I didn't turn around but knew the two men had shifted from the soft panting behind me. Deep inside me, there was a part that really wanted to look. To run my fingers through their pelts and enjoy the silky feeling against my hands. But now wasn't the time for that. If I had my way, we'd never have the time for that. It would mean accepting what I'd so far managed to avoid thinking about...much.
"Three, two, one..." I counted to myself more than them, before letting my magic unleash and curl its way into the lock. I felt the click in the lock as it did it's work and sighed with relief. I didn't use my powers nearly enough to be completely sure about their effectiveness anymore.
I jumped back from the door just as it swung open, revealing Ruairidh standing in the middle of the frame. Ah, good. He'd been waiting outside for me to use my powers then.
"Oops." I giggled slightly, feigning an innocence I certainly didn't feel. "It appears you let the dogs in."
His face drew together in confusion, before he glanced behind me at the two wolves I knew were waiting.
"What did you do to them?" Ruairidh demanded.
"Nothing," I responded honestly. "They just saw a damsel in distress and wrongly thought she needed help with the rescue."
"Obviously you did," he pointed out.
I shook my head. "Just because I didn't, doesn't mean I couldn't escape. I've always had the power to." I clicked my fingers, making bronze light and leaves dance over my fingertips.
Ruairidh's eyes fixated on the magic, a greedy expression crossing his face. This was a man who wanted what I had. Whether because he wrongly thought I could bring balance back to the world with my powers, or because he wanted to have that much power, I wasn't so sure. My guess was the latter disguised as the former. He didn't seem like the helpful type.
"Then why didn't you?" he sneered, though I could sense the true curiousness in his tone. He wanted an explanation for what I was doing. Probably because it didn't match up with any of the motivations he'd experienced in his life.
"I'm a very stubborn woman. Once I get it in my head that I don't want to do something, it takes a lot for me to actually accept it and move on." I shrugged like it was of little importance. That was a lie to myself though. I just didn't want to accept that my stubbornness had been on its way to getting me killed. I should really work on that.
Ruairidh's gaze raked over me, trying to size me up no doubt.
"Is there a reason you're just standing there?" I prodded. Though admittedly, the wolves and I were doing exactly the same thing. But I was reluctant to hurt anyone. I knew why I wasn't attacking, and I was pretty sure the wolves were just taking their cues from me. I liked that. It made me feel like I was in charge. Like an alpha on a power trip...now there was a heady thought.
"I'm just waiting."
"For what?" I cocked my head to the side.
My eyes widened as I heard voices down the hall. Damn my non-violent side. Why was I so insistent on stalling when my life was in danger? This was the flat and letting the woman in all over again.
Well, I wouldn't wait any longer.
Summoning my magic, I gave an all mighty push, hoping it would knock Ruairidh off his feet and out of the way. Not that it happened quite like that.
He stumbled but caught himself against the wall before he properly fell. Damn it. More power needed next time then.
I was about to throw more at him when one of the wolves jumped forward. Ruairidh yelped and hopped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sharp teeth. The wolf snapped again, a low growl slipping from him at the same time.
Oddly, I didn't find the sight particularly scary. Maybe it was because Mika and Jacob had talked to me first. Or maybe it was just because deep down I knew Ruairidh wanted to hurt me. It was hard to tell, and now really wasn't the time to examine it too much.
The voices drew closer, and I knew I needed to do something. The second wolf padded up to my side and nudged my hand with his head. As if by instinct, I rest my hand there and ruffled his fur. It was softer than I expected. Without quite knowing how, I just sensed that this wolf was Mika and the one occupying Ruairidh was Jacob, but I didn't want to examine that feeling too closely. I didn't like what it could mean for me.
I lifted both of my hands and formed a cup shape, pulling up a spell I hadn't used since I was little. It wasn't a dangerous one, but it did create a massive mess, which might be just what we needed in order to distract the backup coming to Ruairidh's aid.
Fleetingly, I caught myself wondering what kind of creatures all the men here were. I assumed there was at least one witch among them, but that could quite easily have been Demi. What her role was, I didn't know, but she'd been good at playing the innocent.
With enough magic now stored up, I let it go, filling the corridor with soft light and an avalanche of golden leaves.
The men down the corridor began to slip and slide over them, looking somewhat comical in the way they were flailing about.
"Alright, boys, it's time to go," I told my wolves.
Except...my wolves? When had I decided they were mine? I shook my head, ridding myself of the errant thought. I didn't have time for that now.
Jacob snapped his jaw at Ruairidh, making the other man flinch back. I wasn't going to lie to myself, I quite liked seeing him squirm.
I turned away from all three of the men and prepared myself to run down the hall. My wolves bounded along at my side. I liked them there, it felt right, almost as if they were part of me and not two different and sentient beings.
Having no idea where we were actually going, I trusted my gut, turning left and right as the corridors dictated. This place was even bigger than I thought it was, which just raised more questions about the witch and how the hell they were powering such a building. If I guessed right, then it must be nearly draining them of their powers. Safe to say, I didn't want to be in their position.
I froze in my tracks once we reached a large door with a padlock on it.
"Why aren't there any other people about?" I asked my wolves, not expecting them to actually answer. They could shift back, but I suspected that would leave them rather exposed. It might make for a better view than a locked door though.
I reached out and cupped my hand around the lock, pouring my magic into it. The metal rattled in my hand as the pieces inside began to move. Satisfaction welled up inside me. It'd been too long since I'd been able to do something like this.
I let the padlock fall to the floor, the heavy clunk sounding throughout the corridor. Oops. Maybe not my best move. Letting people know where we were was never good.
Yanking the door open, I ushered the wolves in ahead of me, and slipped in behind. I pulled the door closed behind us, taking more care about my noise level this time. I really didn't want to give us away.
I turned around slowly, a gasp escaping me as I took in the room surrounding us.
"Shit," I muttered.
Beside me, the wolves shifted back into their human forms, revealing I'd been right about which wolf was which man. And that it was a very good view to have them back in this form. Between the two of them, there were a lot of toned muscles and smooth skin. I could get used to looking at that.
"Is this..."
"You didn't know what was here?" There was an annoying squeak coming from me as I stopped talking, but I didn't want to think about that too much.
"No," Jacob answered, the horror at what he was seeing plain on his face. I was pretty sure the look was mirrored on my own.
"How are they doing it?" I whispered.
"Necromancy, I think," Mika answered, taking a step towards one of the many witches strapped to the wall and looking more than a little bit dead.
"Then how..."
"My guess is that they find the witches, kill the witches, then reanimate them so they can use their powers."
"Would that even work?" It didn't sound like it should, yet the evidence was most definitely in front of my eyes.
"I'm going to go for yes." Ja
cob's face had turned from horrified, to white as a sheet. He wasn't taking this well.
"Is this what they were going to do to me?" I whispered.
"I don't know," Mika replied instantly. "But we weren't going to let that happen."
I hardened my eyes as I looked at him. he knew as well as I did that if they'd been just a little bit later, then that might not have been a choice.
"I don't think so though," Mika added. "They know what you are. They wouldn't waste a fae on..."
"But it's okay to waste a witch?" I demanded, my voice hard. "In this world, any life snuffed out is a waste."
"I know, Rhianna, that's not what I meant."
I tapped my foot, waiting for him to elaborate and dig himself a bigger hole than he already had. I could help him along, but he seemed to be doing a good job all on his own.
"It's not what he meant," Jacob tried.
Wrong decision. That was just the way to get him on my shit list too. I turned my glare to him, but instead of making him recoil, it made him take a step forward.
"Rhianna, it's not," he tried. "Of course every life is important. Of course witches are just as important as fae. Everyone is."
Weirdly, considering that made me of as little importance as everyone else, his words soothed me a little bit. I could deal with that. If we were going to rebuild society, then we'd need everyone we could get to make that happen. And if the immense power in this place was anything to go by, then witches were definitely people we needed. But preferably alive. Unfortunately, witches were by far the most fragile of the paranormals. Not like shifters who seemed to be the most common race to survive.
"What can we do for them?" I tried to fight back the tears that were forming, but every time I looked down the line of witches and realised there were even more than I could see, I had to stop.
"I don't think there's anything," Mika responded, running a finger over a gauge by one of the bodies. "I think they're already gone."
As much as I didn't want to, I took a few steps over to see what he was looking at. Bile rose in my throat as the writing next to the gauge became clear.
"How could they?" I whispered.
"The end of the world makes the good people better and the bad people worse," Mika replied.
"I find that hard to believe."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at me, making me rethink my words. Was it hard to believe?
"In the most basic terms, I guess so?" I tried. "But no one is ever truly good or bad. We all have some shades of grey."
"An academic, I see." A smile broke through his sober expression.
"Not exactly. I never got to finish my studies."
"That's a shame, you'd have gone far," he replied.
"Thanks."
We stood in silence for a few moments, the tension between us kind of enjoyable. Other than the dead bodies all around.
"We have two choices," Jacob announced.
"Well?" I asked, after realising he was waiting for us to pay attention to him.
"We either unplug every single witch in here, or we blow it up."
"How on earth are we going to blow it up?" I was completely bewildered by that suggestion.
Jacob waggled his eyebrows at me. "With magic, of course."
Chapter Four
"I still don't know how this is going to work," I pointed out as Jacob pointed out the places he wanted me to hit with my magic.
"It might not, but it's worth a try."
I gave him a withering look, trying not to let my gaze stray downwards at his still naked glory. I really wish they'd put their clothes back on. "There is no try. The only reason we haven't been caught yet is because they have no idea where we are. We can't go giving that away by blowing all kinds of stuff up."
"Not true. We can give them a distraction."
"And how are we going to do that? Are either of you hybrids?" I demanded.
"Not yet," Mika replied.
I frowned. What did he mean by that? No one could be a hybrid unless their parents were two kinds of paranormal. He either was one or he wasn't.
"You seem confused," Jacob offered.
"I am." The honesty was unintentional, but hopefully it would get them to explain themselves.
"Don't play coy, Rihanna. You know as well as I do what I mean," Mika said.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no." I shook my head and took a few steps backwards. "I know what you're thinking, and that's not it." I wouldn't accept it. I couldn't accept it.
"Then how do you know what I'm thinking?" Mika raised an eyebrow.
"Because you're a man."
He laughed lightly. "It doesn't work like that, Rhianna, and you know that."
I stuck out my bottom lip, still trying to deny the truth in what he was saying to me.
"I'll drop the whole subject if you do one thing," Mika promised.
"What?" I was a little intrigued. He shouldn't be able to drop it. Just like I wasn't actually able to stop thinking about it.
"Kiss me."
My world spun around as the word 'no' rested on the tip of my tongue but wouldn't leave it. A very very real part of me wanted his kiss, and it was impossible for me to ignore that little voice.
"Okay. But please put some clothes on first." The words slipped out before I fully realised what I was saying. Thankfully, the wolves actually listened, pulling on the clothes Mika had apparently been carrying in a bag on his back while in wolf form. "You really have a way of picking moments. A room full of dead witches isn't the most romantic," I muttered, more to myself than them.
He scoffed. "Maybe not, but if it helps us get the job done..."
"I doubt you're going to gain any of my powers from one kiss. It doesn't work like that."
"Ah, so you do admit we're mates?"
Mates.
The word I'd been avoiding. It had so much meaning. So much finality. So much confusion if I was honest with myself.
My gaze flickered to Jacob. "Err..."
"I'm your mate too," he said, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal. "So are Zeke and Charlie."
"Charlie?" I squeaked, trying not to focus too hard on the fact they were suggesting I had four mates and that my inner self was nodding along with that and purring like a cat who had the cream.
"The other wolf," Mika answered. "Now, kiss and we'll stop talking about us being mates?" he tried.
I nodded and took a step towards him. If this is what it would take to shut him up, then I was more than willing to do it.
He closed the gap between us. His scent filled my senses, making me crave his closeness and his touch.
Uh-oh. This wasn't going to end well for me if I still wanted to deny our bond after this.
Mika reached out a hand and brushed his fingers against my cheek softly. I leaned into his touch ever so slightly, but still enough that we both realised I'd done it.
"We don't have to do this," he whispered, but I could hear the disagreement in his voice. He wanted this. Badly. Maybe even as much as I did myself.
Instead of answering, I pressed my body against his, melding to his shape. We fit perfectly. Though that wasn't a surprise, and I knew I'd find myself fitting just as well with Jacob when the time came, despite his bigger size.
Our lips met and warmth rippled through me. Mika's hand rested on my lower back, pulling me even closer to him, if that was even possible. A small moan slipped from me as his lips moved against mine.
"Ahem," Jacob interrupted, making us jump apart in shock. His intention no doubt. "As much as I enjoy watching the two of you together, here really isn't the place."
"Jealous?" Mika grinned, his arms snaking back around me. Despite my better instincts, I didn't pull away and just let him do it.
"Not at all. I know I'll get my turn."
"I'm not a toy to be passed back and forth," I protested. My heart wasn't in it though. There was something almost appealing about having both of them. Well, all four of them.
"We know," Mika assured me. "
There'll be no playing unless you say so." He trailed his hand downwards and gave my ass a squeeze.
I squeaked, not knowing how else to deal with that. I'd avoided anything more than a night with a man or two in the past. Relationships weren't really my thing. Too much effort for me to keep up with.
"But we do need a plan for how to disable this." Jacob waved his hand around the room.
Oddly, my head seemed to have cleared a little by kissing Mika. If he had that effect on me, then the wolf could kiss me any time he wanted. "What about not blowing it up," I suggested.
"How does that help?"
"I hate to point this out, but we're not exactly prepared right now." I gestured to the two still-topless wolves and then down at my own ragged and destroyed clothes.
"True," Mika acknowledged. "But what do you suggest?"
I paced a little, thinking of the best way to explain what I was thinking.
"We agree this place needs to be shut down, right?"
"Yes," Jacob answered while Mika nodded.
"And that three people who only have the clothes on their backs aren't best prepared to take out a whole facility?"
"No, we're not."
"Then what if we don't?"
"I'm not sure I follow," Jacob said. "Care to explain?"
I sighed. "What if we took out the power, escaped, and then came back to deal with the rest?"
Understanding dawned on their faces, which was pretty fun to watch, I had to admit.
"How do you suggest we do that?" Mika asked.
"I think I can set up a magical tap that will cut off the supply from the witches." I hoped after that they could rest in peace, I was already feeling guilty about not being able to give them a proper burial. But ultimately, these witches were already dead and the best thing we could do to keep more from dying was to get out of here and regroup.
"And then we escape during that time?" Jacob asked.
"Yes. Though we'll probably need a distraction."
Hers From The Start: A Collection of First In Series Reverse Harem Page 3