Reckless Witch: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Illumina Academy Book 1)

by Tarah Scott

  Minutes later, Ethan enters. He takes one look at us and says, “Where is she?”

  Raith shoves to his feet. “Her apartment.”

  “Her grandmother’s,” I say.

  Raith shakes his head. “She can’t find the potionary. Miriam’s spell makes the house invisible to her. She’s looking for that damn howling night pig.”

  “The little fool doesn’t think we know she can’t find her grandmother’s home,” Ethan mutters. “She can’t get in.” He blows out a breath before Raith or I can reply. “Or, maybe she can. She pushed through the pain of my sigil and used magic on you, Raith.”

  Ethan’s dragon magic isn’t weak. Pride swells in me. I wonder just how far she can push through Ethan’s magic before the sigil stops her. Knowing Leilah, we’ll soon find out.

  Forty minutes later, we pull up to Miriam Crowe’s home and potionary.

  “The lights are on,” Ethan says.

  “Told you we should have skipped her apartment and come here first,” I say.

  A crash sounds. Ethan and I are out of the car and up the front porch steps in an instant. With his blasted vampire speed, Raith is already through the door and standing in the foyer when we rush inside. At the base of the stairs stands the pig. Through the arched doorway to the right, Leilah stands amidst a half-destroyed room. She stares at us as if seeing a ghost.

  I watch her closely. With all three of us in the same room, she’s sure to have some reaction. Ciarah has yet to remember us from any of her multiple lives, but she always has a reaction. Her reaction to Raith was to attempt to kick his arse. Same with Ethan. But then, Ethan did mark her with a sigil that compelled her arrival at The Academy.

  The pig trots past us to Leilah, turns to face us and drops its butt onto the floor beside her foot.

  “What the fuck happened?” Raith demands.

  The pig snorts what is clearly intended as a warning, but for once, I’m in agreement with Raith. Never mind the hole in the armoire or the overturned furniture. It’s the green goop that catches my attention.

  “A Thol’guk,” I murmur.

  Ethan gives an almost imperceptible nod.

  “What are you doing here?” Leilah demands, but I discern an unsteadiness in her voice. “Out,” she orders. “All of you. You, too,” she adds, and glances over her shoulder. Her brow furrows. “What the hell? Where—” She faces forward again. “Where did he go?”

  Through the long sleeves of Ethan’s white shirt, his dragon tattoos glow. So it begins.

  “The Thol’guk?” Ethan demands.

  Uncertainty flickers in her eyes and I realize she wasn’t referring to the green demon.

  Ethan takes a step toward her. “Who else besides the Thol’guk was here?”

  The glow beneath his shirt now covers his arms and dragon armor is nearly bursting the fabric of his shirt.

  “How did you get past the wards?” Leilah counters.

  “Wards only keep out evil,” I say.

  Her eyes narrow. “Too bad it doesn’t keep out assholes.”

  I laugh. “If that were the case, darling, you wouldn’t be here any more than we are.”

  Her eyes narrow. “What are you three doing here? Since when do Academy instructors take part in investigations outside The Academy?”

  “We’re not here to investigate Miriam Crowe’s crimes,” Raith says. “We’re here to collect you.”

  She lifts her chin. “Try. Grams keeps a stash of silver stakes here.”

  Even with the sigil glowing on her hand, magic radiates off her. By God, she’s magnificent. I half wonder if I can devise a way to send them home and have my way with her. But that’s a fantasy. We do have to share her, but it’s too early. Plus, I’ve got to figure out what’s different about her this time. Well, that last might be able to wait. I’m not one for denying myself any longer than I must.

  “Easy, Leilah,” Ethan warns. “You have only pushed the limits of the sigil a little. Push too hard and you will injure yourself.”

  She thrusts forward the hand with the sigil. “Then take it off.”

  He hesitates.

  “No,” Raith says.

  Leilah throws him a thin-lipped scowl. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “Ethan isn’t in charge.”

  She laughs harshly. “Neither are you.”

  “Ethan doesn’t have the authority to remove the sigil,” Raith says. “Your name is written on the Stone. We’ve been through this. You know the law. Anyone’s name who appears on the Stone must attend The Academy.”

  “I thought you wanted me expelled,” she shoots back.

  The pig snorts and Leilah laughs, clearly in agreement with whatever the animal said. I shake my head. Witches and their familiars.

  “Stony says she’ll take care of the three of you while I go upstairs to bed,” Leilah says. “As Miriam’s only living relative, this house belongs to me.”

  “Talk to the Illumina once the investigation is over,” Ethan says. “For now, you’re coming back with us.”

  Her eyes spark and the pig snorts loudly.

  “Don’t force us to kill the howling night pig,” Raith says.

  I wince. Raith isn’t known for his tact.

  Leilah frowns. “Howling night pig?” She looks down at the pig. “I thought— Stony, you never told me that’s what you are.” She drops to her knees. “You’re alone. Just like me.”

  The pig snorts and nuzzles its nose against her cheek.

  “Don’t worry,” Leilah says. She stands and faces us. “I’ll come, but this place is mine. Stony gets to stay here. I want food sent to her every day.”

  Raith opens his mouth to answer—or refuse, is my guess—but I say, “I think that can be arranged.”

  Raith snaps his gaze onto me.

  “I’ll see to the feeding of the familiar myself,” I say.

  Leilah looks at the animal. “If you miss even one meal, tell me.” The pig snorts. “Yeah,” Leilah replies. “Grams warned me about men.”

  I don’t have to ask what it is about men Miriam warned her about. Men are idiots, is a universally accepted fact among women of all ages and species.

  Leilah looks back at us. “I want to look around.”

  I’m not surprised when Raith shakes his head. “No.”

  It’s a bad move. Leilah will return. But he’s right. We still haven’t found the source of The Shadows Miriam Crowe contacted. Not to mention the Thol’guk and whoever the bloody hell else had been in the house with her. For now, Leilah is safer far away from this house.

  “What happened here?” Ethan asks. “How did the Thol’guk get past your grandmother’s wards?”

  “The green demon?” Leilah shakes her head. “I…I don’t know.”

  “Who was the other person with you?” Ethan asks.

  Something flickers in her eyes. Leilah was never a great liar. At least, she was never good at lying to us. I’m relieved to see that hasn’t changed.

  “I don’t know. Some guy dressed in leather was sitting in that chair.” She points to the wing-back chair lying on the floor to the left of the couch. “You showed up and”–she shrugs—“he left.”

  I exchange a look with Raith. Just what we need, a mystery man. Not to mention, a damn Thol’guk. Was the demon after her or had it followed the mystery man? Or did the creature have something to do with Miriam’s death? If she really was dabbling in the black arts, then her wards could have been defective.

  Raith motions with his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  Leilah shoots him a dagger-filled glare, then drops to one knee and hugs the pig. “I’ll make sure you get lots of Chinese food,” she says.

  The pig snorts.

  “Of course, all vegetarian. I’ll see you soon.” She rises then walks past us.

  I follow her. Ethan is close behind. I descend the few steps from the porch then halt. I should have known. Leilah is getting into the driver’s seat. A blur passes me and, in the next instant, R
aith stands in the street on the driver’s side and stops Leilah from pulling the door shut.

  “Get out,” he says.

  I bite back a laugh when she says, “You’re not afraid, are you?”

  “I’m afraid for my car,” Raith replies.

  Leilah revs the engine. The car purrs like the well-tuned animal it is. “Get in,” she says, and reaches for the gearshift.

  To my surprise, Raith doesn’t use his vampiric speed to pull her out of the car or to reach the passenger door. Instead, he slowly walks around the hood to the passenger’s side. He opens the door and stands aside as Ethan and I slide into the back, then he slides into the front seat. Once he’s arranged his long legs and pulls his door closed, Leilah shifts the car into gear, slowly. That is unexpected. I exchange a puzzled look with Ethan. Then, she jams her foot down on the accelerator and all is right in the world.

  As the tires squeal and the car shoots forward, I know a moment of fear. Raith, Ethan and I cannot die. Not in a car accident, at any rate. Leilah can. I wish I could say that with the three of us here she couldn’t die, but that’s a lie. Raith has tried twice to turn her, but in some cosmic joke that holds the six of us in thrall, our powers are useless when death comes for her.

  The headlights cut through the dark as she shoots through a stop sign at the end of the street and takes the corner way too fast.

  “You’ll only succeed in killing yourself,” Raith says in a conversational tone, but I detect an edge to his voice.

  “My name appeared on your Stone,” she replies.

  Raith gives a mirthless laugh. “That doesn’t guarantee your safety.”

  “So I’ve heard.” She doesn’t slow for the next curve.

  “What if you kill someone else?” Raith asks.

  Her head jerks in his direction. She mutters something unintelligible under her breath, but I glimpse the corner of Raith’s mouth lift. Not amusement. Heaven forbid. Satisfaction, I’m guessing, for she slows. Headlights appear up ahead, and I wonder if she’d sensed the oncoming car.

  “Stony will need food tonight,” she says.

  “Vegetarian Chinese,” Ethan says.

  She nods.

  Before I can respond, he pulls his phone from his pocket and taps the screen. “Lo mien should do the trick.”

  “And egg rolls,” she says.

  He taps the screen another moment, then says, “Done.”

  Leilah glances in the rearview mirror. I’m certain her gaze lingers on Ethan a heartbeat longer than necessary before she returns her attention to the road. Right now, she despises us all—me less than Raith, of course, or so I fantasize. Either way, her anger won’t stop her from wanting us. It never does. In all our lifetimes together, she has never remembered us. I’ve never once had the courage to ask her what she thinks of the fact that she loves us all simultaneously.

  Deep down, I think there’s a part of her that does remember. She’s questioned our strange love far less the last few lifetimes. I pray that brings her some peace—or, at least, causes her less confusion.

  “What do you want from me?” she asks.

  The abrupt question stumps us all.

  “You’re an Academy student,” Raith is the first to reply.

  She snorts. “Try again.”

  “There’s nothing to try,” Ethan says.

  “Even I know Academy instructors don’t chase after a student—en masse,” she retorts.

  She isn’t wrong.

  “I’m not sure how you know that,” Raith says. “You’ve never before been a student.”

  She glances at Raith. “How many students does Illumina Academy Cadette Commander Raith Vanderkoff let drive his McLaren?”

  I chuckle. “Most wouldn’t try.”

  Two heartbeats of silence pass before she says, “So, which of you is going to see me to my room?”

  Tension, thick enough to cut, suddenly fills the space.

  “Ohh, so it’s all three of you?” she purrs.

  I envision her straddling my hips as she rides my cock into a mind-numbing orgasm. The silence tells me Ethan and Raith are envisioning similar fantasies. Each time Leilah reappears, our hunger for her grows wilder. Centuries of discipline keep us in check, but I wonder when—and it is inevitable—one of us will snap and take her at all costs.

  “You’re going to bed alone,” Raith says.

  I wager the strain in his voice matches the strain of his cock against his jeans.

  Ethan shifts in his seat and I know he’s feeling the sexual tension, as well.

  Leilah doesn’t come back with a witty reply. The silly girl is wondering how seriously we’re taking her flippant invitation.

  More seriously than she can imagine.

  I wonder what she might do if I slipped into her room once she lay warm and cozy in her bed. I release a breath. It wouldn’t be the first time I sneaked into Ciarah’s bed. Raith and Ethan have done the same, as has Caleb. Matthias is the only one who hasn’t. To my knowledge, at any rate. But I can believe Matthias has not taken that liberty.

  My chest constricts. Now that Ciara is back, I wonder if her return is enough to draw Caleb and Matthias back to us.

  Chapter Twenty

  LEILAH

  Vampires, Dragons, Faes and Sports Cars. Oh, my!

  My head is spinning. I’ve known some gorgeous men, but these three are causing my heart to beat an erratic rhythm. Maybe I’m simply surrounded by too much testosterone. The sexual tension in the car is so thick I’m tingling. I’ve been starved far too long. I could probably blame Ethan for leaving me unsatisfied the other day. Or Raith for pushing me against that damn tree last night. Or maybe even Blade. I know he mentally undresses me. Once we get back to the dorm, I’ve got to take care of business—again. Hell, forget that. I need to find a guy at the Academy and fuck him—hard.

  I cast a covert glance at Raith. Would he…? I’ve heard conflicting stories about how cruel vampires can be, all the way to how they can drive a woman mad with desire. My gut tells me Raith is the drive a girl mad with passion variety with a twist of cruelty. There’s a lot of speculation about his origin and when he was turned. Whatever the case, the guy has been around forever. He’s an asshole, and he’s been true to form tonight, but God, why do I want to stroke his cheek and assure him everything will be all right—and then fuck him senseless?

  Saints have mercy! I have lost my mind. No way I’m getting involved with a vampire who treats me like a minion. Blade, at least, treats me as the woman I am—or he would, if I let him.

  I slow for a curve and catch a glimpse of Ethan in the mirror. The dragon energy in his sigil alone threatens to burn through my soul. The way his armor began to form earlier…. God, I’ve never seen a dragon in armor. What would that shell feel like beneath my fingers as he drove his cock into me from behind? I’ve never seen a dragon’s wings unfurl, but I’ve heard they’re magnificent. To have him stand before me, wings widespread, cock erect, I just might fall to my knees and—

  I’m suddenly aware of the deathly silence in the car and how fast I’m driving. I wince, but don’t slow down. I resist an urge to glance at Raith and keep my eyes on the road. I’m damn glad telepathy isn’t a gift of vampires and dragons. Fae sometimes claim it, but I’ve never sensed that gift in Blade. Still, the silence unnerves me.

  Hell, none of this matters. Raith will likely expel me. I’m surprised by the jump of my pulse at the thought. Does he really believe Grams was a dark witch? Does he believe I will turn to Shadow magic? Do Blade and Ethan agree? I recall Ethan’s body pressed close to mine that first day. There’s no denying what would have happened had Miss Mack not interrupted us. Does he fuck dark witches? Oddly, a quick fuck wasn’t how that encounter felt. That puzzles me, just as his manner in the alley that first night does. His reaction hadn’t been the typical male lechery that results from contact with a woman’s body. He’d been caught off guard. I can’t place the emotion, but I swear, I noticed some tenderness and maybe longin
g.

  As for Blade, he’s a natural flirt, but I’ve already witnessed the kind heart beneath that façade. He immediately offered to take care of Stony. Relief that Stony’s safe floods my soul and I curse inwardly at the sting of tears. I will not cry in front of these men. I concentrate on Stony and how happy she’d been to see me.

  Wait. Stony was in Grams house. How—my mind whirls—how did she find the house?

  The truth hits like a Mack truck and I want to scream at how stupid I am. Grams didn’t cast a spell to make the house invisible. She cast a spell on me, so I couldn’t see it. I’m a complete idiot not to have figured that out long ago and, worse, not to have gotten Stony to find the house for me when we arrived in New York. Was Stony finding the house what broke Grams’ spell on me?

  Another thought strikes. Why did Stony decide to find the house now? Has she known all along where the house is? Oh, that pig and I are going to have a long talk the next time I see her. For the moment, she’s safe in Gram’s house. Stony didn’t know Grams. My heart squeezes. Grams would have liked her.

  We’re halfway to The Academy, but I feel Grams’ presence as if she’s in the car with us. I shove the sadness aside. The feeling is nothing more than the fifteen-year-old me wanting to believe she didn’t throw me away. I have to get over this shit. She didn’t want me. End of story.

  That, however, doesn’t mean the house isn’t mine. Now that I found it, I can search for information on any lawyer she might have employed. I have no idea if Grams kept a will, but this is the first step to finding out.

  Headlights come into view up ahead. I pass the oncoming car in a blur. I glance at Raith. He’s staring ahead, mouth thin. Sure, I’m driving recklessly, but there’s something therapeutic about speed. Who says you can’t run from your problems? The MacLaren temporarily loans me a freedom I long for, even if the car is just a teaser of dreams I may never find.

  A stop sign comes into view ahead and I apply the brakes. Raith throws out a hand to brace himself on the dash. Two cars approach, both with their high beams on. I flash my high beams, but the two cars ignore me and speed past. Assholes. I stop at the stop sign, then proceed a little slower. Grams’ lawyer isn’t the only person I need information from.