Crimson Kisses: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Marked Souls Book 1)

by Sabrina Shelley

  “Rest now, love.” His breath on my ear is soothing, calming, and I know he’s influencing me again, but I don’t resist. “Save your energy for what’s next.”

  What’s coming next should be the easy part, but with my energy zapped, I’m not so sure anymore.

  Xander approaches Ryker’s door and speaks to him in low tones that I can barely make out, and the next thing I know, I’m holding a rose in my palm. One planted in Ryker’s cell by good old Fido. Maybe the creature is more dog-like after all.

  “Rory?”

  Ryker’s deep rumbling voice breaks me out of the weary haze I feel myself slipping into.

  “Ryker,” I breathe, searching for his face in the darkness through the bars, but I see nothing. “Are you okay?”

  “You’re the one I’m worried about, little witch.” He says it gruffly, but I detect something soft in his words. However, unlike our first visit, there’s no humor in his voice. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

  I manage a small smile. “I like to call it adventurous.”

  “Can you handle this, Rory?” Xander asks, coming up to where Nico is standing with me in his arms. He shares a look of concern with Nico. Both of their faces are grim.

  This was one of their biggest objections—that my magic wouldn’t be strong enough to sustain me throughout the night. Or rather, that I’m not yet strong enough to sustain my magic. It’s a crushing blow to realize that I’m still so far from where I need to be in my training.

  I really could have benefitted from training at Aisling for longer. Now I may never have as much control as I could have. But it’s a moot point. It was now or never.

  I think of my mother, burning herself out, using her magic until it killed her. That’s a very real risk. But I’m determined. And seeing the way Nico and Xander are communicating silently, I feel a resolve stir in my chest.

  These two men who I already care so deeply for, and who care for me, went against their better judgment to go along with my plan. I won’t let them down. If anything, I’m more driven to prove myself now with the two of them here by my side.

  “I’ve got this.” My voice comes out steady and strong, despite my flagging energy. “Let’s do this.”

  Nico sets me on my feet, and I hold the rose in my outstretched palm. Xander and Nico flank me, four hands on my back as I focus all my attention on the single flower.

  Then I squeeze my fist tight, drawing the energy from the rose, feeling it course through my veins, a red glow beginning to emanate from my palm.

  Focus.

  Like a laser. Everything in me draws to a pinpoint of singular focus. Then I open my palm and project the glowing crimson light from my palm directly at the cell door.

  The force of the blast of energy knocks the door straight off its hinges and it flies clear across the cell to slam into the opposite wall.

  I gasp. I did it. I used my own power to do something seemingly impossible.

  But it comes at a price, just as Dr. Belmont warned me.

  Energy isn’t infinite. Something I now know all too well. Because the last thing I see is Ryker emerging from the cell before my knees collapse and everything goes dark.

  16

  Rory

  I’m floating on a velvet cloud, swaying gently back and forth. Or maybe I’m floating in the sea, lulled into a blissful sleep by the rhythmic waves as I drift in and out of consciousness.

  Sounds and sensations are dulled, muted, leaving me unsure of when and where I am. And for a few moments, I’m okay with that. I sink into the serenity of it, wondering if I can stay in this limbo forever. My body is so tired, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

  Then slowly, voices penetrate my consciousness. The rocking slows then comes to a stop.

  “What happened?”

  Is that my voice? It comes out rough and incoherent, and I’m not sure the words make any sense.

  “Shh.”

  A hand smooths over my hair, and I feel a rush of calm. Nico.

  But then an alarm in my brain tells me that something isn’t quite right here. The calm is edged with tension. I can feel it as strongly as I can feel the hand on my cheek.

  I open my eyes and reality comes flooding back.

  Shadows surround me, and all I can see are the dark profiles of Nico and Ryker, both holding me in the back of a car as we traverse a rocky path. Turning my head, I see Xander and Drew in the front seats.

  “We’re almost there. Just rest.” Nico projects tranquility into me yet again, but something is off. I can feel his anxiety as well.

  “What’s wrong?” I push myself to a sitting position, trying to get my bearings. The last thing I remember is blasting open the door of Ryker’s prison cell.

  Somehow, I’m now in the getaway car that Drew is driving, headed toward Eastwatch to free Cassandra—Ryker by my side, so we were successful there—which means things should all be going according to plan.

  The men all share silent glances, and that tells me enough. Something’s definitely happened.

  “Ryker?” I turn to him, instinctively knowing he’ll tell me.

  He gives me a small smile, but again there’s little humor there, so very different from the rough but teddy bear-like man I’ve seen before.

  “There are…complications.”

  I raise my eyebrows expectantly. “And?”

  He sighs. “It seems having our little scout was a good idea. From everything I’m gathering, Eastwatch is swarming with guards.”

  “What?” I look at the grim faces in the shadows. He’s already relayed this information to the rest of the men, it seems. “Why? How?”

  Xander’s jaw ticks. “We don’t know. Either someone is onto us, or they expected this all along.”

  I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow I still feel stunned. How could they know this is what I would do? That I would orchestrate a jailbreak for Cassandra?

  Thinking back over the events of the day—my surprise at seeing Abra, her flippant comments about Cassandra not making it out, Dr. Belmont and her cryptic words about people saving themselves—a terrible thought strikes me.

  “Do you think they wanted this to happen?”

  It doesn’t seem that farfetched if I think about it. My escape from Eastwatch was something they wanted all along. My first trip down into Ryker’s prison as well. It’s like they’ve been testing me, figuring out what makes me tick, to discern my every move before I even make it. And if Eastwatch is swarming with guards, they’ve got me figured out.

  I want to scream out in frustration. Stupid little Rory, thinking she’s one step ahead, when really I’m playing into their hands with every move I make. I don’t know what to think about it, and I don’t have time to dwell on it now.

  Because setup or not, I’m still getting Cassandra out of there.

  I catch Drew’s eye in the rearview mirror, and he seems to read my thoughts.

  “Rory…” His voice is wary but resigned, like he knows what I’m about to say and doesn’t like, but also knows there’s nothing he can do about it.

  “We’ve changed the plan, Rory,” Xander interjects. “It’s too dangerous. We’re leaving Aisling now.”

  “What? No!” I sit up all the way now and look around. It was dark when I first made the trip from Eastwatch to the main part of Aisling with Dr. Belmont and Xander, but even without knowing where I’m at, I’m certain we aren’t headed back.

  “He’s right, love,” Nico says, taking my hand, but I rip it away. I’m not about to let him influence me right now.

  “No. Do you hear me? No. It’s that simple. Turn this fucking car around right fucking now, Drew Iver.”

  A hint of a smile plays at those lips, lips that were on my body not so very long ago. Yeah, I sound petulant and spoiled, my voice demanding him to go along with what I want like I did when we were children.

  He doesn’t say anything, just keeps on driving.

  “You’re exhausted, Rory.” Xander doesn’t even look at
me, just watches the road ahead. “Even if we didn’t have this snag with the guards, you’ve nearly depleted your energy already. How are you supposed to enact your plan when you can barely stand?”

  The way he says it, as if the decision is made and I have no say, infuriates me, and I react without thinking.

  Closing my eyes, I draw on the anger that’s overtaking me and focus every bit of it on one spot. Then I let it loose.

  A blast of light flies from my hand toward the brake pedal, and the car comes to a screeching halt, throwing us all forward with a violent jolt.

  The silence in the car is deafening as Xander slowly turns to look at me.

  “Depleted energy, you say?” I glare at him. “Fuck that, Xander. And fuck you.”

  The fury that blazes in his eyes is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. So stoic, so in control. That’s Xander. But now? Right now he looks like he’s barely maintaining his composure, like he could very well snap at any minute.

  That’s when I realize there’s a lot more to this man. I’ve hardly even scratched the surface. And it’s terrifying.

  The moment stretches out in a long, tense silence.

  Then finally, “Do you have a death wish, Rory? Because I’ll be damned if I fail you as your guardian and let you walk into a trap. Mission aborted. End of discussion.”

  I lean forward, staring him down, wanting him to know just how serious I am. “No. It’s not. The mission is on. With or without you, I’m doing this.”

  He barks out a laugh. “And just how do you plan on doing that? Are you going to take on all four of us? Fight your way through us, make it through the mists on your own? Then what? Singlehandedly take on the entirety of the Eastwatch guards? You’ll burn through your magic before you’ve even made it through the front gates of the prison. Then what will all this be for? You’ll be dead, Rory. Do you hear me? Dead. It’s over.”

  He turns back around as if that’s it. As if his word is law and we should all just fall in line.

  “Drive, roughneck.”

  But Drew doesn’t move. He looks at me, waiting to see what I’ll do next. But what comes next is something even I couldn’t have predicted.

  All my anger, all my fear, my frustration and helplessness, every part of me that’s felt like my life is out of my control since that first night I ran into Xander in the city—all of it comes to a head.

  I feel power rising up inside me like nothing I’ve ever felt before. They say I’m the most powerful witch they’ve ever seen, do they? My potential is unlimited?

  Well, let’s fucking see.

  I channel it all. I pull every bit of energy I can from all of them. Xander, Nico, Ryker, and even Drew. I can feel their very lifeforces emanating in the stillness, and I draw them into myself, siphoning from them. Not knowing what it will do, but fueled by a desperation like I’ve never known, I take their energy and meld it with my own. Instantly the entire car is filled with a bright white light. My palms are on fire, but it doesn’t burn this time. It feels…good.

  I know magic has a dark side, a dangerous side, that there’s a price to pay, but right now I don’t care. The enormity of the power that I’m channeling right now has me in a nearly euphoric state, like I can take on the entire world and come out the victor.

  The light grows brighter, hotter, and soon it’s radiating beyond the car, lighting up the darkness surrounding us until it looks like high noon. Winds whip up outside, trees swaying and bending until they look as if they might break. The car shakes as the magic rolls off of me in waves.

  “I said we’re doing this.”

  The voice doesn’t even sound like my own. It echoes through the car, strong and sure and commanding. I have no idea what I must look like right now, but all four of the men surrounding me are staring at me with a mixture of shock and awe.

  Reaching out, I place my glowing palms on Xander’s chest and feel his heart begin to pound under my touch. His clothes begin to singe, smoke rising from his chest where my right hand rests over his guardian mark. And I look him dead in the eyes.

  “We. Are. Doing. This. So tell me, Xander, are you with me or not?”

  He swallows, his midnight eyes wide as he stares back at me. There’s no fear there, but there’s something hidden in those dark depths that I don’t understand. He’s angry, that much is clear, but I also think I see something a bit like pride. For me. It’s gone the next second, though, and he clenches his jaw and nods silently.

  I allow myself a small smile. “Good. You heard the man, Drew. Drive.”

  I pull my hands back from Xander and sit back in my seat calmly, as if nothing unusual happened, and let go of the magic. We’re instantly plunged back into darkness. I feel a sense of loss as a coldness wraps itself around me.

  No one says a word, but something has shifted. None of them will look at me. And the feeling that surrounds us is tinged with…fear?

  They can’t be afraid of me. They should know I would never hurt them. But what just happened is something that I can’t even understand myself.

  It’s my magic. They’re afraid of my magic.

  And I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t terrified by what I just did. I was in control of it, but there was something else I felt. Desperation. An intense desire that was almost like need. Like I couldn’t get enough, that I wanted to pull more and more magic from everything that surrounded me and dance in the raw power that I possessed.

  I now understand for the first time just how much I don’t know and how very dangerous my magic can be. I even think that I might see why the Regime thinks they need to control it, something I never thought I’d agree with. But if I’ve barely scratched the surface of my power and did this? Who knows what witches could do with limitless power? It’s scary as hell.

  Trying to control my breathing, I sink into my seat, withdrawing into myself as Drew turns the car around and heads back the way we came. The silence stretches on until it’s almost uncomfortable.

  Drew takes a left and I stare out the window, trying to get my bearings. I think things might look a little familiar, but I really wasn’t paying attention the night I left Eastwatch with Dr. Belmont and Xander, so I can’t be completely sure, but I try to commit everything to memory this time.

  It feels like we’re driving for hours, but it can only have been a few minutes before Drew slows to a stop and shuts the car off. I glance ahead and see a wall of silvery mist.

  This is it. The mists leading to Eastwatch. I narrow my eyes as I stare into them, trying to recall my first trip through. They seem much denser this time. Before, I was able to walk through easily. Come to think of it, the mists didn’t seem nearly as, well, misty. It was more of a blackness. But now I not only see the mist, I feel it.

  Reaching over Nico, I open the car door and climb over him without waiting for him to exit the car first. I’m drawn to the mist, I feel it pulling me closer, beckoning to me. The closer I go, the stronger the sense of magic becomes. It’s as if the mists are alive somehow, power emanating from the silvery fog.

  Then I hear the voices, the whispers I’ve heard off and on for the past months, back when I thought I was just going crazy.

  What is this?

  Behind me, I hear the voices of my companions calling my name, telling me to stop, but I can’t. I’m operating as if on autopilot, my hand extending toward the mist, my palms glowing as I stretch them out.

  And when the first traces of the wisps touch my fingers, the surge of power that I feel nearly knocks me back.

  How did I not sense this my first time through? The only conclusion I can come to is that the mist is so infused with magic that I can only recognize it now that I’m coming into my powers.

  The pure need I felt to draw more and more magic back in the car, the rush of power, comes flooding back to me as if the mists are welcoming me, calling me home. All I need to do is just step into them and I’ll have everything I could ever need. Everything I could ever want.

  One mor
e step. Another. I’m almost fully wrapped in its welcoming arms when suddenly I feel a hand clasp mine and yank me back.

  “What the hell, Rory?”

  Xander’s eyes are blazing as he turns me to face him. It takes me a minute to focus on his face, and I shake my head, feeling suddenly confused.

  He grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “This is what I’m talking about. This is why you need to trust me. Trust us. You have no idea what you’re—literally—walking into.”

  Concern and anger battle in his gaze and he grips me by the shoulders and gives me a little shake. “What do you feel right now?”

  “I—I don’t know.” I shake my head again as I stare back at him. “I just wanted to touch it, feel the power.”

  He grinds his teeth. “Don’t walk blindly into anything. Ever. Do you understand?”

  I don’t. Not at first. But when he turns me around, his hands still on my shoulders, I feel his own magic surge through me, and I see the mists anew.

  “Look, Rory.”

  Gone are the inviting, warm tendrils of silver. In their places are gray webs, tinged with black, reaching out like skeletal fingers ready to pull me into a grave-like darkness.

  I gasp and take a step backward, crashing into Xander’s hard chest. “What is that?”

  His arms wrap protectively around my waist, and I sink into his strength, taking comfort in him now, no longer angry. Grateful that I have my guardian.

  He lowers his mouth to my ear, kissing me softly, any anger he felt now gone as well. “Those are the souls of witches who never made it out alive.”

  I look up at him, my eyes widening at the grim words that come next:

  “And that’s where we have to go to get back to Eastwatch.”

  17

  Rory

  Xander knew. All along, he knew this was waiting. He was right. This is a fool’s errand. I’m in way over my head here—over all our heads.