Phoenixheart: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 7)

by KT Strange

  Maybe.

  Twenty

  Darcy

  You’d think that a radio stop would have been an old thing for us by then. But we weren’t ready, not really.

  First the guys stopped to get new instruments, other than Eli who already had his guitar, and we all picked up nice clothes to wear. The guys needed to look rockstar-appropriate, not campground-casual. That meant tight t-shirts, stylishly ripped jeans, and a few leather jackets, not sweatpants and their oversized flannel shirts and henleys that I liked to steal.

  Second, we had to figure out what kind of acoustic set the guys were going to play once they were at the station.

  Third, we had to muster up the energy to actually do it.

  Fourth, we had to shower. We were gross. Not gross-gross, but the kind of camping gross that needed to be washed off before we were seen in public by normal human beings that hadn’t just had the magical fight of their lives, lost their best friend, and then went on a several week road-trip in order to run away from their sorrows.

  It was in the girls’ shower at the campsite we were at, where Finn found me.

  “Shit! You scared me!” I looked up to see him in the mirror, one of those cheap metal ones like they had at rest-stop bathrooms, the ones that just showed you enough to know you didn’t look like a complete troglodyte. He grinned as I wrapped my towel around my body tighter.

  “And miss this?” He asked, reaching up to tousle my wet curls. I growled and swatted at his hand.

  “You’ll wreck my curl pattern,” I said. Ham-handed as he and the other guys were, I’d ended up in a frizzy, tangled mess if I let them touch my hair when it was wet.

  “What’s a… what?” He cocked his head, that weird look on his face all the guys got whenever I did something girly that mystified them, like bitching about tampons or buying yet another lipgloss when I had the exact same shade already. Internally, I called it their ‘confused puppy’ look.

  “Your hair is curly if you let it get long enough, you should know about curl patterns” I said, pointing to his blond mop. He needed a trim.

  “That’s why I don’t let it get long.” He touched his hair self consciously and I shook my head with a smile. “I came in here to talk to you,” he said, tugging me close.

  “I’m gonna get your shirt wet.” The bathroom air was cool, and he was perfectly warm. It was nice to be held like this, like things were normal, even if they weren’t and never would be again.

  “I like it when you’re wet,” he teased and then laughed when I elbowed him. “But serious, I did actually come in here to talk to you about serious things, not just flirt with you.”

  “You can do both, I don’t mind,” I said as he let me go so I could braid my hair and pin it into a loose bun at the top of my head.

  “I’ve been thinking… that… maybe we should push ahead on this whole heartstone thing,” he hesitated as he spoke, like he wasn’t sure how keen I’d be on the idea.

  I turned.

  “Really?” I knew they thought it was too risky, and they were right. It was risky.

  “I had a long chat with Wolfe… he thinks you can do it.”

  “What?” That surprised the hell out of me. He’d done everything in his power to discourage me from following in his spell-casting footsteps.

  “Yeah. He thinks that the only thing holding you back is, or was, your own disbelief in what you can do.” He rubbed the back of his hand over my cheek as I stared up at him. “But I believe in you Darcy.”

  “What if it goes wrong?” I asked, because this was a change of heart, if the rest of the guys felt the way he did. His lips pressed into a grim smile.

  “I don’t want to think about it, to be honest. I just think it’s the natural progression of where we’re going, don’t you? That’s the only thing holding us back. With it, nothing’s gonna keep us from living out the life we want, with you at our side.” He licked his lower lip, nervous, and I longed to soothe him. “Maybe that’s selfish.”

  “Nothing’s self-centered about wanting a good life with the ones you love,” I murmured. His hand, that had been hovering near my cheekbone, ran down my jawline, and over my neck. His thumb grazed the spot he’d bit me, months ago. I let my eyes close as that familiar tingling sensation drifted through my body. I wanted him to bite me again. “I don’t know if I’m ready though,” I admitted.

  “Just keep it in the back of your mind,” he said, fingers wandering under my chin. He tipped my face up and kissed me once, lips closed, warm and sweet. “Know that I got your back, I believe in you, cause there’s nothing you can’t do if you set your mind to it.”

  I was going to melt. He was going to melt me. His blue eyes were lush with affection and his smile made me feel dizzy.

  “I hate how you always undo me,” I said, wrapping my fingers around his hips to stay steady. “I was just trying to take a shower, get clean, figure out what to do with my hair, it’s getting so long-”

  “So cut it,” he said with a shrug, pulling back. “If it’s that much of a pain in the ass. You’re always bitching Cash is rolling over onto your ends and pinning you down in bed by your hair, anyway.”

  I tried to contain my surprise at his suggestion.

  “I thought guys liked long hair though,” I replied, feeling oddly out of sorts that he was so casual about me cutting my hair.

  “Doll, you could shave it, and all I’d think was that there was more inches of you to kiss,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows, skeptical as hell.

  “You’re encouraging me to shave my head?”

  “Well, uh, no, just… not telling you what to do with your body,” he finished lamely, with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. I narrowed my eyes.

  “Are you looking for blow job points? Playing the supportive boyfriend, sure-honey-shave-your-head-I-don’t-care? Really, Finn?”

  He laughed and moved out of my range when I went to smack his arm.

  “Get out!” I pointed at the door. He smirked at me.

  “It worked though, right?”

  “Out!”

  He opened the door and was almost gone when he popped his head back in again, to blow me a kiss.

  “But seriously, cut your hair if it’s being a pain in the ass,” he said, and then disappeared. I rolled my eyes and glanced once more in the mirror.

  Maybe… it wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe it was time for something completely new and different.

  We rolled into town or our first stop on our acoustic radio tour, and once the guys were settled, I found and made an appointment at the first funky salon I could find. It was time for something totally divergent. They say that after someone close to you dies, you shouldn’t make any major changes or big life decisions for a year.

  Too bad my heart was screaming at me to not listen. I sat my ass down in the salon chair, looked my stylist right in the eye, told her what I was thinking, and hoped for the best. I explained that I was going through some things and wanted to go kinda crazy. When my stylist, named Livvie, a tall, lanky girl with hunched shoulders and pig-tails, pulled out the jar of teal hair dye, a manic smile spread across my face.

  Part of me just wanted to get rid of the vestiges of old Darcy, and by the time I walked out of the salon, flipping my straightened and brightly dyed locks over my shoulders, I felt new.

  It was probably temporary. It was a bandaid, I knew it, but sometimes the only things holding you together are baking twine and chewing gum, and you gotta just roll with it.

  My guys were at a local dive diner, getting ready to eat lunch before we headed over to the radio station, and when I walked into the restaurant, five heads turned and five pairs of eyes widened.

  I had to hide my smile.

  “Your hair-”

  “It’s green?”

  “That’s blue, y’idiot.”

  “I think the correct term is aqua.”

  “I like it.” Ace said as I slid into the horse-shoe shaped booth next to him. He held
up an arm and I cuddled under it, relaxing with a sigh.

  “Back in my day,” Cash started with a wry grin and then laughed when Eli pinched him. “What? You jealous you’re normally the grumpy old man, so you won’t let me try my hand at it?”

  “You look beautiful,” Finn said, his eyes sparkling as he grinned at me. I smiled back, threading my fingers through it.

  “Thanks… I really just needed a change.”

  “Mmhmm,” Eli said as he leaned an elbow on the edge of the table, resting his chin in it as he looked me over. “No one can say you’ll fade into the background as just our tour manager, now, huh? We’re gonna have to beat the guys off of you.” My cheeks flushed.

  “Oh hey, are you ready to-oh!” Our waitress stopped short as she saw me, a look of mixed emotion on her face verging toward displeasure. “You have a sixth person, sorry-” She tugged a place setting out of her apron and set it in front of me. “Do you need a minute to look over the menu…?”

  “No, I’m good, I’ll just eat off of their plates,” I said, gesturing to the guys. With five of them, even though they had big appetites, they’d always let me steal from them if I really wanted. Plus it was the advantage of being able to try a few bites of everything, without committing to one meal. Awesome.

  After our waitress took our order and walked away, Finn smirked, leaning in close to me,

  “I guess she’d figured she’d be the meat in our pack sandwich, but then you showed up and broke her heart,” he teased. Cash elbowed him.

  “That’s cause you flirted with her. It’s rude to wink at a lady and expect her to not think you’re meaning more than you are,” Cash said. Charlie took a long sip of water.

  “She’s on her phone,” he murmured. I glanced over at the waitress. She was covertly taking a photo of us at the booth. I had to smile.

  “Wanna bet you guys get hashtagged in the next thirty seconds, and then swarmed by fangirls in the next ten minutes?” I asked.

  “Nah, I don’t think that’ll happen,” Ace said, and then his look turned apprehensive. “Will it?”

  “Don’t order dessert,” I advised. “You guys are so humble, I swear, you won’t realize you’re big until you’re playing sold out stadium shows.”

  Eli let out his breath in a woosh, and Finn shook his head.

  “That’d be quite the thing, wouldn’t it now?”

  We fell quiet as the waitress brought over a large tray, balancing it on her hip as she doled out dishes. The table nearly groaned under the weight of the food the guys had ordered, but it’d been awhile since we’d eaten anything that we hadn’t cooked ourselves. She paused before she left, giving Finn a wide-eyed Bambi-look.

  “You guys are Phoenixcry, right?”

  “Mhmm, you bet, sweetheart,” Finn said, turning on the charm. I kicked him under the table; he didn’t even flinch, his grin spreading wider.

  “We’ll get him later,” Ace said into my ear. “I’m thinking water balloons while he’s sleeping. Filled with pudding.”

  I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

  “Can I get a picture?” The girl stared anxiously at Finn, like she was going to die if he said no.

  “Why don’t I take it,” I offered. She might have been moderately annoying, but she was still a fan. It wasn’t my job to be rude to her, even if she was staring at Finn like she wanted to peel his shirt off with her tongue.

  “Just like, if I could get… um the twins? Could I be in the middle?” She asked, her eyes going wide. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from giggling at the looks on Eli and Finn’s face.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” I said, getting up. A few minutes, some shuffling, and a grumble from Cash later, our waitress had her picture, and had scooted off. Eli sat down, looking ruffled.

  “She pinched my ass,” he growled, staring down at his plate. Cash smirked.

  “Serves you and your philandering brother right. Getting your mitts on a girl that isn’t yours. Honestly, the rest of us should fight the two of you to defend Darcy’s honor-” he shut up when Finn beaned him between the eyes with a french-fry.

  I relaxed back in my seat, cuddling into Ace’s side with a sigh as the guys descended into some light-hearted arguing. My heart was still sore, it probably always would be, but this was the life we wanted. This was the life we deserved. Right?

  Twenty-One

  Darcy

  If the guys were a little subdued during their radio appearance, the hosts didn’t seem to know it. We got in, they did their thing, schmoozing and playing a few acoustic songs, and pimping out the last album, while hinting at some new tracks that were going to drop as well as the upcoming tour dates. It was easy, and breezy. (Not like our lunch at the diner. I was right. Twenty minutes after we’d gotten our meals, girls started showing up, ‘ordering food’, and trying to sneak pictures of the guys as we finished eating. We didn’t end up ordering dessert, although it was pretty sweet how the guys signed a bunch of autographs before we left.)

  After the radio show, we got back into the van and hit the road, driving for a few hours before stopping at the next campsite for the night. The days melted together, and gradually we relaxed more and more. It was weird to be on the road and not be constantly looking over our shoulders for threats. I still woke up at night, all of a sudden, to find one of the guys returning from a quick perimeter jog of the campsite. After multiple all-clears, I started sleeping through their nocturnal wanderings, safe and curled up in the arms of one of my mates.

  It was hard not to miss Max, though. I felt in in my chest, like I carried my grief deep inside of me every step of the way. I felt her in the air around me, early in the morning when I first stepped out of the van into the weak sunlight. She was there at night, as I closed my eyes, just out of reach when I slipped into my dreamless sleep.

  We stayed in touch with Wolfe, and the others every few days, but even during our brief phone-calls, we didn’t talk about her… just updated him on our whereabouts, and talked about what he knew of who remained from the witch council and their activities.

  Other than that, we spent night after night watching the sun slip below the horizon, trying to forget everything that had gone bad in our lives.

  It was better to think about everything else instead… there was a lot to be grateful for, I tried to remind myself over and over.

  “You’re frowning,” Cash said, brushing his fingers over my lower lip. “You keep making that face, it’ll stick.”

  I lifted my eyebrows at him and he laughed.

  “You telling me to smile, Cash? You know how many times a girl hears that?”

  He hushed my protests with a kiss, and I sighed.

  “That was a lot better way of getting me to smile,” I added. “You can do that more.”

  “More?” He breathed the word, before pushing me down in the back of the van. My back hit the soft blankets, and my shriek of laughter had Eli sticking his head inside.

  “What’re you doing, Cash?” he demanded. Cash lifted his head to look at Eli, one sneaky hand slipping up under my shirt.

  “Nothing, not doing a thing,” Cash said, face the picture of innocence. Eli scowled. Cash snickered. “I mean, don’t come in here all pissed off cause you didn’t think of it first-oh wait, is that why you were coming in here? To make a little time with Darce?”

  “Don’t tease him,” I hissed, pushing at Cash’s chest, as his big hand wrapped around my side, stroking up to my ribs with his fingers.

  “You afraid of what’d happen if the two of us got our hands on you at the same time?” Cash asked, his words making my blood heat. “Maybe I get him riled up, stand back, and let him just have you.”

  Eli growled, making Cash grin, wide and unrepentant.

  “Not like he has any claim to you, anyway,” Cash added, and my pulsed quickened when he bent, his lips sliding over his neck. “Nah, he needs to step up if he wants to stand there and growl at me for keeping you all to myself.”

&nb
sp; “Cash,” I said, my cheeks heating just as much as the rest of my body. He shot me a wicked grin and twined his fingers through my hair, the strands flashing blue and teal in the shadowed light of the van.

  “Yeah, Darcy?” That shit-eating grin of his was back. I closed my eyes tight.

  “Don’t tease him, please?” I pulled him down close. I kissed him slow, until his hips were rolling into mine, pinning me to the bed. When I glanced over to the side, Eli was gone again. I sighed with a shiver as Cash’s lips found my ear, nipping there slowly.

  “You know what he’s doing right now?” He asked. I closed my eyes and made a noise to the negative. “Thinking about how bad he wants to be right here.” His hips slide between my thighs, my feet slipping over the sheets so that I could grip him close with my legs.

  “He’s been here,” I said, my mind racing back to the first time Eli and I ever had sex, how intense it had been…

  “Yeah, but he’s missing a piece of himself,” Cash said, trailing a finger down my neck, to stroke my collarbone where it rose up from the neckline of my shirt. “You’re that piece, and he keeps holding himself back, god only knows why.”

  “His loss,” I whispered, pushing myself up on one elbow to kiss Cash hard, letting my lips part as his tongue slipped into my mouth.

  We emerged later, my hair tousled, Cash’s shirt rumpled and his hand in the back of my jeans as we approached the rest of the guys where they were doing up another hot-dog and s’mores dinner. I was gonna get plumper. Not that I minded so much. The guys had made it clear they loved me, all of me, curves and dimples and everything. That was kinda life-affirming.

  Cash stretched, his arms going to the sky, and he dropped down on a long log near the fire. I sat near him, leaning into his shoulder with a sigh, feeling satisfied and more than a little squirmy still. I was getting it, enough of it anyway, from most of the pack… but Eli…