Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection

by Nikki Bolvair

  Nerves twisted in my stomach, unsure of what was coming.

  With one hand holding Colton’s and the other holding the memory apple, we followed everyone to the center of the orchard where we circled around a Celtic symbol on the ground. Sadly, the only thing I could compare it to was the old fashioned electric stove tops with the metal burners. Not like the glass ones we have today. Imagine three of those burner’s circles put together to form a triangle that had been burned into the dirt with fresh grass surrounding it. That was what I looked at, but Philip wasn’t there.

  Before I could ask where his body was, Hale leaned in to explain. “This is where we send our loved ones’ bodies back into nature and release their spirits. The symbol you’re looking at is called a Triskele. It’s the Celtic symbol for the flow of nature. When ready, the council will shim Philip across the two bottom circles. All of us will let our light shine, opening the doorway for Mother Nature to take back what’s hers. The third circle is where Philip’s spirit will go free.”

  I swallowed, a shiver racing up my spine. “Will we see it happen? See him?”

  Colten gave my hand a quick squeeze. “All you have to do is watch.”

  Patrick and Saul shimmed in along with Gaston and Myra. Together they took hold of each others’ hands and light glowed around them until Philip appeared right where Hale said he would.

  “Too young, too soon.” Myra’s voice echoed throughout the place. I shivered, agreeing.

  “Still full of life.” Saul followed. Philip definitely was spunky from what I saw.

  “Humble and true.” Patrick stated, following the other two.

  Gaston spoke last. “Strong and wise.”

  Then there were voices all around, softly calling out things. Friend, good student, ice cream lover, joker, great football player, kind. It went on until the words I waited for caught my heart strings.

  “Brother, son and twin.” My gaze slanted over to his family who stood there hugging as tears streamed down their faces.

  I didn’t know why or what prompted me to do it, but the words tumbled from my lips. “Loved. He was loved.”

  Mrs. Everly’s gaze caught mine, and she gave me a wobbly smile and nod. No one spoke after that. Colten let go of my hand and put his palm facing toward the center where Philip was resting. Everyone did the same. They started to chant a phrase over and over as light came out of their hands, reaching toward the symbol on the ground. Branches emerged from the ground to wrap and intertwine around Philip, covering him, and he started to sink.

  The branch cocoon slowly vanished until only the symbol remained. My breath caught when, moments later, a luminescent glow rose from the third circle, and Philip stood there. He nodded toward me before mouthing, “I love you,” to his family.

  Then he disappeared.

  I sucked in a breath, shaken by the events. “Where did he go?”

  “Into the ground,” Colten answered.

  The glowing hands dropped, and Hale took my hand this time.

  I shook my head. “No, his spirit. Where did he go?”

  “Wherever the Spirit Whisperer has need of him. His time might be done here, but on the other side, there’s always work to be done,” Hale explained.

  I swallowed back the tears that prickled beneath my eyes. Hale gave me another comforting squeeze while Baxter and Zander, who stood behind me, gave comfort by just being there. Mom and Henry appeared beside me, along with Kenneth.

  Kenneth gruffed, “Time to go.”

  I glanced around as others shimmed out and saw the trees were now bare.

  Mom came over, and I moved away from the guys as she hugged me. “You okay?”

  I held her tight as I nodded. “Yeah.”

  We pulled apart, and she smiled. “We’re all going to dinner. Not sure if the restaurant can accommodate all of us, but we’re sure going to try.” Mom gave me another quick squeeze. “We’ll meet you there.”

  Colten took me aside once again as the others talked and sighed. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  I hugged him. “I get it. It’s been a shit day.”

  He tightened his hold on me. “Yeah...sometimes I wish we could go back to when we were younger. When you hung around more.”

  “I’m here now,” I told him, pulling away.

  His hand lifted to brush a finger down my cheek. “Yeah, but would you have ever come back if this hadn’t happened?”

  My mouth pressed together.

  Golden eyes soft, he continued, “I’m kind of glad the way things turned out. I know it’s terrible for me to say that, but if it hadn’t happened the way it did, we wouldn’t be here like this.”

  I jerked back, not understanding how any of this could be a good thing. My gaze narrowed. “Like what? Mourning for a teen who lost his life too early? None of this is good, Colten. It’s sad. Utterly and despairingly sad. Not good.”

  He dragged his hand through his hair again, upset as he turned away. “You know what I mean.”

  I gripped the memory apple in my palm, unsure if we’ve just had our first fight.

  I took a deep breath, letting my stance relax once again as I give him the benefit of a doubt. “This whole day has been crazy. I wish...”

  He turned back, brows raised. “You wish what?”

  I wish I was back in bed.

  A second later, I blinked, and I was back at my mom’s cabin on the queen-sized bed, curled in my comforter. Well, Zander’s comforter.

  I groaned into a pillow that still held the lingering scent of Zander’s masculine cologne; that’s how they did it. It wasn’t exactly where I wanted to go, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. It was a bed.

  I lifted my face from the pillow and noticed my hand still gripped the apple. As if it sensed my attention, it warmed against my palm, and the peace of love poured into me. I took a bite, closed my eyes, and dream-walked through the million memories of the honored boy I couldn’t save. The light within me splintered until it filled my bones, my blood, and my soul. It was then that his light became mine.

  I was Lydent.

  Chapter Four

  Immediately after receiving Philip’s memories, I fell into a deep sleep no one could shake me from and woke to a massive headache and ringing in my ears. I yawned to pop my eardrums to make it stop, but it continued. When I reached out to flip the switch on the alarm clock, the ringing got closer, more like a school bell now.

  I promptly landed on a hard and unforgiving floor. My hands and knees jarred as I landed, and a groan slipped from my lips.

  “Ms. Reed,” a voice snapped, and my eyes opened to stare at the white linoleum floor beneath me. “You. Are. Late.”

  I scrambled up and readjusted my wrinkled, slept-in dress over my legs as I peered around what appeared to be a classroom. My mouth fell open. Children smirked from where they sat in desks in front of me, wearing some sort of uniform. Three windows lined the right side of the way with at least a four-story forest view.

  I turned back to the students; not a single girl in sight. “What happened to my bedroom?”

  And you know what? The little rascals snickered! Like, boom, they erupted into laughter. a noise even worse than the bell!

  “Ms. Reed! Please stop this nonsense at once!”

  I turned around to face a balding man with an expression of disapproval gleaming through his glasses. He planted his broad hands on his desk as he leaned over it to peer at me.

  I pointed to the disarray of papers on his desk and cleared my throat. “Um, I’m confused. Was I sleeping on that?”

  My question set off another roar of laughter.

  The teacher’s eyes narrowed as he straightened and tapped his hand on his desk—which I’m pretty sure I rolled off of—and explained, “Welcome to the Hydrent School for Lydents, Ms. Reed. If you are late, then your restraining bracelet will assure that you arrive on time. Awake or sleeping.” His eyes raked down my frame with disapproval before they met mine, impatient once again. “Surely someone wen
t over proper attire and uniforms with you?”

  My brows dipped, and my mouth opened like a gaping fish.

  The teacher sighed and flicked his wrist. The dress I wore vanished, replaced with a navy-blue pencil skirt that hung down to the knees and a plain white dress shirt with three-quarter-length sleeves. The school logo was embroidered on the breast pocket, and my feet were bare.

  I glanced at him with a brow raised. “No shoes?”

  He folded his arms, adjusted his glasses, then gave me a firm glare. “You’re going to have to learn to do that yourself.” He pointed to a seat near the back. “Sit.”

  I sat, and the young boy next to me leaned over. “He’s nice with you. Most of us had to start out from our skivvies. But I guess he couldn’t do that seeing as you’re a girl and all.”

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “You’re lucky.”

  I turned back to the teacher and put my feet on the low rail in front of me. That was the teacher being nice?

  I learned Mr. Turner, the teacher, taught Conjuring. By the end of class, I was able to conjure up a pair of sandals for my feet. It wasn’t as easy as some may think. I had to have the right image in my head, details and all, in order to correctly produce what I wanted.

  From Mr. Turner’s class, I wandered the halls to Mr. Yales’ room. He taught Lydent History. I found a seat in the back. Being the only girl felt quite unusual. At least in this class, there seemed to be more teens than kids.

  “Today, class,” Mr. Yales began, “we’re going to do an overview of what we learned during the year, to help Ms. Reed catch up. We’ll start with the basics. Someone summarize the Lydent War.”

  Several hands rose.

  I glanced around in confusion. Why were we starting with a war instead of how they came about?

  Mr. Yales pointed to a boy in the middle row. “Mr. Frankford, go ahead.”

  The kid cleared his throat. “It all started with the council that was made up of fourteen families. Each generation, seven of the families sat on the council, and then they would switch with the other seven. Only guys were allowed on the council, and if there weren’t any, then one of the guys who left their spot on the council could sit again. It only happened once. The Caldwells had two girls. The first one, Anna, argued about not being able to participate on the council. Lamont Hall, her boyfriend, supported her, but they weren’t bonded or anything.”

  “What does bonded mean?” I asked, curious.

  Another boy spoke up. “It’s your mate. Your other half. The one who shares your mark.”

  “You mean the silver tattoo some of you have?”

  Mr. Yales nodded. “Yes, Ms. Reed. It’s the mark we all get when we turn thirteen.” He nodded to the boy who answered my question about bonding. “Mr. Vincent, pick up where Mr. Frankford left off.”

  “When Anna argued that a woman should be allowed to sit on the council, people got upset. Some, because the council denied her the right to sit with them while others were not for any change. Of course, she became upset but couldn’t do anything about it. But she got sneaky. Being a healer, she asked some of her patients to join with her in her cause. They swayed others to their side. They argued with the men, and when they were still denied, Anna and her followers decided to go another route. Anna mixed some stuff together to make an enhancement tea that made her stronger. Kinda like steroids, but with magic. Once she knew it worked, she gave some to her followers and got them hyped up on it, and they decided they would go to war. Then Lamont, Anna’s boyfriend, got suspicious and told the council. The council told Lamont to kill her. His sword went through her heart.”

  “Then Anna Caldwell cursed us,” another boy scoffed.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Mr. Yales rounded his desk and leaned back against it. “What he means is, Anna Caldwell used all the light she collected, cursed her lover to everlasting life, and took away the ability for women to bear any females with magic. Which was a problem because magic passes down while in the womb. No magic equals weaker bloodlines.”

  My brows rose. Surely, he was joking. “Are you serious? Why?”

  His brows furrowed as he considered my question.

  “Probably because she wasn’t right in the head,” a student sneered.

  The teacher’s mouth pressed together. “Quiet. Anna wasn’t insane. She just fought for what she believed in: equality. And in the end, she most likely cursed us to spite her lover. It has been said that he still walks the world today, waiting for the chance to sacrifice his life honorably for a girl of Anna’s own kin.”

  “To break the curse?” Confused, I glanced around at the other students. “This is all a myth, right?”

  Mr. Yales shook his head. “No. This is very real. Our race would have died if we hadn’t found Anna’s tea concoction and made it into a vaccine. But even then, it had its own side effects. Over time, the council discovered the vaccine caused the birth of girls to decrease. Now, only true Lydent mates and married Lydents can produce a female with magic light, with the exception of mate-born babies, whose light is stronger and more powerful. When a Lydent marries a human woman, they can only have sons, but they have little light.”

  “Can Lydent mates and married Lydents have boys as well?” I knew the answer already because of my stepbrothers, but I wanted confirmation.

  “Yes.”

  I frown. “How about when a Lydent woman chooses to marry a human?”

  A hush filled the room as the teacher’s brows shot up in surprise. “It’s forbidden. Surely, you can understand why.”

  Unhappy, I pursed my lips. “And if she does anyway?”

  The teacher glared as he tried to come up with an explanation, but a boy in the seat next to me answered instead. “We don’t speak of it.”

  “Precisely.” Mr. Yales bit off.

  “Okay,” I spoke cautiously through the sudden tension in the room. “How many females are there with the light?”

  Mr. Yales’s expression cleared as he went back into teaching mode. “Before the curse, there were many of us. Now there’s roughly two million Lydents in the world today. In this state we have four females, including you. In the whole world, the last count for them is in the hundreds. Believe it or not, Ms. Reed, we are a dying race.”

  I swallowed. “And how many of them received their light as a gift?”

  He pierced me with a stare. “According to Lydent records, it has never happened before. You very well could be the first.”

  Throughout the rest of class, I pondered the history lesson. The Lydent women back then dealt with female rights repression. Despite the downfall of Anna, if Myra’s place on the council was any proof, she did make an impact. Even so, it seemed the Lydent women still have much to overcome, like who they’re allowed to marry. While I understood the council’s reasoning behind it, I didn’t agree with the rule.

  ~

  After those two classes was Light Talents. Apparently, shimming only worked for places I’ve visited before, unlike my restraining bracelet which could take me anywhere. How? My gut told me it was someone from the council. So, I wasn’t surprised when I was shimmed out of the hall and straight into another classroom.

  Noticing the sweet scent of peppermint in the air made me pause as it took me back to a time when life was simpler. To when the colder desert—if winter set in—allowed for hot cocoa to steam in a Styrofoam cup. The scent reminded me of Christmas. Life was good then.

  I paused, wrapped up in the past, until the sound of typing keys shattered my memories and jolted me back to the present.

  Peering at the empty desks throughout the room, I realized there were no other students. My teacher, who sat in the back of the room typing at his desk, muttered to himself, oblivious to my presence.

  He was young—okay, not young—but younger than my last two teachers. Maybe mid-twenties. A crisp, blue, collared shirt unbuttoned partway showed no sign of chest hair. The wrinkled shirt creased at the elbows, as if he’d worke
d at that computer for hours. A hint of beard growth shadowed his jawline, while his brown hair stood up in untidy ruffles. At a guess, he ran his fingers through it a dozen times that day, probably due to frustration.

  My Light Talent teacher’s mutterings began to climb in volume. Evidently, he needed a break from his work.

  I shuffled forward a bit to make myself known, but got nothing. I cleared my throat and bam! He reacted like a gun had gone off. At first, he disappeared. Like, white light, poof, gone. But then he came back and charged at me with glowing hands.

  I screamed and tried to shim away, but my damn restraining bracelet shocked me. I was stuck in the classroom! Hands aglow, my teacher shot orbs of light my way. I jerked out of their path and scrambled for the door. As I grabbed the door handle, one of the orbs burst to the side of me. Shit. I jerked on the handle. It wouldn’t budge!

  My heart raced as I turned, falling to the floor and threw my hands over my head and screamed like the hallows of death were at my door. “Aaah! Stop!”

  The orbs stopped coming. I waited for the pain but got nothing. I peered around my arms to find the glint of green eyes close to my face. Crouching in front of me, he frowned then stood and folded his arms. “This room is sealed. No one should be able to enter!”

  I left my cowering position to stand, and dusted off imaginary lint from my skirt. My mind went a million miles a minute as I tried to keep hold of my hysteria. I’d been seconds away from losing my shit, and let some of it out. “You’re crazy! And to think they wanted you to be my damn teacher!”

  “I’m not a teacher, sweetheart. Now, why are you here?”

  I shook my wrist at him, the one with the restraining bracelet. “It was this. The damn thing brought me here.”

  His hard gaze shot to the band, and immediately his position relaxed. His now-suspicious gaze came back to mine. “A restraining bracelet. I wasn’t aware we had a female Lydent your age. You’re kind of old to be here. Most Lydents graduate by thirteen, and you’re what, nineteen, twenty?”