Unlikely Queen (Crystal Castle 1)

…in what I hope is not death.

“What did you do?” Tatiana lets go of my hand, and in an instant, her hands are in the ground. She draws the energy from the earth, making her eyes go fully green as she stares up at Bronik who watches on with an amused expression.

John, who is behind Bronik, is now standing and moves two steps before he is frozen in place by a click of Bronik’s fingers. I go to touch Tatiana, but she is so lost in whatever she is conjuring that I do nothing. The ground starts to shake around Bronik and then vines shoot up from the earth, enclosing around his legs and trapping him to the ground. He tries to move and looks down at Tatiana with a condescending shake of his head before he does the same thing with his hands, putting her to sleep.

Now, it’s just the two of us.

He kicks the vines away now that Tatiana is no longer awake to hold them in position. One step out of the mess of vines and he is standing near me, his silver eyes fixed on me. “Now that that matter is resolved,” he says in a deep, gravelly voice. More howls are heard nearby, and I can hear the footsteps coming closer. “We need to talk.”

I look to John, then Patrick, and lastly my sister who is right near me.

“You don’t plan to knock me out as well?” I ask.

“I have a strong feeling that it probably won’t work on you.” I give him a curious stare. “And they escalated that… I have no intentions to cause anyone harm.” I look again to my sister when his voice rings, bringing my attention back to him. “They attacked me. What else was I meant to do?”

“Wake her up,” I say, pointing to my sister.

Bronik scratches his chin, then nods his head. I watch as he leans down and touches Tatiana’s forehead, his fingers swiping over it before he stands. Tatiana starts to move, and I drop down to grip her hand.

“You need to stay calm… he wants to talk.”

Tatiana seems to know what I’m saying and instantly pulls back. “Angels don’t talk, they do the queen’s bidding,” she sneers and wipes her hands on her black pants as she stands.

“This is true,” Bronik speaks.

Tatiana walks past him and goes straight to John, stroking his long, smooth fur. “You mean us no harm?” Tatiana asks him.

“Not on this day.”

“Wake him, then, before every wolf comes this way.”

Bronik looks at me, and I say nothing, but he seems to be waiting for me to agree. I nod slowly. He turns back to Tatiana and John, then bends down, careful not to get his white clothing in the dirt, and touches John’s forehead lightly with one finger. John wakes, and somehow Tatiana calms him straight away with a simple look, then he shifts back into human form, leaving him completely naked.

“You need to call the wolves off,” Tatiana says.

John seems to remember why he’s on the ground and turns to look where Bronik is standing and sneers at him.

“Mind your manners, wolf, or you will go night-night again,” Bronik says.

I can’t help rolling my eyes at him and step forward to Patrick. Leaning down, I check for his pulse, and when I feel it beating strongly through his fur, I stand back up and order, “Wake him up, too.”

“This will get us nowhere. I came to talk, and they attacked. This isn’t a game of cat and mouse,” Bronik grumbles.

I place my hand on my hip. “Wake. Him. Up.”

Bronik steps forward and is now directly in front of me. He isn’t like Grim. Grim smells comforting, like you’re standing next to an ocean when it’s about to storm. Bronik smells clean like disinfectant. I don’t know how to describe it other than that.

“You sure, witch?” he asks.

“Yes,” I answer succinctly.

He nods and leans down, touching Patrick, waking him up the same way he did before. Patrick starts to move again.

Bronik stares at me, his silver eyes penetrating me, before he steps back. “How old are you?” he asks me.

“Twenty-three,” I answer.

He looks past me to my sister. “And how old are you?”

“Twenty-nine,” Tatiana answers.

“So, that makes the shy one twenty-six?” he asks, to which I nod. “Interesting,” is all he says.

“Why are you here?” Patrick asks as he pulls himself up to a standing position. He is also naked, and I feel like today all I am seeing are penises. So much so, I look away, but not before noticing once again how both men are in incredibly good shape.

“I want the queen’s hold to be broken. One woman shouldn’t hold that much power,” Bronik replies.

“You’ve served her for years, so why now?” I ask, confusion etched into my forehead.

“Because before… there wasn’t you,” he says, and goose bumps tickle my skin just at his simple words. “You are the witch in the prophecy, correct?”