Rebel Reborn (The Witch's Rebels Book 6)

by Sarah Piper

  “You have no idea,” Ronan said. The relief in his voice was plain.

  Emilio squeezed my foot, and Ash ran his fingers through my hair, while Darius held my hand.

  They were all here with me save for Liam, who now fell under the “no humans allowed” restriction. I really wanted to see him, as well as my sisters and the others, but it was better to wait. Tied up, bloody mouth, still a little wobbly inside from the hawthorn… Yeah, I wasn’t exactly a welcome sight.

  As everyone dug into their takeout, they updated me on everything that had happened since my turning, including Jael’s decision to take my moonglass back to his home realm—a move the guys didn’t seem too thrilled about.

  “But Jael… he’s okay, right?” I asked.

  “All evidence suggests he made it back to his home realm with your soul intact,” Emilio said, sharing a few more details about Jael’s portal and the hunters they’d taken out in the woods, as well as the ones he and Asher had chased down after the ambush.

  “Lucky for us, they weren’t very careful about covering their tracks,” Emilio continued. “We followed the path they’d made back to an abandoned park service lodge a little deeper into the woods. By our estimate, the whole group had been holing up there, roughing it for the past few weeks at least. Seems most of them were dispatched up to the cemetery during our attack, but two hunters hung back.”

  “What happened to them?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

  “Let’s just say the glamoured cemetery is no longer the only burial ground up there,” Asher said. “After we took out those two, we tracked in a little deeper, then circled back up to the spot where they’d tried to jump us. No one was left. El Lobo and I made damn sure of that.”

  I didn’t doubt it.

  “So it seems we made it out of the whole mess in pretty much one piece,” I said, blowing out a breath. I was still getting used to the whole not-needing-air thing, and the gesture felt a little forced. Darius had always seemed so natural.

  Years of practice, I supposed.

  “The issue now,” Darius said, “is that we’ve got no communication with Blackmoon Bay. Kallayna—via her brother—was our only link.”

  “We’ve still got Reva,” I said. “I say we stick to our original plan—keep practicing with her until she’s ready, and then let her do her thing. I know she can get in there remotely—she’s a strong kid, and just as dedicated to this as the rest of us.”

  “Her dedication isn’t an issue,” Emilio said, raking a hand through his dark hair. “I hate putting her at risk like that, but I’m afraid it may be our best shot at getting any sort of intel. Otherwise, we’re heading in blind—and that’s if we can get in at all.”

  “She’s just a kid,” Ronan said. “If they find her snooping around like that… No. There has to be another way.”

  “There isn’t,” Emilio said. “We’ve been over it from every angle. Between the fae spells, the unpredictable weather, the Council’s treachery, and the beating we’ve taken at nearly every turn… We’re up against a wall here, Ronan.”

  Ronan shook his head. “Liam’s been working with her for days, and she still hasn’t made any progress. We can’t just turn her loose like that. What if she get’s caught? What if—”

  “Guys. Seriously?” I looked around from one gloomy face to the next. The air was suddenly so thick with their collective hopelessness, if I actually had to breathe it, I’d probably choke. “We saved all those lives the other night—witches, shifters, and vampires alike. We destroyed an army of insane hybrids. Wiped out another pack of hunters. We got more intel from the inside—okay, maybe not as much as we’d hoped, but a hell of a lot more than we had when we started. Haley and I found our sister. And hey, guess what? I’m a scary immortal vampire now—bonus!”

  I bared my fangs and hissed, hoping to make them laugh, but only Asher cracked a smile.

  “Hey!” I said. “Where’s the sense of accomplishment here? The hopeful optimism?”

  “Now you’re starting to sound like your sister,” Ash said. “Always trying to find the bright side.”

  I smiled, taking it as a compliment. From the moment Haley and I had started getting closer back in the Bay, she’d been a bright spot in my life. Not that she never felt down or scared or pissed off, but even in her darkest moments, she still had a way of bringing out the best in everyone.

  “Maybe my sister has a point,” I said, channeling a little bit of Haley’s eternal optimism. “If Haley were standing right here, she’d make each of us share one thing we’re grateful for.”

  Ash groaned. “Thank fuck she’s not standing right here, because that exercise sounds completely—”

  “Okay, Ash, you go first.” I grinned at him, big and bright, letting him know there was no way out of this.

  “You want gratitude? Fine.” He huffed and puffed, then finally found his answer. “After we took out those hunters, we looted the park service lodge. Brought home a few more fae blades, some tactical gear, shit like that.”

  “See, that wasn’t so hard,” I teased. “Emilio?”

  He squeezed my foot again. “You survived the change. That’s enough to get me through whatever shitstorm comes next.”

  I smiled. I was grateful for that, too.

  “Darius, what about you?” I asked.

  Without missing a beat, he said, “I just got laid by the hottest vampire-witch in existence. That’s my final answer.”

  The crass declaration from the otherwise proper vampire shocked us all into a bout of laughter.

  “I should probably smack you for that,” I said, “but I’m tied up.”

  “As if I could forget,” he said with a wink. Then, to Ronan, “Alright, hellspawn. You’re not getting out of this, either. What’s your answer?”

  Ronan locked me in his fierce autumn gaze, his eyes burning with some new urgency.

  “Everybody out,” he demanded. “I need to talk to Gray alone. That’s my answer.”

  Six

  RONAN

  The guys gave me a world of shit, but eventually, they took the hounds and cleared out, leaving me alone with Gray for the first time since she’d changed.

  I couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “I must be a total mess.” Gray lowered her eyes, her smile suddenly shy.

  “A beautiful mess, though,” I said. So beautiful it broke my fucking heart. She was immortal now. In a matter of one short night, the number of things that could kill her had been slashed from infinite to two. Only two.

  Incineration and beheading.

  But that built-in safety feature had come at a cost, and she’d given up a part of herself to get it. And no matter what she believed—no matter what Jael had promised about her soul—I wasn’t convinced she’d ever get it back.

  Still, she’d survived. That was the important part.

  And her eyes glittered with new facets, the depths of which I’d only just begun to explore. Staring into her eyes, losing myself there, it was almost enough to make me forget about the fact that I still couldn’t touch her.

  “You’ve got a little…” I swiped my thumb across my lower lip, indicating the blood smeared across hers. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the sight of that, but as long as she was healthy, it didn’t matter.

  She licked the blood clean, then offered another faint smile. “Sorry. I’m still a little—”

  “I love you,” I said, my voice breaking on the words. I knelt at her bedside, leaning as close as I dared, wishing I could take her face into my hands. “I loved you as a witch, I love you as a vampire, and I’ll never fucking stop. I need you to know that. To truly know it. My heart has and will always be yours, even when I’m acting like a fucking asshole.”

  She closed her eyes, a tear streaking down her cheek. “I do know it,” she whispered. “I always have.”

  “All that shit I said to you back at Inferno, when you’d first returned from hell… I thought I was doing the right thing
. I was so twisted up about Sebastian cashing in on your contract, so fucked up about not being allowed to touch you… I guess I just lost my shit. All I could picture was you locked up in one of his dungeons, and him sending me to retrieve you each time he had some bullshit job for you, and you just looking at me with this… this broken look in your eyes, wondering how the fuck the man you loved so much could ever do something so low.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my own tears in check. It was a losing battle. “I thought it would be better if you just… If you forgot you’d ever loved me.”

  “Yeah?” She opened her eyes and glared at me with new fire. “That makes you a fucking asshole and a fucking idiot, Ronan. I could never forget how I feel about you. All that stuff about letting me go, about things being over between us… Did you honestly think I’d believe you?”

  I shook my head. “Deep down, I guess I knew you wouldn’t. Hell, I hoped you fucking wouldn’t. I was out of my mind, Gray, and I didn’t know how to handle it. So I fucked up, and I hurt you, and I’ve spent every night since then haunted by the look in your eyes and silently begging you for the forgiveness I know I don’t deserve.”

  She lowered her eyes, and silence wrapped us up completely, save for the constant roar of the wind and the ocean. She didn’t move or speak for so long, I wondered if she’d drifted off to sleep. I was about to stand up and head out when she finally met my gaze again, pinning me in place.

  “I forgave you the moment those stupid words fell out of your stupid mouth. I forgave you because I knew you didn’t mean them, and I knew you were only trying to protect me from some future heartbreak. I love you, Ronan, even if you never touch me again. Even if you’re marching down to my dungeon every single night for the rest of eternity to do Sebastian’s bidding. So the next time you get the bright idea to break up with me, go ahead and stick it right up your ass, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her eyes were full-on blazing now, swirling with a mix of anger and love and desire and yes, forgiveness too.

  My heart damn near pounded out of my chest, and I had to shove my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching out to her. Touching her. Making up for all my shit with one devouring kiss at a time.

  “You’re my best friend, Desario,” I whispered. “And the love of my life. I will never break your trust again. So you want to know what I’m grateful for? What’s my one piece of good news in all of this?” I shrugged. “It’s the simple fact that you haven’t given up on me. On us.”

  “I never will.”

  I blew out a breath, the weight of my guilt lessoning a fraction. Her faith in me, however undeserved it may have been, was a precious gift. One I wouldn’t risk losing again.

  “Your soul is under the protection of the Seelie Queen,” I said, shifting gears. This was a conversation we couldn’t avoid, no matter how much I wished we could sweep it all under the rug. “It’s likely your situation with Sebastian has changed.”

  “You think we finally found that loophole?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s got no jurisdiction in the fae realm, and I doubt the Queen would make a deal with the prince of hell. But depending on the exact language in your contract, he could see this as deception on your part.”

  “Who cares what he thinks? If he can’t get his hands on my soul, he has no claim over me.”

  “I’m not sure he’ll see it that way, Gray. Sebastian is nothing if not resourceful. Once he finds out that you’re a bloodsucker, he’s probably gonna come at you. I just think we need to be prepared for it.”

  She nodded, the space between her eyebrows creasing with new worries.

  “I’m not telling you this to freak you out,” I said. “More than anyone else in my existence, you seem to have some influence over him. You just need to figure out how you want to spin this.”

  Gray flashed her fangs—a look that terrified me as much as it turned me on. “Can’t I just bite him and be done with it?”

  “He’s a demon—the most powerful one in existence. I’m afraid you’ll have to get a little more creative than that.” I leaned in close again, inhaling her sweet scent, now mixed with the faint tang of blood. “Hey. We’ve got this. Don’t ask me how, but we’ve got this. You and me? We always figure shit out, and this is no different. Okay?”

  She smiled up at me, her eyes sparkling. “Ronan Vacarro. Is that a note of optimism I detect?”

  I grinned, my lips just a hair’s breadth from hers, and whispered softly, “Don’t tell a soul.”

  “I wish you could kiss me,” she said, and I nodded.

  “You and me both, Desario.”

  A wicked smile slid across her face.

  “What kind of trouble are you brewing up now?” I asked.

  “No trouble. I was just thinking… Apparently, I’ve got vampire influence now.”

  “Comes with the territory, I suppose.”

  “I thought you might want to help me test it out.”

  “You don’t really need my permission,” I said. “That’s kind of the thing with influence, right?”

  “Probably not, but I’m still going to ask. So?”

  “Fine.” I got back on my feet and stretched, stifling a yawn. “But don’t make me see anything too crazy. It’s been a long few nights already and I still need to take the pooches out for a—holy fuck, Gray.”

  I stumbled a step backward as the images invaded my mind. Gray, breaking her straps and pulling me on top of her. Kissing me. Grinding up against me and begging me to take her, right there…

  I blinked rapidly, and the scene evaporated.

  Back here on planet reality, my dick hard as stone and my witch still strapped tight in her bed, I shook my head. “Well, that was… interesting.”

  She smiled up at me like a little imp. “See anything you like?”

  “Not sure I quite got all the details,” I said. “Maybe we should try another—oh, okay, that’s… fucking… nice…” My eyes drifted closed as I let the hallucination wash over me, Gray on her knees before me, freeing me from my jeans, taking me into her mouth, one luscious lick at a time. It was all I could do not to grab myself right there and finish the job, but that would kill the vision. Right now, hallucination or not, I only wanted it to be her, not my own damn fist.

  She moaned as she took me in deeper, and I had no fucking idea whether it was the real Gray or the hallucination making that noise, but I didn’t care. Both of them had the same effect.

  And both of them were about fifteen seconds away from making me come.

  “Don’t stop,” I said. Whatever she was doing to me with her mind, it felt fucking amazing, her mouth hot and hungry, her soft little sighs sending jolts of white-hot electricity skittering across my skin…

  I felt the sudden tingling in my balls, my heart hammering, my body about T-minus five seconds from exploding—

  “Everything alright in there?” The fucking vampire asshole knocked on the door, shattering the vision, breaking my concentration, and earning himself a permanent spot on my shit list.

  “Awesome, asshole,” I grumbled. My dick went instantly limp, and I opened my eyes, blinking away the last remnants of that beautiful dream. “Give us a few more minutes.”

  “Very well,” he said. “Tell Gray I’ve drawn her a bath and will be back to help her post-haste.”

  “Post-haste?” I whispered to Gray. “Who the fuck says that?”

  “I heard you, hellspawn. You’ve now got one minute to say your goodbyes.”

  I flipped him off.

  “I heard that, too,” he said.

  Gingerly I got to my feet, the ache in my balls throbbing. Yeah, that was gonna be a situation.

  “Sorry about that,” Gray said, biting her lower lip. “I was really hoping we could see that through.”

  “Another time,” I said. “Definitely another time.”

  “At least we know my power works, right?” She beamed at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “That’
s an understatement.”

  “What are you doing the rest of the night?” she asked.

  “Cold shower,” I said, limping toward the door. Shit was brutal. Wouldn’t trade it, though. Until I could finally touch her, this was the next best thing—something she’d chosen to share with me and me alone.

  “Ronan,” she said, and I turned back to catch her wicked smile.

  Seconds later, another image flooded my mind, Gray in the shower with me, suds sliding down between her breasts…

  I braced myself against the door, cursing under my breath. “Not helping, Desario. Not fucking helping.”

  “You know you love it.”

  Hell, she was right.

  “Yeah, I do love it. And you. Now please put your new toy away and let me go put this little situation on ice.” I opened the door, grabbed my stiff dick, and hobbled out into the hallway with a smile on my face. Sure, I felt like I’d just gotten kicked in the nuts by a four-hundred-pound gorilla, and Beaumont was out there smirking at me like a total prick, but my girl was alive. She was safe. She was immortal. She had a dirty-as-fuck mind, and she was more than happy to give me a peek.

  And the best part? After everything, she still loved me.

  For the first time in months, it seemed the universe was finally on our side.

  “Wait, Ronan? Serious question this time. I promise.”

  I turned back to see her wriggling against her straps.

  “When do you think I’ll finally get sprung from here?” she asked.

  “Soon. We just need a couple more days to make sure everything’s cool once we stop the hawthorn.”

  “Days?” She pressed her lips together, and I knew she was biting back another argument. But ultimately, she relented. We all knew she’d never put the people she loved in danger—particularly her sisters and Liam, who wouldn’t be able to fully defend against her vampire instincts if it came to that.

  “Fine,” she finally said. “What happens after I’m cleared for takeoff? We rally the troops and ship out for Blackmoon Bay? The longer we wait on making a move, the—”