Phoenixflare: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 6)

by KT Strange

  “Now, witch,” Eli demanded, taking a step toward the pretender. Fake-Eli gulped.

  “Alright, alright, hang on.” His image blurred, curls of purplish smoke erupting from his skin, glistening and winking like fireflies. It was an illusion. It was...

  “Holy shit, Daria?” I pushed out from between Cash and Finn before they could grab me.

  “Uh, hi?” Daria lifted her hand, her voice back to normal now, giving me a small wave before she edged away from Eli, who was staring down at her. She’d shrunk as the illusion had melted away from her. She was short, as short as I’d remembered, and even though she was older, little about her face had changed. She wasn’t a child anymore, but still… “So um. Hi. Wow, you’re werewolves. Holy— you’re werewolves.” Her eyes were massive, her skin paler with her thick brown hair pulled back in a tight braid.

  “What… is this?” Cash asked, sounding strained. A shuffling sound in the hall preceded Charlie and Ace walking in, Max after them.

  “Oh my god, it’s you,” Max cried.

  “Yes! Hi! Nice to meet you!” Daria said. “You’re Max, right? I recognize you from the Instagram pictures.”

  “Could someone please fucking explain?” Finn demanded. Eli was still just staring at Daria.

  “Uh, well, I’m Daria, Darcy’s friend from y’know way back when, and Max called me, and I heard there was some trouble, and stuff, so I uh-—”

  “You cast an illusion on yourself to look like Eli and turned yourself into the cops?” I could barely believe it. Daria swallowed hard.

  “I’m really good at illusions, Darcy, you know that,” she said before shooting Max a hopeful smile. “You said he was on the run from the law. This meant they’d stop looking for him.”

  I wanted to slap her. Or hug her. I let out a breath.

  “How… how’d you guys get in touch?” I asked, as a million questions popped up in my brain. This whole situation was shaving years off my life.

  “You backed up your phone on my computer,” Max said. “You’ve talked about Daria.”

  “Really?” Daria asked, perking up, looking kind of excited. Sometimes I forgot she was younger than me. Plus the last few months had aged me in ways I’d never imagined.

  “Can we get back to the fact we have a witch in our entryway?” Cash rumbled.

  “She seems nice,” Ace offered, ignoring the look Finn shot him.

  “Your guys’s music is really good,” Daria said, looking hesitant. “I just wanted to help, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean any harm by it.” She gave us the most apologetic smile, her lips quavering. “Please don’t be angry.”

  Finn grunted.

  “I have no idea what the fuck is happening,” he said before turning away. Cash huffed and followed him.

  “Finn…” his voice faded out as they walked into the living room.

  “What did you think was going to happen after you turned yourself in?” Eli asked quietly. Charlie watched her with a guarded expression on his face.

  “Um, I kinda didn’t,” she admitted and then gave me another hopeful smile. “Can we… talk? In private? About stuff?”

  “Darcy doesn’t have anything to say to you that she can’t say in front of us,” Charlie said, his voice firm.

  “Jesus, overbearing much?” Max said and gave him a little shove.

  “We don’t know you, witch,” Eli said, “and while I owe you thanks for impersonating me, your motives are suspect.”

  Daria’s eyes flashed with hurt and then anger.

  “Well I guess I can understand that,” she snipped, “but I’m not the one who lost my temper and beat the crap out of some guy, then dragged my girlfriend on the run and put her in danger. So maybe tone down the attitude, yeah?”

  Eli growled and looked at me.

  “This is your problem,” he said, pointing at me before following Finn and Cash into the living room.

  “Why’s it my problem?” I called after him. I turned to Daria. “I… don’t even know what to say.”

  “Thank you is a good start,” she said, and then glanced over at Charlie and Ace, like she was expecting them to bark at her too. “I’m really sorry. I just had to help.”

  “It’s mostly my fault,” Max added. “I shouldn’t have called. I was just really freaked out.”

  I swallowed.

  “It’s okay, guys, really.”

  “Give those three time to calm down. They’re old. They don’t like change,” Ace joked. Daria’s smile trembled and then she looked at me.

  “You’re not mad, right?” She looked so fragile, and young, way younger than when I’d seen her last, and that had been years ago.

  “How could I be mad at you?” I asked, and suddenly tears were rising up in my eyes. She took a step forward and then flung herself at me. Charlie shifted, as if to reach for me, but Daria only hugged me and Max grabbed him by the wrist.

  “Settle down,” she muttered to him.

  I wrapped my arms around Daria’s thin frame.

  “I was so mean to you on the phone,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Darcy for ever judging you for falling in love with werewolves.” She buried her face in my shoulder and started weeping.

  The Daria I remembered never cried at anything, for any reason. Growing up with her brother Creston had made her tough in ways that most grown men weren’t.

  “We’re going to be in the living room,” Max said with authority, tugging on Ace and Charlie until they followed her with reluctance.

  “We need to call Wolfe,” Charlie said as they went. I held onto Daria as she cried herself out on me.

  “Hey it’s okay,” I said softly.

  “They’re so growly.”

  “They’re wolves,” I pointed out. She sniffled and lifted her head.

  “They’re scary as fuck,” she whispered.

  “I’m sure they’d be proud to hear that,” I said. “But Dar, what are you doing here? Seriously? Traveling across the country, throwing yourself in jail? What?”

  “It smelled so bad, you don’t even know,” she said, pulling away and wiping at her eyes with her sleeves. “I’ve seen more hairy man ass than I ever wanted to.”

  “Aren’t you… engaged? Like, getting married to that old guy?” I remembered it suddenly. “Why are you here?”

  “Well, I mean, maybe it’s a bit selfish, but if I’m here, then I’m not at home,” she said, “and I figured, even if I ended up in jail for a few years, pretending to be a guy, well…” She closed her eyes tight. “Can we talk about this later?”

  “Um, no. Now. Seriously. What’s wrong?” I stared her down when she finally looked at me.

  “I left. I left him. I left everyone. Darcy, I figured out why my brother wants you so badly, why my fiancé wanted me. I thought he just wanted kids and he was old and wanted a young wife for that reason, but no. He wants to eat my powers, Darcy. Creston wants yours too. That’s what happens when female witches marry men on the counsel. They bind our powers to them. They steal our magic.”

  Twenty-Two

  Darcy

  One day, when I’d finally satisfied the universe, it’d stop throwing hand grenades at me. My life would be normal, or as normal as it could be for someone in my position. And these earth-shattering, perspective-shifting changes? They’d stop.

  Hopefully. Maybe.

  Somewhere, I was sure, that some tiny god was laughing at me and my desires for a mundane, dull life. There’s a reason the phrase ‘may you live in interesting times’ is a curse, not a blessing.

  Daria watched me as I stood frozen in front of her, until I blinked.

  “They want to bind your powers. Mine too.” I swallowed, a panicked feeling in my stomach, like a thousand butterflies trying to escape. The close call, of almost falling into Creston’s trap was right behind me. It felt like if I took a step back I’d tumble right off the cliff.

  “They steal them. I didn’t know that’s what happens, but apparently that’s why none of the co
uncil-wives really do much magic, if any, and why they never let a woman hold the seat,” Daria said, her eyes wet. “Darce, my powers are all I have,” her voice dropped, low and husky. “It’s all I am. If I couldn’t… if…”

  Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks and I wiped them away, my panic melting away as the need to fix her filled me.

  “Hey, shh, stop, you’re safe,” I promised her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “I can’t get mad at you for running away. Making yourself look like one of my mates and throwing yourself in a mundane jail cell, however? Well, let’s just talk about those life choices later.” I stroked her hair as she cried herself hoarse.

  “I know it’s stupid.”

  “Sometimes we do stupid things when we feel trapped and doing something so drastic feels like the only possible outcome. It’s like we raise the bar, right? We up the ante on ourselves, as if to punish everyone around us for the situation we’re in. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you’re not the first person to be a complete idiot.” Like me. I was also a complete idiot. I tilted her head up and wiped her face clean with the hem of my t-shirt.

  “Darcy.” Finn was in the great arched doorway, one arm across his chest, fingers wrapped around his opposite bicep. His jaw was tense. I got the feeling that we were going to have words. Maybe right then, maybe later. Ugh, fuck.

  Daria whipped around, inhaling deep at the sight of him.

  “We were just talking things through,” I said, patting Daria on the shoulder. “Daria’s one of my best friends.”

  “I’m really sorry I’m a witch,” Daria blurted out. Finn’s eyes, cold as he looked at me, warmed somewhat when he glanced at her. A smile ghosted across his lips.

  “We can’t help what we are. Just the decisions we make,” he replied, words meant for me more than her.

  Ouch. Well. He was probably pissed about the dragon thing. I should have told him right away as soon as me and Eli got back. There had just been a lot of sex… but still. Finn and I had a special thing. He was the first wolf to fully trust me, to pursue me so hard that I’d had no choice but to love him. It felt like something was fracturing between us the closer I got to Eli.

  I didn’t like it.

  “I like your guys’s music,” Daria offered, an olive branch. “I listened to it all the time after Darcy got in touch with me… but I left my phone at home, so I guess I’ll have to remake all my playlists, once I get a new phone, but I’m kinda out of money, so I don’t know how I’ll afford that, but um…” Daria babbled, making Finn smile for real. He’d see she was harmless, an intellectual who’d be horrified at the realities of the witch war on werewolves.

  As she mused aloud about needing to figure out how to get a job or find a place to live, I couldn’t help but smile too. Daria was so sheltered. It was going to be a rough, turbulent adjustment for her as she adjusted to the mundane world.

  “...I mean, I could cast an illusion that I had cash in hand, but it wouldn’t last more than a few hours once I’d paid for something, and that’s also super wrong and illegal,” she continued. Finn cleared his throat.

  “Well, why don’t you come get something to eat, and then we can talk about how we’re going to thank you,” he said, crossing the foyer, and holding out his hand. “I’m Finn Gunner. Nice to meet you.”

  Daria’s squeak echoed in the big entryway, but Finn pretended not to notice. She shook his hand.

  “Daria Hailward, illusionist,” she said formally, before glancing at me as she dropped Finn’s hand. “Do you think I should join a circus? I’d be really good at circusing.”

  “Food,” I ordered. “Food, then big life decisions.”

  Finn smiled at me over Daria’s head, but there was a sadness lingering in his eyes still. At least he didn’t pull away when I tucked my hand into his as we joined the rest of the pack in the living room.

  Wolfe was busy dealing with Dragonpack, Charlie explained to me in a hush, but would be by to meet Daria as soon as he could. Whether that meant a few days or a few weeks, we had no idea. The guys were tense having Daria in the room, knowing she was sitting with more unanswered questions than she could deal with right then. They let her eat in peace, playing video games as she sat at the breakfast bar with some macaroni and cheese that Ace made.

  “So,” Eli murmured as he stood next to me, hand drying the dishes as I washed them. “Any more friends of yours going to randomly show up? Maybe someone who can help us deal with Gem?” He was teasing, but there was hint of something like frustration in his voice.

  “Not likely. I didn’t make friends easily back in the day,” I said. Eli stiffened.

  “You want her to stay here with us,” his words were flat.

  “Can we talk about this later?” I asked as I turned off the tap. I gave him a tight smile.

  “With the rest of the pack,” he confirmed. “Before tonight.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Finish drying those,” I pointed to the dishes the guys had used. Eli’s brow furrowed, his shoulders pulling back. Well, if he didn’t like being ordered around, he should have picked a nice little mundane girl to fall for and not me.

  Max glanced at me as I walked up to her and Daria. Her gaze skipped over to Eli’s tense, ramrod straight spine, and then back to me.

  “Me and Daria should go get some groceries,” she said airily. “Daria’s told me she’s never gone grocery shopping.”

  Daria turned an amusing shade of pink.

  “Well, we… we had people for that,” she said lamely.

  “That’s cute,” Max said. “Don’t worry. I have lots of experiencing breaking witches in to the real world.” She patted Daria on the shoulder. “I’ll be gentle since it’s your first time, I swear.”

  Daria blinked at her. I tilted my head and gave Max a significant look to lay off the sex jokes. Not around Daria. Max winked at me and then pulled away.

  “C’mon Daria, let’s go buy a bunch of food that’s really bad for us and watch Cash bitch about how we didn’t get enough protein.”

  “Hey, I like my meat,” Cash said from the couch, lifting his head. “Don’t forget bacon.”

  “I won’t,” Max laughed. “Coming, kid?”

  “Uh,” Daria said, pausing. She gave me a panicked look before leaning over to Max and whispering in her ear. Max’s eyes went wide and she nodded.

  “First door down the hall,” she said. “Help yourself.”

  Daria sighed in pure relief and scampered off.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “Her clothes are an illusion, and she’d really like to stop concentrating on not being naked,” Max answered, not even blinking, like this was the most normal thing in the world to her now. “She can wear anything from my closet that’ll fit her, even though she’s even shorter than you.

  Finn snorted from the couch.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Is anything about the witch world real?” He sounded bitter. For a moment it bit at me, hurting more than it should have.

  But he was right. Nothing about being a witch was real. At least, everything I’d thought to be true had proven to be a big damn lie.

  “I’m going to go and leave you to deal with whatever the fuck is going on in here,” Max said, waving her hand toward the guys. Eli had joined them. “You guys behave yourselves now,” she drawled. “Mother will know if you haven’t been good.”

  She got five gimlet stares back for her words, which she returned without a hint of fear.

  “Good luck,” she muttered to me as Daria came back in the room. “C’mon kiddo, let’s go get Cap’n Crunch and everything else you’ve probably been deprived of in your life.”

  “What’s Captain Crunch?” Daria’s voice faded out into the hallway. The sound of the elevators closing cut the weird energy in the room, but didn’t dissolve it entirely.

  Charlie was the first to speak, getting up off the floor and abandoning the video-game they’d been half-ignoring anyway.

&n
bsp; “You want her to stay here.”

  “Where else is she going to go?” I asked.

  “She’s a lodestone. She’ll bring her whole family right to us, if they aren’t on their way already. How do we know she isn’t cursed just like you were?” Cash asked as he got to his feet too. He looked regretful. “I know she’s your friend.”

  “She’s a kid, Cash.” Finn shook his head, shifting on the couch so he could face me. “I think she should stay.” Relief filled me and I shot him a grateful smile. He didn’t return it. He still wasn’t happy with me, but at least he was going to have my back.

  “If this is a vote, I say she stays,” Ace said. “We can handle anything that shows up. The full pack, plus Max and Darcy? We can take on anything.”

  “We don’t know she’s not going to turn against us,” Eli said. “And this isn’t a damn democracy.”

  Ace glared at him and squared his shoulders.

  “Last I checked, packs made decisions together,” he said.

  “What would you know? You weren’t even old enough—” Eli cut himself off when Ace growled, and Cash made a low noise like he was ready to back Ace up with force if necessary.

  “She has nowhere to go,” I said, “she sacrificed everything to help us.”

  “Sacrificed? We heard her. She ran away so they wouldn’t suck the magic out of her. Apparently that was what they’d had planned for you too,” Eli said, crossing his thick arms over his chest. Those arms had held me down, and for a moment a flash of heat raced along my skin. I shook it off, and the memory of moonlight falling over his body and mine.

  “Well she didn’t have to help you!” I lost my temper, and the flicker of my powers lit up the room. The guys jerked, almost as one. I took a deep breath and tamped down on the energy rising inside me. “Sorry,” I bit out.

  “It’s fine,” Eli said, his expression flat. “Sometimes it feels like you let the monster out whenever you have a point you want to make.”

  “What?”

  “Well that’s fucked,” Charlie muttered. Finn glared at his twin.

  “Eli, what the fuck,” Finn said. Cash and Ace wore murderous, identical looks.