Sever the Crown: Vampire Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Mysti Parker

  “May I help you? Who are you here for?” Bonita asked, tipping her head toward one parlor to our left and another to our right. The one to our right read Griselda Jericho. A dozen mourners had paired up to feast on a half-dozen DBDs, all of them moaning and groaning in a weird mixture of sadness and ecstasy.

  Looking around, it was clear that no one else seemed to find that odd. I shivered. Apparently, I still had a lot to learn about vampire life...and death that didn’t involve ripping off heads.

  “We’re here to speak with Benjamin Leeds,” Charles said, employing more of his Cajun accent, which tended to charm the socks off anyone within hearing distance. “Can you tell us where he is, chère?”

  Bonita blinked at us, then her eyes widened. “You want to speak with him? Are you psychics?”

  “Psychics? No,” I answered. “Why would you think that?”

  “Um, because Benjamin’s my cousin. And he’s in there.” She pointed toward the parlor to our left.

  The only people I saw in the parlor were an old couple standing near a big urn in the front of the room. Surely that old man wasn’t Benjamin? He looked to be about three hundred and some change.

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Oh, honey, were you one of his girls?” Bonita asked, wringing her hands. “There’ve been several in here tonight.”

  “His girls? No, we’ve never met. Can you just tell me where he is?” Nervous energy buzzed through my tattoo. All the guys were tense. And no wonder. If my fifth mate was a sex addict or as old as Methuselah, how would he ever be good for my harem?

  Ashe tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and directed my gaze to where he pointed. On the sign by the left-hand parlor door, it read Benjamin Leeds.

  My hand drifted to my mouth. All I could manage was a dry whisper. “He’s dead.”

  And so were my chances to take back the throne.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hawk

  "He's dead. I can't even believe it." Wren was sitting next to me on the couch with her head in her hands. “But how?”

  I sat next to her in the exact same position, though not for the same reason. My usual headache had cranked itself up to eleven, and it was so bad that imaginary wormlike lights floated in front of my eyes. I'd gone too long without a kill, but I wasn't so sure I could wait until Kinky's party. I'd gone through my encrypted emails when we’d first arrived to search for another hit job, but looking at their pictures, I could tell none of them deserved it.

  “From what I can gather, it was a tragic accident involving a meat grinder,” Marlowe said, tapping the keys on my laptop. “Apparently, he enjoyed sex in odd places.”

  “Yeah, but a bologna factory?” Ashe shuddered. “The smell alone should be a turnoff.”

  “What if it wasn’t an accident?” Charles flipped a cigar like an acrobat between his fingers.

  "Accident or not, this leaves us in a bind. What do we do?" Marlowe asked Grandpa, who sat opposite us.

  The three other mates paced around the clock tower, their footsteps thudding in time with the ticking clock and the shrill hammer inside my head.

  Grandpa shook his head, the lines in his kind face tense. "That's not my decision. I was just Queen Bronwen's royal advisor to help choose. I advised her, but she was the one who made the final decisions."

  "So advise me, then,” Wren said softly, looking up. “What do I do?"

  Grandpa threaded his fingers together across his lap, careful not to nudge the sleeping poodle – Killer – curled up next to him. "It can't just be any vampire, but if you want to take the throne, you're going to need a fifth mate."

  "Someone trustworthy.” Wren sat back against the couch. “Someone who won't betray me like Devin did to my mother."

  The air shifted and pulsed, and I could almost hear Wren's gears working over and over a name: Zac. She didn't say it and neither did her mates, but it was there pounding out of everyone's heads and into mine. I would tear him limb from limb, though, before I let that happen. Even if he was made a vampire, he couldn't be trusted, not after hiring me to kill her. I wanted to say as much, but even if I could, I didn't think anything other than a pained scream would rip out of me if I opened my mouth.

  "Well,” Charles said from the kitchen. “I know one guy who would probably be thrilled to take the job, but he seems to have gone AWOL. He's not even answering his damn phone."

  I cracked my knuckles but kept quiet. Duke, who lay across Wren’s lap, reached out to my leg and dug his claws in, like he felt sorry for me but also as a reminder that he was thinking about murdering me.

  Wren huffed out an unneeded breath. "At this moment, I don't have a fifth mate, and I might not get one in time for the night of Kinky's party and the end of the world in two days. So…” She paused. “Follow along with me as I walk you through a wacky idea."

  I squinted at her between my fingers, the light show in my brain dancing across her beautiful face. We were going to need all the wacky we could get, I’d bet. It amazed me that the loss of one mate didn’t seem to stop her despite most everything going against her.

  "Uh-oh." Ashe continued his pacing, wearing down a path between here and the kitchen. “I’m not sure I like the sound of this.”

  "I do,” Charles said, opening and then closing a kitchen cabinet. “Wacky is my birthplace. True story."

  Marlowe stepped up behind her. The half-demon news from earlier had clearly haunted him, but he pushed all that to the side for Wren. "What did you have in mind?"

  “I’ll let you guys discuss.” Grandpa rose from the couch and scooped up the poodle, who’d blinked itself awake. “I need to figure out what this one in the kitchen is looking for.”

  Duke followed after him, probably hoping someone would get him some food.

  “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just nosy is all.” Charles crossed toward us and took Grandpa’s place on the couch.

  Ashe and Marlowe joined him, and Grandpa stayed in the kitchen cleaning up. He was getting back to his neat-freak ways, which meant his strength was returning.

  "We go to the party in disguise as waiters, valets, whatever, as we already talked about. We infiltrate it, find one of Queen Ravana’s mates,"—Wren looked at each of us in turn—"and kill him."

  Charles nodded. "Level the playing field. A queen with four mates against a queen with four mates. I like it."

  "If that's what we're doing,” Marlowe said, “then we need to pick our roles now so we can get hired for the party and look the part."

  Charles raised a finger. "I choose bartender."

  "Good point,” Ashe said, ignoring Charles. “Should we draw straws?"

  "Sure.” Charles shrugged. “As long as I’m bartender."

  "Hawk, mind if I search your kitchen for straws?" Marlowe asked.

  I waved him off.

  "Hey," Wren said gently and touched my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

  I couldn't even shake my head for fear it would rattle loose, so I just held it tighter.

  Wren shifted next to me, Ashe and Charles’s argument fading into the background. "Look at me, Hawk."

  Slowly, I turned my head and did, and the relief was instant as I stared into her stunning yellow eyes.

  She smiled as she rubbed my back. "Headache?"

  I inhaled her sweet scent, letting it wash through me to clear out the pain. "Yes. Looking at you, touching you, helps."

  "Then you need to tell me when it's getting bad." She brought her free hand up to my temple and gently pressed her fingertips to it.

  "As much as I'd like for you to look at me and touch me twenty-four seven, it's not realistic when you're trying to save the world."

  "Right now, I'm just sitting here like a lump on a log. There's nothing else I'd rather look at." She smiled and touched both temples, massaging them.

  “When I kill, the headaches go away for a little bit,” I admitted.

  “Are you going to make it until Kinky's party?"

  "I don't know,” I s
aid honestly. “All the jobs that have come to me lately are bad ones I can’t take."

  "What happens if you go too long without killing anyone?"

  "I've never had to find out."

  "I have a whole list of people you could kill, but none of them are being very convenient right now.” She shook her head and frowned. “How dare they, right?"

  "It's rude is what it is."

  She laughed and dug her fingers into my temples a little harder. "Is this helping?"

  I sighed and nodded. "You have no idea."

  In my periphery, Marlowe returned to the couch. "Hawk, will you need a straw for a job, or—"

  "I'll just walk in as a guest. I know the butler. Wren in a slinky, fancy dress and a disguise will be my date."

  Her mouth popped open. "And you in a tux?"

  I nodded.

  A dreamy smile crossed her face, and her eyes sparked with hunger that heated my tattoo. "I think I just got pregnant," she whispered.

  I chuckled, feeling much better than I had in at least a month. Grandpa was awake and currently arguing with Duke about staying off the countertops in the kitchen. My head wasn't exploding now that Wren was staring into my eyes and massaging the pounding away. If we could just stay like this and have the rest of the world be fine without us, that'd be great.

  "Okay, Wren, can we borrow one of your hands?” Charles asked, holding out three straws of uneven lengths. “I don't trust any of these cheaters."

  Without looking away from me, she held her arm out to him and took the straws. Then, with a smirk, she brought them behind her back. "I know all your tricks, Charles. I'm rearranging the order."

  Charles threw back his head and laughed. "This little lady right here has me all figured out. And it's damn hot." He leaned over to plant a kiss on the top of her head.

  "You just peeked behind my back!" she cried.

  "I…” He threw his hands up. “Just a little bit."

  Shaking her head, she held them out again, her fingers covering the uneven lengths and revealing the even tops. "Shortest is waiter, next shortest is bartender, and the longest is valet. No cheating, or else. Ashe goes first because he's my first mate."

  "Ha. Suckers." Ashe stepped forward and carefully plucked one free. The shortest. “Damn it!”

  "Charles, you next."

  He chose the second shortest one. “Well, will you look at that? I didn’t even cheat.”

  "Looks like you’re the valet, Marlowe,” she said, handing him his straw.

  He took the straw and then kissed her hand. “I can deal.”

  After blowing him a kiss, she dropped her hands down to mine. "Take a walk with me?"

  "It's almost sunrise."

  "Not outside. Is there a place we can go in the clock tower where I can look at you?” she whispered. “And only you?"

  "Yeah." My voice grew rough at the idea of getting her alone and having her all to myself. My tattoo warmed and sent shocks of energy to my groin.

  We rose from the couch hand in hand, like us together was the most natural thing in the world. A killer and his queen. More than anything, I wished I could get rid of her enemies for her, and not just so I could get rid of these damn headaches. I would protect her, worship her, love her, and level anyone who got in her way without a second thought.

  Including Zac. I needed to find a way to trick him into breaking our contract so I could tell her. But as I closed this floor’s door behind us and stepped toward the metal grated staircase that led down to my bedroom, Wren silenced all further thought with her lips.

  She pressed her soft curves up against me and pushed until my back hit the wall by the door. "I want you, Hawk."

  "Are you telling me," I said, angling her head so I could kiss her mouth deeper, “that going for a walk with you was just an excuse?"

  She squeezed my dick through my jeans. "You catch on quick."

  I spun her around until I had her pinned to the wall, her wrists locked in my grip above her head. Groaning at the feel of her underneath me, I ground my hips against her, unable to get enough of her. I couldn’t even wait to get her to my bedroom, so I roughly yanked her yoga pants down her hips.

  Working her tongue against mine, she started to take off her panties, but I stopped her with my hand on her wrist.

  “Leave them,” I ordered, and she kicked off the rest of her pants with a wicked grin.

  "Fuck me right here. Right up against this wall." She held on to my shoulders and threw her legs around my waist, bettering the angle of my dry thrusts so I could feel how warm and wet she was through her panties. "Please, Hawk."

  It was the please that nearly undid me. She was begging me, and fuck, that wound my need up even more. It drove me wild with lust. I couldn’t get inside her fast enough. With her still braced against the wall, I freed my cock, shifted her panties to the side, and plunged inside her.

  Moaning loudly, she clung to me while I kissed her roughly. She was so tight and wet, and the edge of her lace panties rubbed up one side of my dick and created another kind of amazing friction. With my free hand, I trailed my fingers up her ribs and underneath her bra, memorizing what made her shiver and what made her arch into my palm.

  I squeezed a nipple between my knuckles, triggering a quiver in her tight pussy.

  "Not yet, sweet girl." I glanced over my shoulder at the thick railing along the landing that led to the staircase, a strange sexual urge forming in my head.

  She whimpered. "You don't play fair."

  "It'll be worth it," I said, pulling out of her and then taking her hand. "Do you trust me?"

  "Well, now my curiosity is piqued. Of course I do."

  Grinning, I led her to the railing. With her back to my chest, I pushed her gently against it with my arms wrapped around her stomach. I roamed my hand down and circled my thumb into her swollen clit, making her rock her hips forward with a moan. The railing’s height just about matched the height of her clit, and the fabric of her panties would act as a thin barrier between her and the hard metal.

  I nipped at her neck. "Widen your legs and lean your pelvis forward into the bar."

  She did as I asked without question, and at the same time, I smacked my hand against the railing so it would emit a low vibration.

  Wren threw her head back against my shoulder and squirmed against the vibration. From behind, I moved her panties out of the way, adjusted my grip on her so she bent forward a little, and then nudged against her tight asshole. My cock was still wet from her pussy, and as I slowly, slowly sank myself inside her, I hit the railing again. The force of the vibration rumbled through her and into me, pleasuring her from the front while I fucked her from the back. She writhed against it and me as she turned her head to kiss me. I pumped into her harder, and with one last hard hit to the railing, a new wave of vibrations rolled through her. She came apart in my arms with a loud cry, and I followed close behind, feeling her clench and flex all around me.

  Moaning, she melted against me. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

  “Death by orgasm?” I kissed my way up her neck and then bit her earlobe hard enough to make her gasp. “Hell yes.”

  She chuckled and then sighed when I found her lips again. A long, long kiss later, she pulled away with a satisfied smile. “If we keep this up, nothing will ever get accomplished.”

  I kissed the tip of her nose, tucking myself back into my jeans. “I disagree but I’ll let you go for now.”

  “It’s only temporary.” She winked and ran her finger along my jaw as she slipped away toward her pants on the floor.

  As soon as she looked away, as soon as her skin wasn’t against mine, my head pounded with ten thousand hammers. Colors swarmed across my vision, and the ground tilted at a severe angle. My face and hands tingled as I suddenly lost feeling. I thought I heard Wren say something, but the constant drilling inside my brain drowned everything else out.

  My head felt like it was splitting open. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hea
r. I couldn’t feel. And the ground wouldn’t stay underneath my feet.

  I stumbled and reached out, but my hands passed through empty air. My leg smashed against something hard, but my momentum carried my top half forward anyway.

  I had the sensation of falling, falling down the center of the clock tower, and then everything went black.

  Chapter Twelve

  Wren

  My fingers brushed Hawk’s pants as he crashed through the railing. And suddenly, I was seeing my father falling into the abyss of the church tower. I couldn’t save him. He’d died right in front of me.

  Just like Mama.

  And now Hawk? “No!”

  My fifth mate was already dead. What would I do if I lost my fourth mate, too?

  I blurred down the steps and skidded to a stop on my knees beside him. He shook uncontrollably. A seizure. I’d seen it before in a couple of homeless humans, one of whom I’d found dying from multiple stab wounds and had fed from her like my mother had done for others to ease her suffering and let her pass in peace. I had no idea vampires could have seizures, but for everything I learned, it seemed there were two more things I didn’t know.

  “Hawk?” He lay face down, his cheek pressed into the floor. I rolled him onto his side, which kept human airways open when they had seizures, even though vampires didn’t really need to breathe.

  As soon as my skin touched his, his tremors lessened. But his eyes had nearly rolled back in his head. He needed to make a kill. How and why had he been cursed like this? It wasn’t as simple as letting him put a dying person out of their misery. He needed a deserving target. Pity I couldn’t call up my aunt and have her over for tea.

  I tried to pick him up, but he was too big for me to carry without potentially hurting him more. But when I stopped touching him, the tremors came back full force. Not knowing what else to do, I yelled for help. In less than two seconds, Charles, Ashe, and Marlowe burst through the door.

  “Help me carry him to his bed,” I said before they had a chance to ask.

  “Okay,” Marlowe said, “Charles, you carry him under his arms. Ashe, you and I will get his legs. Step back, Wren.”