Marked By Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Paige Orr

  I seem to lose all sense of myself when they are close to me, and right now, none of us can afford to let that happen. In another life, I would be giddy with excitement over the heat that is building between us all, but there are so many things in our way. You never know though, maybe, just maybe, after all of thithis is figured out, we could try to see what's between us.

  We reach the edge of the woods and are about to step out to go to the car, when Zaphyr holds his hand out, stopping me in place. He gently pulls me into his arms, and the surrounding shadows gather around us. I look up at him confused, not wanting to say something to spook him, and notice the grim expression on his face.

  Automatically, I reach inside my jacket, placing one hand on Justice, as I wait with bated breath to see what he does next. He holds a finger up to his mouth to ask me to keep silent, as he pulls me along the edges of the woods. I try to look around for whatever has got him so on edge, but I can’t notice anything out of place.

  Deciding that it must be something supernatural, I switch to my sight, and thankfully Zaphyr’s magic doesn’t blind me the same way Morpheus’s did. I suppose that it must be because he manipulates the shadows, but I don’t have the time right now to think about it too much. What I see has my lungs seizing and I stop in my tracks, practically yanking him with me, until his ear is close enough to my mouth for me to whisper.

  “We’re surrounded, there are at least ten bodies, all holding weapons that seem to be embedded with magic.”

  He leans down close to my ear, being careful not to make any noise. I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, as all the different scenarios that could happen rush through my head. I know that I can’t afford to let my nerves get the better of me, but with such malice coming from our attackers, I just can’t help it.

  “Do you think you could point out where they are?”

  “Yeah, but whatever you’re planning, remember to try and leave one of them alive for questioning."

  He gives me a solemn nod, and I do as he asks, pointing out where each figure is hidden. In the next instant, Zaphyr is gone from my side, leaving a barrier of shadows around me, and I wait with bated breath for any sound that could mean he is in danger. I continue to study each of the figures, and it’s only because of that, that I see Zaphyr appearing behind one of them.

  Only half of his body is out of the shadows, and he reaches around, placing his hand over the figure's mouth, pulling him back into the darkness. There is a small sound that if I wasn’t paying close attention, I’m sure I would have missed, before Zaphyr reaches out of the shadows, gently placing the body on the forest floor.

  Thankfully, the others don’t seem to notice anything is amiss as he begins to work his way through each person. It’s not until after the fifth body hits the floor after putting up more of a struggle than the others, that all hell breaks loose. The others that are here for us, hear the sound of their buddies' body hitting the floor, and without any hesitation, begin to fire shots towards where I last saw Zaphyr. Fae may be practically immortal, but if my fight with the Harpy proved anything, it’s that they’re not invincible.

  My heart is in my throat as I watch just how much fire power has been aimed at a man that I’ve begun to care for, and I can feel tears welling in my eyes at the thought of losing him. Just as I’m pulling Justice from her holster, an arm bands around my middle, and across my mouth. I’m just about to attack whoever is behind me, when I hear the beautiful sound of Zaphyr's voice in my ear.

  I let out a shaky breath, as I relax in his hold, and he uses his shadows to help us get around behind our attackers. At least they didn’t send a fucking Harpy this time, although I’m guessing with Zaphyr’s help, it would be ten times easier to defeat one. What I really want to know though, is how did these fuckers know where we were. Unless our little escapee had been watching us in the clearing.

  I can feel my anger building, knowing that these bastards are at least partly involved with what’s happened to all of the missing Fae. How any of them live with themselves after taking people from their families and people who care about them, I will never know.

  Most humans would be terrified to find out what really goes bump in the night. But if this situation has proved anything to me, it’s that the biggest monsters around are the ones we already know. I’m not saying that the supernatural factions don’t have their bad apples, but all this shit leads back to a group of disgruntled, greedy humans.

  Once we have made our way around the shooters, and out of their line of sight, we wait patiently for them to either run out of ammo, or take at least stop shooting. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for that to happen, and Zaphyr uses their distraction to his advantage, taking out another two people before they have reloaded. Unfortunately, I hear Zaphyr grunt, causing me to grit my teeth as I scan the area for him.

  I hear his heavy breathing appearing behind me, and I spin around just in time to grab him as he begins to fall to his knees. I help guide him over to the nearest tree for cover, crouching down in front of him, as the assholes that shot him continued firing wildly. It doesn’t take me long to find where he’s been shot, and I do everything I can to wrap the wound before sitting back on my feet.

  I know that I can’t expect him to get back up and run into the fray, so I motion with my hand for him to stay where he is before moving silently through the woods. I make sure to have both Justice and Mercy in my hands, as I slowly make my way towards my targets.

  I don’t know what sort of magic has been placed on their guns, but if it was strong enough to hurt a Fae, then it sure as shit can do more to me. Knowing this, I’m even more cautious than I would usually be in this type of situation. I can hear our attackers' frustration at losing so many of their own, and yet it not being enough to stop us.

  I let everything that these people are responsible for help build my anger as I find the perfect position for me to be able to get a shot off without them catching me, and bring both guns up taking aim. I aim for the two men closest to me, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to steady myself, before taking my shot.

  Thank fuck for all those shooting lessons I took after my mothers death, because both bullets hit their mark, dropping the two shooters. The only man left must know that he’s fucked, because he tries to make a break for it. I leap to my feet, following closely behind him, but I never took into consideration that he would try to get another shot off.

  His bullet lands in my calf and a scream tears its way past my lips, but I know if I let him get away now, then I’m letting go of the only lead we have to finding the rest of his buddies. I aim Justice as I begin to fall to my knees, but before I can fire the shot, shadows begin to converge in front of my target. Unlike the way Zaphyr has been until now, this time the darkness exudes strong malice, and I hear an animalistic growl as Zaphyr appears meters in front of the man.

  He stops in his tracks, backpedaling with a startled yelp, but before he can get more than a few feet, Zaphyr’s is on him like a man possessed. The sound of teeth tearing through flesh, has bile rising in my throat, but knowing that it’s Zaphyr causing those noises, I try not to let my fear get the best of me.

  The woods fall silent, all apart from the panting coming from Zaphyr. His head shoots up, feeling my gaze on him, and I can’t stop the quiet gasp that escapes me, seeing that his magic is fully in control.

  His pale skin looks even lighter against his obsidian eyes that remind me of a depiction of a demon. The contrast of the bright blood that coats his chin and now razor sharp breath is unsettling, but even now, I know he would never hurt me.

  He begins to stalk his way towards me, movements more fluid than I’ve ever seen them, which just screams predator, but even that isn’t enough to make me fear him. He reaches me faster than the blink of an eye, and I gaze up at him as he seems to wrestle for control. The minutes tick by slowly as he calms himself down , taking deep breaths with his eyes closed.

  When he opens them again, his eyes are bac
k to their usual dazzling cobalt, causing me to finally relax. He crouches down in front of me, nose twitching, and it takes me a moment to realise that he is scenting the air for something. I don’t have to wait long to find out what he was searching for when his is zero in on the blood pouring from where the bullet entered my calf.

  I can’t hold back my wince, feeling like a fucking idiot for managing to get myself hurt, again. He takes this all in stride though, as he crouches down before me, and scooping me up in his arms, holding me against his wide chest. I lean my head against his shoulders and wrap my arms around his neck as he begins to make his way back towards the car with sure steps. It doesn't take long for the smooth motions of his step, and the blood loss, to lull me into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Elias

  We all gather around the table after Zaphyr leaves to meet Melissa and Morpheus, working together to get through the information on the power syphoning ritual. Some of the things that we’ve read in these boobooks are beyond a joke. The fact that they believe that there are rituals they can perform to turn entire countries into their slaves, is just plain stupid.

  That isn’t even the worst things that are in these ritual, some of them involve sacrifice, and other sexual assault, it makes me sick to think of how many times the cults have performed these rituals, all in their chase of power. They talk about us like we are demons, but really they are the ones who would do anything to get what they want.

  I can see the same disturbed look on the others faces at the increasingly unsettling things that we are finding. I know we should be concentrating on the power syphoning ritual, but it's hard not to stop on certain things written here. I know that if I let myself continue to be distracted though, then I’ll never find what we’re looking for.

  I flick through the book in front of me, trying not to be drawn in by anything, and finally come across a page on the ritual I’m looking for. I study the page, taking in all of the steps until I reach one that gives me a bit of hope. I turn to Cailean, wanting to tell him my findings.

  “Luck might just be on our side, Cail!”

  “How do you mean?”

  I turn the book towards him, pointing out what caught my attention, and when his eyes land on it, his face breaks out in a grin. This is just the break we’ve been looking for. If we can keep this item out of the cult's hands, then they can’t perform the ritual, and it just so happens to be in Cail’s safe at home.

  “Eli, this is great news. All we have to do is make sure that they don’t get their hands on the necklace.”

  "When was the last time you checked on it? I’m just worried that with a Witch on board, they’ll be able to get past the wards.”

  His brow furrows in thought, and I can see the same worry in his eyes that I feel myself. Who knows what these people are truly capable of, and we need to do everything that we can to make sure they aren’t able to see their plans through, especially since the ritual calls for the death of those that they have taken.

  “I’ll go back to the house and check on it, I can’t remember the last time I saw it. I’ll bring it back with me just to be on the safe side.”

  With that he gets to his feet, making a quick exit, and the room falls into silence again. We still have to try and figure out the criteria that the coven is using to pick their victims, so hopefully we can get that don before he gets back. I look through the passage again, trying to look for any clue, and it’s not until I reach the very last paragraph that I find the answers.

  I don't know how this could be of use to us though, the ritual calls for the person that’s being sacrificed, to be as close in height and body shape as the person that will take their life. Since we have no idea what these cultists look like, this is just another dead end. I throw the book down in front of me, sick of being so helpless with this. Especially since this just means that the cult is still ten steps ahead of us.

  How are we ever supposed to be able to stop them from taking people, when we don’t know who they will take? We can’t even have people guarded, because we still have no idea who is most likely to be next.I don’t know where we are supposed to go from her, but I do know that the situation is just continuing to become more and more hopeless. Fingers crossed we manage to guard the necklace, it’s the only thing we have that could be enough to stop them.

  Half an hour later we’ve found nothing else to go on, and the tension in the room is thick enough to cut with a knife. I can’t help but be filled with worry after not hearing anything from Cailean since he left. I have a sinking feeling in my gut, nothing else has gone our way, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this went wrong as well.

  The necklace is our last defense against the cult, but if they have already managed to get their hands on it, then I have no idea how we are supposed to stop them. According to what they have written, we don’t have anything else we can do, so we’re all feeling the pressure.

  The door slams open behind me, and we all spin in unison, ready to jump into action. We all stop though when we see Zaphyr there, Melissa cradled against his chest, and the smell of blood reaches my nose. I don’t waste another second as I get to my feet, rushing over to them and helping Zaphyr place her down on the couch.

  “What the hell happened, Zaph.”

  “There was an ambush while we followed the trail that she and Morph found.”

  For fuck's sake, it seems that our little detective is a danger magnet. I call on my magic, hovering my hands over the bullet wound I can see in her calf. Usually something like this would be easy enough for me to heal, but there seems to be something blocking me, and with how much blood she has already lost, that’s far from a good thing.

  “Was there magic involved, something is stopping me from healing her?”

  “Melissa said that their weapons were infused with strong magic, but she doesn’t have experience reading magic yet, so she couldn’t tell me what kind.”

  I look over my shoulder, motioning to Annika to join me. I can’t detect what magic the bullet is imbued with, but maybe she has a spell in her arsenal that could narrow it down. We have to hope she does anyway. We need to get the bleeding stopped as soon as possible.

  Annika kneels down beside me, muttering a spell under her breath as she scans her hands down Melissa’s leg. The grimace on her face tells me that whatever magic is at play isn’t good for us. That’s only confirmed when she says to me.

  “We’re going to have to work together, the magic in the bullets is too strong for just one of us.”

  I nod my head at her and wait for her to join me, when both of our magic begins to course through Melissa’s leg, I let out a breath of relief as I see the bullet begin to push its way to the surface of her skin. We continue to work for another ten minutes, until it’s finally sealed over, and all that’s left to remind Melissa of what happened, is a small pink scar. It’s then that I notice Zaphyr, cradling his shoulder with a wince on his face.

  “Fucking hell, Zaphyr! You should have told us if you had been hit as well.”

  “I know, but the magic doesn’t seem to affect me as strongly as it did Melissa. She needed your help more than I did, I can heal from things that she can't.”

  This man drives me fucking crazy! I know that he is used to hiding things like this from everyone around him, but this is beyond a joke. If the magic managed to kill him, then I would be responsible for the death of the Unseelie Prince! I can hear Annika mumbling under her breath beside me, as she rubs a hand across her forehead.

  “Fucking men! Always so bloody stubborn.”

  We both get to our feet and make our way over to Zaphyr, going through the same tedious process of healing him. Unlike Melissa, it’s not only one bullet buried in his flesh, so the process takes twice as long. By the time that we have him healed enough that his own body can finish the job, I can see that Annika is exhausted.

  I help her over to a chair, telling her to rest and that I’ll keep an eye on our patients. We have to h
ope that the magic won’t leave any lingering effects. We know that Melissa is likely to be unconscious for another little while, since unfortunately we can’t do much about blood loss, but at least Zaphyr seems to be back to his usual brooding self.

  I make my way over to the table where Eric is still seated, dragging one of the chairs over to beside the couch, and settle myself down to watch Melissa. My ass barely lands on the seat before Cailean barges through the front door, slamming it behind him. He turns to us, about to go into a tirade, when his eyes land on Melissa’s sleeping form. It doesn’t take him long to reach my side, and he crouches down beside her, checking her over for injuries.

  “What the fuck happened Zaph?! You were supposed to be there to make sure she didn’t get hurt again.”

  “I couldn’t exactly predict being ambushed by ten cult members, all armed with magic infused guns, now could I, asshole?”

  Cailean lets out a growl as he gets to his feet, taking a menacing step towards Zaphyr. I put my hand on his arms, stopping him before he starts a fight that we really don’t need right now. But just as I’m about to tell him this, a groan comes from the couch, causing us all to turn towards Melissa as her eyes begin to open.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Melissa

  Fucking hell, my whole body feels like it's been hit by a fucking bus! I seriously need to stop getting myself hurt. Twice in one day has to be a new fucking record. I struggle to sit up, and two sets of arms come around me, helping me out. I look up, finding Cailean's and Elias’s worried faces, and I wave them off, not wanting any fuss. We’ve already wasted enough time having to baby me, so I’d rather we just got on with what needs done.