Rebel Reborn (The Witch's Rebels Book 6)

by Sarah Piper

  “Slow down, Desario. There’s one very important thing we need to do first, post-haste,” I said for Beaumont’s benefit.

  “What thing?” she asked.

  I grinned at her, raking my eyes over her body from head to toe and letting out an appreciative sigh. “First day you get your official hall pass? The boys and I are taking our hot new vampire-witch out for a test drive.”

  Seven

  GRAY

  Two nights later, I found myself standing next to Darius in a narrow ditch at the bottom of an icy hill, excitedly bouncing on my toes. He’d run me up and down the steep incline so many times, we’d melted a path through the thick layer of ice and snow clear down to the mud beneath.

  And still, I wasn’t even winded. I had energy to burn, and after being on house-arrest for the last few days, I was more than ready to light it all up.

  “I think we’ve established that I’m faster than you, D,” I teased. I’d beaten him nine out of the last ten runs, and the ones we’d done before that were all ties.

  Doing his best to hide his frustration, Darius nodded toward the top of the rise, where Asher, Ronan, and Liam stood waiting for us. Liam was holding a stopwatch and clipboard, while the demons took turns cheering us on and keeping Sparkle entertained with an old tennis ball she’d dug up. Emilio was around somewhere, too—he’d shifted into wolf form, and he and Sunshine were keeping an eye on our perimeter, making sure we didn’t have any unexpected drop-ins.

  The guys still thought it best that I steer clear of the humans for another night or two, at least until they could run me around out here and assess my strength and control. But Liam, who was so used to disappearing and appearing at will, was having no part of it. While the guys had attempted to whisk me away under cover of darkness, he’d snuck into the back of the SUV and hid under a tarp without anyone even noticing, surprising us all by leaping out of the back when we finally arrived at the trailhead.

  There was a lengthy argument about whether to drive him back, but in the end, Darius’s logic proved no match to Liam’s philosophical counterpoints, and he was finally given permission to stay and make himself useful—provided he and I didn’t make any physical contact.

  About half-a-mile down the dark forest trail, while the others had drifted ahead with the hounds, I grabbed Liam and dragged him behind a tree, stealing a long-overdue kiss.

  He gladly returned it, wasting no time deepening the kiss, sliding his hands into my hair and backing me up against the tree, his every touch making my whole body shiver.

  “I missed you,” I whispered, breaking away just long enough to let him catch his breath before stealing another kiss. We didn’t stop again until his cheeks were bright red, he was panting for air, and Darius was shouting from the trail ahead for us to keep up.

  “According to Liam,” Darius said now, “we’ve not yet achieved statistical significance. Until we do, the fact that you’re so-called faster than me remains unproven, from a scientific perspective.”

  “It’s okay,” I teased, turning and stretching up on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I know you’re just letting me win to boost my confidence. I’m sure it won’t happen on the next run.”

  He grumbled something unintelligible, even for my vampire super-hearing, then pulled away. “Pay attention, Gray. This is important.”

  I nodded, biting back another retort. Despite his grumpiness, Darius was a great coach, and this was the best night I’d had in a long time. Together with my rebels, running around in the snow, stretching my new legs… For a little while, it was easy to pretend we were just out for a fun romp in the woods on a chilly winter’s night. The winds had died down, and the snow that managed to reach us through the thick canopy of evergreens was light and fluffy, the kind made for catching on your tongue.

  It was all kind of romantic, actually.

  Or it would be, if they weren’t assessing and training me for the attack sitting on the horizon.

  Stealing myself for another run, I held up my hand to let the guys know we were ready, then Darius counted down from three.

  We were off, racing up the steep hill at a clip so fast, the trees around us were no more than an inky smudge across the snow-white canvas. When I reached the top and spun around, I caught Darius just cresting the rise.

  This time, I couldn’t help myself. “Have I kicked your ass enough times for it to be statistically significant yet?”

  “I concede, little vampire. You are faster than me. But your instincts could use some work.” Without warning, he darted close and grabbed me, his body a blur. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize what he’d done until I felt the sudden, icy bite of snow between my boobs.

  I squealed, desperately shaking the snow from inside my shirt as I chased him back down the hill, then up again, scooping up snow along the way. I slowed down and waited until he thought he’d bested me, then charged again, pelting him with a wet snowball right between the eyes.

  “Nice shot!” Asher shouted as I blurred past them again. I was so puffed up about my snow-fighting skills that I didn’t see my enemy lurking behind the trees. Too late, he leaped out from the shadows and tackled me, both of us rolling back down the hill, my lungs aching from laughing so hard.

  When we finally reached the bottom, tangled up in each other’s arms and legs, tears of laughter were already freezing on my cheeks.

  “Concede my victory yet?” Darius nudged my nose with his, a grin stretched across his lush mouth. “Or do you need another lesson?”

  He lifted a hand from behind his back, threatening me with a full-on snowball to the face.

  Still cracking up, I squirmed in his arms, begging for mercy. “You win, you win! You’re the best snowball fighter there is.”

  “And the most handsome.”

  “And the most handsome. As well as charming, intelligent, and sexy.”

  “That’s more like it.” Darius brushed a quick kiss across my lips, then stood up, hauling me to my feet and dusting the snow off my ass.

  I turned and flashed him a mischievous grin. “But I’m still faster than you.”

  I raced back up the hill, leaving him to chase after me once again.

  “And that’s another win for Gray,” Liam announced, marking the time on the sheet. “We can safely say that her superior speed has been scientifically proven.”

  “That one doesn’t count!” Darius finally made it back to the top, his hair crusted with snow, his eyes bright and happy. To me he said, “Asher was right, love. You fight dirty.”

  “Not as dirty as we do,” Ash said, and I turned just in time to duck before he and Ronan launched a volley of hard-packed snowballs right at Darius’s head.

  Darius charged, tackling both demons in one swoop, all three of them rolling around in the snow like puppies. Liam tried to take a step back to avoid the chaos, but he was too slow; someone’s hand—not sure whose—reached up and snagged his boot, dragging him down and into the brawl.

  I was laughing my ass off, no idea who to even cheer for as the four of them pummeled one another with snow, Sparkle yelping as she ran circles around them. Seconds later, Emilio and Sunshine appeared, tails wagging, both of them jumping right into the fray.

  “Boys!” I shouted, still trying to get my laughter under control. “We’re supposed to be working!”

  “Oh, you’re going down, Desario!” Ronan shouted, beaming me in the chest with a well-aimed snowball.

  “That was wholly unwise, hellspawn.” Keen to defend my questionable honor, Liam pounced on Ronan from behind, taking him down and shoving his face into the snow.

  We spent the next hour chasing one another through the woods in an epic winter battle, making alliances and breaking them, pushing faces into the snow, shoving snow down shirts and pants and anywhere we could find an easy opening. By the end of it, all of us were laughing so hard I wasn’t sure we’d ever be able to talk again.

  Poor Liam was shivering his human ass off, but the smile hadn�
�t left his face. Through chattering teeth, he finally said, “I’m fairly certain my vessel has never seen snow in his life, let alone gotten up close and personal with it.”

  “I’d say the perpetually wind-tossed surfer hair and the pineapple tattoo on your hip are pretty solid indicators,” I teased.

  “Dude… what?” Asher cracked up. “You have a pineapple tattoo? On your hip? Did you lose a bet or something?”

  “I’m not sure what gambling has to do with my vessel’s choice in body art,” Liam said, pulling down the waistband of his pants and boxers to reveal the tattoo in question. “Are pineapple tattoos offensive on the material plane?”

  I tried not to stare, but couldn’t help it. It’d been a long time since I’d seen any part of Liam’s unclothed skin, and seeing the flash of well-defined abs transported me right back to our time on the beach in the Shadowrealm. To the moment of our first kiss, so passionate and intense, all those sparks…

  “Gray, you okay?” Asher’s hand on my shoulder snapped me out of the memory, and I looked up to find Liam staring at me, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Something told me he and I had been thinking about the same thing.

  “The snow has been an interesting experience,” Liam said, refusing to break our gaze, “but I prefer the beach.”

  A smile twitched at his lips, and I returned it, feeling the heat rise inside me.

  But the moment passed, and it wasn’t long before the guys were back in coach-mode once again.

  Ronan grinned at me now, shaking his head like he still couldn’t believe any of this was actually happening.

  I knew the feeling.

  “She’s fucking fast, Beaumont,” Ronan said to Darius. “Faster than any vamp I’ve come across.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Darius said, but he was smiling, too. “Gray, you’re a natural. Truly. And you’ve assimilated the change better than any newborn I’ve ever encountered—your magic seems to be neutralizing the worst of the side effects.”

  “I feel great,” I told him. “Better than ever.”

  “Yes, and I can’t tell you how relieved we are at that. But don’t let it go to your head just yet. Speed, strength, and fortitude are just a few aspects of your new form. You’ve got a lot more to learn if you want to be able to fully leverage all of your strengths and skills.”

  I nodded, more eager than ever for the next lesson. “Hit me with your best shot, boys.”

  Eight

  GRAY

  “Use every advantage you’ve got,” Darius shouted, his voice an echo from the dark woods behind me, one I couldn’t pin down no matter how hard I tried.

  After running through numerous exercises testing my strength and agility, all of which I’d passed with flying colors, the guys decided it was time to test my instincts. They’d blindfolded me and led me deeper into the forest, none of them speaking as we marched for what felt like an hour.

  If it wasn’t for the feel of Darius’s firm grip on my arm and the sound of Liam’s chattering teeth, I wouldn’t have known they were still with me.

  Eventually, the trees thinned out, the snow thickening at our feet an inch at a time until I was pushing hard through hip-deep snowpack. The wind was chillier out here, too—compete with wet, heavy snow that splattered against my cheeks.

  They’d brought me to the middle of what I could only guess was a wide clearing, leaving me with no warning of what was to come. All I had to go on was Darius’s final instruction: Don’t let anything touch you.

  “I’m fresh out of advantages!” I called out now. “I can’t see, and everything smells like ice—my nose is useless.” Hearing was also a challenge; the wind was picking up again, howling through the treetops behind me, making them shiver and creak. My instincts were screaming at me to take off the blindfold, but I promised Darius I’d leave it on. That I’d see this through, no matter how frustrating.

  But frustrating didn’t even begin to cover it. After doing so well with all the physical tests, I felt like a total failure out there.

  I lost my sense of time, waiting for what felt like hours for something to happen, only to feel everything speed up again at the first sound of footsteps breaking through the icy snowpack. I had no way of knowing whether it was one of the guys or something else, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I spun around, arms out, bracing for an attack that never came.

  Seconds later, something brushed along my arm, and I yelped like a scared puppy. So much for instincts.

  “Try harder, Gray,” Darius called, his voice still far away. Clearly he wasn’t the one touching me, but no matter how hard I tried to get a sense for something—the fiery scent of one of the demons, the feel of Emilio’s thick wolf coat, the sound of Sparkle or Sunshine panting—I just kept coming up empty.

  I took a deep, unnecessary breath, the familiar gesture calming me, helping me to refocus. I’d just gotten my bearings when something shoved me from behind, knocking me face-first into the snow.

  “Fucker!” I shot to my feet, spun around, and lunged, but again, there was only air. Only snow. Spinning back around, I tried my best to scan my surroundings with my available senses, but all was silent and still.

  It reminded me of the night we’d invaded Norah’s house to rescue Asher—the cloaking spell inside that had rendered all scents and sounds invisible.

  “Guys, this isn’t working. Let’s try something—”

  Impact.

  I was flat on my back, snow falling wet and heavy on my face as I tried my best to keep the tears locked down. Emilio could see right through it, though, even in his wolf form, which was currently pinning me down in the snow.

  He let out a soft whine, then licked my face, refusing to stop until he finally got a laugh out of me.

  “If that turns into frostbite, you’re in big trouble.” I reached up and sunk my fingers into the coarse fur at his neck, taking comfort in his warmth, in the familiar touch, in his presence.

  I gave myself about two minutes to enjoy it.

  And then I gave him a good shove, launching him clear off my body.

  “Vampire strength for the win,” I said, but when I got to my feet and turned around, he was already gone.

  Footsteps approached in the snow behind me, and again I whirled around, only to feel a tug on my hair from behind.

  They were totally screwing with me.

  I wanted to scream. I was literally fighting blind.

  “Alright. I’m done!” I called out, reaching for the blindfold. There was no point in continuing this particular test. Clearly, I’d already failed.

  “You’re not done,” Darius said firmly. No longer an echo in the distance, he was standing right in front of me. His hands came to rest on my shoulders, and I relaxed as his familiar scent finally broke through the cold. “You’ve simply forgotten, little vampire, and you’re letting it upset you.”

  “Forgotten what? How to fight invisible monsters in three feet of snow?”

  “Your newly acquired senses are not your only assets, Gray. That’s what you’ve forgotten.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re a witch, are you not? A Silversbane at that. If your vampire senses are incapacitated for any reason, draw on your magic to guide you.”

  I wanted to argue back, to lash out from the place of wounded pride I’d found myself in. But Darius was absolutely right. The answer was so obvious, so ridiculous, I could only laugh. “Wow. I’m kind of an idiot.”

  “Don’t even think it,” he said, tilting my chin up, then stealing a quick kiss. “This is all brand new for you, love. You can’t expect to master everything there is to know on your first night of training.”

  “But we don’t have much time, D. We don’t have the luxury of weeks or months to explore the finer points of being a vampire-witch. People are dying.”

  “No, we don’t have weeks or months. But a few nights? We have to take that, at least. We can’t risk going in unprepared. Doing so could make everything worse—not just for
you, but for the very people we’re trying to save.”

  “Alright,” I said, deciding to leave the blindfold in place for now. “One more try. Let’s see if I can connect with my realm out here. I need—”

  “I would advise against it,” Liam said. I had no idea whether he’d been by my side through all of this, or had just crept up, but he clearly didn’t like my plan. “Your realm isn’t safe, Gray. Not with Jonathan’s whereabouts still unknown.”

  “It’s the source of my magic,” I said.

  “No, Gray. You are the source.” He placed his hand against my chest. “In here. Your realm helped you connect with it more deeply, but it has and will always be within you.”

  “But half my power comes from the Shadowrealm, and it’s connected to my realm through the rune gate,” I said. “Accessing that power is my best shot at defending myself.”

  “Your Shadowborn powers flow through you,” Liam said. “Always. You do not need to access them from the realm any more than you need to breathe air. Gray, listen to me, please. I wasn’t able to locate Jonathan in your realm. We have to assume he’s still there, waiting for you to return.”

  “I took care of him last time. The only reason he got away from me was that I’d found you and Emilio, and that was the priority.”

  “You can’t assume the situation will be the same. For all you know, Jonathan has gotten even stronger.”

  I shook my head, not wanting to accept this. I’d ignored my realm for so many years I’d almost forgotten what it even looked like. But since I’d started connecting with it again, reclaiming my magic, it’d become a part of me. Important.

  Maybe I didn’t need it, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it, either. And I damn well wasn’t about to let a cockroach like Jonathan Reese lock me out.

  If and when I let it go, I would do it on my own terms.

  I told the guys just that, but Liam was adamant.

  “There will likely come a time when you have to face Jonathan again,” Liam said, the tone in his voice imploring. “That is the nature of such conflicts. But that time does not need to be tonight.”