Demon Sworn: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Witch's Rebels Book 3)

by Sarah Piper

  The three of swords had turned up in that same tarot reading. Was that the shadow man? Some terrible betrayal I’d yet to endure? To even suspect?

  I shivered at the thought, my whole body going cold.

  “It’s okay,” Ronan said softly, rubbing slow circles on my back. “We’re going home soon. Just breathe.”

  I relaxed back onto the leaves, letting him wrap his arms around me and nuzzle my neck. His body was warm and firm, his touch protective. We’d spent the night here with the others, all of us huddled together for warmth, but now there was just the two of us.

  “Where are Liam and Darius?” I asked.

  “Just checking things out at the pool. Sun’s almost up.”

  I nodded. Today was the day we’d all go home.

  So why did my heart feel so heavy?

  Ronan kissed my neck. “Better?”

  “A little,” I whispered, allowing myself a few minutes to sink into the pleasure of this moment, his arms around me, his breath stirring my hair.

  The pre-dawn sky was a pale shade of pink, the last of the stars winking out. All around us, white puffs of steam rose from the forest floor, the frost already beginning to melt.

  It wouldn’t be long until the sun was up. The pool would thaw, my gate would appear, and we would be on our way.

  “Do you think Asher’s okay?” I asked.

  Ronan was silent a few beats. Then he pressed a kiss to my shoulder and said, “I think if he wasn’t, we would know it. We’d feel it.”

  I nodded, but I wasn’t completely convinced.

  “I’ve seen Ash fight his way out of more fucked-up situations than a hunter prison,” he said. “And now he’s got something even more important to fight for. Someone.”

  This got a smile, and Ronan leaned in close, lowering his mouth to mine and feathering a gentle kiss across my lips.

  We got up gingerly, picking leaves out of each other’s hair and slowly warming up to the morning.

  “We good?” He pulled me into a hug and flashed a grin, but it wasn’t as good as his old ones, and it wasn’t enough to chase off the lingering cobwebs of my nightmare. I couldn’t stop thinking about the shadow man, the swords, the ending.

  I smiled at him anyway, tucking my head into the spot where his shoulder met his neck and telling myself it was just a bad dream. That this entire nightmare of Shadowrealm banishment, hunter prisons, and witch murders would soon be over.

  That we could actually make a life together where our toughest challenge wasn’t fighting off hunters or rescuing prisoners or breaking demon contracts, but simply finding a bed big enough to fit us all.

  It was a crazy dream, and I probably should’ve known better than to let it sneak past my heart’s defenses.

  But I could already feel it taking root. Blooming. A fragile, green bud shooting up from the darkness, seeking the light.

  Thirty-One

  Liam

  The sun had risen, the ice had begun to melt, and the bright blue runes on Gray’s gateway flickered faintly beneath the surface of the pool, just as Gray had predicted.

  “It’s almost time,” I told her. Ronan and Darius were just inside the woods, seeking the best place to open the hell portal. Once the ice fully melted and the gateway was accessible, we’d set our plan into motion. “Are you ready?”

  “I’m not sure.” Gray’s eyes were full of concerns, haunted by shadows. “I can’t shake the feeling that something’s just… off.”

  “It’s natural to have doubts, Gray. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before.”

  “Do you think we’re crazy to even try?”

  I considered her question. Thought about all the reasons why I might’ve said yes. Why I should’ve said yes.

  “There was a time I might have thought so,” I admitted.

  “And now?”

  “You’ve made it this far. You’ve beaten the odds at every turn. I think you’d be crazy not to try.”

  Gray’s smile felt like my own personal sunrise, a beautiful dawn I wasn’t sure I deserved to look upon. “Thank you, Liam. For everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know where I’d be without your guidance. Your friendship.”

  She took my hand, squeezing gently. That odd sensation in my chest took hold again, making my heart race. My heart. I could no longer call it Liam’s. After all this time in his body, I wasn’t sure I could separate the two.

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  I slipped away from her touch. Like her smile, I wasn’t sure I deserved it. “Everything I thought I knew about you, about your destiny… I was wrong, Gray. I’m afraid I’ve misled you at every turn.”

  “No, Liam. You haven’t. You couldn’t have known how things would turn out. None of us knew.” She laughed. “I mean, did you ever think I’d be here in the Shadowrealm, fully manifested? And that I’d find a way back to my own realm? Did you ever think I’d be free of Jonathan? That Ronan and Darius would be here with us right now?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  Her eyes turned mischievous, and she lowered her voice. “Did you ever think we’d kiss?”

  “No,” I whispered. I felt myself blushing, desperately wishing I could tell her how badly I wanted to kiss her again. How badly I wanted to take her in my arms like I’d seen the others do so many times, like it was the most natural thing in the world. How badly I needed to know that it meant as much to her as it had to me. That there might come a time where I would look upon her face and see the same look in her eyes that I’d seen that day on the beach.

  But I knew that time would never come. Not for us.

  “There’s something you need to know,” I said. The time had come. I could put it off no longer. “I’d always meant to tell you. I just… I truly thought we’d have more time.”

  “What is it, Liam? You know you can tell me anything.”

  I smiled softly, wrapping a lock of her hair around my finger. It was such a simple gesture, but it reminded me what it was like to be alive. Truly alive.

  “Your hair is like a sunrise,” I said. “Like pure golden light.”

  “Okay, now you’re scaring me.” She laughed, but the sound of it was tight and nervous, nothing like the beautiful music I’d grown to love.

  Tell her, you fool. Tell her before it’s too late.

  “Gray, I need you to understand something about me. I’m not—”

  “Liam. Gray.” Darius emerged from the woods. “Ronan is ready to open the hell portal.”

  I nodded once, then turned back to Gray. The last of the pool’s ice had melted, and now the runes glowed brightly.

  It was time.

  “To be continued?” She stretched up on her toes, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of my lips. “When we get back?”

  When we get back. She’d said it as if there was a place where we’d always belonged together, where I’d always been part of her life. A place where we’d be free to get to know each other. Maybe even fall in love.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it didn’t exist. Not for us.

  “I… Of course. To be continued.” I squeezed her hand and returned her gentle, trusting smile, hoping against the odds that I’d have the opportunity to explain everything before it was too late.

  Hoping I’d have the opportunity to confess.

  To apologize.

  And to beg her forgiveness, in this realm or the next.

  Thirty-Two

  Emilio

  “This isn’t just some black market fae magic Jonathan picked up on the streets,” I said to Elena. “Darkwinter are working with the hunters to hybridize supernaturals and create large-scale magical weapons. They’re planning an all-out war.”

  My sister set two mugs of coffee on the dining room table, taking the seat across from me. It was well after midnight. I’d just returned from my disastrous meeting with Talia, and she’d just returned from her office, but neither of us would be getting any sleep soon.

  “The situation is s
erious,” Elena said. “Finding the witches and the other hostages is paramount. Solving the murders is paramount. As is keeping an eye on the hunters and fae in the Cape.” She sipped her coffee, then met my eyes across the table. “But let’s try to keep things in perspective, Emilio.”

  “What perspective?”

  “One devil’s trap is hardly a large-scale magical weapon.”

  “No. It’s a prototype. As are his experiments. He’s torturing witches and supernaturals in order to create some kind of… super supernaturals.”

  “I’m not following.” She set down her mug, her fingernails clicking on the sides. “Is he trying to kill supers, or make them more powerful?”

  “I think he’s doing both.”

  “To what end, Emilio?”

  “What else? Power. Control.” I rose from the table, pacing once again. “Talia can no longer be trusted. I’m not sure any of them can. I’m telling you, Elena. This goes all the way up to the top.”

  “To the Council?”

  I nodded, but the pit in my stomach told me it went even beyond that.

  “You’re talking about a conspiracy,” she said.

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Think about it, Elena. If you wanted to weaken the supernatural communities, what’s the fastest way to go?”

  “Humans,” she said without hesitation. “Reveal our existence, paint us as the enemy that wants to eat their children and destroy their way of life, then arm them.” She shrugged, casually sipping her coffee as if we really were dealing in hypotheticals. “Nothing excites and unifies angry, repressed humans with too much time on their hands like finding a common enemy.”

  “Under normal circumstances, yes. But I asked about the fastest way.” I sat down again, pulling my chair closer to her. “Think about how long it would take to use humans. We’re talking about a mass scale here, not just some neighborhood punks taking out a few vampires or smashing up a fae club. Before they could roll out a widespread hate campaign against us, first they’d have to convince humans that we even exist at all. We’re talking months. Years.”

  Elena opened her mouth to argue—her default response with me—but then closed it, nodding. I could practically hear the pieces clicking into place in her mind.

  “Destroy us from the inside out,” she said suddenly. “That’s the fastest way. Turn all of us against each other, then sit back and watch us do the heavy lifting. Let us kill each other.”

  “Bingo.”

  “So how does a ragtag bunch of hunters and dark fae pull this off? Even with the Council looking the other way, they just don’t have the numbers for such a coordinated effort.”

  “The witches are key,” I said, “because taking them out gives these guys several advantages. First of all, it immediately upsets the power balance. Witches are guardians of magic, so their mere presence in a community helps keep things in balance. Remove them from the equation, and things start to go downhill real fast.

  “We’re already experiencing it in Blackmoon Bay. Soon after the murders, we got hit with a supernatural crime wave.” I told her about the vampire attacks, the vandalism, the arson, all the shit we were still trying to get a handle on back home.

  “And that’s just in the Bay,” I continued. “Picture the same thing happening in cities across the country. Across the world, even.” I remembered what Gray had said about what she’d read in Sophie’s book of shadows. “Some of the Bay Coven witches have thought for a long time that the hunters were joining forces again, possibly planning a more coordinated attack.”

  After doubting me for so long, minimizing this entire situation, Elena looked positively stricken.

  “Now you’ve got utter global chaos,” I continued. “Everything is completely destabilized. The few humans who did know about us—those who lived and worked alongside us—are now fearing for their lives, and with good reason. From there, it wouldn’t take much to get the rest of the humans on board with the fear campaign, but that would just be the icing on the cake. The real damage would’ve been done already. Done by our own people.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “God, Emilio. You’re right. When everything is completely destabilized and the humans are hiding in fear from the big bad monsters, the Council and their chosen few will sweep in and offer a so-called better way. Stability. Safety. They’ll re-establish the rule of law according to their own needs.”

  “Not just the Council and the chosen few,” I said. “But the hybrids they themselves created through their partnership with the hunters. They’ll have an army, Elena. They’re using the witches’ magic to create these uber-powerful supernaturals that have the best and strongest powers from each of us. Vampires that can shift into wolves, impervious to both hawthorn and silver? Shifters that can cast spells and travel to alternate dimensions? Demons that can resurrect themselves?”

  My sister gaped at me, fear flickering in her otherwise steely gaze. “Emilio, if Talia’s involved in all this, and you just made yourself her enemy—”

  The buzz of the doorbell startled us both.

  My sister took a deep breath, scenting the air.

  “One of yours?” I asked.

  “There’s no signature.”

  We got up together, both unholstering our guns at the same time, slowly creeping toward the door.

  “There’s no need for weapons,” a male voice said, so clear and refined it could only be fae. “I come as a friend from Blackmoon Bay.”

  With Elena backing me up, I cracked open the door to find a figure standing on the porch in a black cape, his hands held up in surrender.

  “I’m here on behalf of the few remaining fae who don’t wish to start an all-out war,” the visitor said. He lowered the hood on his cape, revealing his stark white hair and yellow eyes.

  “Jael?” I hadn’t seen the Seelie prince since I’d interviewed him at Illuminae right after Sophie’s murder, and seeing him here in Raven’s Cape, standing on my sister’s front porch like some kind of Halloween trick-or-treater… It was so out of context I didn’t know what the hell to do next. I was literally frozen, staring at him with my mouth open, my hand still tightly gripping my gun.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Detective Alvarez,” he said. “Not for any of us.”

  I scrutinized his face, noting the concern in his eyes. He was telling the truth.

  I stepped back, inviting him inside and quickly introducing my sister.

  “What brings you all the way out here?” Elena asked.

  “As much as I hate human colloquialisms,” Jael said, “I’m afraid your brother has just kicked the hornet’s nest.”

  Thirty-Three

  Gray

  Using Sophie’s dagger, Ronan sliced open his palm, squeezing blood onto the ground at the edge of the forest not far from the pool. The soft whisper of his demonic incantations floated on the breeze, making the blood glow a bright, blazing orange.

  He knelt down and pressed his palm flat against the ground.

  Light blasted outward from his touch, and the portal flickered into view in front of us, a great swirling hole that glowed the same blazing shade as his blood.

  “There she is. The way home.” Ronan got to his feet and cleaned the dagger, then handed it back to me.

  Sliding it back into the sheath I’d strapped to my thigh, I said, “So that’s it? You guys just… step into the light?”

  I peered inside, mesmerized. There was no beginning, no end. Only light. Infinite, blazing light.

  “Precisely.” Darius put a firm hand on my shoulder. “But I’d feel much better if you took a few steps back, love.”

  I did as he asked, rubbing a sudden chill from my arms. I didn’t want to get sucked into the hell portal—not when I was so close to getting back to my own realm.

  “Gray, the gate is ready,” Liam called. “The runes are in full view.”

  We joined him at the pool, the portal in full view. Beneath the water, my rune gate pulsed lightly, sti
rring the magic inside me. It felt like a ball of energy in my chest, and I took a deep breath, willing it to expand. To fill me.

  The same blue orbs burst to life on my palms, and I laughed, feeling lighter and hopeful. We were really doing this.

  The water swirled with color and starlight, just like it had yesterday. I dipped my glowing hands in briefly, then pulled back, watching the water spin into its lazy whirlpool. Moments later, it began to drain, revealing the stone archway that would lead us into my realm.

  “Are you sure you want to go first?” I asked Liam.

  “I must,” he said. “But I promise I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. Once we reunite there, we’ll need to shut it so nothing follows you through.”

  I nodded, remembering his warning about the memory eaters and feeding time. I did not want one of those beasts slipping into my magic place.

  “Then I guess this is goodbye,” I said. “For now.”

  I pulled Liam into a quick hug, but he held on a beat longer. When we finally broke apart, he looked into my eyes for one last moment, as if he were trying to memorize my face. He opened his mouth and took a breath, but then closed it.

  The water had completely drained. The magic faded from my hands.

  Without another word, Liam turned and climbed onto the stones surrounded the pool.

  Then he jumped, vanishing into the depths.

  “You’re next, vampire,” Ronan said.

  “Gray should go next,” Darius said. “I want to be sure she gets through.”

  “There’s no time for that. She can’t go through until we’re sure Liam’s through. As long as he doesn’t return, she’s good to go. In the meantime, you’re next.”

  Reluctantly, Darius agreed.

  We headed back to the portal, still blazing at the edge of the forest.

  “Safe travels,” Ronan said, offering Darius a brief nod before stepping aside to give Darius and me some privacy.