Phoenixburn: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 3)

by KT Strange

  “You okay?” I asked, knowing she wasn’t, but needing her to lie to me. She gazed up at me, her eyes filling with tears. I had a bandana wrapped around my wrist, and I tugged it off and pressed it to her neck, to help with the bleeding. “Can you hold this?” I asked softly.

  Behind me, the bastard groaned.

  “Shut the fuck up,” I snarled over my shoulder. That bone-shaking anger was vibrating through me again, making me want to turn him to ash. No, Max, you need to think about Max. I searched her face, which had gone pale under her smattering of freckles.

  “I think I’m going to puke,” she whispered.

  Bang!

  The doors at the end of the hall flew open, and Craig barreled down toward us. My heart leapt into my throat. Hunter. He was a hunter. Max!

  I tilted, shifting my body, shoving Max down on the ground behind me. She cried out, as I stared at Craig’s imposing figure. His eyes flicked from me to the hunter on the ground.

  Craig’s hand went to his belt and he pulled out a wicked looking blade. My heart stopped, my fingers coming up, the static charge racing across my skin—

  Craig reached the hunter, his fingers going down to wrap in the front of the hunter’s shirt, and he yanked the man up, off the ground.

  “W-Wolf,” the man stuttered, his head lolling as he glanced at us through one eye, the other one half-closed. Craig’s face went blank. My heart roared back to life in my ears, in the back of my throat, as Craig’s knife glinted in the air, then blood spurted across the walls as he slashed the throat of the injured hunter.

  Behind me, Max exhaled and I grabbed her, pulling her against my back tightly. Craig waited a moment and dropped the body he was holding. The hunter’s head flopped, hitting the floor with a dull, wet crack.

  Max shuddered, silent. I could feel her sobs building up, her chest shivering with each strained breath. Craig turned to his side, wiped his knife off on his pant leg and shoved the blade back in a holster.

  “How’d you get that past security?” I asked, the words sounding dumb to my own ears. My first words should have been fuck you and get the fuck away from us and oh my god you just killed that guy. Funny the things you ask when you’re in shock. My skin was twitching, and Max huffed into my shoulder, a muffled sob shaking her.

  “Are you okay?” Craig looked at Max behind me, ignoring me. It was a stupid question anyway.

  “She’s cut,” I answered his question. “I. . . He’s dead.”

  “Yeah,” Craig said before pulling out a phone. His blood-spattered thumbs moved over the screen as he texted. “You need to get her out of here.”

  “I—”

  “Darcy,” he said seriously, his voice breaking through the weird, shivery feeling inside my chest. “You need to get her out of here. Now.”

  “There’s a body, and. . . this is a show, security—people. . .” I felt dizzy. Max’s fingers tightened on my arm and I turned to her. She was paler than before.

  “I’m gonna be—” She turned to the side, her shoulders hunching as she vomited on the floor. Craig pushed me aside, lifting her hair away from her face, and bracing his arm around her shoulders. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to shove him out of the way. He shouldn’t be touching her. He was a monster. She was a—

  “Let’s get you up,” Craig said, his voice gentle as he helped Max to her feet. She swayed and he pulled her into him with careful fingers. I sat on the floor, the hunter’s body cooling a few feet from me.

  I felt like I was going to be sick too and avoided looking at the blood, the vomit, the body, any of it.

  Abject violence was a lot better when I was passed out for most of it, I decided then.

  A hand appeared in front of me. I glanced up.

  Craig was supporting Max with one arm, holding his hand out for me to take.

  “Who are you?” I asked, getting up on my own. A streak of blood was on the back of my arm, drying there. I itched to wipe it off somewhere.

  “You need to take her and get gone. There’s more of him here, and they’ll swarm the place when they realize he’s missing,” Craig said. Max made a muffled sobbing noise into his shoulder and he wrapped her in his arms, fingers carding through her red hair as he tried to soothe her.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, voice watery and hysterical.

  “Liar,” he replied, affection clear in his tone. A sense of how surreal this situation was overwhelmed me and I put my hand out to brace it against the wall beside me.

  “Seriously, what are you?” I asked again, frustrated and needing to get the fuck away from that cooling body by our feet.

  “Not what you think,” he said. “You think you can walk?” he asked Max. She shook her head. He sighed and scooped one arm under her legs, pulling her up against her chest.

  “Wait, where are you—”

  “Outside,” he interrupted me, and started walking. I spared one more glance at the dead man on the ground before I tagged after him, walking quickly.

  “Craig—”

  “Shut up until we’re outside.” He shot me a look over his shoulder. “You should know better than to put her in danger by hanging around with the—” he stopped himself for a moment and narrowed his eyes, “-—the guys, given who you are.”

  I swallowed down a mouthful of rage at his remark and followed him, full of questions. Maybe I’d fry him to get him to answer me. Max was clinging to him though, and I didn’t want to risk upsetting her more by electrocuting her ex-boyfriend.

  “What about the body? Isn’t anyone going to notice that? What’s stopping me from calling the cops right now on your ass?” The fresh air was a relief, although my stomach was still turning over and I was pretty sure I’d be sick any moment. I needed the guys, but what would Craig do to them if they showed up?

  “You’re not gonna call the cops. Which rig is yours?” he asked, scanning the parking lot before landing his sights on our tour van. He started walking to it. “You got a first aid kit in there?”

  “Hang the fuck on!” I ran after him. “How can you be so calm about—” I waved back to behind me as he turned to look at me. Max blinked at me, her eyes bleary, pupils blown. Craig’s face pulled into a frown.

  “You’d think you’d be more chill about it, considering your hands aren’t exactly clean either, Llewellyn.” He said my name like the word disgusted him and I froze. He knew what I was. Being what you are. . . his words rushed back to my foggy brain, cutting through the haze.

  “You know I’m a witch.”

  “Yahuh,” he said, setting Max down on her feet so she could lean against the side of the door. “Knew that the first time I met you.” He was so casual, so relaxed about it.

  “What the fuck is—who the fuck are you?” I asked again, my muscles trembling. My skin was tingly, lines of heat circling my wrists, crawling across my palms—

  “Watch it,” he snapped at me, pointing at where my hands had fisted by my hips. “You’re sparking up again.”

  I looked down and gulped down a lungful of air. Stretching out my fingers, I tried to get my powers under control.

  “Can you start answering my damn questions before I—”

  “What? Get your pack? Shock me? Where’s the keys to this thing, I need to get Max cleaned up.” He held out a hand to me, fingers making a grabbing motion. I wanted to punch him, or scream, or do the things he’d suggested.

  “I feel like I’m gonna faint,” Max mumbled, and Craig turned back to her just in time to catch her as she sagged against him.

  “Shit.” He lowered her to the ground, gently, patting her face. I tried not to wince when he left blood marks there. “Max. C’mon, sweetheart, stay with me, okay? You’re fine. You’re safe. I’m right here.”

  Her lashes fluttered and she sighed. He propped her against the van and I bent down beside him. Burning questions would have to wait. Time seemed to be moving so slowly, and I kept looking for more hunters to surround us, or someone to come screaming about finding a body. Ther
e should have been security in the parking lot, somebody, anybody. But it was empty, only a few crew cars and the tour busses. The dull, steady beat of my pulse squeezed in my throat.

  “I missed you,” Max said, her speech a little slurred.

  “I’ll get a juice box,” I said as I stood up, unlocking the van. I rummaged through the cooler and pulled out a sports drink, and grabbed the small first aid kit. I popped the top off the drink and passed it to Craig. He held it to Max’s lips and she took a slow, small swallow.

  We were quiet for a minute, the muted sounds of the rock show bleeding through the back wall of the venue, traffic roaring by the front of the venue and echoing back to us. The world was turning, but there we were, a bizarre little tableau splashed in blood and vomit. I shuddered when I thought about the dead hunter, and pushed the image of his slashed body from my mind.

  “Why’d you do it?” I asked after a few moments of quiet. Craig’s shoulders settled and he sighed.

  “He’d have killed you both.” He pushed a few strands of Max’s hair away from her face as her eyes closed and she took another swallow of her drink. My fiery friend was so quiet, so still compared to the way she normally was. The hunter had tried to kill her, I was sure of it, and he’d said she was . . .

  “He said she was a—” The words popped out of me before I could stop it. My memory of the hallway, and the hunter’s death, were so fragmented, moments flicking in and out. Craig shot me such a hard look that my mouth shut with a click.

  “Whatever you think she is, she’s not.” He shifted down to kneel. “C’mon Max, you gotta get with it. Time’s ticking. Eyes up.”

  She scrunched her eyes shut for a moment and looked at him clearly for the first time in minutes.

  “Please stop talking,” she said, throat sounding dry. She reached for the bottle and took another long swig, resting her head back against the van.

  Craig went stiff, then reached into his pocket. His phone was vibrating. He stood up and stepped away from us. I watched him, my jaw tense, adrenaline still racing through my blood.

  “One down in the hall. The girls are out back,” he said curtly into the phone. My mouth went dry, my body cold.

  “Who the hell are you talking to?” I sprang to my feet. He turned and held out a hand to stop me as I reached for his phone. He was telling them about us. My fingers crackled.

  He ducked and lunged at me, arm wrapping around my waist. I went backward hard, and pain exploded across my spine. My head slapped into the ground and my vision went fuzzy.

  Behind me I heard Max’s wordless shout. Craig’s fingers grabbed my wrist and he slammed my hand into the ground. The crackling stopped, energy draining into the ground so quickly that my fingers went numb. Craig’s weight was over me, heavy, holding me down.

  “It’s not what you think,” he said. Sparks crossed my sight from hitting my head, and his face swam over mine, his words stretching out. “I’m not here to hurt y—”

  Max shouldered into him, knocking him off me. Her fingers found the back of my head, and I could hear her breathing, labored and rough.

  “Max,” Craig’s voice echoed in one of my ears and out the other.

  “What the fuck did you do?”

  “She was going to—”

  “Darcy, you okay?” Max’s fingers were cold on my face and she peered down at me.

  Mmhmm, I wanted to say, but I blinked instead. My head hurt. Craig had called someone. He’d called hunters. To get us. I grabbed Max’s arm and pulled myself to sit up. We had to go. We had to get out of there.

  Craig was ten feet away, and backing up.

  “Max, I—” The back door of the venue opened and in an instant he turned to look. In the next breath he was running, hightailing it through the cars and into the darkness of the night.

  Three

  Darcy

  Five of them. There were five of them, filing out, the body of the dead hunter in their arms.

  They spotted us immediately. I scrambled to my feet, Max behind me.

  “Get in the van.” I shoved the keys at her, backing up. I bumped into her; she was frozen in place. “Max,” I hissed. The hunters were walking toward us warily, their motions tense.

  I wanted to scream, but I pushed at Max until we were at the side of the van. She scrambled inside and I stood in the doorway as the hunters closed in on us, four spreading out to form a semi-circle around us, the one carrying the body of their fallen hanging back.

  My lungs were frozen, I could barely breathe. This was it. They were all tall and well-muscled, four men and a woman, their hair pulled back and out of their faces. They could have been anyone going to a rock show, in leather jackets and thick denim jeans, but the looks on their faces told me they had anything but music on their minds. More like murder.

  “What do you want?” I asked. My skin was humming and I knew if they stepped closer that I’d lose what little control over myself I had. Did I have enough power to take down five people at once? I’d killed one person and disabled another, but that was one on one. I’d had the guys with me when we’d faced down a group of hunters.

  Max was whispering behind me. Was she praying?

  The shortest guy, his shoulders straining against his jacket, stepped forward and I shifted on the pavement, one hand coming up.

  Lightning flickered on my own palm, twisting around my fingers, and the light reflected in their widening eyes.

  “Stay back.” The words sounded stupid and empty to my ears, but the crackling coming from my powers gave them weight, at least I hoped. Why wasn’t Max starting the van up? If I could keep them at bay long enough to scramble back into it, then we could escape them if she gunned it. I’d call the guys, and. . . and. . . my mind shorted out at the next step. Would we need to clean up the blood in the hallway? Cover up the fact that there’d been a murder?

  “She’s a witch,” one of the hunters said, and they exchanged confused looks.

  “Fuck yes I am, and I’m going to fry your asses unless you back the fuck up.” The words flowed from me, braver than I felt, and I hoped they couldn’t see how I was shaking. C’mon, Max. . . guys. . . anybody. . .

  “Give us the werewolf,” the short guy said.

  “She’s not a werewolf!” I spat.

  “I’m a what?” Max’s voice was quavery. For fuck’s sake.

  “Start the fucking van,” I snapped at her before narrowing my eyes at the hunters. “Here’s how this is going down. You’re going to back the fuck off, we’re going to leave, and I’m not going to cook your brains right where you stand.” I lifted my hand up, concentrating hard, my fingers shaking. A trembling ball of electricity, born out of sheer desperation, formed just above my palm, glowing brightly. The group of hunters collectively stepped back, and the short guy looked furious.

  “You think you can take us?”

  “I’ve taken two of you already,” I lied, jerking my head to the body. “I didn’t even bother using my powers on him, made an exception, but I’m out in the open now and nothing’s stopping me from killing you right where you stand.” I begged any great power listening to let the hunters believe me so we could escape.

  The woman muttered something under her breath to the closest guy to her, and he shifted uneasily on his feet.

  “Why would you be protecting a werewolf? Her kind murder yours—”

  I clenched my hand and lightning sparked, arcing across the space between us. It struck the ground right in front of the hunter and he jumped back, swearing. My heart was slamming under the cage of my ribs and short, sharp breaths were rushing in and out of my lips. Behind me I heard Max start the engine, finally, finally, and I lifted my foot back, to step up into the open side door of the van.

  A blond man, shifting his weight from side to side, lunged toward me with a snarl. I fell back as lightning crackled out from my hands, shooting toward him. It knocked him off his feet, and he slammed into the ground with a grunt and a thud. The short man, their leader, reache
d for him and pulled him back. I rolled to my knees, every limb shuddering as I held out my hand.

  “Stay back,” I said, my throat hoarse, my voice weak. “Stay—” I coughed and the hunters moved backward, dragging the unconscious hunter who’d gone for me, or maybe he was dead. The core of my body was numb and cold, and I couldn’t process another death at my hands right then. They would’ve killed us if they had the chance.

  I risked a look at Max, who was hunched in the front seat of the van, her hands on the wheel, a frozen expression on her face. She was in shock, I guessed. A noise jerked my head back to our enemies, where they’d pulled back even further. I was tempted to try and lob another streak of lightning at them, but they were talking amongst themselves.

  The sound of a car rolling down the street made them look up. A dark, small van with blacked out windows pulled up beside the far end of the parking lot, and betrayal fluttered in my belly.

  Craig was driving the van, and the hunters raced toward it, prone bodies in their arms. I sank down to the floor in shock and relief as they loaded into their van and drove off. Craig didn’t even look at us.

  “Do. . . do I need to drive?” Max asked, in the silence that took over after the hunters had gone.

  A hysterical laugh escaped me for a moment before I covered my mouth and shook my head.

  I needed the guys. I needed—

  The back door to the venue flung open, sound escaping with it, and dread washed over me until I saw who was coming out.

  Chelsea, her curtain of blonde hair swinging behind her as she walked toward us. Oh god, had she seen the blood? Had she—

  A frown was on her face.

  “You guys okay? It looks like there was a really bad fight in the hall or something,” she said. “I called security, and they’re roping it off. When I couldn’t find you, I got worried.” She eyed me, then Max through the passenger window of the van. I looked down. There was blood on my skin, flecked over my clothes.