Marks of the Mazza: Reverse Harem (Mazza Series Book 1)

by Blake Blessing

  I scream.

  My body locks up as a horrible, acrid scent assaults my nose. This is what burning flesh feels like. Smells like. I would probably throw up if I weren’t concentrating so hard on not passing out.

  After several long seconds, he removes the dagger and briskly cleans the blood away as quickly as he can. At some point Jari removed his shirt, and that must be what he is using to wipe away the blood. In my haze of pain, I didn’t even notice. Either that or he has mad undressing skills we haven’t talked about. Table that thought for later.

  I wish I could take advantage of the spectacular view, but I can only grit my teeth and squeeze my eyes shut, hoping to block out the searing pain along with the light.

  At a soft brush of lips against my own, my eyes pop open. Jari’s light blue eyes are staring directly into mine. “You did great, sweets,” he whispers.

  Rising up, Jari gingerly lifts me to a sitting position. As he slides onto the seat beside me, he slides me onto his lap and bundles me to his chest. He is surprisingly adept at maneuvering me without jostling my hip. “Just relax. The others will be back soon, and we can go home.”

  LIGHT RAPPING CATCHES my attention.

  I jump in Jari’s arms, twisting around to see who is knocking on the window. Pain radiates through my side, causing a grimace to contort my face. I grunt my discomfort as the front passenger door pops open.

  Mehki pokes his head in, which looks ridiculously large in the small space.

  “Isolde. My deepest apologies. Words cannot express my despair that someone would dare attack you in my home. I promise I will do everything in my power to bring this dishonorable fucker to justice.” He bows his head, his hair falling forward and hiding his face from my view. Mehki’s response is an odd mix of formal and modern. This has to be the culmination of growing up between two realms. He is clearly distraught and embarrassed that this attack has happened under his watch.

  A hand lands on his shoulder, and he’s jerked backward.

  “Mehki. There is no sign of the son of bitch that dared to attack our Mazza,” Nato growls at Mehki, fierceness coming across loud and clear in the savagery of his voice. “We are leaving right now to get her away from any more potential attacks. I hold you responsible for investigating if any of these cocksuckers were behind the attack. In this, you answer to me!” Even though Nato is several inches shorter than Mehki, the aura of his presence is so massive that Mehki seems to shrink before him.

  “I swear it, Nato.”

  Nato moves around Mehki to get the back door open. Jari raises his arm, taking my shirt with him so Nato can inspect the wound. His fingers lightly probe, drawing small gasps from me. It’s not bleeding anymore, but the surrounding skin is extremely tender.

  His free hand cups my cheek and raises my face to his. The pads of his fingers are slightly rough as he glides them over my temple. Relief immediately chases the pain away, allowing me to relax in Jari’s lap. A quick kiss is placed on my lips before he backs away and shuts the door.

  I watch him walk around the front of the car to get into the driver’s seat. Sage jumps in the front passenger side while Egan climbs in beside me. Egan lifts my legs gently and stretches them over his lap, doing this almost absently as he keeps his attention out the window, presumably scanning for possible threats.

  Once we are safely off the lodge property, Sage is the one to start up the discussion.

  “There’s no trace of whoever attacked. I tried to follow the trajectory. Nothing. I can’t tell if this was the work of one or many. Who there would feel that the Mazza is a threat? And act on it?”

  “It had to have been one of the people there. Only Rand has met Iss, and he had no idea that we were going to the lodge. As much as I dislike Rand, I can’t imagine he would plot against the Mazza and spread news of her presence.” Jari speaks over my head, hoisting me higher on his lap.

  Egan unties my shoes and removes them. I really hope I don’t have smelly feet. It’s hit or miss with me, and we’re in a confined space. I discreetly sniff… Nothing. Okay, good. I sigh in relief.

  “I trust Rand as much as I trust his acquaintances. They often manipulate the truth and have questionable motives, that bunch.” Egan’s thumb rubs small circles in my instep. I try really, really hard to suppress a groan, but it still slips out. He cuts his eyes at me, his mouth hooking into a crooked grin. For a split second I forget that I’m injured and we are immersed in danger.

  “Tomorrow, we’ll call an audience with Yunez. He may be able to answer some of my questions. The best we can do now is gather as much knowledge as possible as we work to uncover who is behind this.” Nato glances in the mirror, catching my eyes.

  Sage drums his fingers on the dash. “Am I the only one who is disturbed by what happened downstairs? Is that normal?”

  “The last recorded Mazza lived over 600 years ago. There aren’t a lot of well-known facts about the Mazzas. That’s one reason I wanted to seek out Yunez.”

  “You didn’t even see everything, Sage.” Jari shakes his head in disbelief above me. “It was like there was some kind of trance over all the men. They couldn’t get close enough, losing their damn minds trying to talk to Iss. The women weren’t affected, though.”

  “Oh, I saw. I got that much from when I came downstairs.”

  I really didn’t want to bring it up. I also couldn’t let it go unsaid either. “The way all those men were acting. Is that why you all have been so attached to me?” My voice comes out much smaller than I had anticipated.

  Egan and Jari both whip their head around to stare at me. Sage stiffens his shoulders as if he hadn’t thought of this. I’m drawn to all four of these men, and whether he wants to admit it or not, he’s drawn to me too. He would probably love to have it explained away as some chemical reaction.

  “Sweets, I won’t lie, you draw me in like a kid to a cupcake, but I don’t feel unlike myself around you, understand?” Jari squeezes me a little tighter.

  Egan throws me a lopsided grin. “You definitely bring out my baser instincts, but I won’t believe I act like those idiots. They were preening like peacocks, being damn ridiculous.” He shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

  I sigh, the corners of my lips pulling up. Egan’s smile is just too contagious.

  “Who is Yunez?”

  Nato answers as he turns onto their driveway. “He is an elder in my house. I’m hoping he can answer some of our questions and even some we don’t know to ask.”

  Egan hauls me out of the car and wraps an arm around my waist to help me to the door. I can’t believe it, but I can barely tell I was hurt at all. Another thought occurs to me. I stiffen as it blankets my mind, bringing a little fear and anxiousness out in me. “Are we safe here? People know that you have me with you.”

  Egan unwraps his arm from around me, links his fingers in mine, and pulls me to a stop on the porch. “We have security measures in place here. Don’t forget. I have the animals doing my bidding. If anyone tries to come to our house via road or woods, the birds and animals will alert me.”

  “But what if someone from your house tries to get control of the animals?”

  “Only someone stronger could pull the animals from my power. And even then, I would feel it, and that’s a warning all on its own.” He gives my hand a squeeze.

  Feeling marginally better, I go about getting ready for bed on autopilot. Even with the nap today, after everything that just happened, I’m knackered.

  Walking back into the guest room, I stop short. Everyone save Sage is lying on my queen-size bed.

  Jari pats the bed in the middle and waggles his eyebrows up and down. Nato stands up and comes over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Isolde, now that people know of you, there are those who would do you harm and or try to take you from us. We want to sleep close to you to make sure that in the rare event someone makes it to the house without us knowing, they can’t steal you away.”

  I let him guide me to the bed and tuck
me under the covers. Jari is under there already, so I scoot in next to him, and Nato slides in after me. Egan lazes sideways at the foot of the bed, stretching out like a big jungle cat. I am rather impressed with how we are all able to fit in the queen-size bed. We are tightly fitted like puzzle pieces, but it works.

  Before my head even really hits the pillow, sleep pulls me under.

  Light snores bring me back to the world of the living. I blink lazily and realize I am uncomfortably hot. Bodies are pressed against me from all sides. Jari is who I see first when my vision clears, his face relaxed in a way I have never seen. His mouth is parted slightly, and his cheek against the pillow is smushed up toward his eye. He looks so young it's hard to reconcile him with the mischievous man I have grown accustomed to.

  Tilting my head toward the foot of the bed, I find Egan sleeping across my legs, hugging my thighs, resting his head on my butt. No wonder I’m so hot. Egan has turned himself into my own human blanket. It also becomes apparent that Egan is my snorer.

  On the other side of the bed, Nato has his back pressed tightly to my side. If they continue to do this, we will need to either get a bigger AC unit or a bigger bed. Maybe a California-king bed. Yeah, that would be nice. I’ll have to mention it. There is no way that I can sleep like this every night on this tiny-ass bed.

  All right. Time to try and wiggle out. This will be like trying to walk on water without causing any ripples.

  I oh-so-slowly slide my legs out from under Egan, scooting toward Jari since there was actually some room between us. I make it all the way out from under Egan and bring my leg up over Jari’s back. Damn, this is like trying to play a fucked-up game of Twister in slow motion. On the bright side, the slow burn in my thighs from holding this position is definitely a workout. Calories burned for the day. Score.

  With that thought, I gingerly poke at my wound and realize that the pain is still gone. Damn, Nato’s juju skills kick ass.

  Just as I’m about to shift my body over Jari, he rolls onto his back and places his hands on my thighs. I pause in the most uncomfortable position I’ve ever been in. I’m channeling a knock-off version of Catwoman, hovering over him in a lopsided crouch with my arms raised for balance.

  Jari slides his hands up and down my thighs absently until he moves his hands around to my ass. I’m pretty sure that was a squeeze.

  Oh-kay. Time to go.

  I pull my other leg over him to land on my knees in the bed and softly roll sideways to the floor. I peer over the side of the bed, hold my breath, and wait to see if he will wake up. He doesn’t move as I count to five in my head. I exhale as quietly as I can.

  Phew, that was close.

  Tiptoeing across the floor, I ease the door open. Considering that this house is super old, I’m amazed I managed to shut the door too. In the early morning, all the adventures we had yesterday catch up to me. Not that I’m avoiding the guys, but it’s nice to be alone for a minute. Especially when so much of my life has been just that. Alone. I take a deep breath for what seems like the first time since they all stormed into my life.

  In the kitchen, I fumble my way through making a cup of coffee. They have a single-cup Keurig, so I don’t have to be hospitable and make coffee for everyone. While I’m stirring my coffee, Sage comes up behind me, reaching over my head to grab a cup.

  Startled, I let out a small yelp and jump around.

  “Easy,” he croons as though I’m a frightened animal, steadying me by the shoulders.

  I clear my throat and move around him to take up a position by the bar. Given what I witnessed last night with his lady friend and what happened after, there’s an awkward vibe zinging around the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” I rasp and then clear my throat again to get rid of my morning scratchiness.

  “Morning,” he says without looking at me as he makes his own cup. “I see you had a full bed last night.”

  And the awkward level increases exponentially.

  I study him without answering right away. Sage stands there in a well-worn cotton T-shirt over a pair of black boxer briefs. They hug his tight butt, and oh what a butt it is. I divert my eyes as he turns around to face me. I study a small flower pot on the counter, the heat scorching my cheeks. Hopefully he’ll think it’s from his question rather than my ogling of his backside.

  From the question, I can’t tell if he is all nonchalance or spiteful.

  “Uh…yeah, they all said that they felt better being close to me, considering…you know, what happened at Mehki’s.”

  “Right,” he mutters as he takes a sip of coffee.

  “You don’t think they were telling me the truth?”

  He studies me over the rim of his mug. I can’t quite decide what he thinks he sees, or even what he wants to find. His light green eyes seem more open in the early morning light. Maybe he hasn’t had time to erect the walls he keeps around himself. The expression on his face is thoughtful and contemplative. Much different than how he was last night.

  Finally, after what seems like forever of our stare down, he responds. “I don’t think they were completely lying, but I don’t think they were being one-hundred-percent truthful either. I think at this stage in the game, they will use any excuse to stay close to you. I imagine they are trying to build a bond.”

  “But not you.” I cover my mouth. Totally didn’t mean to say that. For a split second, I consider pretending I didn’t say it. But you know what, I’m going to let him off the hook. “I can tell you are involved with the woman from last night. I also figure the guys want you to be my fourth bond, representing your house. But I want you to know, even if I am starting to—sort of—get behind this, I would never take a man that is in a relationship. Nato said I could bond with anyone in your house. I just need to meet some others.” I turn my head toward the counter and say to myself, “Although I think we need to find a more controlled environment to meet people. Maybe invite them over one at a time.”

  Sage puts two of his fingers under my chin and tilts my face back toward him. “I appreciate that. I—” He pauses. “Last night, that was the end of my relationship with my childhood sweetheart. We both knew that we weren’t meant to last together.”

  His hand drops back to his side.

  “Please tell me you didn’t end your relationship because of me,” I plead. I hate how my voice is bordering on whiny, but I’m reaching a breaking point here. I can accept the idea that I have marks because I am part of a secret race of magical beings. I can even handle that these people think I’m supposed to do or be something great, although that remains to be seen. What I am having a really hard time with is that I might be responsible for broken hearts.

  “No, it wasn’t about you as such. It was more about me and what I want out of my life.” He sets his mug on the counter. “Why don’t you come sit on the porch with me?”

  I suck in a breath. Sage hasn’t exactly been welcoming. I can’t determine if I should welcome the change or suspect that he is having the same reaction as the men from last night. Or third option, he’s about to off me and hide the body. In which case, should I make it easy for him?

  “This isn’t because you are magically drawn to me, is it?” I squint at him.

  He belts out a laugh. “I can honestly say that I am nothing like those idiots. Just bring your coffee and chat with me for a little while.”

  “Okay.”

  He leads the way to the back porch, and I admire the view on the way. Once we settle in a couple of Adirondack chairs, we sit in silence. It’s actually pretty refreshing. There isn’t an ounce of awkwardness where we search for something to say to each other. No, this is a comfortable sort of silence that just lets us enjoy each other’s company.

  We must sit like this for about ten minutes, gazing out over the yard. Spears of morning sunlight litter the trees and rocks, making for a breathtaking sight.

  “You know, I met Nato and the rest of the guys when I was a teenager. Nato and Egan were already thick as thieves
. Jari had just been inducted into their little band of merry men. I was from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. We were all raised in Fennina, me specifically in the Louniva district. I had been orphaned at eleven, but I wasn’t placed in a foster home like humans do. I lived on the streets and fended for myself, never leaving Louniva. The first time I met Nato…” He chuckles to himself.

  “The first time I met Nato, I was thirteen, and he and Egan were walking down the street after leaving the bakery. I could see the loaves of bread and other food that they were carrying. I was so hungry. Desperate, really. I thought I could knock them over and grab a loaf before running off. No harm, no foul. Never mind they were twice my size, both from receiving better care as well as being a few years older. I’m the baby of the bunch.” Sage throws a small smile at me before looking back out at the yard.

  “So I put my bright idea into motion, taking a running start and bowling them over. I snatched up a loaf of bread and started to run away. It never occurred to me that they would chase after me. Egan, the fucker, was already really good at communication with the wildlife. He had birds start to peck at me, and it slowed me down until they could catch up. I couldn’t use my gifts back then. Not that I didn’t have any, just that I had never really been taught past the basics. Definitely not in any defensive means.

  “Anyway, Nato was the leader even back then. He stood me up and dusted me off. Asked me why I stole from them. I told him I was hungry but I gave the loaf back. I knew when I was beaten, and I wasn’t going to fight them anymore.”

  He pauses, and I can tell he’s back in that memory by the distant look on his face. These men clearly mean something to him. They are brothers in the real sense of the word, blood notwithstanding. My gut says he would do anything for these men and vice versa.

  “Nato finished dusting me off and straightening my clothes. He asked me where I lived and where my family was. I told him I was from nowhere and had no family, not since the fifteenth attack that took my entire family. He pulled me over to the a fallen log and sat me down, Egan and Nato sitting on the log in front of me. He broke the loaf into three pieces and gave me the biggest piece.” Sage looks down at his hands as if he was holding the bread still.