Demon Sworn: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Witch's Rebels Book 3)

by Sarah Piper

  For so many years, it had been a place—a memory of a past that no longer existed, a collection of ghosts I’d clung to because I didn’t know how to set them free.

  But now, home was simply a feeling, big and immense and powerful, all of it wrapped up in this woman in my arms. I could no longer separate the two—I no longer wanted to. She was my home. My heart.

  I kissed her fiercely, worshipping her flesh, her lips, her breasts. I slid out from between her thighs and kissed my way down her belly, tasting her soft heat again, savoring her moans as I coaxed them from her body one blissful, earth-shattering orgasm at a time.

  I don’t know how long we carried on, losing ourselves in that pleasure, that heat. Only that it was nearly dawn when I awoke from a dreamless sleep, realizing we’d both drifted off at some point in the night.

  I was already hard for her again, and about to rouse her for one more kiss, one more moment of bliss, when I sensed a visitor lingering outside the cabin, too nervous to knock on the door.

  Not bothering to dress, I crept from the bed and opened the door, leaning against the threshold. Our guest’s eyes widened as his gaze trailed down to my cock, and I laughed heartily.

  It wasn’t every day a vampire could catch Death off guard.

  Twenty-Six

  Gray

  A chilly breeze drifted in from the front of the cabin, stirring me awake.

  Darius stood in the doorway laughing, his bare backside tempting in the soft glow of the fire’s remaining embers.

  “Here to join us, Mr. Colebrook?” Darius teased. “If so, I suggest you consider alternate clothing options.”

  Mr. Colebrook?

  “Liam!” I bolted up in bed, a smile stretched across my face.

  Liam cleared his throat. “I am here to… I was… I’m simply… Yes. I’m very sorry for the intrusion, as I can see you’re quite occupied.”

  “Occupied,” Darius said, his tone still teasing. He was enjoying this.

  “Busy,” Liam stammered. “Very busy. I must speak with you both, rather urgently, but perhaps I’ll just give you a moment to—”

  “Welcome back, Liam.” I stood beside Darius in the doorway, the bed sheet wrapped around my body, my sex-hair a wild mess, and grinned.

  “Gray!” His eyes lit up when he saw me, then darkened with the same desirous haze I’d seen on the beach. “You’re looking… well.”

  He was blushing again, but I probably was, too. Thoughts of our day on the beach flooded my mind, and a tiny electric current raced down my spine.

  “Your heart rate has gone a bit erratic, love,” Darius said, touching the back of my neck. “And your blood is…” Darius inhaled deeply, then looked at me, back to Liam, and back to me again.

  His full lips parted in a broad, all-knowing smirk. “Well now. This is an interesting development. Would either of you care to elaborate?”

  Liam remained silent. I bit my lip and shook my head, trying not to smile.

  Darius quirked an eyebrow at my silence, but that only made me laugh.

  “What happens in the realm stays in the realm, right, D?”

  Liam cleared his throat again, still slightly flustered. “If you wouldn’t mind putting on pants, vampire…”

  “Well, I wouldn’t mind,” Darius said, “But Gray might. She prefers me pantsless. Don’t you, love?” He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

  I cracked up that. He had a point.

  I looked between the two men—my vampire and my… well, my Liam—my heart warm and full. Darius and I had gotten so much closer since that first night at Black Ruby, and though I’d only gotten a glimpse at Liam’s bottomless depths, I sensed it was the beginning of something very special between us. Between all of us. Liam, Darius, Ronan, Asher, Emilio… we were meant to be in one another’s lives. In so many ways, it felt like we always had been.

  “Are you alright, love?” Darius asked, his smile softening.

  I blinked away the tears that’d glazed my eyes and nodded. All of these feelings, this emotion, this intensity… maybe it should’ve been difficult to navigate, but it wasn’t.

  It felt natural and whole and immensely beautiful. But it was also still so very new, and I was afraid that if I tried to talk about my feelings too soon, or put a label on anything, it would shatter.

  “So I take it you’ve found our demon,” Darius said, stepping out onto the porch, still pantsless. “Ronan!” he called out into the snowy dawn. The sun here wouldn’t harm him. It wasn’t earth’s sun. Technically, it wasn’t even real. “Come in and sit by the fire. Gray has worn me out completely—you must take her off my hands.”

  “He’s not here,” Liam said.

  “What?” I gasped. “Where is he?”

  “I’ve received word from one of my ravens. He’s just arrived in the realm, not far from the Pool of Unknowing.”

  “The Pool of Unknowing?” A bolt of awareness shot into my mind, and I closed my eyes as the vision formed—a deep, still pool that looked like the night sky, with swirls of dark violet and blue, dotted with bright, glittering stars. A ring of smooth gray rocks surrounded it, each one as ancient as time itself. Lotus blossoms floated in a cluster in the center.

  And there, just beneath the water’s calm surface, was the rune gate—my stone archway, glowing with bright blue runes, lighting the pathway back to my realm. Back home.

  “That’s where we’re supposed to go,” I said, never more certain than I’d been in that moment. “That’s where the gateway will be.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Emilio

  Talia was tall and thin, with shoulder-length hair the color of dark red wine and skin that glowed in the moonlight.

  She was also two hours late.

  I made a show of glancing at my phone, but she ignored it, taking a seat across from me at a table in the abandoned Hannaford Distillery tasting room. They used to do tours and events here, but the place went bottom up years ago. Now it was just another abandoned storefront, perfect for clandestine meetings and shady dealings.

  “I trust we’re alone here?” she asked, glancing around the dark room. The only light came from the moon, shining in through the blown-out windows.

  She hadn’t specified whether she meant here in the tasting room or here in the general vicinity, so I nodded. She didn’t need to know that Lansky and Hobb were keeping their eyes on me from an abandoned glass factory across the street.

  I was fairly certain she had her own backup hidden in the shadows.

  “Have you uncovered anything further to back up your claims?” she asked, her pale gold eyes even more devious in the darkness.

  “We’ve got people following up on the information from our source, but so far, they haven’t turned up anything.” My sister’s team had combed the beach, searching every pier and boat launch they could find. They’d even contacted a local geologist, but as far as he knew, none of the rocky cliffs contained cave systems.

  “Who exactly is this source?” Talia asked.

  “I’m not at liberty to—”

  “Don’t play games with me, Detective. This is a very delicate situation. I’m sure you can appreciate the need for thoroughness.”

  “As I’m sure you can appreciate the need for discretion.”

  We glared at each other across the table, neither willing to back down. Talia scared the shit out of me, especially in person, but something was different about her this time.

  She was scared, too.

  “This is big, Talia. Bigger than Raven’s Cape. Bigger than a few hunters terrorizing a community of witches.”

  Talia said nothing.

  I slammed my fist on the table, but she didn’t even flinch.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” I snapped.

  She stared down at my fist for a long time before speaking again, and when she did, her voice was quiet.

  Almost… reverent.

  “The power in our communities is shifting, Detective.
Weakening. Can you not feel it?”

  “What I feel is an imbalance left by the witches and other beings who were murdered and stolen from their homes.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes dancing with new light. Excitement. “Then we agree that witches are to blame?”

  “They’re not to blame, Talia. They didn’t kill themselves.”

  “They’ve allowed themselves to become weak and complacent. Is that not the same thing?”

  “How can you say that? Listen to yourself!” I shoved back my chair, unable to sit still. I couldn’t believe the bullshit she was spewing. I knew the Council was hands-off and out of touch with the day-to-day realities of most supernatural communities. But to say that witches had brought this on themselves? It was the kind of absolutely backward thinking that had led to witch trials and hunts in the first place, and there was no place for it. Not with me. Not anywhere.

  “There’s no need to get upset,” she said. “I’m simply stating the facts. As a detective, I thought you’d appreciate that.”

  “You’re stating regurgitated nonsense that should’ve died out in the stone age. Witches are chosen guardians of earth’s magic. They should be revered, not hunted and vilified.”

  “There are some who believe they never should’ve been entrusted with magic in the first place.”

  “Some who believe? Jesus, Talia. Are you working for the hunters now?”

  Talia smoothed an elegant hand over her wine-colored hair, as though my simmering anger had somehow ruffled her appearance.

  When she looked at me again, her eyes glittered with so much malice, it was an effort to keep my predatory instincts in check—to stay in human form.

  “The hunters’ methods may be primitive and cruel,” she said, “but those methods stem from a deep sense of right and wrong, and a loyalty to truth and righteousness.”

  “Unbelievable. Do you realize—”

  “The witches,” she continued, “are a problem that should’ve been dealt with long ago, and for that, I take some responsibility. The Council has not been as involved as we should’ve been. That is changing.” She shook her head, her lips twisting into a smarmy smile. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Detective. I’m not suggesting they be burned at the stake. Merely that we must find a way to make the distribution of power more equitable.”

  My jaw popped, my muscles rippling beneath the skin. My wolf wanted out. He wanted to tear out her throat.

  I headed for the window, taking in a breath of cool air.

  When I returned to the table, Talia’s smile was gone.

  “I want to help you, Detective Alvarez. But in order to do so, I need you to trust me. I need you to share with me any pertinent information you have about this case.”

  “You want some information?” I practically growled at her. “Fine. Let’s start with this one: Orendiel. Ring any bells?”

  Her already pale face turned absolutely translucent, her mouth parting in a state of surprise I was pretty damn sure she hadn’t meant to show.

  “Darkwinter,” I continued. “I don’t know how or why, but they’ve teamed up with the hunters. Right now they seem to be targeting witches, along with shifters and vampires in slightly smaller numbers. But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, am I?”

  Her stunned silence was all the confirmation I needed.

  How long had she been sitting on this? Was she covering up for the fact that the Council had let this situation get so out of control right under their very noses? Was she embarrassed? Worried about political fallout?

  Or worse—actually involved in this?

  Leaning across the table, I lowered my face to hers, staring into her golden eyes as my breath stirred her perfect hair. “Once Darkwinter helps the hunters eradicate the witches, who do you think they’ll aim for next? You think they’ll pack up their toys and go back to their own sandbox? Or do you think they’ve got bigger aspirations? The Council, perhaps? The Courts?”

  “Careful, wolf,” she hissed, but I’d rattled her. I could see it in the slight inward curve of her shoulders. She seemed to be shrinking from me.

  “I’m pointing out the obvious here, Talia. Shifters are much less a threat to hunters. Our power lies in our ability to take on animal forms—to embody their strengths and instincts. It makes us stronger. But fae magic? Your magic? It makes them weaker. Once they figure that out, it won’t be long before they’re knocking down the doors of your precious ivory tower. And when that day comes, I hope to hell you don’t come down here looking for help.”

  Despite her obvious fear, the ice in her eyes told me that I’d just crossed into uncharted territory. It’d taken decades to forge a decent working relationship with the Council, and it damn near killed me to see it all unraveling. But I couldn’t stand by and let her get away with this. There were lives at stake—lives of people I cared about.

  And that was just the beginning.

  “Despite our differences,” she said, rising from her chair like a tree growing from a rock, “there is one thing we’ve got in common, wolf.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  She leaned in close, her lips brushing the shell of my ear.

  “Survival instinct,” she whispered. When she pulled back, her smile was menacing, cutting through all pretense of professionalism like a hot knife. “Enjoy the rest of your stay in Raven’s Cape, Detective. Good night.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Gray

  “It’s here,” I said, my heartbeat quickening as the pool’s stone perimeter came into view. “I can feel it. It’s like it’s calling to me, and my magic is calling back.”

  Darius, Liam, and I had been hiking for hours, and we’d just crested a hill, giving us a glimpse of the Pool of Unknowing and the dark green valley that stretched out below. We’d left the snows behind at the cabin, and now the air was balmy and sweet, buzzing with insects. Just beyond the pool, a forest of ponderosa pines stood tall and stately, calmly keeping watch.

  “I don’t see anything that looks like a rune gate,” Darius said.

  “It’s beneath the water,” I said. “And it will be there when I need it. I know it will.”

  “It’s highly possible,” Liam told Darius. “This realm is always shifting and rearranging. Gray’s own magical realm could be in any location at any time. It’s not fixed. Given that, her intuition and magic are our best—and really only—guides. If she says it will appear, I trust that it will.”

  “In that case…” Darius slipped his hand around the back of my neck and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Lead the way, little brawler.”

  We headed down the hill in the direction of the pool, sticking close together, keeping watch in all directions. But everything about this place felt so calm, so peaceful. There were no monsters here. No ghosts. No traps.

  Only the way home.

  “Once we locate the rune gate,” Liam said, “I’ll go in first. We don’t know how long it will take to travel through, and I want to be there when you arrive on the other side, just in case. Once we’re together in your realm, we’ll reconnect with the material plane like we’ve done in the past, and hopefully, return with your body and your soul.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Darius said. “I don’t like words like ‘hopefully.’”

  “I’m afraid you and Ronan can’t access Gray’s realm. You must return through the hell portal.”

  “I don’t want to leave her,” he said.

  “I’m afraid you must. You can’t go through her rune gate, and she can’t go through the hell portal. To do so would—”

  “Yes, I’m well aware of the risks.” Darius let out a low growl of frustration. “Alright. Ronan will open the hell portal. Liam, you’ll go through the rune gate. Then we’ll send Gray through, and Ronan and I will follow through the portal.”

  “That’s our best shot,” I said. “And we’ll all meet up on the other side. Right?”

  Liam nodded. “Hopeful—”

  �
��Shh!” I pressed my finger to his lips, laughing. “Don’t say the H-word.”

  He grinned behind my fingers, then grabbed my hand, kissing my fingers. “As you wish.”

  Darius rolled his eyes. “You two are rather nauseating, aren’t you? Are you going to carry on like this the entire way home?”

  “Jealous, vampire?” I teased, elbowing him in the ribs.

  “I am most certainly not. I’m merely stating—”

  “He’s here!” I shouted, spotting Ronan up ahead. He’d just exited the ponderosa forest and was heading toward the pool. I left Darius and Liam and broke into a run, my heart soaring, my magic swirling into a frenzy inside.

  Ronan had seen me too, and now bolted toward me, the two of us on a collision course across the valley. I laughed, thinking of all the airport reunion scenes I’d seen in Sophie’s rom-coms. All I needed was a cheesy soundtrack, and the moment would be complete.

  We crashed into each other full force, toppling to the ground. Ronan wrapped me up in his arms, rolling me on top of him, holding me so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. Tears streaked my cheeks, falling onto his face.

  He took my face into his hands, staring up at me as if he couldn’t believe I was real.

  I knew the feeling.

  “About time, demon,” I teased, laughter breaking through my tears.

  Without a word, he slid his fingers into my hair and pulled me to his mouth, devouring me with a kiss I felt all the way to my toes.

  “You two are so disgustingly sweet you’re giving me cavities,” Darius teased as he and Liam finally caught up. “Really. All of you are just conspiring to make me ill on this trip.”