Heiress of Light: Magic Reborn (Reverse Harem)

by Ashlyn Allbrook

  “Come on, Elena,” Finn encouraged. “We’re almost there.”

  Almost where? We were going to be trapped between a stone wall and three deadly creatures.

  The other corsair made a run for us, and while the dracna intercepted it, the injured one continued to advance toward us.

  Finn reached the wall and stopped, tugging me around him. “Duck!”

  It was then I saw a three-foot opening in the rock. I squatted and crawled inside with Finn right behind me. The space went back about ten feet and was slightly taller inside.

  I could hear the corsairs roaring outside the cave. A corsair appeared in the opening, hunching down as it prepared to enter the cave. Finn held out his sword and pushed me deeper into the cave. The corsair swiped its long claws into the space, and Finn stabbed its leg with his blade.

  The corsair roared in pain and became more determined to get us. Then suddenly the corsair was pulled backward, and it squealed in surprise. The dracna had the corsair’s back end in its mouth, then shook it vigorously. The corsair screamed, then dropped to the ground and tried to charge the cave again. It barely made it into the opening before the dracna dragged it out again. The dracna tossed it to the side and breathed out a gout of flame, catching the corsair on fire.

  The other corsair headed for the entrance while the dracna was torching the other one. Its extended claws swiped inside the cave. Finn escaped its reach and brought the sword down over the cat’s paw, slicing through half.

  The dracna pulled the second corsair out and tossed it up in the air, then breathed out fire. The corsair screamed, then fell silent.

  There was only the dracna.

  I’d hoped it would leave since both corsairs were gone, but it moved closer to the cave, then lowered its head and peered into the hole.

  Finn held out his arm, trying to put himself between me and the dracna. The dracna’s face was small enough to fit inside the opening, but it stayed outside the cave, eyeing Finn and trying to see me.

  Finn pushed me back farther, probably terrified it was going to roast us, but it bowed its head, then backed up and turned around, sitting about ten feet outside the entrance.

  “Why’s it staying there?” I asked.

  “Why is it here at all?” Finn countered. “It helped us.”

  “Dax said some creatures are lured by magic. The snow corsairs want to consume it. Maybe dracnas protect it.”

  Finn remained silent.

  “I’m worried about Liam and the others,” I said. “They haven’t shown up yet.”

  “They might not know where we are. I’m sure the horse ran off. And if they approach and see the dracna, they might be waiting it out.”

  “Why did you protect me?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at me, sounding pissed. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I released you, Finn.”

  He turned all the way around. “You think you saying a few words to break my vow means I still won’t protect you?”

  “I disgust you.”

  “Oh, Elena . . .” His voice trailed off, and he turned to check on the dracna, which still sat outside the cave. “You don’t disgust me,” he finally said.

  “Could have fooled me.”

  He reached out and took my hand in his. “You don’t disgust me.”

  “Then why won’t you look at me? Why are you so short with me?”

  “It’s not because you disgust me,” he said, squeezing my hand.

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s . . .” He paused. “I can’t accept this. This is all just too preposterous. And if I can’t accept it, then I can’t protect you from it. And while I’ve struggled with what this all means, you and the others are just accepting it.”

  “You think I’m just accepting this?” I asked, getting pissed. “You don’t think I’ve fought it?”

  He remained silent.

  The ache in my chest had begun to hurt more. I lay down on my side, surprised the rock floor was so smooth. “I’m going to rest. Let me know when the dracna’s gone.”

  He sat in silence for several minutes. Then he stretched out beside me, his front to my back, and draped his arm over my stomach.

  “Are you really dying, Elena?”

  I could try to play it off, but I needed to be truthful. “Yes.”

  “Because of me?”

  I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.

  He leaned over and kissed me, but I pushed him away. “It’s too late, Finn. I released you, and when I did, I severed my tie to you.”

  “You absolved me of my vows, but you can reinstate them,” he said.

  “You don’t know the risk,” I said. “If I fail, I think you will die. If you don’t do this, you will live.”

  “But you’ll die. The others will die.”

  “I don’t want you to do this out of obligation,” I said. “Selfishly, I want you to want me too.”

  “I do want you, Elena. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I never hoped to be close to you, let alone to touch you.”

  Tears stung my eyes and I sat up, pressing my back to the wall. “You hurt me Finn, and not just when I cut a piece of you from my soul, because that’s what I literally did today. I cut a piece of you from me today.”

  He sat up, sitting cross-legged to my side, and reached for my hand. “I know, Lanie, I’m so sorry.”

  The nickname he’d used when we were little. It made me cry harder.

  “Lanie, I’ve been so selfish. I knew it was hard on you, but then I saw you with the others—and the way you were with me—the morning behind the house when I behaved so crudely, and . . .”

  “And what?”

  “It was so unlike you . . . so unlike me or any of us . . . It scared me. It made me wonder if you were right—if maybe it was something evil. But how could it be evil if it made you want me?”

  I shook my head and leaned my head back against the rock. “As I said before, what does it matter what it’s called?” I whispered, overcome with exhaustion. While Liam’s touch had helped, it had been a temporary balm that had already begun to lose its effectiveness.

  “It matters a great deal, Elena,” he said with conviction.

  “And you are free of it.”

  He was frustrated—I could feel it rolling off him in waves. But this was his battle to fight, not mine.

  “You’re not going to convince me?” he demanded, halfway shouting.

  The dracna let out a loud roar and turned to face the cave.

  Finn made a move to protect me, but I pushed him to the side. “I think he thinks you’re a threat.”

  “What?”

  “It protected me from the snow corsairs. If he thinks you’re threatening me, I’m worried he’ll hurt you too. Calm down.” I decided to try something, so I called out, “I’m fine. Thank you for standing guard.”

  The dracna studied us for a moment, then turned to face the other way.

  “Did that dracna just listen to you?” Finn asked in disbelief.

  I leaned over my legs as a fresh pain ripped through my chest.

  The dracna released a mournful sound.

  Finn’s hand was on my back. “Elena, what can I do?”

  I shook my head, trying to breathe through the pain.

  “Dracnas were said to be protectors of magic,” Finn said.

  “You don’t believe in magic,” I said as the pain subsided.

  “It’s becoming harder to disbelieve.” He was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, a bitterness filled his words. “You told me you needed me to be skeptical. You said the others were falling into belief too quickly and it scared you. How can you punish me for doing the job you assigned me?”

  I gasped. “Oh, Finn. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  He sat beside me, pulling my head to his chest and wrapping his arm around my back. “I love you, Lanie. I always have, since we were kids. Your smile . . . You had the sweetest smile, and it matched your heart.” He began to stroke my
arm. “When we first heard that we were training the princess on her whim, we expected a royal brat.”

  I chuckled even though it hurt. “I can imagine. I was determined even then.”

  His hold tightened. “We were all shocked the first day you showed up, wearing breeches under your skirt like you are now—your mother had forbidden you to leave your skirt behind.”

  “I forgot that part.”

  “I didn’t. You made sure to let us know you had hoped to look like the rest of us. That you wanted to dress like a first-year apprentice—you said wanted to be one. And Liam and Matthew laughed at the absurdity of a girl being a royal guard.”

  “But not you,” I said, remembering now. “You were the first to introduce yourself. You told the others to be quiet, and you stepped forward, reached out your hand, and introduced yourself as Finn.”

  “And you shook my hand with a firmness I hadn’t expected, and told me your name was Elena. No princess, just Elena.”

  “But you said I looked more like a Lanie, and that made me so happy because no one called me Lanie, and it made me feel like I could be someone else. Even if just for three hours a week, I could be free of my gilded cage.”

  “And when you smiled at me, that sweet smile you still have, my heart . . . it was yours, Lanie. From that moment on.” He tipped my chin up to face him. “I was your guard before I ever took the vows. I will follow you, whether you reinstate them or not. As long as you are living, I will be there protecting you, and you know you need me more than ever, so please, Lanie, I’m begging you, let me take the vows.”

  I slipped my blade from my boot and turned to face him, resting it on his shoulder. “I, Princess Elena of Garius, take you Finn as my protector, confidant, and beloved.”

  These weren’t the vows the guards swore when they took their positions, but this one seemed more appropriate.

  I could barely see his face in the dark cave, but he cupped my face and said, “Until death do us part.”

  He dropped his hand, and I moved the blade to his other shoulder. “Until death do us part.”

  As soon as I finished saying the words, my magic expanded as though a blanket had been thrown off, and it felt Finn’s energy in his chest.

  The cold air hit me and I shivered. Finn wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer and kissed me.

  I placed my hand on his chest, and my magic became excited, but Dax had been right. I could tell it was injured. Would joining with Finn cure it?

  “I’m not going to undress you,” he said as he lifted my skirt. “It’s too cold, but we can do this mostly clothed.”

  I tugged at the waistband of his pants, working them free, and wrapped my hand around his erection.

  He unfastened my breeches, then slipped his hand between my legs.

  My magic expanded and so did his, each sending tendrils toward the other. This wasn’t as beautiful as my moments with the other three—we were sitting on a rock floor in a cave in freezing weather, with a dracna sitting outside standing guard—but it was just as tender.

  “I feel like you’re getting cheated,” I said.

  “You’re the one getting cheated,” he said. “You deserve better than this, Lanie. When I dreamed of touching you—I can assure you it was never like this.” He kissed me again, his mouth more demanding.

  “What was it like?” I asked when he broke free.

  His hand was working magic between my legs, and the pressure was building.

  “It would be in a bed, for one thing,” he said, then paused as I reached into his pants with my free hand and cupped his balls.

  “You were saying . . .”

  “You’re very distracting.” He gave me a hard kiss. “It would be a grand bed with curtains and a feather mattress, and I would lay you down on it.”

  “And what was I wearing?”

  “Lanie . . .”

  “I can see it,” I said with my eyes closed. “I’m lying on the bed, looking up at you, and you have shed your shirt and are standing at the foot of the bed, wearing only your tight pants . . . and I can see your bulge.”

  He didn’t say anything, and I opened my eyes and stilled my hands.

  “Do you think I’m evil, Finn?”

  “No, Lanie. I can never make up for how much I hurt you, but I will spend my life trying.” He pulled my hands from his pants and lifted me, having me straddle his lap. “This is my penance for making you suffer, and talking about my fantasy of you only proves how much I’ve let you down again.”

  “I want you, Finn, not a fancy bed.”

  He slipped his hand into my breeches. “But you deserve it and so much more.”

  “Next time . . .” I said with a gasp as he pressed on my bundle of nerves, and the pressure began to build again. I reached into his pants and wrapped both hands around him and stroked.

  “You’re wearing a gown,” he said breathlessly as though it was hard to concentrate. “It’s covered in lace, and I can see you through it. And your hair is spilled around you.” He cupped the back of my head and stared into my eyes. “And you are the most damned beautiful thing, Lanie, and you are mine. I can’t believe you’re mine.”

  He kissed me and we quickly climbed. I slipped my hand up his shirt and placed my hand over his heart, my magic meeting his with the barrier between. My magic cried with joy, sure she would never see him again, and his tried to push through to reach me.

  His hand worked magic of its own between my folds, and I cried out his name as I came, my magic pushing through to his, racing along the tendrils until it reached his energy. It expanded and burst into life.

  When I came to, he held me in his arms, resting my cheek on his chest. He was rubbing my back and my arm, whispering my name.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I should have warned you. Side effect of waking up your magic.”

  “I have a hard time believing I have magic,” he said. “But if a dracna can kill snow corsairs to protect us, and then stand guard, then why not?” He kissed my temple. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go to the temple and end this thing.”

  I had a feeling it had just begun.

  16

  When we woke up at dawn, the dracna gave us one last look, then took flight. Finn crawled out of the cave to make sure we were safe, then reached in to help me out. As we walked toward the road, I heard Liam call our names.

  “Here!” Finn called back.

  We met them on the road, and I checked them all over to make sure they hadn’t been injured by the corsairs.

  “How did you find us?” I asked.

  “It’s not every day you see a dracna sitting as calm as you please,” Tobias said.

  “Plus, we could feel you behind it,” Dax said.

  “What do you mean feel me?”

  “Once we were close enough, we could feel you through our connection,” Dax said.

  “Did you get some rest?” Liam asked, glancing between both of us.

  “We did,” Finn said, wrapping his arm around my back. “Lanie reinstated my vows. We’re ready to go to the temple and finish this thing.”

  Liam grinned slightly and nodded. “Then let’s get going.”

  We reached the valley less than an hour later, and Liam said we should be to the temple by nightfall. We took a short break around midday to eat and to give the horses a rest, then took off again.

  It was warmer in the valley meadow, and I shed my cloak. We were making good time, but I had a feeling that our luck was about to run out.

  The sun had begun to set, making the sky glow an orange-red, when we saw a white horse standing in the middle of the road, as though waiting for us.

  “That’s not a horse,” Finn said as we got closer to it. “That’s a . . .”

  “Unicorn,” Tobias said.

  “Unicorns don’t exist,” Finn said.

  “And neither do dracnas,” Dax said. “And yet they do.”

  When we approached, the unicorn bowed its head, then turned and led the way.

>   “We’re being escorted by a unicorn,” Tobias said, laughing.

  We continued for another half hour, following the unicorn, until we saw the temple in the distance. Then the unicorn sped up and raced toward it.

  Liam glanced back at me, then took off, with the rest of us following behind.

  The temple of Medea wasn’t part of a village, although it was said to have once been in the center of a city. But now the city was gone, and it stood in the center of the grasslands, a rectangular building surrounded by pillars. Dax told us that it had been rumored to be a powerful magical place.

  When we reached the base of the temple, we climbed down and tied up our horses, then stood at the bottom of the twenty or so steps. The temple glowed from a fire within. The unicorn stood close, watching.

  My stomach tumbled with nerves.

  Liam grabbed my hand and looked down at me. “If she doesn’t have answers, we’ll find them somewhere else, Elena. We’ll figure this out.”

  My magic roared to life, realizing how close we were to making it whole. “I know you will, Liam.”

  And I did. He wouldn’t rest until he’d gotten all the answers we’d needed.

  We began to climb the steps, Liam and I in front and the other four behind us. When we reached the top, Liam took a moment to take in his surroundings, then marched into the temple.

  This temple was set up differently than the temple by the castle. While that one had been comprised of many small rooms, this one had a large interior room with an altar at the front and a large pit in the center, where a large fire now blazed.

  “Hello?” I called out, and a woman in a flowing white dress walked out from behind the altar. “Are you the priestess?”

  She smiled as she walked toward us, but she didn’t say anything.

  The priestess who had started this whole thing had been old and haggard, but this woman was young and beautiful, with long blond hair and creamy skin, and moved gracefully. She looked like a god.

  “We have questions,” Liam said, still holding my hand as he walked around the fire pit and stopped in front of her. My other guards fanned out around us.

  She nodded slightly. “I’ll answer what I can.”

  “Magic,” I said. “It’s been gone for hundreds of years, but now it’s back.”