Tempted by Demons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal (Brides of the Sinistral Realms)

by Lidiya Foxglove

  “A serpent. Again. This is really unusual, seeing them out here on the edge of their world. Like they’re chasing us.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Tell me.”

  He snapped out a rough sounding word in a language I didn’t remotely recognize. “Like…maybe we’re running out of time. Maybe the Ethereals sent them here to deal the final blow.”

  “Why?”

  “They feel it’s in their best interest to banish us back to the world we came from. To seal all of our points of contact with this world. Those creatures are not Ethereals, they come from the spaces in between. But the Ethereals could harness more of them to come here if they thought the island was close to breaking free of the Fixed Plane.”

  “I didn’t know Ethereals were your enemies. I thought you guys were just…two kinds of magic.”

  “Of course, light and dark…we tend to clash.”

  “Yeah. I should’ve known.”

  “There was no reason to tell you that we have a natural enemy and not just a natural predator. We can handle it…it’s just…”

  “You’re stronger if you have a bride.”

  He cursed again. “Forget about it. I need to take care of them. Can you keep a hand on the wheel?”

  I had never driven a boat before, but generally it seemed like it should be easy. I didn’t have to worry about lanes or traffic lights or crashing into other boats. I took the wheel and he threw open a chest cooler. I thought it held bait or our lunch or something, but it actually held a few small plants. He took one out, holding it by the roots. Almost as soon as he held it up, the bare roots snaked around his hand and vines started growing rapidly outward, reaching for anything they could grab, including the rails of the boat, the motor, and my arm. It was more exploratory than aggressive, little tendrils and leaves tickling my skin.

  He snapped his fingers and motioned for them to leave me alone and fly out into the water. The serpents snapped at the vines as they dipped into the water. I tried my best to maneuver the boat in a circle around them so the vines could do their work, while trying to catch the serpents in the motor. I wasn’t sure but maybe it would slice them up, like a manatee, except not super depressing like a manatee. Of course, I couldn’t really see them that well under the water.

  The vines snapped up an serpent, tightening around it as it wriggled and hissed.

  I cringed, because it was gross, but I didn’t make a sound until the creature went limp.

  One of the other serpents snapped at the vine, gripping it between its teeth. It yanked hard just as I felt something jar the boat and I gripped the wheel hard, jerking out of the way. Van lost his hold on the plant and it slipped into the water.

  “It’s okay. I have more,” he said. The second he looked away from the water and back into the cooler, something struck the boat hard and the motor abruptly died. The whole thing tipped sideways and I fell off the seat—and kept falling—hands scrabbling for something— I grabbed something I thought was a rail and it turned out to just be a little antenna thing that snapped off in my hand. I thought the whole boat would tip, but one of the rolling waves came by to our benefit and pushed it the other way.

  Just as I hit the water.

  Something slithered by my heel.

  “Edie!” I heard Van shout, just as something jerked me underwater, biting my shoe.

  I had just a moment of sheer terror—if I peed myself again, at least it wouldn’t be too obvious this time—before the fight came over me. I didn’t have time to panic or I was going to drown. And I was not going to drown. That just wasn’t happening. I felt Van’s vines tangling around my arms and I clamped my hands around them like a rope.

  If there is any magic left in you, help me kill this little bastard.

  I kicked my foot, trying to shake off the creature, only to feel another one brush around my waist—and pull me under.

  I thrashed, holding my breath. I felt some slippery thing tighten around me. My eyes were shut against the salty water. I heard splashing and Van shouting my name, but it sounded too far away…

  Despite all this, old habits die hard. I imagined Nicole having to post on my Instagram that I had drowned on vacation. What would SwordGuru say about that? No! No fucking way! A surge of determination raced through me. I was not going to give up for a second.

  Then I felt the vines slither down my body, racing toward the demon thing, pushing it away from me. And then Van’s arms were around me, pulling me up to the surface. I gasped for breath.

  He pulled us both back up to the boat and then he held me tight. “I’m so sorry. If I’d known that would happen… I never meant to put you in danger.”

  I clutched his arms. My heart was beating fast, but not just from fear—also from sheer adrenaline.

  “Did I use magic just now?” I asked.

  “Well, technically…you just activated the magic that was already there, but…”

  “‘Technically’! Isn’t that using magic?”

  “Alister would probably say it’s only using magic if—“ He cut himself off. “Sure it is. And what really matters is that you were awesome.” His arms tightened around me, shifting to more of an embrace than a death grip. “It was the tiniest bit fun, wasn’t it?”

  “Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far. But I do feel…alive.” I leaned back into the strength of his warm body, and he kissed my hair.

  “If I’m being quite honest, Edie, you’ve never looked so beautiful.” His grip on me loosened so he could caress my cheek, pull my mouth to his. He kissed me softly, with one stroke of his tongue that made me hungry for much more. “I’ve been looking for a bride out of duty and you know, basic male horniness.”

  I snorted. “You’re too honest.”

  “It never occurred to me that a human girl could really…” He trailed off like he didn’t know what to say. Maybe he realized it was too soon to start telling me that I really meant something to him.

  It is too soon, I told myself. But a part of me wanted to hear it. I had been dreaming of having thousands upon thousands of likes and followers, but it was never enough. Maybe all I needed was three very special likes and followers…

  “Let’s not tell the other guys about this,” he said. “They’ll kill me for putting you in danger twice.”

  I pretended to zip my lips. He grinned, but then he looked out to the open water ahead with a crease in his brow betraying worry. It was obviously this wasn’t supposed to happen; these attacks took him off guard. They were running out of time to defend the island.

  It was a lot to have on my shoulders, too, but he didn’t say anything about that.

  “Are we still getting the lobsters?” I asked.

  “You still want to?”

  “Do you think we’ll encounter more of those things?”

  “Nothing in life is certain, but I say, nah. They travel in packs.”

  “I was kind of looking forward to the tourist experience. Plus, bisque was on the brochure.”

  That night, Dante made up some lobster bisque and I tried not to think too much about how I was eating something that was alive a few hours prior. Especially since I started working at the charity I realized how important it was to own up to one’s decisions; everything you did to your yard, for example, could have an effect on the entire ecosystem, even hundreds of miles away, like if migrating birds didn’t have enough habitat or food supply. Eating meat was the same, I guess. I usually tried not to think about it, but everything on the island seemed to confront me with questions and ideas I couldn’t ignore.

  But now it was my turn for an idea.

  “While I was on the boat with Van, we had a discussion…” I spoke toward Alister and Dante. “Before I make my decision, I want you guys to go to the mainland with me.”

  You would think I had just lit the tablecloth on fire, the way they both actually edged their chairs back. “The mainland?” Alister said. “But we ha
ve to stay to protect the island!”

  “One of us does,” Van said.

  “No way.” Dante was already shaking his head. “Too dangerous. Especially considering that we’ve been having swarms of serpents.”

  “I can manage this place for a few days. I think you’re just nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “You’re expecting me to drop my entire life, my job and all the technology and ways of connecting that I’ve grown up with,” I said. “And you don’t even know what you’re really asking. I think it’s only fair that you see my world. I want a husband that understands me, not one that makes fun of stuff that’s important to me.”

  “I think that one’s for you, man,” Van said to Dante, who scowled appropriately.

  “No way,” he repeated. “Rules are rules. We're not supposed to leave the island.”

  “But we’re also expected to find a bride,” Van said. “And Edie’s right. We can’t ask so much of her without giving an inch in return.”

  “We leave the island vulnerable just so she can remember how much she likes the Fixed Plane,” Dante said.

  “Hey!” I smacked the table, so some lobster bisque swished out of the bowl. (Sad face.) “I’m taking this decision seriously, you know. I’m actually considering staying here with you guys, even though the very idea is insane and I don’t know how I’ll explain it to my mom and dad or even my best friends. But you told me it seems like I’m meant to be here, and I feel that too. But it’s still a heavy decision. Almost too heavy to comprehend in two weeks no matter what I do. Well…this is something.”

  Alister scratched his chin. “I would be…curious.”

  Dante cast his eyes to the ceiling. “Great. I’m going to be the only voice of sanity?”

  “If we don’t find a bride, we’ll lose the island anyway,” Alister said. “And so far our efforts have been fairly disastrous. Edie is right to take this seriously. You do want her to know what she’s getting into first…don’t you?”

  Dante gave him a hard look, like something about this really pissed him off. “You just want to see it,” Dante said. “You always have.”

  “I do,” Alister admitted. “I would like to see Edie’s life and home.”

  Oh my god. That hit home. My life? He wanted to see my life? The garden I ignored? Our messy living room? Nicole and Dakota? What would I tell them? I tried to dance around that idea. “Or we could just hang out in Bar Harbor or something, do tourist stuff…”

  I saw Dante’s eyes spark, like he’d caught me in something. “If I’m doing this, I don’t want to see more foggy beaches, Bright Eyes. Let’s go to DC.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Edie

  “Wow, look at ‘em all,” Dante said. “It’s even worse than I imagined.”

  We were waiting for the train. Everyone on the platform was looking at a phone. Mine was still out of battery power, and I was getting antsy just thinking about the fact that I actually had service, if I could get a charge.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Well, what else are you going to do while you wait for a train? Is it that different from reading a book?”

  “I, for one, am glad all these men are looking at their phones. If they were demons, they would be looking at Edie,” Alister said. “Plotting how to have her for their own.”

  “What? Jeez. Is that why you guys keep standing so close to me?”

  “I don’t think you really mind,” Dante said, sliding a hand around my waist. “I’ve noticed some of the girls look a little jealous.”

  “I’m not trying to make other girls jealous,” I said, but I’m sure my blush wasn’t doing my protests any favors. Deep down, I couldn’t help but casually note that none of my boyfriends had ever been this hot. And now I had two of them, both looking kinda possessive of me, the way they always made sure I stood between them. “So does that mean you’re checking out the other women, seeing if you can find something better?”

  There was a girl leaning against a wall nearby, casual hippie chic with very long brown hair and skinny jeans that hugged a hot ass. Her eyes were dividing their time between her phone and my demons.

  “Of course not,” Dante said. “Unless this goes south. I reserve the right to scout our next victim on the way home.”

  Alister gave him a withering look. “Stop joking around.”

  It had already been a long day. Alister drove the fishing boat out past the island to the isolated dock where I had originally been dropped off. Mrs. Parker was waiting for us, after Alister had called her from the single phone at Marchcliff, and she drove us to Bangor in stony silence.

  “Her ancestors made the bargain with the old guardians of Marchcliff,” Alister explained afterward. “But she doesn’t really care for magic.”

  “Bargain?”

  “A favor. Old Benjamin, the original owner of the manor in the late 1700s, disposed of a man for her great-something-grandfather.” He arched a brow. “It was a long time ago, mind you.”

  “I feel like you’re trying to downplay this incident.”

  “We haven’t murdered anyone,” Dante said. “But yes, our kind are sometimes called upon to be the hit men of the magical world. That’s how demons got a reputation that you can summon them to do your dark bidding. Because it’s sort of true, in some instances.”

  “We would only take the job if the person deserved it,” Alister said.

  “And if the pay was awesome,” Dante added.

  Alister gave him the same withering look at that point too, and we had to stop the conversation to figure out our train tickets. The guys apparently needed to avoid airplanes, and even spending prolonged periods of time in cars, at least if they didn’t want their magic to weaken. So the train it was, and the train from Bangor to DC was a good sixteen hours, but I figured at least I would have some very nice shoulders to sleep on.

  Once we were on board, I was greeted with the irresistible temptation of a power outlet, and immediately plugged in my phone. The second it sprang to life I was messaging Nicole and Dakota, trying to warn them what was coming.

  hey guys! I’m coming back early…

  oh no, did something happen? Dakota responded, while at almost the same time Nicole wrote, Edie, don’t even tell me. you are supposed to hold out for TWO WEEKS.

  I smiled. Nicole knew me best…but in this case, of course, she could never have guessed.

  so i met these guys on the island and they’ve never been to DC…

  WHAT? Dakota replied. ARE YOU WITH GUYS RIGHT NOW?

  yup. on the train. couldn’t get a plane ticket…so we’ll be there by like noon tomorrow.

  OMG. HOT GUYS?

  I realized that both Dante and Alister had placed a hand on my leg and were casually stroking the bare skin beneath the hem of my skirt. And just that was turning me on—somehow even moreso because in the real world this was Not Appropriate.

  “Can I try?” Dante asked, and I realized he was watching every word.

  “I should’ve known you wouldn’t be polite enough not to snoop on my texts.”

  “How am I supposed to know? I’ve never seen one before.” He grabbed the phone and carefully tapped out, VERY HOT GUYS.

  “Now they’re going to think I brought one of you for them,” I cried. “Give me that!” My voice had a note of panic, because he could seriously mess things up for me if he said the wrong thing.

  He tossed it back in my lap. “Okay, okay. But what are you going to tell them?”

  “I need to decide on just one of you to be, like…mine. You can’t both touch me at the same time.”

  “That’ll be hard,” Alister said. “I’m sure they will pick up on our mutual chemistry.”

  “That’s okay, I just cannot let them think I’ve been making out with all three of you. Only one of you can actually touch me in public.”

  “That would be harder still,” Alister said.

  “Well, sorry, I’m asking you to respect my space,” I said in as firm a
voice as I could manage.

  “I think it’ll be hard for you too,” Dante purred in my ear. “You seem even more ripe with need here than you were on the island.”

  My phone was exploding with messages. “I—I need to take care of this,” I said, brushing their hands away. “It’s only a few days and then—well—we’ll see. Buncha horny demons, don’t make me regret this.”

  God, they were right. My desire seemed to be both concentrating in wet heat between my legs and also spiraling all through me. I hadn’t anticipated that bringing them to my world would only make me want them more than ever. It almost felt like I thought the whole thing was a dream until now. Now it was real. I really could be the bride of all three of them and live on the island and still come back to the real world sometimes. I was actually sitting on an Amtrak train with old men coughing and kids asking their mom for Cheerios and a business guy opening a laptop and Dante and Alister were here too.

  But, I could not spontaneously orgasm on Amtrak, so I just started texting and checking all my messages and comments and pretty soon I was back down to earth again.

  “Can I take a picture of you now?” I asked the guys. “Since we are in the real world? Anyone could take a picture.”

  Dante and Alister exchanged a look.

  “You're not ‘anyone’, Bright Eyes,” Dante said.

  “Well, there’s no way we can erase her memory of all of this now,” Alister said.

  Dante tilted his head at me a little and Alister gave the smallest nod back.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Alister said. “You can take our picture.”

  I snapped two photos, since one of them was on each side of me. Alister, elbow propped on the window frame. He looked away from the camera and out at the view. Dante held up a candy bar he bought in the station with a small smirk.

  I sent the pictures to Dakota and Nicole and then a “fans self” animated gif.

  I was immediately bombarded.

  HOLY SHIT

  which one is mine?

  WHICH ONE?

  only two? what are we going to do?

  why are you torturing us???