by Chrissy Jaye
“I don’t see them just leaving. And I don’t think they can get inside the house with us here,” Flynn said.
“What if we Slipped out. They can’t follow us,” Ben suggested.
“Hell no,” Liam replied angrily. “There are witches on our property and two of our own. I say we confront them. With Liv’s raw power and our training, they’ll be overwhelmed.
Flynn glared at him. “We don’t want them to know how powerful she is! The whole point of hiding out was to control what the council knows.”
Kieran put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “They’re going to know eventually Flynn. We can’t keep her hidden forever. Valek thinks they already know.”
Who the hell was Valek? I wanted to ask, but it was so not the time. “Why don’t you ask me what I want?” I said quietly. “Don’t you think I should have a say?”
“That’s not how this works, Doll. We all have to agree.”
“Well no one ever asked me,” I pointed out, trying to keep the heat out of my voice.
Ben sighed, hanging his head. “She’s right. We didn’t.”
Flynn threw him a dark look. “No,” he gritted out, turning his glare in my direction.
“Enough,” Liam barked. “You can’t control her and make her do what you want. It hasn’t worked up until now and it’s not going to.”
I met Flynn’s gaze and leveled him with one of my own. With my best effort, I smoothed my anger and tried to appeal to him. “If we run now, we’re proving their point for them.” He stared at me, his anger slowly changing to one of agony that ripped at my heart. He was afraid. I stepped into him and lowered my voice. The others could still hear us, but I had to believe them, that whatever this was between me and them wouldn’t break our family. “I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I’ve been afraid for so long. If we run now, I’m scared I won’t ever stop.”
His eyes closed. His forehead met mine, mingling our breath. His lips moved in silent words that I could feel against my own, like he was saying a prayer. When he pulled back and opened his eyes, they slipped over my shoulder, staring at each of the guys in turn.
“Fuck yes,” Liam said, a scary amount of glee in his tone.
“We go out together,” Kieran said. “Ben, did you tell Brooke?”
“Already done. She went to wake our families. They should be here soon.”
“Then let’s go out and make our stand,” Luc said softly. He stepped forward, linking hands with me. Flynn grabbed the other one, looking down at me before he pulled open the door and we stepped onto the porch.
Four cloaked men—at least I thought they were men judging by their frames—stood in a line against the trees in the deeply shaded morning light. Someone flipped on the porch bulb, so that it illuminated their faces. It revealed the fifth person who was bound and gagged. Payton’s eyes glittered with unshed tears. I gasped taking in her ragged appearance. I tore my eyes off her scanning the other faces and my vision tunneled on Evan standing in between two men. My ears started to ring.
Dimly, I realized that someone was speaking, but words didn’t reach me. A rage so heavy settled over me, amplifying my own at the disgusting smirk that sat on his face. He was here for me and he thought he had me. But he didn’t know – likely none of them did – that I wasn’t alone. Emma’s hatred and grief swirled within me at the sight of her murderer.
“Livvy,” someone called, breaking through the haze, but we ignored them. The air around us grew thick, practically crackling. We pulled on it, filling us with power. With barely a flick of my wrist, the ropes binding Payton disintegrated. She slumped toward the ground, pulling off her gag. My wrist flicked again, and she rippled out of existence, sending her home. Satisfied she would be safe, my other hand came up, clenched into a fist. Something invisible was within my grasp and I yanked it back toward myself. Evan fell forward and slid against the ground, coming to a rest just a few feet from me.
“You think I would let you touch her. After everything you did,” the words came from me except it wasn’t my voice and I wasn’t the one controlling my mouth. In fact, it had been several confusing seconds before I realized that my actions weren’t entirely my own. Emma’s will pressed against mine, taking control from me. I fought with her, pushing back. I didn’t know what she was going to do, but I could feel how angry she was, how much she wanted him to die. Emma shoved back at me before she crouched down, placing her hands on the grass and started to draw energy from the earth. The ground beneath our feet rumbled with the speed in which she gathered it. My own anger was replaced with fear as everything around us turned black. A chasm opened before us, the earth sounding dry and brittle as it ripped apart from itself. The men in front of us tumbled to the dead grass as the earth shook. “None of you will ever touch another soul again,” Emma screamed.
With her rage, fire leapt into existence from nothing. The ground started to crumble. Trees burned, reduced to ash in seconds, blown away by a fierce wind that ripped at our skin.
Emma, please, I begged her, trying again to exert my control. It was my body, my mind but she had all the power.
Someone growled and I felt Cat prowling somewhere close by. Mentally, I reached for him. What little ground I’d regained in my body fell away. In front of me, the ground opened wider and Evan sank between the cracks, screaming. There was blood on his mouth. His face was twisted in agony. I almost felt bad for him. Almost.
I was powerless to stop Emma.
Cat, I pleaded. I needed his help, but I couldn’t quite reach him. Emma’s anger morphed into elation, deranged and lustful for Evan’s blood. So unlike the girl I knew. The Emma I loved was never cruel. Fierce? Yes. Protective? Always. But never crazed. It took everything in me not to give in, to not disappear underneath her.
The ground heaved again as the cracks in it shifted. I realized just as there was a sickening crunch what Emma meant to do. Evan screamed again, his eyes practically bugging out of his head as he was crushed by the earth.
Grab hold. The whole place is unstable, Cat growled to me. I reached for him with my mind again, desperate to escape the scene in front of me. I wanted to be sick or at the very least, close my eyes. I couldn’t understand how he was even still alive. The men who had come with him fled, leaving him sticking part way out of the ground like a macabre lawn ornament.
Something grabbed hold of me, like a lasso, pulling me into the Thorns. The boil of emotions dripped away quickly, and I was in control of myself again. Underneath the surface, Emma’s raw agony needled at me and I sobbed, both in relief and horror.
Release her, quickly! Cat said to me.
“Olivia,” Flynn yelled, appearing at my side. He latched onto my arm and pulled me into him. The others appeared around us. Liam stared in disbelief at the lynx who paced in front of us, his tail whipping around in agitation.
Don’t just stare, you stupid boys. Help her before it’s too late.
“Is that…” Ben breathed.
I sagged in Flynn’s arms, feeling stripped from the inside out. “I can’t help her,” I sobbed. “I don’t know how.”
Cat darted forward, weaving around my legs and Flynn’s. Just let go, he purred. Relax and let her go.
I tried to calm myself, but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Not when all I could feel was how tortured she was. How twisted she’d become in a matter of moments.
Kieran stepped into me, wrapping his arms around me and his brother. One of his hands looped around to cling to my neck, stinging me with that all too familiar electricity that came with his healing. Except instead of refilling me, he was drawing from me.
No. Emma surged forward again. She tried to tear away from him, but he held us firmly in place with the help of Flynn. She fought harder, determined not to let this happen. Internally I screamed, ferally clawing at her will. I had to stop her. She would hurt them. I couldn't let that happen. She jerked in their arms, distracted by me. I lunged forward and pushed her back before I resurfaced.
Distance. I needed distance from them. I thrashed as much as I could. Another body pressed into my back, effectively pinning me against Flynn’s front.
“Let me go!” I screamed, tears streaming down my face.
“Guys,” Luc shouted in my ear. “We need help. She’s fighting it.”
“Kitten, let her go!”
“I’m try—” I choked on my own screams. Something cracked inside of me and we listed sideways. We crashed into the ground and rolled. The impact sent me sprawling. A body landed on top of mine and my head smacked into the earth, filling my vision with stars. Great, gasping breaths heaved in and out of me. I blinked a few times, trying to see past the pain in my head.
It took me a few seconds, listening to the groans of my guys all around me. Luc pushed himself up off me and stared down. “Doll?” His brown eyes scanned my face. “Are you alright?”
No. No I wasn’t… Emma was gone. I was empty as the only thing that rolled around inside me was myself. I stared up, past his head at the green sky above us.
“Umm, guys. We have a problem.” Kieran appeared overhead, also looking up at the sky where not one, but two suns were brightly shining.
Oh shit…was all I could manage to think before everything went black.
Epilogue
Flynn
“Anyone have any idea where we are?” Kieran asked. He sat with Olivia in his lap. Instead of the jealousy I normally felt whenever one of them touched her, there was nothing except gratefulness. When she’d passed out, most of us lost our shit, completely forgetting everything else. It was scary how pale she looked. Normally, she was all cream and roses. I could see the blue veins in her neck, pulsing too hard, putting strain on her heart.
I wasn’t sure what happened in the yard. One minute, she’d been next to me and in the next, she was destroying everything around her, pulling the life out of everything she could reach, even us. We’d just barely managed to shield ourselves before the house collapsed.
And now, she was unconscious. Kieran was doing his best to refill her spent energy, but it would take hours to get her back to normal. We’d exhausted ourselves in the Thorns.
I chewed on the inside of my lip, waiting for someone to start making suggestions. Me? I had no clue where we were. It certainly wasn’t the Thorns, but it wasn’t our earth either. That much was clear. This place looked sickly. We were in some sort of meadow of tall yellowed grass. In the distance, I could see trees, but they were gnarled and twisted. My natural art begged to help, but I couldn’t give into it. This wasn’t our world. There was no telling what domino effect could happen if we used our powers here, upsetting its balance.
“I don’t think that’s going to be our biggest problem,” Luc said quietly, his eyes downcast.
Liam snorted, throwing a rare glare in his brother’s direction. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure this takes priority.”
Luc took a steadying breath, a fist clenched at his side. I knew what he was going to say before he said it. “You didn’t see her face. How devastated she was.”
I nodded. Yep. I’d seen it, in the Thorns. Olivia had brought us here, out of desperation and there was no doubt in my mind that we needed her to get back. There was no telling what state she would be in when she woke up. She’d looked utterly destroyed.
I snorted. All the progress she’d made in the last few weeks. Pushing past her own fears. Taking every hit the universe threw at her. It was ruined in just a few minutes. She’d looked like she had when she arrived, covered in scrapes and ash, practically emaciated, screaming in agony after what she’d witnessed. It was enough to chill my own blood and I’d barely known her then. What would she be like now? It would kill her to know Emma’s fate after tapping into her energy. Hell, I got high off the exchanges between us and they were tiny in comparison. Olivia was strong in a lot of ways, several she didn’t even realize, but she was weak in others. Her trust in people was hard earned. She feared what they could do to her. But what she hated most? Hurting others.
“You think it’s funny?” Ben asked, giving me an incredulous look.
“No, I don’t,” I replied. “I’m pissed off, actually. We never should have let the council control us. We’re adults in every way, yet we stupidly let them dictate what to do with our own circle.” I pushed off the ground and started pacing. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. “We allowed her to suffer. Her and Emma, based on flimsy reasons from the council. Even though we knew it was wrong. We hurt our fucking family—” I broke off, too frustrated to continue.
Liam stood up and stopped me with a hand. “It wasn’t just you, man. We all went along with it.”
I shoved his hand away, not wanting his comfort. Angry tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. “What if our mother had left you and Luc where she found you? Huh? Would that have been okay?” He shook his head at me, trying to cut me off. I shoved at him before he could speak. “No. Really think about it! That’s what we did to them both. If we’d done it how we wanted, Emma would be alive. Olivia would have been safe. We could have made it work.”
“Stop,” Ben said, stepping between us. “Stop torturing yourself.”
“How?” I asked, tugging at my hair. I needed the pain. Deserved it. It was the only thing keeping me sane.
Ignoring my question, he wrapped his arms around me, crushing me to him. Quietly, he spoke in my ear. “We all did this. And we’ll all fix it. Don’t take this on yourself. I know you keep saying ‘we’, but we all know you mean you.”
“If my father were still here, he would have done the right thing. He would ha—"
“But he’s not and we did the best we could with the options we had.”
Olivia made a small sound which drew all our attention. In seconds, I was next to her in Kieran’s arms as her eyes opened, revealing the green pools that always drew my attention whenever she was near. So quickly, she’d become everything to us. And I hated her for it. But I loved her for it too.
She stared up at me blankly, and finally I could breathe deeply again. Her eyes were vacant, but the torture I’d seen in them before was gone. My heart sparked with hope as I smiled down at her. It didn’t matter how broken she was. I—we—would always be there to help put her back together.
To be continued…
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed it and that you do not kill me for that cliffhanger. I tried to soften it as much as I could. I promise that Olivia and her harem will not leave you hanging for long. In fact, I’m pretty sure my beta team is already preparing a prison to lock me in. They’re just as upset about the ending as you probably are. That said, would you please consider leaving a review? It would really help tell other potential readers if this book is for them.
Note from the Author
As always, there are so many people to thank. An endless list, really. But I’ll settle for the most important ones.
To my Husband, Alex - Your support and understanding
while writing this mean the world to me. Thank you for reminding me to eat, letting me complain about issues that came up, and for just being everything I could hope for in a partner. You’re the best Snorkface that’s ever existed. Yep. I said Snorkface.
To my Sharks – You’re the best cheerleaders a person could ask for. From long days of writing, to building up my spirits, and most importantly, keeping me laughing.
To M – Woman… this book would not be half of what it is without you. Thank you for fighting so hard for every word, phrase, and idea. You helped Olivia come alive in more ways than I expected. You revamped my excitement, brought out my fight, and didn’t let me give up. I’m so thankful and grateful. I went into this looking for a content editor and walked away with someone I consider a wonderful friend that I’m never letting go of.
To Lee – Thanks for the life experience, you jerk. I love you. Even if you did electrocute me when we were kids.
To my betas – Fuck ladies. Your fe
edback warms my heart. To watch you all fall head over heels in love with these characters was such a joy. Thank you for being honest, looking past the typos, and for using your free time to make this the best book it could possibly be.
To B – Yeah, you made the list. Of course, you did. It was cute how you kept freaking out about giving me advice, but seriously, thank you. It’s not every day that someone offers it so freely. But getting to sit with you in skype as you read, listening to you laugh out loud, or grow quiet. It was everything. It helped me swell with confidence. But also, thank you for believing in my story enough to tell others. Now, let’s go drown readers in tears, yeah?
To Britt – Yep, you get to proof your own thank you. But you knew that already. Thank you for your patience while waiting to get your hands on this book. I hope you found it worth the wait. Now hurry up and tell me what you think of it, dammit!
To my readers – Again, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I will never be able to say it enough. Thank you for reading my words. For reviews. For letting me distract you. Entertain you. I write for me, but getting to share it with you, that’s the real gift.
About the Author
Chrissy Jaye is an author freshly returned from Narnia. She rides on a white steed as she battles monsters and finds new love in fantasy lands (don't tell her husband).
On the rare occasions she spends time in reality, she raises her brood, stalks other authors and consumes copious amounts of coffee.
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