skittered up my spine at the thought of him emerging and swooping down over us. That was how I’d always imagined Spirit Shadow. Like a mighty bird, all terror and fury raining down. I shook the thoughts away and walked through the garden, then knelt in front of the nettle weed that grew over the ground. Small thorns sprouted from the edges of the bright green leaves, all covered by the dark pink flowers. I shoved the satchel deeper under some brush just in case Driscoll or Leoni got any ideas about trying to snatch it and run.
The plant snaked out across the ground in huge patches. I wouldn’t need the leaves, but the stalks were what I would use to knit these sweaters.
I swallowed, hand hovering just over the thorny stalk.
“What is she waiting for?” I heard Driscoll ask from behind me where he and Leoni stood.
“Do I look like a mind reader?” Leoni asked back.
I thought of my brothers, of all the ways they’d always protected me and looked out for me over the years. I could do this for them. I’d come so far, and I’d actually gotten here. I’d made it. Now came the real sacrifice.
I stretched out a trembling hand to grab the stalk and yank it free, knowing that once I felt this pain, it wouldn’t stop. Driscoll was right. I wasn’t vain, but my hands would become deformed, swollen, infected from the poison. I blew out a frustrated breathat my hesitation, but before I could snatch the first stalk, a cold settled across the back of my neck, the hairs raising.
It felt good at first, a reprieve from the heavy heat, but then it crept down my spine and trickled over me like dread.
I shot to my feet and whirled just as Spirit Shadow lowered to the ground in front of me, throwing Driscoll and Leoni onto their backs. Shadows swirled over him, forming into a giant beast with glowing red eyes and long sharp teeth. I couldn’t see much underneath the shadows, just the beastly wisp of a monster looming above. Flashes of pale skin peeked through the whirling shadows, but that was the only indication there was anything under there.
The beast took a step forward, towering over me. Leoni and Driscoll lay on the ground, both unconscious.
My anger flared as I gestured to them.“There was no need to do that. They aren’t a threat to you.”
A deep voice emanated from underneath the shadowy beast. “And how do I know that?”
So he could understand me. I supposed that made sense. My father had taught me and my brothers this sign language, always told us it was an ancient one used to communicate in secret. It was our secret language, and I was thankful my father had taught it to me.
I stepped toward the beast, refusing to let it see me cower.“You’re a spirit. Surely you’re not afraid of some mortals in your garden?”
