Order of the Akasha: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Complete Series)

by E. M. Moore

  “Damnit,” I growled when we got back to his bike. I kicked the dirt at my feet. “I’d thought we were going to be leaving with the answer to fix Liam tonight and we still have nothing.”

  “Not only that,” Randy said, his voice tight. “This Reid family isn’t anything to mess with. We can try. But I can’t promise we’re going to be able to do anything about the damn book now.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach.

  No book, no lead on the evil things going on around Salem. Yep. Perfect.

  11

  Liam

  I could feel it crawling again, slithering around my neck. Its scales tickled as he shifted close to my ear. I rubbed at the skin there and the serpent hissed.

  He was always crawling all over, looking for a chink, an easy place to slip inside. “Stop it,” I said.

  Outside, the sun was going down. Randy and Norah hadn’t come back yet, and I’d been pacing back and forth ever since they called to say Randy had picked her up from the shop. Jealousy, rage, fear. All those things I’d never felt before when it came to Norah and any one of the guys surged through me. It was irrational and scary.

  The snake laughed. That sounded insane. I knew it did, but I could hear it in the back of my mind. It was mocking me. It showed me images of Randy and Norah, even Norah and Travis. I was pretty sure the ones with Norah and Travis hadn’t even occurred yet, but still the same bile rose to my throat. The images of Randy and Norah used to make me hot. Horny. Used to make me want to jump right into bed with them. But not now. Fury threatened just under the surface, and still, the fucking snake slithered down my back and circled around my waist.

  I was getting tired. Too tired. If I couldn’t keep this thing under control, I was going to have to leave. I wouldn’t be the reason I hurt someone. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hurt one of them. I’d already hurt Norah though, I reminded myself. Every time I dismissed her, I saw her face fall even further. It was getting to the point where she even approached me tentatively, not a hint of a smile anywhere on her face. I’d done that to her.

  She doesn’t really love you.

  “Stop it!”

  I smacked my head several times with my palm. He’d started to talk to me recently, his voice hissing in my brain. I sat on the edge of the bed and held my head in my hands. I was strong enough. I could hold on until we found a way out of this. That’s what they were doing. That’s what Norah said they were doing, anyway, trying to help me.

  They just left to find a place to fuck away from you. They’re done with you.

  “That’s not true,” I said, shaking my head.

  They don’t want you anymore.

  “No!”

  None of that was true, I tried to tell myself. This was Randy and Norah we were talking about here. I was closer to them than I was to anyone. Add Travis and Gabe and we were a family. One slightly dysfunctional family who was supposed to help rid the world of evil, but that was what we were. We were Enforcers. We were also all in love with the same girl, and we didn’t care. She’d brought us together, deepening our relationships with one another.

  The serpent showed me a picture of Travis doing Norah from behind. Her head thrown back in passion. Her breasts bounced up and down as he tugged her hair back, slamming into her again and again and again. They were hot and sweaty, and she loved every second of it.

  “I don’t care.”

  How could you not? She wants others, too. And look at you compared to them. She doesn’t want you, Liam. She just feels sorry for you. You’re the outsider. You always have been. You’ve never fit in anywhere, and you certainly don’t belong here either.

  “That’s not true.”

  Isn’t it? Gabe plays soccer. Randy is built, practically a bodybuilder. And Travis, he has that cocky asshole thing going for him. What about you? You’re nothing.

  “I’m smart.”

  The laughter rose in my head again, blocking everything else out. It laughed and laughed and laughed until I was rocking on the bed. It mocked me.

  No girl wants the smart guy. They’ve never wanted you in the past. You think Norah’s that special that she’s the only person to have ever wanted you in your entire life? Your own parents didn’t even want you, Liam. They gave you up. They had everything, and they didn’t want you to have any of it, so they adopted you out like a lost puppy.

  I ran my hands through my hair and pulled at the ends. Rationally, I knew what this was. This was the familiar trying to get to me, trying to make me emotionally unstable so he could find his way in. I thought I’d be able to fight it, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough to fight the damn thing. Maybe I was never destined to be the hero.

  The hero? Ha. You’re not even in the novel. You’re the guy they cut from the story because you ruin everything. You’re sad.

  My head started to pound. I grabbed my phone and pressed play on the music player, jamming the earbuds into my ears. This was the only thing that seemed to quiet the voice, so I could get some time to myself.

  My name is Liam. I’m an Enforcer for the Order of the Akasha. I’m in love with a girl named Norah, and she…well, she at least likes me back. I have three of the best guy friends I could ever ask for. We share the same girl. I’m not jealous. I am not mad. I am not filled with rage.

  Anything else was the familiar talking.

  I said that again and again in my head, but this was getting old. I needed to come clean with them about what was happening to me. About how the familiar was too much. The fury was starting to take over. I didn’t like the awful thoughts in my head. At first, I could combat them, but not anymore. He wanted me to hurt people, and I would never do that. But to make sure I wouldn’t, I might have to leave. I could do that for them. I would need to because now that I’d finally found the family I’d always wanted, there was no way I was giving them up, even if I had to leave to do it.

  My name is Liam…

  12

  I stumbled into my room after looking through the Order books again for hours. Familiars. Petrifying bodies. Were those books even helpful at all? I couldn’t find a damn thing useful in any one of them.

  I shut the door to my room behind me and pulled my shirt off. I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down, stepping out of them as I made my way to the bed.

  “Norah?”

  I jumped, my heart flying into my throat. The bed creaked, and a body turned toward me.

  Liam.

  “Holy shit. What are you doing in here?”

  “I was waiting for you to come up. I must have fallen asleep.”

  Still trying to wrangle my emotions in, I didn’t fully ascertain that it was Liam in my bed. Liam. I prowled forward in my bra and underwear. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry I’ve been out of it lately.” He sat up. “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you. I don’t know what else to do. It’s this…thing.”

  I pulled him to me, practically crushing his head against my chest. “I know,” I said. “I’m so sorry. I’m trying, Liam. We’re working on it.”

  “I know.”

  His grip around me tightened, and the air in the room shifted. He pulled me close, his head rising so he could look me in the eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

  A whisper of breath rushed from my lungs. “You have?” I hadn’t meant it to sound so girly, but Liam was being himself, and he hadn’t felt that way for a long time now.

  He nodded and moved closer, throwing his feet over the side of the bed. He placed his hands on my hips. “Can I kiss you?”

  I didn’t even bother to answer him. I pulled him close, sealing our lips to one another. I appreciated kissing him before this, but from now on, I was going to appreciate it even more. I soaked up this feeling, reveling in the way his lips felt on mine. It had been too long since we were close like this. He didn’t even want me near him, let alone touch him. A muscle in my stomach danced around as if it waited for this for too long too.

  Liam laid
back and rolled until he was on top of me. He pushed my hands above my head and held them there before pulling away. “I want you.”

  “God, yes,” I said, the ache intensifying between my thighs.

  Liam nipped at my skin until he traveled to the swell of my breasts. His hot breath made my back arch, hoping he’d kiss me there. He didn’t. He kept going lower and lower. Kissing and nipping at my skin until he got to my panty line. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured.

  I hooked a leg around his waist and pulled him down. His hips met mine, and I sighed at the hard cock I found waiting for me. I wiggled out of his grasp and pushed him over until I was on top. I helped him out of his shirt, then trailed kisses down his body like he had on mine until I got to his boxers. I tugged them down, teasing his cock as I went past with my hot breath and whisper of a kiss.

  The look in Liam’s eyes eased my soul. He was back. I couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I dropped his boxers to the floor, I lay down next to him and pulled him to me, kissing him with everything I had. He moaned and turned, pulling my hips to his. “We have to get you out of these,” he said, tugging on my panties.

  “You know what to do,” I said, teasing him. Without even a second to think about it, he ripped my panties from me, and my heart stuttered. “Fuck yes, Liam. Oh my God.” He hadn’t needed encouragement that time.

  “See? I learn,” he said.

  “You don’t need to learn,” I said. “You’re already perfect.”

  He swallowed as he took me in. Then, he lowered his head, pulling my bra cup down where he—finally—took my nipple into his mouth. He savored it, kissed it until it hardened, then he did the same with the other. Liquid heat pooled between my legs. His hand slid down, pushing just his fingertip inside me. “You’re ready for me.”

  “God, yes.”

  He teased me for a couple seconds, circling my lower lips before hiking my leg around his hips and pulling me close.

  I took his face in my hands and stared. He smirked, his eyes growing cold. “This might hurt.”

  His irises flashed black. My heart stopped, sinking into the pit of my stomach as I saw the serpent lay its head on Liam’s cheekbone. Liam pushed his hips forward, but I backed away. “No. No!”

  I scrambled out of bed. Liam sat up, his feet thrown over the side of the bed before he stalked after me. “I thought you wanted it, Norah. Isn’t that what you told me?”

  Holy fuck. His whole demeanor had changed. His hung head low, and he looked up at me. “Liam, this isn’t you.” I backed straight into the door and then turned away, not wanting to get stuck.

  “Of course, it is. Don’t you want me to be the type that rips your panties off? Who dives inside you again and again until you come around me?” He stopped as I continued to arc my way around the room. “Norah?”

  “Stop,” I said. “You’re not him. Where’s Liam?”

  He lunged for me, and I yelled. “No!”

  The door to the room flew open. Randy burst inside. He stopped once he saw what state we were in, but I hurried toward him. “It’s not Liam.”

  Randy shoved me behind him. Liam’s body trembled, and the serpent familiar moved off his face. It coiled around his neck and down to the arm where it stayed before.

  Liam sucked in a breath. “I-I’m sorry.”

  Just from the way his voice was, I could tell it was really Liam. I came out from behind Randy and moved toward him, but Liam skirted around me, grabbing his clothes as he went. “I’m so sorry, Norah.”

  He ran from the room.

  “Liam?” I called after him, but he didn’t answer.

  Randy pulled me close. “It’s okay.” We looked at the empty doorway, Randy rubbing small circles into my back. He swallowed and then kissed the top of my head. “I’m staying with you tonight.” He pushed the door closed and locked it before calling both Travis and Gabe, telling them what happened.

  I made my way to the bed and sat, pulling the comforter around me. “He’s losing the battle. We have to do something, Randy.”

  “I know.” His hands dove into his short hair. He reached out for me, then laid down on the bed, pulling me with him. “We will. He just needs to take a breather.”

  I agreed, but what we didn’t say was that neither one of us had any idea what to do once he’d taken that breather. He needed to calm down now, but the familiar was still on him, doing these things to him. I was two seconds away from calling a priest to do an exorcism. Anything to get Liam back.

  A knock on the door sounded. I tried to spring up, but two tree stump hands held me down. “Just let me get it, would you?”

  I waited for him to ease out of the bed and then approach the door with caution. “Guys, it’s Travis,” a voice called out.

  Randy’s shoulders relaxed.

  “And Gabe,” Gabe called out, his British accent piercing right to my soul.

  Randy pulled the door open, and they both piled in. Travis took one look at me and then glanced away toward the opposite wall. “Is there ever a time when you’re wearing clothes?”

  I smirked, caught off guard by his statement. “Not usually when I’m in my own bedroom.” I found my tanktop on the floor and pulled it on and then slipped the rest of me under the blankets. “I’m decent now. You’re welcome.”

  “Well, just so you two know,” Gabe started as he moved into the room. “You can’t call and say Liam’s gone bonkers and then hole off in your room by yourselves because then it just makes me feel bad. And unwanted.” He prowled toward me. “You don’t want to make me feel unwanted, do you, Love?”

  I smiled and pulled him down to give him a loud smack on the lips. “Of course, not.”

  “We actually thought it would be better if we were all in the same place tonight,” Travis said. “In case Liam…changes again.”

  “Travis thought that.” Gabe shrugged. “I was just worried I was going to miss out on some fun and I really did feel unwanted.”

  Randy shook his head. “Just whatever with you two.”

  “And,” Travis said again, eyeing both Randy and me. “I think it’s time the rest of us were let in on what you two have going on?”

  Gabe’s forehead wrinkled. “What they have going on?”

  “Football’s not everything, Mate,” Travis said, mimicking Gabe’s accent. “There are other problems going on in the world too.”

  Gabe frowned, and I scooted over on the bed to give him some room. He plopped down, and I snuggled into him, squeezing his side to let him know it was okay. He was allowed to act as if we had a life outside of what was happening. If he wanted to watch football, he could watch football.

  “So?” Travis asked, continuing to press us. “Maybe start from the beginning on what’s going on.”

  I turned toward Gabe. “Well, first of all, I saw the familiar move on Liam. It was while he slept, and I swear, the thing looked at me. Plus, you know Liam’s been acting off. More moody, dark…mean.”

  Gabe took my hand and held it in his. “He doesn’t mean it.”

  “I know. That’s kind of the problem. I don’t think Liam is just too preoccupied with getting the familiar off him like I originally thought. I think the familiar is affecting him.”

  “Like tonight,” Randy said.

  I nodded. “It was Liam, at first. He was acting more himself than he had in a long time, so we were…” I peeked at Travis. “…we were getting ready to have sex, but then he just switched.” I snapped my fingers. “Like that, he was someone else. His eyes darkened, his mood changed. He wanted to hurt me.”

  “When I came in,” Randy said, “I saw the tail end of what was going on and Norah was truly frightened, and Liam was…not himself.”

  “Okay,” Travis said. “Now we’re up to date on that. Where have you two been off to on your own? I know it has something to do with Liam.”

  A muscle ticked in Randy’s jaw. “Ren’s place.”

  Travis’s head reared back. “Ren? The guy who exchanges magic for s
ex?”

  Gabe’s eyebrows lifted. “Why there?”

  “He knows some bad witches. I thought he might be able to tell us something about familiars and turns out he kind of can. He told us about a book, an evil magic book. He couldn’t get it for us, but he knows who has it.”

  “That’s good, right?” Gabe asked. “Maybe there will be something in this book that we can use to help Liam. We have to do something now if he’s acting that way toward Norah.”

  “It’s not him,” I said, if only to keep reminding myself that the person who did that to me was not the Liam I knew.

  He squeezed my hand. “I know. I just told you that.”

  “I know,” I said, sighing. “I just needed to say it again to keep myself convinced.”

  “We’re all positive it’s not Liam, Love. I’m sure as soon as we can get the familiar off him, he’ll go back to being himself. He’s fought it for a long time.” He turned toward Randy. “So, where’s this book?”

  “The Reid’s have it.”

  Gabe let out a harsh laugh. “The Reid’s? As in one of the most powerful witch families in the area?”

  “That’s the one,” Randy said.

  “Ren said they have guards. What kind of shit are they mixed up in?”

  Travis sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, they’re definitely not using bad magic. We would’ve been called there before. Like with most people, though, they have a fascination with power. They think being rich makes them important, makes them above others. They also think that their magic makes them powerful. And sometimes that can lead good people down the wrong path.”

  “So, what are the chances that we show up at their doorstep as the Order and they give us the book?”

  “Slim to none,” Randy said. “First, they’re going to deny they even have it. Why would they tell us they have a bad magic book? We’re the last people they’re going to tell.”

  I looked up at the ceiling, wishing that something would go right for us. “Any other ideas?”

  “We could take it,” Gabe said. We all just looked at him, and he shrugged. “We can head in there, on witch business maybe, and then try to find the book while we’re there.”