Phoenixfall: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 2)

by KT Strange

  “Hey, I can defend myself.” Ace straightened his shoulders, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not a kid.”

  “You aren’t a kid,” Eli’s voice cut through the tension of the green room, “And we need to do the show.”

  “I think Max’s boyfriend is a hunter,” Darcy whispered, grief and anger mixing in her words, “And he’s here.”

  I swallowed hard and turned to her. “Craig? The guy you mentioned?”

  She nodded.

  “Yeah, I saw him in the hall, with a girl that was just, well, I, shit, I need to text Max and ask—" She fished out her phone as Eli nudged me with his elbow, nodding to the rest of the guys. I sighed and shifted my weight, eyeing my brother. He was our leader, and even if I wanted to get the hell out of the venue and get Darcy away from danger, and the entire pack away from whoever was waiting for us, I’ll back him.

  “We do the show. We act like nothing is wrong. These people are still humans and we are still wolves,” Eli’s words dropped like rocks in a pond, silent and still. He looked at each of us in turn. “They won’t try anything with witnesses. That is the last thing they want.”

  I heard Ace swallow and reached out to wrap an arm around his shoulders. A tremor ran through his muscles and he glanced at me, eyes dark with determination. He’d be fine. As much as Cash and Eli mother-hen’d the younger wolf, a big part of me was comfortable having him at my side. He’d never went through the war with us, and he was too young to fight when the rest of the pack had been murdered, but he’d grown up well. I nodded back to him.

  “Nobody goes anywhere alone. Stick to the crowds, stick with each other.” Eli’s calm command settled over us all, making my jumpy nerves ease somewhat. Darcy was quiet, and she huffed out a breath.

  “I need to talk to Max. She’s not replying to my texts. I don’t know what to say to her, even. Hey, guess what, your ex is an evil bad guy? I’ve known him for years—” she fell quiet when Eli reached for, cupping her cheek in a rare physical touch. I knew how he felt about her.

  I knew how hard it was for him to just touch her. Anyone else wouldn’t notice it, but he was my twin and I knew him almost as well as I knew myself. Being close to her was painful for him, him and his stupid martyr complex that made him think he didn’t deserve happiness with a mate, our mate.

  Honestly, he was so fucking stubborn sometimes I wanted to punch him.

  “Point him out to me. Maybe he isn’t. Maybe he is. But we’re getting out of here alive tonight, alright?” His tone was soft, almost gentle, and Darcy froze, leaning into his touch for only a second. She pulled away.

  “Okay,” she breathed. Cash bumped into my shoulder, his arm slinging around my back. We always wanted to be close like this when the pack was in danger. Eli watched Darcy as she picked up her jacket she’d left slung over the green room couch earlier in the evening. “Let’s go to the merch table. If I see him, I’ll point him out, and you can sign some stuff for fans. We’re getting mobbed.”

  Charlie flashed us his screen, and I could see the notifications popping up over and over on it.

  “Hunters would pick right when we’re breaking to try and wreck our lives.”

  “They want us dead, I don’t think they really care about our record deal,” Cash deadpanned. Ace pulled away from me to join Darcy by the door.

  “I’m gonna go with them,” he said looking back at the three of us that remained. Eli had shrugged into his leather jacket, it wasn’t just a fashion choice but would offer extra protection in case a hunter decided a knife in the dark would be the prime way to get rid of a werewolf.

  “Ace,” Cash started but Ace shook his head hard.

  “I got this.” He curled a hand around Darcy’s shoulder. She looked so small next to him, but her shoulders were straight, and her back was stiff. Our girl was brave, I could almost hear the soft puffs of her breath coming fast and shallow. “C’mon.”

  Eli opened the door and the three of them left, leaving me, Cash, and Charlie to look at one another.

  “Nothing’s going to happen,” Charlie said.

  “This is fucking ridiculous,” Cash let loose, storming right up to the door before stopping short.

  “What are you going to do?” Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets. “You gonna go out there and take down a bunch of hunters, who knows how many, in the middle of a venue packed with kids?”

  Cash turned.

  “Why didn’t either of you tell them not to fuckin’ go? She shouldn’t be out there—"

  “Eli’s with her and so is Ace.”

  “Ace?!” Cash’s eyes flashed with anger. “Ace? You think Ace—"

  “Ace is a bigger threat than you think he is,” Charlie growled, stepping right up to Cash, muscles tight. “You keep pushing him around and calling him a kid, but he isn’t. He’s more than capable, and hunters aren’t going to make a scene in the middle of the show any more than we are. So calm the fuck down.” He was nose to nose with Cash, and for a split second I thought the two were going to go at it.

  Cash pulled away with a growl.

  “I know,” Charlie murmured. “I know.” He reached up and wrapped an arm around Cash’s head, pulling the other wolf down into a tight embrace.

  “Can’t lose him,” Cash whispered back.

  “And you won’t. C’mon. Stop growling and snapping. Let’s go sign some autographs, see if we can’t get a whiff of where these fuckers are at, okay?” Charlie pressed his cheek roughly against Cash’s, and they both went still for a long moment before pulling apart.

  “I hate when you’re all sensible and shit. You sound like Eli.” Cash opened the door and Charlie smirked, winking at me.

  “Don’t tell Eli that. I like it when he thinks I’m irresponsible. He makes me do less.”

  Twenty

  Darcy

  With Eli a pace in front of me, and Ace a half-step behind me, I should have felt safe. But I didn’t, not really. It wasn’t so much that I was worried on my behalf. I wasn’t a target, not from the threat that was looming all around us in the back halls of the venue. It was the guys. I felt like I was leading them to their deaths, but if they were bothered, neither guy showed it. Eli’s strides were long and loose, and he glanced at me only once over his shoulders, the strong lines of his face impassive and blank.

  Ace took a deep breath when we reached the end of the hall that would boot us out into the venue right next to the merch tables. His fingers snagged mine, and he lifted my hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss onto the inside of my wrist.

  “Why do you do that?” I asked, a wave of dizziness flushing over me that had nothing to do with my fizzing nerves and the lightning that crackled deep inside me.

  “Do what?” He frowned, letting my hand go.

  “You’re always kissing my hand, or my wrist, or just touching me there.” I didn’t pull away and he grimaced.

  “I didn’t mean to—"

  “It’s not bad,” I reassured him, “Just seems kinda weird.” His cheeks went pink and Eli chuckled. I turned to look at the older wolf. “What?”

  “He’s scent-marking you,” Eli said, his lips twisted into a wry grin.

  “Hey!” Ace blurted. Eli shook his head as his shoulders hitched with a low laugh.

  “He’s what?” I twisted to look back at Ace. His cheeks were flaming red by that point. “You’re making me smell?”

  “It’s not like that,” Ace stammered and glared over my head at Eli. “You had to make it weird.”

  “I’m not the one actually being weird,” Eli shot back, although he still sounded amused.

  “We’re going to talk about this later,” I said to Ace.

  “Nobody but other wolves can smell it,” Ace grumbled, hunching his shoulders for a moment before frowning. “Besides, it’s just… it’s what we do, to our mates, our pack. We mark each other, skin on skin, so everyone else knows who belongs to who.”

  “Belongs?” I asked, my voice pitching up with irritation. Ace�
��s eyebrows jumped up at the sound.

  “Put the shovel down, kid,” Eli said. “C’mon.” He grabbed my hand and pushed the door open. Sound washed over us, blaring in my ears. The pre-show music was loud, a heavy beat that thudded in my system, pulsing right deep down under my breast bone. Ace schlepped along beside me until I reached over and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back and I knew everything was going to be fine.

  I looked over the crowd, searching for Craig and his stupid hat, but couldn’t see it anywhere. Max hadn’t gotten back to me yet, hadn’t replied to any of the twenty frantic text messages I’d sent her asking what was up with Craig and were they still broken up and did she know where he was. She was going to think I was crazy, but that was fine with me as long as nobody died that night.

  Except the hunters. I was fine with them kicking it.

  “You see your friend’s guy?” Eli’s voice was a low rumble in my ear as we walked down the row of merch tables and stopped behind ours. There was a heavy cry that broke through the music as the fans realized two of the band had shown up and a smattering of applause. Eli stiffened for a moment, stepping in front of me. I could barely see around his broad shoulders.

  “Eli, this is Heather,” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible. My nerves were shuddering all over my body, anxiety knotting up my stomach. I didn’t see the girl who’d glommed onto Craig and I didn’t see him either. There were probably eight hundred people in the venue already, so that wasn’t exactly a surprise. I took a shaking breath as Heather, the merch girl from earlier, smiled at Eli.

  “It’s totally amazing to sell merch for you,” she said, holding out her hand. Eli gave her a quiet smile.

  “Thanks for all your hard work, Heather,” he said with a wink and I swore Heather nearly bit her lip. Well, Finn winking was enough to get me to drop my underwear, and Eli was pretty much no different. Heather had no idea that Eli could be a grouch when not in public-mode. “Make sure you pick out a shirt or something that you’d like, okay? We’ll all sign it for you.”

  “Yeah, whatever you want,” Ace said as he came up beside me, holding out his hands. “Ace.”

  “I know who you are, I’m a, well, I’m a really big fan, I guess,” Heather said, and now she really did bite her lip. I was going to have to tell the other guys later, y’know if we lived or whatever, because they’d absolutely love that Ace had out-shone Eli. Cash would never let Eli live it down.

  “I’ll let you two talk,” Eli said, smacking Ace on the back a little harder than necessary. Ace’s eyes flickered but he didn’t roll his eyes. Eli stepped away and I followed him.

  “What happened to sticking together?” I hissed at him.

  “We’re less than ten feet away.” Eli lifted his head to look across the crowd. “Besides, I can’t smell anything except the remnants of their scent on you. If they were here, in the room, I’d know it.”

  I let out a shaky breath.

  “Really? They’re not?” God that was a relief. Had Craig gotten freaked out I was there? Eli swung around to look at me and he raised one eyebrow. I held up my hands. “Gee, gosh, sorry for questioning your nose, Mister Salty.” Eli’s eyebrow settled back down to its normal furrowed-n-grumpy position on his face.

  “You get pretty sassy when you’re nervous,” he observed.

  “I’m not nervous,” I lied.

  “Bullshit,” his tone was flat and slightly amused. His eyes skipped over the crowd, ignoring the line of trembling girls that were staring at him with open admiration. I nudged him gently.

  “You’ve got fans.”

  “So, I do,” he sighed. “Text the guys and let them know it’s all clear for now. Don’t let your guard down, but just… don’t worry so much.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a felt pen. “I gotta go make some pretty ladies happy.” A broad smile crossed his face as he went from el-groucho to smooth and slick public version of Elias Gunner. I had to bite back a sigh. In my defense, his jeans were really tight, and we were safe for now, right? Even girls whose lives were under threat needed to check out a little bit of ass now and then.

  I leaned up against the back wall, the cool, painted cement brick leaching heat from me as I watched the crowds. Eli’s smile flashed as he talked and took selfies. Ace was still talking to Heather, pointing at something on her phone. I craned my neck to see. Cat memes. Of course. A flutter of affection sounded off in my chest as I watched them both, trying to keep an eye on each of them and the crowd at the same time.

  Craig didn’t surface, and after a few more minutes, one of the stage hands came to grab the boys so I didn’t have to be the bad-guy dragging them away from fans for their set. Ace gave Heather a big hug and she ruffled his hair. As he passed me, he threw me a questioning look, but I winked at him. I wasn’t jealous. Heather was sweet and Ace was nice to spend some time with her, but I knew that later that night, we’d all go back to the van and the guys would be mine. If this was going to work, all of us? I’d have to learn to deal with girls getting their hands all over my guys.

  “C’mon,” Eli murmured as he passed by with the stage hand. “I want you right off-stage where I can keep an eye on you.” He tucked me under his arm. A few phone cameras went off, the lights flashing in the dim room, but we were back out in the hall and away from the hazy, smoke-machine air in a second. Eli rubbed the scruff on his jaw as he pulled away from me, his fingers lingering on the back of my arm for only a second. I shivered.

  I heard the opening notes of the pre-programmed music that plays before the guys went on stage, as Eli gazed down at me.

  “Stay close, alright? And if anything happens, you get to safety. You get to Glory Rev and you stay with them. They're humans, and hunters won't think to look there. You'll be safe with them no matter what happens to us." Eli looked so serious, and my throat contracted hard.

  "Eli—"

  "No, no arguments, please, Darcy," he cut me off and reached up to my face for one moment. His fingers hovered by my cheek before he looked away and dropped his hand. "If anything happened to you, my brother would lose it."

  "I'll stay here," I said, not wanting to argue with him. He needed to go on stage and give the performance of his life. Maybe the last performance of his life. I closed my eyes to erase that thought from my mind. The hunters were gone. Eli had said so. I had to trust him. Cash brushed past me going to the stage, blowing me a cheeky kiss and breaking the moment. I turned to see Finn standing right behind me, his expression somber.

  "One for the road?" he asked, holding out his hand. Eli made a low noise, like a muted chuckle. I went to Finn and stood up on my toes, eyes sliding shut as his kissed me. His arm came around my waist as I clung to him tight, his tongue flicking in between my lips.

  "It's going to be fine," I whispered when I pulled away an inch to breathe. His eyes were closed tight and he nuzzled his cheek against my temple.

  "Mmph," he replied, not agreeing or disagreeing with me.

  "Finn," Eli called. Charlie chucked him on the shoulder, guitar in his hands already. A wireless pack was clipped to his belt. When had they upgraded their gear? I looked over at Eli and saw the same wireless pack on his belt too. They really must have done well on their merch sales. Finn still held onto me, pressing one last kiss to my forehead before he pulled away with reluctance.

  "Where's Ace?" I asked, as stage hands moved around us, the band pulling together, nearly circling me.

  "Here," he puffed, half out of breath, "sorry, had to use the john."

  Eli's eyes narrowed.

  "We stick together—"

  "Even to take a piss," Cash interjected, staring Ace down. "Take someone next time." Ace's jaw tensed, and he looked like he was going to argue before the stage manager buzzed up to us, a look of irritation on her face.

  "I don't give a shit how much you guys are blowing up Twitter right now, if you put my show behind schedule, I'll black bar you from all of our partner venues," she snapped, pointing at the stage. "You've
already missed three cues, and my guy had to loop your shitty ass—"

  "We got it," I said, squaring my shoulders as I faced her down. "Sorry, we had a last-minute set-list issue we needed to discuss. It's done. The guys are going."

  "Gone," Charlie said behind me, and they ran out onto stage. A second later the house music cut out, and Eli's guitar squealed through the monitors. I let out a breath of relief.

  "Sorry I was a bitch," the stage manager said after a moment as the deep chug chug chug of Charlie's rhythm guitar followed along. "I just—"

  "You're used to asshole bro-bands, I get it," I said, giving her a brief smile. "It's fine. They're good guys, really, we just had a problem. Kinda crazy stalker fan, it got to us." I lied easily and didn't feel bad about it. Anything to keep in her good graces and not get the guys barred from any venues. That wasn't the end of the world, but they couldn't afford to burn bridges. I felt a faint echo of pain behind my eyes. The music. The hunters. My family. It was like one crazy balancing act and I felt like I was about to fall over. All it would take was one shove from behind.

  "Bad fan, huh? I get it. Did you tell security?" She asked. I felt my face heat.

  "Uh..."

  She gave me a kind smile. She was older, her hair curlier than mine, in black spirals that corkscrewed around her face. There were fine lines fanning out from her eyes, but when she smiled she looked ten years younger.

  "I'll tell them. Do you have a description?"

  I exhaled. Sorry Craig... not sorry.

  Twenty-One

  Ace

  There’s never been a time that I haven’t wanted to play music, except for that night. Darcy was just off stage, and I could scent her, the smell of pack all around her. I wanted nothing more than to cancel our show and head back to the van and take off from the venue, to get us all to safety.

  But the show had to go on. My fingers ached, and I dug in hard to the beat, sweat dripping into my eyes. I flicked it away and looked over at Finn. He was right at the front, his voice soaring. I could tell he was tense as hell, but the crowd didn't notice. There were a lot more people pressed up right to the front of the stage than there ever had been before. I should have been excited, but the only thing going on in my stomach was dread.