by Emma Dean
Was she the only one who’d noticed?
“At the end of this contract you should be safe, or all of us will be dead.” Hunter shrugged like it didn’t really matter either way. “At that point we should have the rest of this figured out. Do you agree?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Hunter gave her that secret smile and she knew he was playing a game, and Kenzie…wanted to play. He was so good at these she wanted to join just so she could find out where it led.
“You always have a choice,” Hunter told her. “Isn’t that the beauty of playing?”
Check.
But Kenzie felt like they were on the same team, not necessarily playing against each other, and they were definitely the black pieces. Still, he’d managed to maneuver her so perfectly she didn’t even care.
“Do you even have space for me?”
“Kenzie, even if we didn’t, we’d make space for you,” Ash said, brushing his fingers against hers – needing to touch her. “But yes, there’s a spare bedroom.”
She looked up at Hunter again and into those strange brown-gold eyes of his. “All I have to do is live here for six months, no expectations regarding relationships or sex, and you’ll give me the potion right now?”
He turned without a word and pressed his thumb to a filing cabinet beneath his desk. It popped open and Hunter pulled out the purple, glowing liquid. It swirled in the glass, mesmerizing with the power it held.
When he turned back to her his expression was serious. “Yes, you can have the potion under those terms. Then I will drive you to the hospital.”
“Do you need me to bind the promise with blood?” she joked.
Hunter stepped forward. “Just a kiss.”
Kenzie’s heart pounded. Wasn’t that a fae thing? It sounded pretty binding. She glanced at the potion and knew it didn’t matter. Selene would die without that potion. So she stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders.
Hunter wasn’t tall compared to the other two, but he was still a good six inches taller than her. Kenzie went up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. It reminded her of the one he’d given her earlier, but this was less desperate.
Somehow Hunter exuded emotions without ever physically expressing them, and Kenzie could pick up on them. He didn’t step forward, but he shifted imperceptibly toward her like he couldn’t help himself.
The binding kiss sparked through her and she felt it tie them even closer together. There was magic in this promise, the Fates only knew how.
When Hunter reached for her face she flinched. His hand was so large and calloused and rough, but he was gentle with her, tracing the line of her jaw from her ear to her chin. Then he held her firmly in place as he licked his lips.
Hunter deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers, flicking his tongue between her lips, and skimming his free hand up her arm and into her hair.
It was then that Kenzie noticed she was gripping him so she wouldn’t fall. She noticed how he tasted like spices, like…pumpkin pie? Whatever it was it comforted her and Kenzie felt safe.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed into him.
This kiss was nothing like Finnick’s hunger or Ash’s desperation. This was slow and smooth and warm and sharp like scotch or brandy.
Then he pressed the potion into her hand and stepped back.
Kenzie blinked, dazed and a little confused. Ash and Finnick still surrounded her and they looked…starved.
Without thinking she reached out and pulled Ash down, kissing him like she knew he wanted to be kissed – all consuming. Her tongue possessed his mouth and her fingers dug into his skin. Then she pulled away and reached for Finnick but he was already there, yanking her towards him – still so careful with her.
He nipped her bottom lip and she groaned, wanting more. So he gave it to her. Finnick’s hands were everywhere, but nowhere she really wanted them. He kept it chaste – for him. Which meant his tongue teased hers and he pressed into her, sparking an insatiable desire.
But they didn’t have time.
Kenzie pulled back and kissed Finnick’s cheek before taking Hunter’s hand. “Take me to the hospital.”
Hunter didn’t own a motorcycle like Finnick did. But he had a fancy Jeep. There wasn’t much traffic on a Sunday, thank the Fates, and she was rushing into the ICU before she knew it.
Kenzie went straight to the desk, asking for her sister. A nurse took her to the private room where Edith sat next to Selene’s hospital bed. It seemed her grandmother hadn’t bothered to call her parents.
Kenzie stopped in the doorway when she saw Selene.
She really did look like Snow White with her skin so unnaturally pale it made her lips look red without a stitch of makeup. Her black hair was so dark against the white sheets and Kenzie could see the blue veins in her eyelids.
This version of Snow White looked gaunt and sick, massive hollows under her eyes, and a sickly tinge to her skin.
Tears burned as Edith looked up at her with despair written in every line on her face.
Before she could do anything the doctor came in and Kenzie instantly recognized her as another witch. “Dr. Peterson.”
“Kenzie, I’m glad you made it here so quickly.” The doctor flicked a look at Hunter but didn’t say anything. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s in a coma. If something isn’t done…she doesn’t have very long.”
“It’s okay. I can fix it,” Kenzie murmured. “But it’s not legal so I’d prefer it if you didn’t report me.”
She shot Dr. Peterson a look and the longtime family physician nodded her agreement, mouth thin. “I need to do my rounds. I’ll be back in an hour to check on Selene. Then I’ll take a look at you. Do I want to know what happened?”
“Probably not. Now go so you can say you’ve no idea how she got better if the Council asks.”
Dr. Peterson left and her grandmother closed the curtains so no one could see anything. Hunter kept quiet near the door with his hands in his pockets, but he missed nothing. Kenzie pulled the potion out of her pocket and said a silent prayer to the Fates this would work.
It should, but in this moment right now, she doubted.
“It will work,” Hunter reassured her.
Kenzie glanced back. She’d forgotten he could smell her now. It was more reassuring than she cared to admit. Nodding, she uncorked the bottle with her teeth and jerked her head to Selene. “Gram-Gram, can you get her mouth open? My wrist is a bit fucked up.” And it was starting to hurt again without contact from her foxes.
Edith sighed but did as she asked. “You need to be more careful,” she snapped, pulling on Selene’s chin. “You have no powers to heal that body.”
“I know.” Kenzie poured the potion into her sister’s mouth, not once hesitating. The potion was never meant for her and she didn’t care if she never got powers. Kenzie didn’t need them. “Thank you for caring.”
Edith pinched her side and then kissed her on the cheek before settling back in her chair. Their relationship was so messed up and complicated and kind of wonderful.
“How long do you think it’ll take?” she asked, leaning over Selene and massaging her throat to make sure the potion was ingested.
“It’s contraband. I’ve no idea,” Edith replied. “And depending on its shelf-life it might not work at all.”
Kenzie shot her a glare. That was not what she wanted to hear right now.
Hunter came closer and took her hand. Somehow he knew she needed the comfort and he was willing to give it to her. Kenzie squeezed his hand but stared at her sister. Was her coloring getting better or was that just her imagination?
She sighed and bent to kiss her sister’s cheek. This better work. Kenzie didn’t know what she would do without Selene. She couldn’t die. That’s not what was supposed to happen. If it had to be anyone it should be her.
Her sister was the most powerful Kavanagh witch since her great-grandmother and Kenzie thought ma
ybe more so. Selene was the one who might end up the next High Priestess.
Kenzie? She was barely more than human and worth nothing. So if the Fates had to take someone, it should be her. She would trade places with Selene in an instant if she could.
Her sister gasped violently and her eyes flew open.
It scared the ever loving shit out of Kenzie and her heart practically stopped.
But then she rushed over to her sister and sat on the bed, smoothing back Selene’s hair, watching the color bloom on her sister’s cheeks again and the bags under her eyes disappear. “Thank you, Hunter,” she whispered, knowing he could hear it. “I won’t forget this.”
And through the bond she felt his thrill of pleasure and the connection between them strengthened.
Selene smiled up at her and then Edith pushed Kenzie out of the way so she could inspect her granddaughter. Kenzie stepped back and watched the only two people in her family she cared about. Hunter pulled her closer. Instantly the aches in her wrist, shoulder, and back eased. “I told you it would work. All it took was a kiss.”
When she looked up at him Kenzie’s heart fluttered. All it took was a kiss…like her promise to stay with them. Did that mean he thought this agreement between them would make this work? What exactly was ‘this’?
Hunter just winked at her and then shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to find out.”
Guess they would.
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Excerpt from Black Spells and Twisted Souls by Cece Rose
Chapter One – Every Witch for Herself
The lovely Cece gave me permission to share her work with all of you. Check this awesome reverse harem paranormal story!
Tapping my pen absently against the edge of my desk, I stare blankly at the computer screen in front of me. The sounds of the busy, London-based office barely reach my ears as I zone out. A hand waves in front of my face, trying to demand my attention back in reality.
“Are you even listening to me? Hey! Earth to Kayla!” Lizzy chirps in her usual sing-song voice.
“Huh?” I turn and look up at her, blinking as I pull myself back into focus.
“I said, did you get that email about the meeting in the glass room? I’m on my way there now.” She gives a pointed look at the desktop, which is on the locked screen from my lack of use. Oops.
“When did he send it?” I ask, trying not to yawn as I stretch a little in my seat.
“I got mine about twenty minutes ago,” she answers absently, picking at the vibrant blue polish on her nails.
I unlock my computer and check my emails. Sure enough: Team meeting in the glass room @ 2:30 p.m. Received at 2:12 p.m. An organised affair as usual, then. Eighteen minutes was actually a pretty good notice time for my manager, the creep. Though, as I look around at the desks surrounding me, I’m not sure it will be enough.
“He’ll be lucky if we’re all able to get there. Some of the guys are on break or stuck on calls. He never plans ahead for these things,” I mutter, leaning back in my seat. I’m not in any rush to be trapped in a room with my manager, awkwardly waiting for everyone else to show up. Even with Lizzy in there with us too, it’s bound to be awkward.
Ever since the Christmas party a few weeks ago, I’ve been avoiding the man at all costs. Not that I’d much liked his presence before then, but since I’d spurned his advances directly, he’s been hellish. Before the party, I couldn’t have imagined him being any worse than he was. How naive and optimistic of me, considering how the past few weeks have been.
“I think he does it on purpose to drag out the meetings, waiting for us so he can avoid Clive.” Lizzy looks pointedly over at him as he leans down over the desk of one of the other team managers. Mindy is staring straight at her screen, her resting bitch face game strong as she listens to whatever Clive is telling her. Knowing him, whatever he’s telling her is completely incorrect, and Mindy is stuck humouring Mr Know-It-All until he goes away and she can finish her work in peace. If only he was as strict on the male managers as he is the females. I roll my eyes in annoyance.
“Jay doesn’t even need to try to avoid him. Clive just lets Jay, Lee, and Kyle get on with it. They’re all idiots; it’s utter bullshit,” I mutter.
“Come on, we better get in there anyway. Jay might check our call log, see we weren’t on call, and get pissy at us for being late,” Lizzy says, always the voice of reason. I really don’t want to get stuck alone with him while he tells me off like a child for not being busy working. Considering he spends the day surfing the web and going for near-constant smoke breaks, it’s not like he has room to talk. Hypocritical asshole. Shuddering at the thought of his slimy hands going for my ass, I dart my gaze towards the glass conference room and notice two of the guys from our team heading in.
“Fine, it should be safe now.” I nod in the direction of Paul and Darren walking through the glass door.
“Safety in numbers,” Lizzy jokes.
“Safety with witnesses,” I reply, grinning despite our misery. I drag myself out of my swivel chair and walk silently with Lizzy to the glass room. She pushes the door open, allowing me to go first. I head in, quickly darting for the chair furthest away from our manager. I give Lizzy a smug smile when she drops down into the seat next to mine.
“Is this it?” our manager, Jay, says loudly in an irritated voice. He looks around the mostly empty board table, while the skinny newbie takes a seat next to Lizzy. I think his name is Rhydian… or maybe Gideon. I squint at him, trying to think.
As Jay starts talking, I zone out and settle on skinny guy’s name being Gideon. Rhydian sounds far too sexy, not suited to the skinny human. At least, I think he’s human. I concentrate on him, calling on my second sight. Colours swirl around the room, auras shimmering over the bodies of my co-workers. Everything is blurred, and yet, somehow clearer. Gideon’s soul is plain; a murky brown. No magic spilling from him at all. Definitely human.
I look over at the rest of my co-workers in the room. As my eyes fall on Darren, a tiny pang of sadness hits me in my chest, as it always does. I smother the feeling quickly, focusing instead on his light, or rather, his dark. Darren’s soul is strikingly dark, but it has shimmers that roll over him with the magical current that blows across those of us blessed with being more. His magic is subtle; not particularly powerful, but shifters’ gifts don’t usually lie in magic, more in their physical strength. Paul, a human, sits next to Darren with his dull-coloured hue surrounding him, but Paul knows what sits around the table with him. Paul was raised by a cousin of Darren’s, and he’d been allowed in on the secret of supernatural existence that few humans are permitted to know.
He is trustworthy, for a human at least. He’d grown up grateful to shifters for saving his life and raising him as one of their own.
Lizzy’s aura is golden, and her hair always seems to be blown by an invisible wind, tossed about by the current that all magical beings know, but only some can see. Her soul is dazzling, almost blinding, when looking at it with my second sight. I will never understand why she chooses to work in an office when she’s clearly powerful, much more so than myself. She could work using her gifts instead of being stuck in an offic
e with a split population.
Working for a company that also hires humans sucks sometimes. No magical amenities in the office. No using your gifts on site. The red tape they wrap around us is suffocating, but we have to accommodate the unknowing humans.
Darren, Paul, and Lizzy are the few people in this office I’d actually go for a drink with, and every Thirsty-Thursday night we do exactly that. I blame the cheap three-for-one drink offer at Rosie’s. How they make a profit on that is beyond me. Our Thursday nights always end with me, Lizzy, and Paul splitting a taxi fare home and dying at work the next day. However, they also always end with Darren pulling some sexy female shifter and taking her… well, wherever it is that shifters go to get it on. Maybe a bed, maybe the woods… who knows? I feel the smirk spreading across my face as I try to hold back the snigger that wants out.
“Something funny, Kayla?” Jay asks, smacking his hand onto the desk to get my attention. I jump in my seat.
“No, nothing. Sorry.” I look up at him, biting my tongue on all the things I wish I could say. ‘Yes, sir. Your attempt at pretending to be a real manager is hilarious.’ Or even a basic, but classic, ‘Your face is funny.’ I’m not sure how well that would go over, but it’s probably not worth finding out. Honestly, if anything, his face is kind of scary rather than funny-looking. Not his actual features themselves, but how he looks at people. His eyes are like creepy little beads that watch your every move.
“Have you even been listening to a word I’ve said?” he asks, and I bite my lip. Fuck, I have no idea what this freaking meeting is about.
“Of course I have,” I answer with fake confidence, knocking my foot into Lizzy’s leg under the table. Save me. I push the thought into her mind, and instantly I feel a tingle flow over me. My mouth opens, speaking with my voice, but it’s not me controlling the words. “You were just explaining about the new CRM system that is being rolled out next week. And how we need to be trained to use it sometime before then, so you’ll be pulling us out in smaller groups for the two-hour sessions,” my voice explains flawlessly. I feel the tingle fade and shoot a grateful smile at Lizzy. Darren gives me a knowing look, not fooled for a second, but luckily the only one I need to fool is Jay, and Jay is human. His face turns disgruntled, clearly unhappy that his chance to get me in trouble has been ruined somehow. My smile grows wider.