by Kate Gellar
A sudden tiredness washed over her. She glanced over at the bed to see Brendan had sprawled out across both sides. She didn’t have the heart to move him.
“Can I sleep here?” she said.
Liam grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Abby snuggled against his warm body and tucked the duvet under her chin. A strange black mist lingered by the door similar to the one she’d seen in her dream. She squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, it had vanished.
2 – MAGIC BOUND
Abby
Abby woke up a few hours later curled up on the sofa to find both Liam and Brendan had gone. She heard water running in the bathroom followed by the sound of Brendan singing out of tune. She giggled.
A knock on the door startled her. She slogged to the door wrapped in Liam’s duvet and opened it to find a surly looking Murphy standing there. It was becoming a familiar look for him.
“Sam wants you to come downstairs when you’re ready,” he snapped. His dark blue eyes never left her face. Her body reacted to the intensity. But the moment came and went the second Murphy broke eye contact. He glanced inside the room before storming off.
Abby shook off the feeling and abandoned the warm comfort of Liam’s duvet to return to her room. Her mom’s necklace sat on the dresser where she’d left it. She dressed in a bathrobe and collected her stuff for a shower, then headed for the communal bathroom. A strange feeling hit her as soon as she opened the door. Four girls from the original ten that had been flagged as mortal at dinner last night chatted at the sink.
They all turned as soon as Abby walked in, eyes tracking her as she set her towel and soap down on the chair by the shower.
“Hey.” One of the girls nodded at her. “What happened at dinner last night? Why are we all going home today?”
The boys had concocted a story about there being a gas leak to disguise the sleepiness brought on by Sylvie and Noomi’s spell, designed to reveal what each of the girls were.
“A gas leak. Sam said it could be a problem with the supply.”
The brunette folded her arms. “Yet, he had no problems with us sleeping in the castle last night. I call bullshit.”
Another girl asked, “What time are you going home?”
“Um, later,” Abby said, hoping they wouldn’t delve further into Sam’s change of mind to let her stay.
“Well, that’s where I have an issue,” said the brunette to the other three girls. Her eyes slid to Abby. “Abby isn’t going home yet. I heard Sam say it was just us four. Emma, Astrid, and Penny are also staying. Last night none of us were staying except for that French girl Sylvie and Noomi, the other Swedish girl. Why would only some of us leave if there’s an issue with health and safety?”
All eyes were on Abby. She shrugged. Too much else had happened for the attention to bother her.
“I don’t know. Sam makes the rules, not me. I guess he wants some people to stick around and help with the repairs. The castle’s too big to keep going with just the boys.”
“Exactly!” said the brunette. “I’m not ready to go home after just one week. I might tell Sam I’d like to stick around. I think he’s into me. A little charm might help get him on my side.”
“I don’t think staying is an option,” said Abby.
The brunette regarded her with disdain. “What makes you so special that you get to stay but we have to go?”
Abby couldn’t say why. “Maybe he values your safety over mine?” The brunette relaxed her prickly mood. “Besides, Sam said he would fund another week anywhere in Ireland, just not here.”
“I suppose that’s better than nothing,” said another girl.
“But it’s still not here, with these four men,” argued the brunette.
The other girl rolled her eyes. “There are five million people in Ireland. I’m sure we can find more hot men on this island, if that’s what you want.”
“But it’s not Sam,” said the frowning brunette.
When they lost interest in Abby, she slipped into the shower to wash away the events of last night and her bad dream. She sniffed her skin that smelled of Liam’s musky scent. She hesitated, not wanting to wash him off just yet. Having him all over her comforted her.
But the second the hot water hit her skin, she scrubbed away the scent, her dream, and the manifestation that insisted on calling her Abigail. Only her mother had called her that.
By the time she finished up in the shower, the bathroom had emptied. She supposed there was one advantage to half of the girls heading home: less waiting time in the bathroom.
Abby towel dried her curly red hair that hung past her shoulders. She preferred to let it dry naturally. Heat from the hairdryer only turned it a frizzy mess. For now, the weight of the water would keep it in place. She returned to her room and dressed in jeans and a baby blue mohair sweater. She put on her mom’s necklace and placed the design on the outside of her sweater.
Commotion coming from downstairs drew her to its source. She looked over the banister to see the four girls from the bathroom stood by the front door, their bags packed. Sam, Liam, and Murphy waited with them.
The irate brunette from the bathroom continued her rant from earlier.
“I can’t smell anything!” she said to Sam.
Sam replied, “You can’t always smell gas.”
She countered his reply. “But you knew there was a leak, so how did you detect it?”
Abby sat on the top step out of everyone’s view as Sam weaseled his way out of his own lie. “We have separate detectors to pick it up. Trust me, I would ask you to stay if I could.”
Abby heard the front door open and the brunette say, “What about Emma and Astrid, or Penny? Why are they getting to stay? Or Abby? I saw her up in the bathroom. She seemed pretty thrilled with herself, yet last night at dinner you said she had to go.”
That was a lie. She had not been anything in the bathroom. Maybe the four mortals leaving would be a good thing. With everything else going on, she didn’t have the time to defend her good name as well.
“The taxi is outside. I’ve arranged for you four to spend a week in another castle, on us.”
“Well I suppose that’s something,” said the brunette, the most vocal of the four.
Abby waited for the door to click closed and for the last of the girls’ voices to drift away.
Then Murphy said, “Jaysus, women are hard work.”
His comment irritated Abby. She glared at him on her way down the stairs.
“They came here with expectations, Murphy. Now, after a week, they’re being told to go home? I’d be pissed off too.”
Murphy grunted and slid his eyes elsewhere.
Sam’s eyes were on her, as were Liam’s. Same interest, different expressions. One was friendly, the other was guarded.
“Sleep well, Abby?” said Sam.
She nodded at the alpha, trying not to think about her weird dream from last night. She landed on the bottom step and stepped off the last one.
All three guys watched her. Murphy’s nostril’s flared as his gaze took in her appearance. Liam smiled at her while Sam pretended to look elsewhere. He was the one in control, she decided. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.
“So, um, what will happen to Emma, Astrid, and Penny?” Liam had already told her, but she knew nothing about the process of stripping powers from a witch.
“I’d like to know that, too.” Sylvie descended the stairs behind her. She stopped beside Abby. “How are you feeling, cherie?”
“I’m fine. It was Brendan who needed my help.”
Sylvie touched her arm. “But he drained you of your power so he could regenerate.”
Abby should have felt weaker than she did, but saving Brendan had only made her feel stronger for a while.
Sam walked toward the Great Hall. “I think we should talk about that while we set up the room for Sue and Mary. Mary gave me strict instructions for the layou
t.”
“What about Brendan?” said Abby thumbing to the floor above.
Sam looked up. “He’ll join us shortly.”
“So, is the spell to strip the dark witches of their powers a permanent thing?” she said. Murphy’s glance in her direction didn’t go unnoticed. She was part dark witch, after all. “What? It’s on everyone’s mind. I’m the only one brave enough to say it.”
Sam leaned against the door frame to the Great Hall. “Sue and Mary will be here shortly. They are old friends of my parents and the most powerful white witches we know.”
Abby felt nervous all of a sudden. Two powerful witches were coming to unleash magic on others that could also hurt her. What could possibly go wrong?
***
Read MAGIC BOUND now.
BOOKS BY KATE GELLAR
THE IRISH ROGUE SERIES
Four immortal guardians. One powerful woman. Will their bond secure the fate of the world?
READ MAGIC BOUND NEXT
CLICK HERE for a complete list of Kate Gellar’s books.
BOOKS BY ELIZA GREEN
Kate also writes Adult and YA Science Fiction under the pen name Eliza Green.
THE GENESIS SERIES
When Bill Taggart’s wife disappears on a new planet that harbours a hostile alien species, he must act fast to find her, before his corrupt government destroys the evidence.
READ GENESIS CODE NOW
THE BREEDER FILES SERIES
An orphaned teenager. A brutal re-training facility. Will she choose freedom or rebellion?
Seventeen-year-old Anya Macklin can’t shake the image of her parents’ murder. After rebels killed all the adults in town, authorities rounded up the orphans and sent them to a machine-run re-education facility. For Anya to escape, she’ll need to graduate nine gruelling levels of tests where success could mean freedom… but failure is fatal.
***FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED***
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DUALITY
A surprising journey into the mind of one delusional man starts with one question: Why did you kill her? To unlock the secrets of his mind, Jonathan must accept his reality might not be his own.
DUALITY is a mind bending science fiction thriller about blind trust, a future not yet written, and the choices we make to protect ourselves. Similar to the Matrix and Inception, Duality will force you to ponder your own reality.
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Word from the Author
Thank you so much for reading my first reverse harem paranormal story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing those smoking hot Irish boys. Abby has her work cut out for her!
Much love to Anjanee from 17 Studio Book Design for designing that super sparkly cover. I really love it! We had a lot of fun collaborating on it. We actually argued over the size of the model’s boobs, believe it or not. I wanted bigger. She warned, not too big. We compromised on middle. Haha!
Thanks to Loredana from Elfwerks who edited my book. It was my first time working with her and we both had a giggle over certain parts in the story. I’m used to writing darker science fiction under my other pen name, Eliza Green, so this story was a really nice break from that.
Thanks to Mary, my early beta reader, for reading this book at the speed of light and for telling me, point blank, to put more magic in the story. Yep, that’s why I road test these books first. Excellent call, lady!
And to you, readers, for taking a chance on an unknown romance author. When you pick up a new book, you never know what you’re going to get. I hope it was worth the pennies. Please consider leaving a review; it can be a one liner if you want, to let others know what you thought. Social proof is vital when it comes to selling books. Plus, it turns out other readers don’t care what I think!
For now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a six pack of wine with my name on it and more sexy books to write
Reviews help others to discover my work. I’d be so grateful if you’d consider leaving one on this book. Amazon
About the Author
KATE GELLAR is the Irish author of a sexy new-adult reverse harem paranormal romance about four complex men and one woman who can make them whole. Her Irish Rogue Series includes dark and light witches, demon souls, and four seriously hot Irish immortal guardians of an ancient seal. No matter what trouble my heroine faces, love will conquer all.
When Kate isn’t daydreaming about bringing her book hotties to life, she’s leafing through cookbooks, drinking wine, and searching for the best Dim Sum this side of the Atlantic Ocean. The series begins with MAGIC DESTINY. ROGUE MAGIC is a prequel that introduces all four hot Irish guardians.
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All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copy Editor: Elfwerks Editing
Cover Design: 17 Studio Book Design
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Copyright © 2019 Kate Gellar