Savage Possessed: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy Adventure (Twin Rivers Possession Book 2)

by September Stone

  Too bad I know this is one battle she’s going to lose, though not for lack of trying. I just know Jonas, and when he doesn’t want to comply, there’s nothing anyone can do to force his hand. I stand, finally finished fashioning a pyre of sticks with Valor. The quiet vampire shoots me looks of warning that make me think he’s not convinced by Jonas’ denial either.

  I wave Sophie Mae over. “Valor’s going to go hunt himself some dinner. Maybe he’ll cook it up for us. Get some color back in your cheeks. Mother Nature’s cool with us camping here?” We’re about a mile from our previous spot, but Sophie Mae’s connection with nature doesn’t seem all that insistent anymore, now that the damage is done.

  She turns to me, an irritable look pinching her features and tightening her lips. “Mother doesn’t care. She was trying to get us away from Elowen’s wind, but I failed. We’re fine. But your friend here, he’s not fine. Jonas is a liar. What I can’t understand is why. He’s a telepath. How can he also be telekinetic? That’s not possible.”

  Valor moves to the edge of the clearing. The space is far smaller than our first one but we’re all so tired, I don’t think any of us cares. Valor pauses, locking eyes with me before he leaves the flickering radius of the battery-operated lantern I hang from the nearest tree. “You’ll stay with them? Not out of your sight?”

  It takes some getting used to—the disgusting kingpin who once ran Motel Date Rape suddenly caring about people’s well-being. I raise one hand in pledge. “Not out of my sight.”

  Valor makes to leave the clearing once more, but turns on his heel and beelines to Sophie Mae. He positions his body between hers and Jonas’, making sure he has her absolute attention. Something in my belly tightens when Valor cups her face in his hands. “Promise me you’ll stay close to Carrigan, and that you won’t leave the camp.”

  She blinks up at him, her frustration with Jonas melting into Valor’s palms. Her shoulders relax, and I can see her whole body trusting him. I don’t know how I feel about it as I surreptitiously watch their exchange. “You’re worried?” She touches his knuckles, and I recognize what’s happening—likely before Sophie does.

  She’s falling for Valor.

  “About you, yes. Very much so. Tell me I have nothing to worry about, because you’ll be safe here with your boyfriends.”

  “I’ll stay with them.”

  He swallows hard, and the look of guilt that flickers across his face fascinates me. “I’ll be farther away than your tether reaches when I hunt, so to make sure I return to you, I want you to wear this. It’s my most valuable trinket, so do not part with it for anything.” He slides a gold chain out from beneath his shirt and fastens it around her neck. There are three golden keys on the end. I can tell he doesn’t want to part with it. His eyes track the keys as she fingers them before tucking them into her shirt. “Promise me, young one.”

  Sophie Mae nods. “I promise, baby doll. Hurry back, okay?”

  Valor only thumbs the swell of her cheek, but it’s as intimate as a kiss. I’m not jealous, but I also don’t like it. I don’t want a vampire this close to my girlfriend, his hand an inch away from her neck. It’s hard to breathe through the urge to push him away from her, but in the end, that gets to be her decision. I only get to decide if I’m cool with sharing the only woman I’ve ever…

  I tear my eyes from her trust that beams up at Valor. If I have to share her with Hagan and the vampire, so be it. I’m not losing the one woman who’s managed to cure all the things that are so very wrong with me. I won’t walk away because she can’t seem to turn from anyone who’s a little bit broken. I can’t fault her for holding the wounded closer than she should.

  I kneel by Hagan, offering him a bottle of water. He’s sitting up, but his face is tight with unspoken agony. I wasn’t nearly as stoic about physical pain as Hagan is. When I had a migraine, I couldn’t move about the house at all. I tried not to moan or carry on, but I was useless for anything too many days to count.

  Hagan’s jaw is tight as he screws the lid back on the bottle after taking a drink. “You saw that?”

  “Sure did.”

  Hagan nods once, but he doesn’t look angry. His eyes are calculating as he watches Valor exit the clearing, like he’s taking a moment to adjust to this new reality so he can prepare himself for when a fourth is added to our trio. “You planning on keeping whatever secret Jonas has shoved up his ass?”

  I stiffen, but try to keep my face composed. “I don’t know what secret you’re talking about.”

  Hagan grumbles that I’m a terrible liar, but there’s no fight in it. Our girl’s engaged in another fruitless bout of bickering with Jonas. She so badly wants to get to the bottom of things, but she has no idea how far down that abyss goes. She’ll never learn more about Jonas, who doesn’t tolerate anyone closer than a football field away from his secrets.

  I shake the water bottle, snatching Sophie’s attention. “Sophie Mae, can you check on Hagan? I’m not sure these herbs are doing it for him. He’s really hurting over here.”

  Hagan scoffs, like I’ve called him a weakling or something. He is in pain, whether or not he’ll admit it. That his discomfort happens to coincide with me needing to distract Sophie from questioning Jonas is just a pleasant bonus.

  Like she’s on a tether, Sophie Mae beelines for Hagan. His grumbling stops the moment her hands ghost over his body. He’s an utter puppy for her, malleable to whatever she wants. I can’t blame him. I’m not all that different. She glances up at me, and I’m already fetching her small herb bag before she can even open her mouth to ask. If she has a need, my body starts moving. It’s strange, yet oddly calming. I’ve been on my own—save Jonas, of course—for so long that I forgot what it’s like to be dating someone. I was never this attentive with relationships in the past, but I don’t hesitate with Sophie Mae. What kills me is that she needs very little. And the things she does need, like a roof over her head, she hesitates to take when they’re freely offered. This entire mission is Mother Nature’s demand, not her own. I’m positive my girl would prefer being in bed with Hagan and me right now, rather than sleeping on the ground getting pelted by possessed trees.

  Still, Sophie Mae doesn’t complain. She’s more worried about us than anything else. She casts us both affectionate glances as she studies the shape and size of the herbs in the water bottle, frowning at the edges. “It should be working, but it takes time. I’m so sorry, honeybear. Can I make you a pillow out of…” She casts around, her pout so very cute that I can’t help but smirk. “Well, I don’t think anything here will be all that comfortable.”

  Hagan’s hand lands on her hip, and her body leans into the touch. “Cary’s making a big deal about a few sticks barely touching me. I’m fine, honeycomb. Don’t you go worrying about me.”

  Her eyes turn serious, her mouth tightening. “No.”

  A chuckle escapes him. How she can make him smile after he just went through a beating that would kill a normal man is beyond me. I guess that’s just my girl. “No?”

  “No. You don’t get to throw yourself over me as a shield and then tell me not to worry about you. This is two-way, Mister.” Then she grimaces and glances up at me. “Three-way, actually. If you’re in pain, you tell me. You tell Cary. We’re in this together. Got that? No more of this lone wolf garbage.” Her voice quiets, and a cute blush rises into her cheeks. “You’re not a lone wolf; you’re my honeybear.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and nod. “Absolutely. I’ll set up your sleeping bag, Hagan.”

  Apparently, I’m a great boyfriend to Hagan as well. I roll out his sleeping bag and search for the matches to start a fire.

  Sophie Mae beats me to it when she catches my shiver. Barely bothering to look where she’s aiming, she points her hand toward the small pyre, startling a yelp from Jonas when a fireball shoots from her palm and catches on the pile of sticks.

  “Jeez! Warn a guy before you do that.”

  I love Sophie Mae even more when she
doesn’t engage with Jonas, flipping him her middle finger instead. A dime-sized burst of flame shoots upward from the tip and fizzles out into the air as if to prove that throwing fireballs is child’s play to her.

  I turn back to the sleeping area and clear away the bramble that might be lumpy against Hagan’s tender back. The man’s a tank, but anyone taking that brutal a beating deserves something better than this. I cast around for my pack while Sophie fawns over Hagan. I snigger to myself, knowing he would hate such babying from anyone but her. I unzip his sleeping bag all the way and spread it out wide, then undo mine and hook my zipper to his, making one giant sleeping bag for us to share. If Hagan’s anything like me, he won’t want the barrier of thick material between us. I slide Sophie Mae’s opened sleeping bag underneath to give us all a little extra cushion for his injuries.

  I never imagined camping like this, but I realize there’s nothing anyone can do now to separate me from my new family.

  Chapter Nine

  Carrigan

  When I finish situating the sleeping arrangement for the three of us, Valor’s returned with his exsanguinated kill—three rabbits that are a little on the small side. He doesn’t speak to anyone, just starts skinning and roasting the rabbits over the open flame, his eyes haunted as the shadows flicker across his face. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live without a conscience, but judging by the way Valor won’t hold any of our gazes, I’m guessing it wasn’t in his plan to become the villain he’d risen to be at the Nightshade Motel.

  Sophie Mae takes off the necklace and slips it back over Valor’s head. Her hand lands atop his hair for a second, just long enough for his eyes to sweep shut as if savoring her acceptance of all he should’ve been, but clearly isn’t.

  Jonas looks at my sleeping bag contraption with a wry look that tells me he doesn’t get it, but he won’t deny me a thing. He’s scared of himself still, so that’s where much of his mind is focused. I can see it in the way he hangs on the outskirts of our clearing. He studies his hands far too often, and I know he’s worried that he’s slipping. I want to talk him off the ledge, but that would involve actually speaking about the things Jonas won’t mention, so I keep to myself and cast him a reassuring smile every now and then.

  Sophie Mae sits on a large rock behind Hagan, her legs spread wide enough for him to rest his head on her thigh. She combs her fingers through his hair, relaxing him as he waits out the numbing nature of her herbal remedy. “Valor?” she says quietly, breaking the silence.

  Valor glances over his shoulder to acknowledge her, but he doesn’t speak. He’s the only one of us in trousers instead of jeans, but he doesn’t look any more out of place than he always does. His suspenders line his shoulders perfectly, and though he’s a very old man, he looks boyish—small and afraid of the monsters that lurk in the night. He’s been one of them for so long, I would think he’d be immune to being haunted. But looking at him now, that doesn’t seem the case.

  Sophie Mae’s voice is small and sweet—so meek I don’t know how anyone could refuse her. “Elowen is mad at you. What are we walking into, baby doll?”

  Valor turns back to the fire, speaking to it instead of us while the rabbits roast on a makeshift spit he’s fashioned from felled branches. It’s actually a pretty impressive setup. “Elowen collects trinkets. She likes shiny things, isolated as she is.” He pauses for so long, I’m certain that’s all we’ll get from him. When he speaks again, it takes me by surprise. “For many years, I was her shiny thing. She liked the look of me. She liked me in her bed.” His eyes cast around at us. “That stays here, understood? No one knows that part of my life, so if it gets out, I’ll know who talked.”

  I can’t imagine why he’d hide being in a relationship with the greatest mage of our time, but I’m sure he has his reasons.

  “For a while it was flattering. But as her food taster, I was by her side for many meetings where people came begging for her help. She rarely grants anything for free, and the price was often so steep and manipulative that it turned my stomach. I wanted out, but that came at a price you all well know by now. I haven’t stepped into the forest since, because I know she never forgave me for leaving.” His expression hardens, and a muscle in his jaw jumps. “It’s hard to live alone for so long. The magic she carries is taxing, and impossible to keep stable. She has many grand plans, and the favors she collects often go toward a greater good no one can see.” Then, as if losing his confidence, he adds, “At least, that’s what she always said to me.”

  I sit next to Sophie Mae on the rock, my arm curving behind her so she has something to lean on. How I want her to learn to lean on me. The feel of her soft exhale as she reclines against my shoulder is heavenly. I gave that to her. I did that. She cured what no doctor could, and in return, I help her exhale. I love that about us.

  Valor turns the rabbits so they cook evenly. “Elowen wants to be the most powerful mage in the world, though not for reasons I could ever hate her for.” He swallows hard, and I can see a debate playing out on his face. “She wants to be more powerful because she’s cursed.”

  Jonas’ head shoots up, finally tearing his gaze from his hands. “Cursed? Who on earth could get a curse over on her?”

  “Casek.”

  At this, I can’t disguise my look of disbelief. “Casek the Grand? Sometimes I wonder if the stories about him are real.”

  Valor turns and fixes me with a stare so cold, I shiver. “Casek is real, I assure you. He’s the mage Elowen studied under over a century ago. He…” Valor sighs, shaking his head. “It’s not my story to tell.” An internal struggle plays out across his features for a few beats before he curses wildly under his breath. “Casek’s second-in-command had a taste for younger girls, so Casek cast a spell on Elowen to keep her youthful so Wilfred could… enjoy his time with her. That’s how she’s managed to live for so long. Casek let his charge get taken advantage of for many years when she was still young. She was caught in a perfect storm—Wilfred had a thing for youthful women, and Casek was obsessed with people who have a large capacity for holding onto magic.” When his eyes flicker to Sophie Mae, I stiffen. “You would’ve been just his type, what with all you can do. Factor in that beautiful glow you’ve got, and both Casek and Wilfred would’ve made you their plaything.”

  Valor’s words taste bad in my mouth. I grimace as he continues.

  “Eventually he gifted her charge over one of the Twin Rivers. She guards the Healing River, ensuring its power so it lasts in our world without the Lost River. Everyone who’s ever been healed from dipping in the Healing River should thank her. It’s because of her that the river exists at all.”

  “Bang-up job she’s doing. It only works on non-magical diseases.” Jonas scowls, and I love him a little bit for the resentment he has toward the river. It was our weekly ritual for many years, going to the Healing River on Saturday morning for a dip. He swore it would make me better but it never did. Belief in the impossible is what makes Jonas spectacular at whatever he puts his mind to. I hated seeing him disillusioned on a weekly basis. My failing liver had magic as the root cause, so the river did little more than give me pleasant memories of time with my best friend. It doled out steaming piles of bitterness onto Jonas, who loves me too much to accept a half-assed effort from the river we were counting on.

  I wasn’t the first person he’d gambled on the river curing. I never begrudge Jonas his bitterness, not after watching Keisha wither away all those years ago. That he has any optimism and hope left in him is the true miracle.

  Sophie Mae chimes in. “Do you know if the other river still works? The Lost River’s been gone a century with Casek in the Darklands. Mother wants it restored to our world, but part of me wonders if that’s possible—or if it’s even worth the trouble. It’s supposed to heal a person’s magic, but after so many years, I mean, would the Lost River have any power left?”

  Sophie flinches at her own words and recoils her hands from Hagan’s hair. She does that sometim
es when she outright questions Mother Nature, like she’s expecting a physical slap from the universe. She bands her arms around her stomach. I know she doesn’t want us to focus on the scars littering the backs of her hands, but it’s all I can do not to pester her about the whole thing. A knot tightens in my stomach. I want to know who put the marks there, but she’s not exactly the forthcoming type. Her body is physically protecting itself from the sound of her own curiosity. The whole thing makes me sad.

  Valor is silent for a long while. I imagine him pausing at each secret, poking at it a few times before his conscience gives him permission. I’m patient with the process, but Jonas is leaning forward, clearly needing more information now. Valor tests the rabbit by poking into it with his pocketknife, and the juices run clear. “Casek powers the Lost River. When Elowen finally stood up to him and wanted her freedom, it came to blows—the explosive mage-level kind. The way she tells it is that she won, but the whole world lost. She weakened Casek enough to send him into the Darklands, but the world lost when the river he’d attached his power to was taken with him.”

  Jonas’ fists tighten. “So the Lost River that can heal magical illnesses is in the Darklands, and it might still work if Casek’s alive?”

  Valor isn’t bothered by Jonas’ palpable anger. “Yes, though what Casek’s done with it, I cannot imagine. He tends to pervert very good things until they wither. I imagine Elowen was a far more kindhearted woman before Casek got his hands on her. That’s what he likes to do with his power.”

  Jonas stands. “Take me there. How do I get to the Darklands?”

  Valor straightens, rising to meet Jonas’ command with stubbornness of his own. “You don’t. Elowen’s the only one with that kind of power, and believe me, the cost would be higher than you can pay. It nearly killed her to imprison Casek there in the first place. Casek’s trapped there, as you would be too if you somehow manipulated her into sending you there.” He sniffs the meat and deems it done, sliding it off onto a nearby stone to cool. “We can all pretend to believe you didn’t use telekinesis. And in the presence of Sophie, no less, who shuts off all magic. But if you’re thinking you’re powerful enough to best Elowen with whatever secrets you’ve got up your sleeves, you will die easily, and only one person will mourn your passing.” He glances over at me, and I swear I can feel my pulse thumping in my neck. “I imagine Carrigan would never be the same if you gambled on such a foolish hand. Though, love makes men stupid, so I don’t assume you’re able to hear much logic at this point.”