She sucked in a harsh breath, her grip tightening on his arm as her fingers spasmed. Edgar grunted as if she’d kicked him in the balls. Then the smoke seemed to absorb into their skin, leaving her whole arm tingling.
He unclasped his hand from around her wrist. Instead of releasing her, he cradled her hand in his, and she looked to see that all evidence of the injury was gone. He slowly pulled her arm closer until the underside of her wrist came into view, and she gasped.
A tiny tree was etched into her skin, spanning her wrist from side to side, almost completely circular as the branches reached down and the roots curled up. The afterworld swirled in the black lines like it was alive.
She grabbed his hand, twisting his arm to find the same symbol stamped into his flesh.
“For eternity,” he murmured, running his fingers over the symbol.
The leaves seemed to sway until she’d swear she could see his name in the twisted branches. Emotions poured through at his touch—possessiveness, love, devotion, and an all-consuming need to protect.
His emotions.
He released her, running his thumb over his own wrist, as if to make sure it didn’t disappear. “Lore indicates that most couples start with a small symbol. Each phantom couple is imprinted with their own image specific to them. As they grow together, so does the mark. It’s tied to our health and emotions. As we grow stronger, the roots and branches can wrap around our entire arm…or wither and die.”
Annora covered her wrist protectively.
Edgar smiled, then bowed gallantly before her and offered her his arm. “Come…you need your rest. Tomorrow will be here soon, and we’ll need to plan and train for your father’s arrival.”
She accepted his courtly gesture, no longer nervous about facing the others, not with Edgar’s love wrapped around her. As she walked into her room, she paused when she saw the guys had spread the sheets and covers across the floor to create a makeshift bed.
The whole team was waiting for her. Logan was in the middle, already fast asleep, a little furrow between his brows. An open space was waiting for her next to him. Camden was at the end, while Xander was at the other end, both clearly keeping watch. Mason scooted over, making enough room for the two of them.
A little self-conscious about wearing just a shirt, she hurried under the blankets. Edgar hesitated a moment, but when no one protested, he took his place next to her. Being near the guys was like a contact high, their touch calming her. Logan sighed in his sleep and wrapped himself around her, and all her worries and anxieties over the day melted away.
* * *
Logan jolted awake, terror gripping him as he searched the room, his heartbeat only calming when he recognized his surroundings.
He was home.
His breath whooshed out of him, and he cradled his head in his hands, his insides shaking so hard he was afraid he would vomit. For a second he thought being rescued had been a cruel dream, and he’d wake up in that hellhole again.
But he knew this room, could feel the wood floor beneath him, see the familiar objects. Although he was ridiculously pleased to see the guys were gone, giving him some privacy.
He inhaled deeply, humming when he caught Annora’s delicious scent. It was hard to explain the smell…the closest he could come up with was a combination of warmth and flowers just after the rain.
He leaned over her sleeping form, joy bursting through him simply because he could actually look at her whenever he wanted. He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, marveling at her silken skin.
She blinked up at him sleepily, nestling into his touch, a bright smile curling her lips and something inside him unfurled at the unguarded moment. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.
Annora jolted under him, then pulled back to cup his face, her eyes wide awake. Then her brows knitted, and she began to poke and prod him, shoving up his shirt to run her hands along his chest.
“If you want to get me naked, you only have to ask.” He smirked down at her when she froze, her eyes widening almost comically when she realized what she was doing. When a blush swept along her cheeks, his heart warmed.
The worry that she’d look at him differently, might be repulsed by him, evaporated, and he fell to his side next to her and cuddled her close. She buried her face against his chest and he hugged her tighter, running his hand up and down her back.
When his stomach growled, he could feel Annora smile against his shoulder. She pushed away from him, shoving her hair away from her face, and kissed his chin. “You’re hungry. Let’s get some breakfast.”
Logan rolled onto his back and watched Annora kick away the blankets, her night shirt hiking up dangerously, and he sucked in a sharp breath when his cock sprang to attention in response. After being tortured, nearly every inch of his skin cut and burned, part of him had been afraid that he’d never be able to function completely again.
As Annora fluttered around the room, picking out her clothes, he cupped himself through the sweats, then sucked in a startled breath, quickly dropping his hand away from the almost too-sensitive contact. A second later, a joyous smile spread across his face, ridiculously relieved to know that he was fully functional.
When she slipped into the bathroom, he gingerly hauled himself to his feet, his bones creaking like an old man. It took a good five minutes for his muscles to respond and warm up. By the time he could straighten completely, he was shaking from the exertion.
“It’ll take time for your body to feel like it’s your own again.”
He whirled to find Annora leaning against the doorway of the bathroom, concern darkening her eyes as she tenderly assessed his scars. She didn’t look disgusted, more like sad she couldn’t have prevented them.
He unconsciously ran his hand over the jagged markings. While his body felt familiar, it was different, not so completely under his control anymore, and it disturbed him.
He could live with the marks, but it was harder to deal with the knowledge that she’d survived under that sadistic fuck’s care for nearly ten years. How—he wasn’t sure. He barely survived a week. Bile rose in his throat at the thought of all the pain and horror she endured without hope of rescue.
“How long did it take for you to feel normal?” Logan picked up a discarded shirt and pulled it over his head, feeling suddenly shy about her seeing his body.
She gave him a crooked smile, then leaned down and began straightening their scattered bed. “I never knew what it was like to be normal, not until I met you and the rest of the guys.”
Fuck if his heart didn’t crack right then.
Determination burned in his chest—if it was the last thing he ever did, he would do devote the rest of his life to making her happy.
When she straightened, her arms full of blankets, her eyes sparkling with mischief, he felt the first flash of familiar fire in his chest. He was afraid to move, afraid he might lose the feeling and fall back into the black hole that was his life for the past week.
Needing a distraction, he cocked his head. “What are you thinking?”
“I have a way for us to reclaim your body as your own.” She dropped the blankets at her feet, nearly stumbling over them when she headed toward the stairs. She stopped at the top, then turned back toward him and held out her hand. “Trust me?”
His damned cock jumped at the mention of her claiming his body, and he gave her a crooked smile, knowing she didn’t have a clue what she did to him with her innocent comment. He slipped his hand into hers, a weight lifting off his chest when she didn’t flinch away, and the part of him had been petrified that the bastard had ruined him faded.
He tightened his hold, her touch making him believe that he could be normal and whole again. “With my life.”
* * *
Annora told Mason what she needed—that’s how they ended up in the tiny hole-in-the wall place in the middle of nowhere. The building was rickety, the paint chipped, the sign out front so faded it was hard to read.
> Rick’s Tattoos and Piercings.
The guys took formation around her, Logan at her side, as they studied the building.
“We should be back at the house training,” Sadie snipped, pacing while she scowled at them. “The sheer mass of magic you used is going to attract an invading army, and none of you are remotely ready to fight.”
“Enough.” Camden didn’t have to yell for Sadie to shut the fuck up. His voice carried enough command that her mouth snapped shut with an audible click. But it didn’t stop the glares and muttering as they began to walk toward the building.
The guys had agreed to give her a few hours alone as a family without training or worrying about their future.
Time for them to heal.
Terrance and Kevin had returned home that morning bruised, battered, splattered with blood and gore, but they were laughing and talking. They promised to guard the house while the rest of them were gone and call if there was any trouble.
Lionel and Giles were working together to help organize the stray wolves who lost their alpha, so things everywhere across campus were in an uproar. Some of the wolves and shifters fought willingly in order to keep up their drug supply, but most of them had been forced to fight by an alpha who was too strong for them to disobey.
Loulou took charge of the magic users who had begun calling to demand an audience.
It was a fucking mess. Call her a coward, but Annora wanted no part of sorting it out.
As they piled into the building, she was relieved to see the place was neat as a pin, a fire flickering in the entryway to keep them warm. There were a couple of other shifters in the place, watching them warily, and Annora pushed her way to the front.
“I’m here to see Rick.” She brushed her hands along the counter, only to have Logan link their fingers together to stop her nervous gesture.
A man came out of the back. His beard shadowing most of his face, while his eyes were a deep brown that matched his long, shaggy hair. What startled her the most was he practically oozed magic.
The man stopped a good foot away from the counter, crossed his arms as he surveyed them, then grunted. “I’m Rick.”
Annora chewed her lip and glanced up at Logan. “This was a dumb idea. You don’t have to do this.”
“Hush.” Logan leaned down, brushing a kiss across her lips, effectively shutting her up. Then he straightened and gave the man a nod. “I’d like to get a piercing.”
Annora could feel her eyes widen, and she spun to gape at Logan.
For some reason, that was the last thing she expected.
Rick tipped his head to the side to study them with narrowed eyes. Magic splashed into the room, licking at them. With a sigh, he dropped his arm and lifted part of the counter, then stepped back. “Follow me.”
When Annora went to obey, Mason grabbed her from behind, easily picking her up off her feet and carting her away. Logan gave her a wink and disappeared into the back with Rick.
The guys seated themselves at various spots around the room, but Annora couldn’t sit still and began pacing. The other people in the place watched them for a few minutes, then seemed to decide they were harmless and continued to page through the books, talking quietly among themselves.
It was over in only a few minutes but it seemed to take forever for Logan to appear again. As he emerged from the back room, she scanned his face, then frowned.
She couldn’t see any piercings.
Then understanding dawned and her eyes widened. Her glance dropped to survey his body, and her cheeks heated while her mind hummed with possibilities.
Mason came to her side and snorted, waving his hand in front of her face until she blinked. “I think you broke her.”
The guys snickered and snorted at her expense, while Logan just gave her a smile. He stopped right in front of her, his spine straight, his shoulders back. “It…helped. I just need one more thing.”
“What?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She’d do whatever was in her power to make him feel like himself again instead of a prisoner.
“This.” Logan picked up her hand, then turned her arm up and ran his thumb over the small tree that was branded into her skin. “I want you to mark me.”
The rest of the guys gathered closer and nodded.
Sadie stood in the back, her mouth hanging open as she looked back and forth between Annora and Edgar and the mark. Instead of looking pissed for once, she sighed and glanced at Edgar. “You could’ve done a lot worse.”
Something inside Annora eased at the acceptance on the young phantom’s face.
“Don’t get me wrong, I still think you’re an idiot.” She shrugged, nudging her friend with her shoulder, giving him a smirk. “But at least you’re a happy idiot.”
Edgar snorted but didn’t protest, pure happiness blazing from his eyes.
Annora studied him, wondering if it would bother him to have the other guys wear the symbol he’d shared with her. He nodded at her silent question and gave her a slight smile in understanding.
She went through the same process that Edgar had shown her, slicing her palm and then theirs, wincing when she cut them despite their encouragement. When they tried to do it themselves, she shook her head.
It was her mark, her responsibility.
The afterworld rose at her call, marking each of them with the same tree. The guys either grimaced at the pain or grinned, but none of them protested as a tree was branded on their wrist, each a different color. She wasn’t sure what the colors meant, but she liked seeing them bear her mark. With each new tattoo, a leaf on her tree changed colors to match theirs.
If she looked closely enough, she could see their names etched into her skin…and she could feel their joy and possessiveness at being claimed, the warm glow of their love filling her heart.
They were finally hers, and she was determined to keep it that way.
It was time to go home and prepare for war.
Chapter Twenty-four
Fuck!
Annora scanned the yard as they pulled up, her heart sinking when she saw the house was packed to the rafters with people. She wanted to tell the guys to keep driving, craving more time alone with them, but it wasn’t an option.
She needed to train for the real possibility of meeting her father.
She should be excited or nervous at the possibility of seeing him for the first time, but since he was probably coming to kill her, it kinda squashed any curiosity.
Had he known she was alive?
Had he left her in hell to suffer at the hands of her uncle on purpose, hoping to be rid of her?
Had he loved her mother, or had she just been a convenience?
As the van pulled into the yard, she tucked away her childish thoughts. No, if her father had ever thought of her, it wasn’t with kindness.
Camden parked the vehicle but didn’t turn it off. None of the other guys got out either, as if fighting the same impulse to just leave.
Unfortunately, no matter where they went, her father would find them.
Camden must have come to the same conclusion—he turned off the engine with a sigh.
As the doors opened, Sadie boldly strode out of the house, having used her abilities to beat them home. A harried Loulou scrambled outside a second later, practically bouncing on her feet, babbling a million miles an hour.
A cluster of witches were gathered near the door, glaring as if angry she and the guys dared to be away from home when they came to visit. Willa looked annoyed by the proceedings, standing off to the side, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, her blue hair making her stand out from the rest. She looked exhausted, the dark circles under her green eyes making the color appear even more vivid.
Their gazes met for a fraction, and Annora could have sworn the witch rolled her eyes.
The shifters were different, prowling around the perimeter of the property, each alert and waiting for attack. They snapped to attention when the vehicle pulled into the yard, every
one of them anxious to be noticed. Lionel and his men were maintaining order, glaring at anyone who got too rowdy or belligerent…which looked to be a full-time job.
Neither group was happy to be in the same vicinity as to the other.
“What do they want?” Annora slumped back against her seat, reluctant to leave the privacy of the vehicle.
“The witches will either demand the book be returned to them or insist you start their training immediately,” Mason murmured, then glanced at her with a half-smile. “Most likely both.”
“The shifters no doubt have petitions they want you to review.” Camden glared at the intruders, grumbling under his breath. “I’ll deal with them, and let you know if there’s anything of interest.”
Annora knew she should protest, that it was her job to decide those types of things, but she didn’t feel she had enough experience to judge issues in the shifter world. She’d rather leave it to someone who knew what they were doing. “I’d appreciate it.”
Yet no one made a move to leave the vehicle.
Logan broke first and reached for the door. “I’ll work on making lunch.”
“I’d like to join you when you train the witches.” Edgar crowded closer to her. “I don’t trust them not to try and trap you in some way.”
The rest of the guys grunted their agreement.
As the doors opened, no one even pretended they weren’t staring and waiting for them. The guys circled her, falling into protective formation around her as the shifters and witches surged forward. Only when she started up the steps did she feel unfettered magic snapping around her and the guys.
“We came here for our training.” Brad and Brittney smirked up at her, pretending like they hadn’t tried to force her hand with a weak, witchy potshot at her and Mason.
“Actually, I don’t remember you helping or even showing up for the battle.” Annora stopped and turned to face the spoiled twins, then looked beyond them. “Willa? I trust you to select the appropriate candidates—if you trust any other witches, that is—and we’ll start training in half an hour.”
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