Pursued: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Beasts of Edgewood, Book 3)

by Danica Rayne

  She instructed me to use my index like she had. But just as I was about to, Kayden said, “Alivia…are you sure about this?”

  I glanced from him to the others. All of them held regretful expressions on their faces. “I guess you guys will have to get used to my new face. Don’t worry, it won’t be so bad.”

  I signed the agreement.

  With a satisfied smile, the witch shook her hand, and the scroll was replaced with a dark blue vile. “You’ll just have to add your blood to the potion for it to be complete. Now listen carefully. You must drink the potion and chant the spell in less than five minutes. If you miss you chance, it’s gone. No hesitation, you understand?”

  I nodded, my heart beating so rapidly I felt it in every part of me.

  “You must stand before the portal,” she instructed. “Drink the vial and perform the spell. I already put the words in your head. It’ll come to the surface as soon as you swallow the potion.”

  “Okay. I understand.”

  “And you must return to me as soon as the portal is closed, per our agreement. No more than a day or you’ll face the consequences.”

  I nodded.

  She removed the cuffs from Liam and the muzzle and leash from Ryker. “Now go before it’s too late.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The guys and I were quiet as we left the building, past Agnes’s daughter, who looked at me with a sorry expression on her face. I didn’t want to think about the agreement I had just made with the witch. All that mattered was that I held the potion in my hand.

  “It wasn’t necessary,” Liam complained as he led us toward the tall building we’d take off from. “She was just being a jerk.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I stalked past him.

  He gently grabbed hold of my arm. “You shouldn’t have agreed. Keeping the world safe from demons is just as much her responsibility as yours. She just took advantage of the situation.”

  I yanked my arm free. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “But I do! We should march right back in there and demand she dissolve the contract.”

  “It’s just my face! I don’t care about it.”

  “Yes, you do. It’s not only your face. It’s you. Your mom is in your face. Your dad is. Why should you have to lose it all because an ugly witch wants to be pretty?”

  “Liam, what did I just say?”

  He threw his hands up. “Why are you being so passive about this?”

  I pressed my hands to his chest, forcing him a few feet away. “Because I know what’s important. And my physical appearance is a small sacrifice for saving Edgewood. I didn’t know you’re so shallow, Liam.”

  “I’m not! This isn’t about looks.” He stepped closer, taking hold of my arms. His temperature was higher than usual due to his anger. “You know how much I love you. But it’s the principle of the matter. She wants to take something from you. A big part of you, something you can never get back. She had no right.”

  My hands fisted and I slammed them on his chest. “Why are you making me feel worse than I already do?!” I demanded as tears burst out of my eyes. “You think I wanted to give up my face? How do you think I’ll live with myself? I’ll never want to look in the mirror.”

  “See, that’s what I wanted. For you to show emotion. Show us how you’re really feeling.”

  “This is what you want?” I continued pounding my fists on his chest. “You want to see me like this?”

  Finn’s arms wrapped around my waist and gently plucked me away from Liam. It’s okay, Alivia, he said gently. He spun me around and lowered my face on his chest. Cry on me.

  I didn’t want to break down like this, but Liam was right. I was holding everything in, trying to be brave, not wanting to admit to anyone—and especially myself—how hurt I was.

  “You don’t have your voice anymore,” my muffled voice said.

  He shrugged.

  “I’m going to mess up your shirt.”

  He laughed softly in my mind. I couldn’t care less about my shirt right now. His hand gently stroked my hair.

  I stayed like this until my breathing grew under control and my eyes dried up. I pulled away from him, giving him a thankful smile, then faced the others. “I guess I needed that. Sorry. Don’t we have a portal to close?” I held up the blue vial.

  Ryker stepped forward, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Stop trying to be brave in front of us. Tell us what’s going on in your head.”

  “We don’t have time for this.”

  “Yes, we do,” Ryker said. “I’m not leaving this place until I know you’re okay.”

  “Ryke, I am okay.”

  “I say we return to the witch and have a word with her,” Liam said.

  “Let it go, Liam,” I said in a defeated tone. “The agreement’s been signed. I have the potion. This is a win. I’m too exhausted to care right now. Let’s just shut the portal.”

  He was about to refute, when I said, “Enough, okay? Just enough. This was my decision, not yours, not Ryker, not Finn’s, not Kayden’s. I don’t care if you didn’t agree with it. You’ll just have to accept it.”

  I turned away and headed toward the apartment building.

  The guys followed, none of them saying anything. But then Liam caught up to me. “I’m sorry, Alivia. I didn’t mean to make you feel worse than you already do. It just hurts to see you in pain.”

  “I’d really appreciate if we didn’t talk about this.”

  “Understood.”

  I pulled the door open and stalked inside. It was a good thing no one caught us sneaking up to the roof, because I was in no mood to deal with this right now.

  “Straight flight to Edgewood,” Liam said halfheartedly as he crouched on the ground and spread out his arms.

  Just as he was about to shift into a dragon, I felt a presence behind me. I whirled around to discover a form standing across the roof. The others quickly turned around, too. My eyes widened. “It’s a wraith.”

  “A wraith?” Kayden asked. “Why would a wraith come after us?”

  I couldn’t see its face well because of the hood over its head, couldn’t tell if it was hostile. I thought back to the info I had read in The Book.

  Wraith.

  A supernatural spirit doomed to roam the shadow world for eternity. Usually non-hostile, but may attack when provoked. Some have been known to drain the energy from humans, but that is a rare occurrence. Rarely do they reveal themselves in the human world

  Level of danger: Mild.

  It just stared at us. What the heck did it want? I was about to turn my back on it and tell Liam to shift, but then it swooped toward me. I was surrounded by black smoke, so thick I couldn’t see the guys. When it dispersed, I found myself no longer on the roof of the apartment building but in a strange area.

  It was blank, that was the only way to describe it. No trees, no sky, no ground. It was like standing in a white room. But every so often, a form flew passed me so fast I could barely see what it was. Another wraith? Another spirit?

  But then something came into my view. The apartment building, and the guys standing on the roof.

  “That was weird,” I said as I ran over to them. “What was that black smoke?”

  “Um, where did she go?” Liam asked.

  “Alivia?” Ryker called.

  “Yeah?” I said.

  “I’ll see if I can catch her scent.” Ryker walked right through me as his head moved quickly from right to left. He sniffed a few times. “I’m not picking her up at all.”

  “Hello!” I waved my arms. “I’m over here.”

  The guys continued scanning the area, their faces growing more panicked and uneasy.

  “Ryker?” I asked as I stepped closer to him and touched his face. My hand passed right through him.

  He was staring straight into my face, but his eyes weren’t focused on me. His eyebrows creased with concern as he continued to sniff. “Did that wraith take her?”


  “Alivia?” a familiar voice said from behind me. I spun around and caught sight of the wraith standing a few feet away. The hood still shielded the face, but the voice sounded female. I’d heard it before, but I couldn’t place it because it was echoed.

  “What do you want from me?”

  She lifted her hands to her face and flicked off the hood.

  “Mom?” I gasped.

  At least, I thought it was my mother. It looked like some distorted version of her, not terribly horrific but not the beautiful woman she once was.

  Nodding, she gave me a smile, one I remembered so vividly.

  “Mom!” I raced toward her and threw my arms around her. But I fell right through, to the ground.

  “Alivia.” She was on the floor next to me, her hand raised like she wanted to touch me. But then she lowered it to her side.

  I raised my head. “I can’t touch you?”

  She pressed her lips together, shaking her head. “I’m only a spirit, honey. I don’t have a physical body.”

  This close, I was able to get a good look at her. She wore a dark cloak, the matching hood hanging off her back. The lower half of her body didn’t have legs, exactly, it was just shadowy. The hands sticking out of the sleeves were bony. Her skin was gray, her brown eyes dull and empty, not having flecks of gold and violet. Her hair still carried the same waves, just like mine, but they weren’t brown with golden highlights but the color of ash.

  “Alivia!” Liam called, cupping his hands over his mouth. “Where are you?”

  “Your friends are worried,” she said.

  “Where am I?”

  “The shadow world,” she explained. “Where souls who haven’t passed on roam. With the pillars down, it was easy for me to slip into the world of the living and bring you here with me, but only for a short while.”

  That was why the guys couldn’t see me. It was like I was looking at them through a glass window.

  “Can I tell them I’m okay?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid not.”

  I couldn’t handle them freaking out about me like this.

  “Let’s go somewhere quiet to talk,” Mom suggested, leading me to the other side of the roof. “You’ll see your friends again soon.”

  We sat facing each other, though Mom wasn’t exactly sitting, just hovering close to the ground.

  “So…you really have been with me all this time,” I said. “Watching over me.”

  She brought her hand to my head to stroke my hair, but her hand passed through. The gesture was familiar, though. I could almost feel her skin on mine.

  “You saw everything?” I asked. “My coming to Edgewood, learning I was a slayer. Training and killing supernaturals.” My eyes widened when a memory played in my head. “I saw your face in the hellhound’s fire.” Then I tore my gaze from hers. “You were disappointed in me for leading him straight to the last pillar.”

  “No, Alivia. I wasn’t disappointed in you. I was worried. I felt guilty. I wanted to reach you, but I didn’t know how. Before the pillars came down, I couldn’t see much into your life, only bits and pieces. But as soon as the first pillar was destroyed, the barrier between the shadow world and the world of the living grew thin, making it easier for me to see into your world. And with the destruction of the last pillar, the barrier between our worlds was vulnerable, which made it possible for me to show myself to you. Alivia…” She leaned closer like she wanted to gather me in her arms, but then sat back. “I’m so sorry for keeping such a big secret from you. I never wanted this life for you. That’s why I ran. I knew that if had a child, she’d be female and have to continue the legacy. I just wanted to give you the best life possible.”

  “I know. I’m not mad at you. I just miss you so much.” Tears welled up in my eyes and rained down my cheeks. “And it sucks that I can’t touch you.”

  She covered her mouth with her bony hand and turned away from me. Even though tears didn’t drip down her cheeks—maybe because she was a wraith—I knew she was crying. I never liked seeing my mother cry.

  I moved as close as possible to her, hoping the proximity would give her the comfort she desperately needed. These past two months must have been so awful for her, doomed to live a lonely life in this empty place, only seeing glimpses of her loved ones.

  “Is dad stuck here, too?” I asked.

  “No, he’s moved on. It’s just me here. Alivia…” Her eyes bore into mine. “I don’t know how much longer we have together. I owe you an explanation and an apology.”

  “What? No—”

  “Yes. My darling, you’re growing up to be ten times the slayer I was. My first instinct was to escape, but yours is to protect. And because of my actions, you’re now paying the price.”

  “Mom—”

  “It was all for you,” she said in a pained voice. “After my mom’s death, I was filled with so much anger. Such rage. I wanted to kill every supernatural in the world. I woke up every morning and went to sleep every night with my heart beating with revenge. Nothing else mattered but making supernaturals pay for what they did to my mom. I wasn’t a person. I was just an empty vessel. But one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. Killing supernaturals didn’t make me feel good. It didn’t give me the peace of mind I needed. I wanted to be the person I was before my mom’s death, to be happy again instead of drowning in grief. To try to move on and build a life for myself. But I knew that couldn’t happen as long as I lived in Edgewood. So I decided to walk away. I was so desperate to be happy again that I didn’t think things through. I knew deep in my heart that I would have a daughter one day—you, Alivia. Everything I did, all my thoughtless actions, it was all because I wanted to give you the best life possible.”

  Tears gathered in my eyes again. There was nothing but love laced in her words.

  “Of course I couldn’t leave Edgewood unprotected. So I sought out the witch. I thought it was the perfect plan—repair the weak spots in the barrier and close the spawn point permanently. Edgewood would be free of supernaturals. I didn’t tell the witch the whole truth because I worried she wouldn’t agree to help me.” She shook her head. “It all backfired. Of course I didn’t know any of this until I woke up in the shadow world. But by then, I couldn’t do anything.” She once against stroked my hair—virtually, anyway. “I’m sorry, sweetie. You shouldn’t have to clean up my mess.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mom,” I said. “You were trying to seek a better future.”

  “But I am! The pillars are down because of me.”

  “And I’ll fix them. I’ll close the portal and restore the pillars. It’ll all be over soon.”

  “Oh, Alivia. You’re so brave and confident. I’ve never been prouder. And I know your dad would be proud, too.”

  “Did he know about your past? That you were a slayer?”

  She nodded. “I told him the night he proposed. But I thought it was all behind me. I never imagined…” Her voice choked up.

  I slid my hand into hers, but like before, it just passed through. “I wish you wouldn’t torture yourself like this, Mom. You made a mistake. That’s okay. I don’t care what the witch said—we’re not perfect and we do make mistakes. We just have to fix them.”

  She smiled sadly. “You’ve matured so much these past two months. You’re growing up to be a remarkable young woman.”

  “Mom…”

  “I really mean it, Alivia. I love you so, so much. It was my extreme love for you that drove me to do what I did.”

  “And it’s my extreme love for you that will help me close the portal and repair the pillars. And…” My voice trembled. “I’ll see you here one day. We’ll finally be able be together again.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  I gestured to the area around us. “You’re here because the darkness in your soul is preventing you from moving on. You were turned into a wraith. When I die, I’ll turn into one, too, and live in the shadow world. You won’t be alone anymore.”

>   She shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t be like you imagine. We wouldn’t be able to interact with each other the way we’re doing now. We’d be lucky if we even saw each other.”

  “What?”

  “Have you seen any other wraiths here?”

  “Um…I guess not.”

  “We only catch small glimpses of each other from time to time. You’re truly alone here.”

  “Oh.” I lowered my gaze to my lap.

  “But this won’t be your fate, honey,” she said.

  My eyes sprang to hers. “What?”

  “My heart wasn’t protected from the darkness because I didn’t have the power of love. Well, I did have the love of my sister. But not the love of a soulmate, which is the most powerful love there is.”

  “What are you saying?” I asked.

  She nodded to the left, where the guys were huddled together, still freaked by my disappearance. I even heard bits and pieces of their conversation—they were wondering if they should head back home and tell Aunt Bea about my disappearance or if they should stay back here and hope I return.

  “You have your boys,” she said.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Love,” she said. “You have their love. All four of them. Combined, it will provide you with the strongest protection there is. Your soul will be untouchable.”

  “So you’re saying…I won’t turn into a wraith. I won’t come here?”

  She shook her head. “Your soul will remain pure.”

  “But…but that isn’t fair. Why do you have to be stuck here forever while I get off so easily?”

  “I don’t care what happens to me, my darling. All that matters is that you won’t be doomed to the same fate. You’ll continue living your beautiful life once this is over. Your beautiful life with those wonderful boys.”

  I searched her eyes. “You’re not…weirded out about it? That I have four boyfriends?”

  “No.”

  I gave her a face. “You can’t fool me, Mom.” I looked around. “You’ve been stuck here for too long. Who knows what kind of affect that’s having on you? I hate that you’re stuck here. It’s not right.”

  “Alivia, my brain is still as strong as it was when I was alive. That’s part of the curse, to live with your memories for all eternity. The truth is, of course I would be concerned with you having four boyfriends. But this is right for you. They are right for you. I’m not sure about a lot of things right now, but I’m absolutely certain about this. You guys are one, one soul, and that’s the reason you will fight off the darkness.”