Phoenixfall: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 2)

by KT Strange

  “Finn,” Ace growled, but I just laughed, and pulled the door shut behind him so I could dry off and get dressed. My skin was humming and when I looked up, catching sight of myself in the small mirror in one of the walls, I thought I saw the crackle of white lightning run through my hair.

  I blinked.

  Just wet, brown curls, hanging lank around my shoulders and sticking to my skin. I shook off the image and dried off. I wanted to be with my boys, and the minutes apart were too much to bear.

  Fourteen

  Darcy

  It was just Ace and Finn in the van when I got there, and when I did I noticed the black-out curtains had been pulled.

  “Hello?” I poked my head in through the open side-door. Finn was sprawled on the back bench, which had been folded down into the bed position. Ace was sitting on the edge of it, his shoulders hunched, a stress line worrying between his brows. He looked at Finn and opened his mouth.

  “Stop stalling,” Finn said to him then held out his hand for me. “C’mere, sweetheart. Close the door.” I licked my lips out of nerves and stepped in. What was wrong with Ace? What did Finn mean about stalling? I pulled the door shut behind me. Ace looked up as I did, and I froze at the sight of pure hunger in his eyes. He got to his feet, crossed the space between me in and him.

  “Darcy,” his voice was a low hum, his hand coming up to curl around the back of my neck. I knew what he wanted without him having to ask. He hesitated for a moment, and I closed my eyes. His lips pressed into mine, the sweet touch of them making my already rubbery legs, weak. My fingers clenched in the front of his shirt as we came together. Finally, finally, it felt like coming home, just like kissing Finn. It was right. We pulled apart and I sighed. He let out a slow breath, and a small, soft rumble started up in his chest.

  Behind him Finn snickered. I peered over Ace’s shoulder and glared at Finn.

  “Don’t pretend like you’re not always purring,” I said to the older wolf. Finn rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the smile on his face. I glanced back up at Ace. He was staring down at me, pupils as wide as they had been when he found me and Finn on Glory Rev’s bus a few minutes back.

  “Darcy, I… it’s… words are hard,” he mumbled. His gaze dropped to my lips and I knew he was thinking about kissing me again.

  “Then we don’t need them. Words, I mean.” I kissed him before he could think twice, and he sighed, pulling me close. It felt like my heart was glowing, if that was the right way to put it. Being close with him, the soft way he caught my lower lip between his, his hand stroking down the back of my neck. My eyes shut tight and I relaxed into him. Stroking over the front of his shirt, I let my hands wander, feeling him through the thin cotton-blend. He was made up of leaner muscle than Finn, but I still felt sheltered by him, safe with him.

  A flutter of warmth expanded from my belly and spread right through to the tips of my fingers. Ace’s tongue slipped between my lips and he licked into my mouth, making me cling tighter to him. His hands were in my hair, stroking the wet strands, almost playing with it. For once, I didn’t even care about someone messing up my curl pattern.

  Finn cleared his throat and we pulled apart, both turning to look at him and blink in the dim light.

  “That’s cute,” Finn said, clasping his hands behind his neck. “Very middle school.” Ace growled, and I put a comforting hand on his chest.

  “Stop teasing Ace,” I said. “You’re not normally such a dick.” Finn’s eyes flashed, and he stared at Ace.

  “Just pushing his buttons. He knows what he wants, he’s just scared to take it.”

  “Hey.” Ace wrapped me up in his arms tight. “She’s not an object. I don’t just… take what I want. I’m not an animal.” He paused for a moment when he realized what he’d said, and his cheeks flushed hard. “Whatever.”

  I looked up at him.

  “What is it that you want?” I watched him war internally with being the good friend he was against being the man he wanted to be. There was a shift; he let out a breath and then his eyes darkened.

  “You,” he muttered. He kissed me hard, not at all like my sweet, innocent Ace. His hands were tight and hot on my back, grabbing at his shirt I was wearing. Finn let out a soft whistle. Ace flipped him the bird without even bothering to stop kissing me. My heart was thudding as I pulled away to gasp for air. Ace paused for a moment, almost vibrating with need. “This okay?” he finally asked, unable to push me without knowing for sure. Even when he wanted something so badly, he was fighting his inner instincts to make sure I was okay, that I wanted it just as bad.

  I should have been tired. After everything that’d happened and Finn taking me apart in the Glory Rev bus, I should have been ready for a long, hard nap. Instead my body answered, and I tilted my head in a move I’d never done before. I exposed my neck to him, almost on instinct. It seemed natural and I heard Finn growl softly from the bench bed. Ace’s eyes flickered with need and he pulled me with him, sitting down next to Finn. I crawled to Ace and kissed him hard. Finn shifted; I could feel the heat of his body as he moved to give us space, but still hovered close by. It was right, having him near. I reached out one hand, and Finn’s fingers found mine, squeezing tightly. His touch grounded me and when Ace pulled away, Finn chuckled.

  “You two are like horny teenagers,” he commented.

  “Like you’re ever any better,” I replied, but tugged at his hand. “C’mere,” I pleaded. Finn bent his head and kissed me softly, Ace under my hips, his hand still in my hair. I felt surrounded, but it wasn’t smothering. It was safe, it was perfect. Ace’s fingers let go of my wet curls and stroked down over my shoulder, his fingers trailing along the neckline of my shirt. Then I felt his mouth on the soft spot under my ear, his tongue licking and laving over my skin. My eyes closed, and I shivered.

  “You’re… I missed you,” Ace said into the crook of my neck and I whimpered at the hot brush of his breath over my bare skin.

  Finn took advantage of the soft noises I was making to slide his tongue into my mouth, deepening our kiss. A hot ache between my thighs set in, pulsing and making me arch under Ace, rubbing up into the crotch of his jeans.

  A bang on the side of the van had him jerking away from me, stumbling away and nearly falling. He caught himself on one of the passenger captain chairs. Finn was up on his feet too, leaving my side. Charlie was opening the door and I tried not to glare at him. Seriously? Things were happening! Did he really have to interrupt? Charlie took one look at Ace, then his gaze fell on me and Finn.

  A broad smirk crossed his face.

  “Whoopsie,” he said, shit-eating grin a mile wide. I wanted to kick him in the junk. Or maybe spark his phone. He’d have a lot of fun trying to check his e-mail if I bricked it with my powers. I’m a professional… I reminded myself and straightened the front of Ace’s shirt I was wearing. Ugh, I also had to remember I needed new clothes. I’d had to abandon everything at my family’s house. Maybe I could borrow some Phoenixcry merch tees for a few days and just wear Ace’s jeans. They were comfy, even if I’d had to roll up the bottom hem so they wouldn’t drag on the ground.

  “What do you want,” Ace asked.

  “Impromptu acoustic set for some of the fans that showed up to see Chelsea,” he said, nodding to Finn. “I need our lead man. You can stay back here though, Ace,” Charlie teased, eyes flicking between me and Ace. “Bass isn’t needed for an acoustic set.”

  “He should be there anyway,” I said, “don’t you guys have an egg shaker or something?”

  “Aw, I don’t want to use the egg shaker, that’s so lame.” Ace sighed but still hopped down out of the van. “Where’s the show?”

  “We’re doing it over there,” Charlie said, pointing off to one side. Finn caught me around the waist, his lips pressing to my ear sweetly.

  “He’s gonna need to adjust his jeans or everyone’s going to know what we were doing in here,” he murmured. I looked up at him. A happy grin was on his face, like he didn’t thin
k getting caught was altogether a bad idea.

  “You’re a total exhibitionist, aren’t you?” I asked. “You like getting crazy where people could find us?”

  “I don’t confirm or deny said accusations,” he said, and looked down at my bare feet. “You need shoes.” I wrinkled my nose. Picking my way across the parking lot hadn’t been pleasant, but it was warm enough out that I’d made it work. “I’ll go ask Chelsea if she’s got sandals.”

  He left the van, pushing past Ace with a squeeze of Ace’s shoulders as he went. Charlie and Ace were in a heated discussion over the value of egg shakers versus fruit shakers. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the edge of the van’s floor, letting my legs swing over the edge.

  “So, impromptu show?” I asked, looking up at the two guys. Charlie paused and grinned at me.

  “Yeah. Chelsea’s idea. The venue loves it, cause it’s gonna bring even more kids down for the show. We figure it’ll be a sell-out tonight.”

  My eyes widened.

  “A sell-out?” Glory Rev were big, but not a single show had been at capacity. Charlie shrugged.

  “With Chelsea Sawyer blowing up our social media, and Glory Rev’s? It’ll be huge tonight.” He eyed me up. “But we really need to get you new clothes.”

  I opened my mouth to explain but he held up his hand.

  “Don’t say it. I don’t need to know.” His smile was kind though, so my feelings weren’t hurt. “We can discuss it later, yeah?”

  “She looks fine in my stuff anyway,” Ace chirped and when I grinned at him he tweaked my nose with his fingers. His fingers ran over my damp hair and I sighed, leaning into his touch. He slipped down to sit next to me on the edge of the van’s floor and hugged me close. I nuzzled at his neck, and Charlie watched us with half-lidded eyes.

  “You make this place feel like home,” Charlie said then cleared his throat when Finn came over, a pair of pink sandals in his hands.

  “Everything she owns is pink, or rainbow, or covered in glitter,” Finn said apologetically as he handed over the sandals. I couldn’t help but laugh. That seemed kinda Chelsea’s MO.

  “Well it makes sense,” I said. The boys exchanged an odd look.

  “It does?” Ace asked as I slipped the sandals on.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Really?” Charlie asked. Finn frowned at me.

  “Yeah. It does,” I said, looking at all three of them. “Cause she does pop music, guys. Her sound is super sugary.”

  Ace laughed nervously.

  “Right.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “What did you think I meant?”

  “Hey, let’s get over there,” Charlie said, pointing to where a set of portable speakers were being set up at the edge of the lot. The crowd of kids was growing, and so was the amount of security. The twang of a guitar sounded off through the air, Eli or one of the guys from Glory Rev warming up, probably. I knotted off the hem of Ace’s shirt, so it wouldn’t be so long and turned up the jeans again. My skin was itching to have contact with him, but I satisfied myself by sticking by his side instead with Finn on my other side, as we walked with Charlie to where the outdoor acoustic jam session was being held. Chelsea was off to one side and winked at me when she saw my sandals. Thankfully we were close to the same size, and they didn’t pinch my toes. Eli was tuning his guitar and Cash was out at the edge of where the audience were sitting, signing autographs. Apparently, the rule of this outdoor show was that everyone had to sit on the ground or get kicked off the lot. It made sense, that way we wouldn’t have a stampede of people waiting to talk to Chelsea.

  I watched Cash work the edge of the audience and had to smile, despite myself. Sure, he’d been an ass, but he was also really good with the fans, crouching down and even coaxing the most shy, nervous girl out of her shell so she’d talk his ear off for a few minutes before he moved on.

  “Hey,” Eli said as we walked up to him. Two speakers were laid out on either side of a rug someone had dragged out of, well, somewhere. Probably the venue. Five stools were ranged across it in a semi-circle, guitar stands set beside two of them for the players to rest their instruments. A djambe rested by another one of the seats. A microphone was set up on a stand, as well, but if I knew Finn, then he’d prefer to take it off his stand so he could better sing to the audience.

  “So, this was impromptu,” I said, gesturing to the seated crowd who were watching us, and Chelsea with Glory Rev. Eli smiled and shrugged.

  “It’s nice to do something new,” he said and set down his guitar. “We’re gonna open the set for Glory Rev, then Chelsea is going to play a few songs.”

  “I thought it might be fun if we sang Dirty Secret together?” Chelsea said as she came up to us. Eli cast her a surprised glance.

  “You sure?”

  “Definitely. My fans loved the cover I did.” She looked down at my feet. “I like your sandals,” she said with a wink.

  “That’d be great,” Eli sounded more than a little bit stunned.

  “Thanks Chelsea, we really appreciate the push you’re giving the band,” I covered for him smoothly. He wasn’t normally such a derp, but artists like Chelsea Sawyer didn’t give you a hand up every day. Most bands, and artists, viewed each other as enemies and rarely worked together. “We’ll do lots of social media, I think.” I bit my lip and looked at Eli. “Could I borrow your phone?” I asked.

  “Where’s yours? Sure, here.” He fished his out of his pocket and handed it to me. I frowned.

  “The battery’s dead, on your phone I mean.” I really didn’t want to tell him my phone was in the hands of my family. That was a conversation for later. Later as in hopefully never. Eli’s brow furrowed as Chelsea shook her head and walked off with a melodic giggle.

  “Uh, yeah I don’t use it that often…” He looked flustered.

  “Don’t you carry a spare battery pack for it?” I asked. He shook his head. I’d never seen Eli of all people look so out of his element. I gazed at his phone. Maybe I could… I took a breath and teased at my power, just the smallest little spark, and willed it to power up the phone, give it enough energy to boost it, just so it would turn on. My fingers buzzed, the faint hint of power rolling over my skin.

  The screen blinked once then the phone logo popped up.

  “It worked.” I stared at in shock. I glanced up at Eli. “It worked.” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Thanks,” he said, “You can use it if you want.” I was still humming with surprise that my powers had actually charged the phone and not blown it up.

  “What’s the password?” I asked. He blinked.

  “Password?”

  I groaned.

  “Eli, do you not have a password on your phone?”

  “He’s a fucking peasant,” Finn said as he breezed by, going right to some excited looking girls in the front row.

  “I am not,” Eli yelled after his twin, before turning to me. I must have had a skeptical look on my face because he glared. “I am not. I just don’t like being instantly accessible at all times. It’s unnatural.”

  “Alright, nature-boy,” I teased, shaking his phone at him. “Whatever you say. But you still need a password on your phone. You’re crazy to not have one.”

  “Would you set one up?” Eli looked hopeful. I’d never seen this side of Eli before. He wasn’t being grouchy. He wasn’t even being gruff. It was kinda adorable.

  “Mmm, yeah, no problem. Now go get your brother and let’s get this show started.” I reached up to give him a pat on the head and he grabbed my wrist, his eyes darkening.

  “Too familiar, Llewellyn,” he breathed my name and I felt a shiver run through my body at the way he said it. We stood there for a long moment before I yanked my hand out of his grip.

  “Now who’s too familiar?” I pitched my voice low as he walked up to Finn and clapped his brother on the back. If Eli had heard me, which he probably had, he didn’t even twitch.

  I set up a password on his phone an
d scrolled through his social media. Whether he was a tech-peasant or not, someone had loaded all the right apps and profiles on his phone. It was easy to take a few snaps of the band as they were setting up.

  I moved off to one side and lifted the phone to take a video of them. Chrissy would thank me later, if she was still talking to me. Guilt pricked at me.

  I needed to check in with XOhX and Willa.

  Later, I thought as Eli’s fingers flicked over the strings, Finn lifting the microphone to his mouth. Cash was on the djambe, and true to his word, Ace didn’t have an egg-shaker anywhere near him but instead had conned someone into lending him an acoustic bass. The only one missing from the set-up was Charlie, and I was about to look for him when a hand clasped my shoulder.

  I turned.

  Charlie smiled at me, Ginny right behind him.

  “Can I borrow you for a sec? Band business. Ginny’ll take video for us.”

  Ginny gave me a brief smile and slipped past Charlie to hug me with one arm, before moving into my place.

  “Sure, Charlie, what’s um, what’s up?”

  “Let’s go back to the van,” he said, slipping his arm through mine. My heart squeezed as he pulled me away and dread welled up in my throat. His words sounded so final.

  Had I come back all this way just for him to tell me the label, even the band, didn’t want me anymore?

  Fifteen

  Darcy

  It turned out the serious talk or whatever that Charlie needed to have with me was really his way of getting me on the phone to Willa before I could procrastinate over it any more.

  “She needs to hear from you,” he’d said, dialing her. I didn’t have time to protest, sat in one of the captain chairs in the middle area of the tour van.

  “Darcy,” Willa’s voice was tinny and weak through the line, but I could hear annoyance in her tone anyway. I closed my eyes. Charlie’s fingers found mine and he squeezed them gently, offering me comfort. It was just what I needed.