Beloved Rebel: A Dark Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (The Accursed Saga Book 2)

by Eva Brandt

  Why was I not surprised that they would stab her in the back again?

  Anger rushed over me as I acknowledged this new betrayal. I would have probably lunged at them outright, but I caught sight of a flicker of motion with the corner of my eye, and I fought back my immediate response.

  “She wanted to find you. She missed you so much and she wanted to forgive you for what you did to her. And I wanted to help her, if only because you were there for her when I was not. It looks like even incubi can be horribly wrong about feelings from time to time. Do you even care about her at all?”

  “Of course we care!” Clara fumed. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

  “And yet, you pushed me away when I was trying to heal her. If that’s the way you show your affection to people, I shudder to think about how you display your hate.”

  “It’s none of your business, incubus.” Diane snarled. “You will never understand and soon, you won’t have to. Your existence is an anomaly, one we will erase.”

  “There’s no point in fighting with the likes of him, Diane,” Pierce intervened. “Words are meaningless anyway. It’s only actions that matter, and in the end, our actions will prove that we are the ones in the right.”

  “I don’t know if you’re excellent liars, deluded, or insane, but you’re right. Words are meaningless.” I shot them a predatory grin. “Most of the time, at least. On occasion, they can be an amazing distraction.”

  As I spoke, Malachai landed behind Clara Garnier and buried his fangs in her throat. She let out a choked gurgle as he ruthlessly tore into her jugular. Magic flared weakly around her as she attempted to protect herself. It was pointless. Malachai had taken her by surprise and sneaked under her guard. By the time Clara even realized what was going on, Malachai was already well on his way to draining her of blood.

  He didn’t have the time to finish the job, as Diane and Pierce turned toward their mother, ready to jump to her defense. Twice-blessed excelled at long-distance combat, so when magic bloomed around both of them, Malachai took the prudent approach and released his hold on Clara’s throat. He didn’t let go of her, instead choosing to use her as a meat shield to protect himself from her children’s attacks.

  He would’ve encountered only limited success in this strategy, but this was my cue to join in. Daggers of light manifested at my fingertips and I threw them unerringly at my targets, at the twice-blessed who dared to stand between me and Lucienne.

  Pierce must have sensed the outburst of magic because he grabbed his sister and pulled her out of harm’s way. My daggers missed her but grazed him, and he hissed in pain as the magic of the Dame Blanche attacked his. Hilariously, one of the daggers they had dodged struck their already wounded mother in the abdomen. A pained cry escaped her lips, but she was not as badly hurt as I thought, because she managed to muster enough magic to dissipate the weapon. She tried to cauterize her wounds too, but Malachai was too careful for that and dug his claws into her hip. “Now, now. Let’s not do anything hasty or I might just be forced to end this game a little sooner than I planned.”

  Clara didn’t answer, the blood loss having obviously gotten to her. Diane did it in her stead. “You fucking bastard,” she hissed. “You’ll pay for this.”

  Malachai just laughed at her, his eyes flaring with bloodlust and something dangerously close to insanity. “That would be more intimidating if you were actually a threat.” He licked his lips of the blood. “Come on, twice-blessed. Let’s dance.”

  “You and I do have a battle to finish, don’t we?” Pierce asked between gritted teeth. “All right, blood-sucker. It’s time to end this.”

  As Pierce faced Malachai, Diane focused on me. Spirals of flame already curled around her body, echoing the fury I could see in her eyes.

  A part of me wanted to tell her that she had no right to be angry. Malachai and I were the ones who had been slighted. But now was not the time for conversation or spiteful taunts. My words had served their purpose and they had allowed Malachai to remove one of the biggest threats. We had to deal with the other two as soon as possible so that we could go back to what truly mattered, helping Lucienne.

  I knew better than to underestimate Diane because she was younger, but this wasn’t just about age, experience or even power levels. This was about grief, dread, and desperation, about the scent of Lucienne’s blood in my nostrils and the memory of her shocked eyes as she fell to the ground. The simple knowledge that we were running out of time gave me an edge over Diane.

  Oh, she was angry, and she wanted to help her mother and brother. But her fury couldn’t compare to my own. When she attacked me, I welcomed it. I didn’t care if she burned me alive with her magic, like Mathias had done to Cardinal Vaughn. It would have to wait until I finished my task, until Lucienne opened her eyes and smiled at me again.

  Arrows of flame flew toward me, as sharp and vicious as their creator. I didn’t bother to dodge. Instead, I summoned a shield of magic, protecting myself from her power. The fire spell harmlessly crashed against the shield and dissipated, although not without sending painful echoes through my body and my core.

  I was taking a significant chance by relying so heavily on the magic I had stolen from the Dame Blanche. I’d pushed her further than I had any of my previous victims, but still, there was no telling when the effect would wear off. The abilities I borrowed from others were like fuel. The more I used them, the faster they vanished, and if I pushed myself too much, I would end up running out of juice mid-battle.

  Normally, this wouldn’t have been that much of a problem, since I was perfectly capable of fighting a twice-blessed even without the boost I’d received from someone else’s skills and emotions. But I’d stolen those skills for a very specific reason—to heal Lucienne—and if I wasted them on Diane, it would all be for nothing.

  I had to take out this girl as soon as possible, before she destroyed everything.

  In the end, it was not that difficult. Diane continued her relentless attack, using an impressive combination of spells in an attempt to eliminate me. At one point, a massive boulder flew toward me, coming awfully close to taking my head off. I found the use of telekinesis rather illuminating since young twice-blessed rarely relied on this far more difficult art and tended to prefer fire manipulation in battle.

  She was very powerful, angry, desperate, or a combination of the three. My money was on the latter, and it was something I could use. Unafraid, I dropped my shield, ignoring the pain that rushed over me when some of the projectiles she had cast at me hit their target. I retaliated using the same spell I’d cast before, and once again, the daggers of light flew toward Diane. This time, she didn’t duck, since if she’d done so, my enchantment would have hit Pierce, just like it had earlier hit her mother.

  She shielded herself from my magic, reeling back slightly at the intensity of the blow. It bought me just enough time to put the rest of my plan into action.

  Yes, twice-blessed excelled at ranged combat, but they were also not as strong as other Accursed and far more vulnerable to physical attacks than any other member of our species. I was not beneath taking advantage of that. I was not beneath taking advantage of anything.

  Under normal circumstances, it would have been a little tougher for me to immobilize her, but unfortunately for Diane, our field of battle was not that roomy. Most of the wedding venue was occupied by the humongous snail, the Dames Blanches, and the Alarians whom Mathias was still somehow managing to hold back. As such, it was a piece of cake to reach Diane and shove her to the ground.

  Instinctively, she tried to protect herself, but I grabbed her arm and squeezed her wrist so hard the bone snapped. She let out a scream but didn’t stop fighting me. Her skin overheated where I was holding onto her and I hissed in pain as her innate magic scorched my flesh. “Bitch!”

  “Useless anomaly! Get off me.”

  She might not be able to make me burst into flames, but if this continued, she’d definitely leave third-degree bu
rns. It was a moot point since I had no intention of allowing her to do whatever she pleased for even one second longer.

  I didn’t bother trying to immobilize her through my incubus abilities. I chose the simple, clean approach, and punched her in the face. Even now, my control over my physical strength remained impeccable and I was far less likely to do permanent damage through this method than if I used my magic again.

  She slumped down onto the ground, unconscious, her magic fading into distant sparks that eventually disappeared altogether. Her brother obviously noticed something was wrong because he called out her name in a mix of anger and helpless desperation. “Diane! Let her go, you bastard! If you want to kill someone, kill me.”

  I actually had no desire to kill any of the Garniers. Well, no, that was a lie. I did want to kill them, but I didn’t think that was a possibility since for good or ill, my soulmate cared about them. But my desire to commit violence was not the point now. As much as I resented them for betraying Lucienne, the priority was not punishing them for it, but removing them from my path so that I could help her.

  That goal had been accomplished. Malachai was doing a good job at holding Pierce in check, so I left Diane where she was and returned to my soulmate’s side. It was then that everything went wrong all over again.

  “I should have left you to die, Mathias!” Louis shouted. “U-Ungrateful wretch! I’ll kill you!”

  I looked up, only to realize that at one point when I hadn’t been paying attention, the battle between Mathias and Louis had escalated. King Sterling was nowhere to be seen, and most everyone had started to back away. Their caution was warranted since the intensity of Mathias’s magic floored me.

  I was well aware of how powerful Darius was. I’d sensed it when I’d fed on him, witnessed it when we’d fought together side by side, and felt it every single day since the moment I’d become his subordinate. Never had I seen him like this, unleashing the full extent of his magic.

  It might have been because, by Alarian standards, Darius was fairly young. He was a warrior of great skill, but in magic, there was always something new to learn, especially for people with so much potential. Mathias, on the other hand, was older than dirt and that gave him an edge. He might not have Darius’s affinity for fire, but that didn’t hinder him any.

  I couldn’t exactly tell what he was doing, but he was actually making the gigantic snail attempt to move back. Judging by the stutter and the way Louis’s odd eyes were flashing, there was definitely some kind of mind magic involved. And yet, despite being engaged in what was likely a very difficult mental battle, Mathias continued his elemental attack. A fierce firestorm swirled around him, increasing the damage he was doing to Louis and keeping Mathias’s other opponents back.

  The strategy was working. Louis’s shaggy fur was already scorched in places, revealing skin that looked burnt, but weirdly human. The cracks in his shell were glowing brighter and brighter, and for some reason, that gave me a bad feeling.

  I wanted to tell Mathias to stop, but I never got the chance. I didn’t see the finishing blow that made Mathias win the battle with his nemesis, but I did see the end result. The shell exploded into a million white shards. Since they had been created through mind magic, they should have disappeared. Instead, the shards shot through the air like a malevolent rain of magical shrapnel.

  I threw myself over Lucienne and blindly cast a shield over us. I doubted it would hold if one of the shell pieces hit us, and mere seconds later, I was proven right. A shard crashed against my shield, and the moment it shattered, I was propelled into a strange vision.

  I saw myself walking through a distant forest, with a man I didn’t recognize by my side. We were both holding rudimentary weapons, but when he smiled at me, I still felt safe. “We haven’t had much luck with the hunt today,” he said. “Maybe we should have gone fishing.”

  “Remember what the tribe leader told us,” I replied. “The river is generous, but we can’t rely on it for every single thing.”

  “I remember, but I still think hunting is a waste of time. We could’ve caught enough fish to feed half the village by now.”

  “I’m sure the others will be doing a good job without us. Our job is to hunt.”

  A distant cry reached our ears, interrupting our conversation. I shared a look with my companion and rushed in the direction of the sound. It didn’t take us long to find the source. It was a baby, stashed behind a bush and bundled up in a blanket embroidered with symbols we didn’t understand. The blanket must have once been golden and quite valuable, but now it was ripped and covered in soot.

  My companion extracted the child from his blanket and held him to his chest. Almost instantly, the baby quieted, his wails dying down into occasional sniffles. “Where did he come from?” I asked. “No one from the tribes would leave a baby abandoned like this, in the middle of nowhere.”

  “He doesn’t look like one of us and that writing seems... Celtic. I think?”

  I had no idea, and the whole incident was very suspicious. The natural conclusion was that foreign tribes might be trying to invade, but I just didn’t see that happening. Perhaps someone had sneaked past our guard in an attempt to find refuge here with their family. But if that was the case, why abandon the child?

  I didn’t have an answer to any of these questions, so I temporarily set them aside. “We can’t leave him here,” I said. “We have to take him with us.”

  My companion agreed with me. “The tribe leader won’t like it, but we’ll find a way to explain it.”

  “I don’t think it will be a problem.” I met the child’s clever blue eyes and smiled. “I have a good feeling about him. He is a gift from the gods.”

  The memory shifted, and this time, we were in a city. The details were blurry, probably because I was lying on the ground, bleeding out from a gut injury.

  A young, blond man knelt by my side, scrutinizing my face with a serious expression. His eyes were just as blue as they had been the day I’d found him wrapped up in a blanket. “You’re going to die,” he told me.

  I nodded. “Yes, but you aren’t. You are going to live and make us all very proud. Rome... Rome will tremble at the mere thought of you, Alaric. Don’t give up. Never give up.”

  “I won’t,” the young man promised.

  His voice didn’t crack, nor did it tremble. I didn’t see any grief in his eyes, but he still held my hand as I heaved my last breath.

  When death came, it carried me into another life and another recollection. This time, I was on a boat, struggling to guide the small vessel through the stormy sea. A dark-haired woman leaned against me, clutching a child to her chest. I knew I couldn’t save them, just like I couldn’t save myself.

  “I’m so sorry,” I told them. “I tried. I can’t do this.”

  She smiled, the twist of lips beautiful and kind even if we were seconds away from finding our deaths in the cruel depths of the endless ocean. “It’s not your fault. And we’ll find one another again. I’m sure of it.”

  She was right. Even after the water swallowed us whole, the memories kept coming. I didn’t save my lovers during my next life, or the life after that. Sometimes, I was with men, other times with a woman. Sometimes, the child was there, other times he was absent. But each and every memory unavoidably ended with us dying horrible deaths.

  We died in fires, earthquakes, and wars. We drowned, suffocated, or simply fell horribly ill. We were shot, stabbed, hanged, and guillotined. On one notable occasion, we were burned at the stake for witchcraft, although we weren’t magical at the time. My wife was targeted first and when I fought for her, to protect her, I was deemed a worshipper of the devil, as well. I burned with the sound of her screams in my ears and I hated them, hated humanity with every ounce of my being.

  I’d never quite let go of that hatred. In fact, it might have been one of the reasons why I’d become an incubus, born to feed on emotion and sensation, always seeking that which I had been denied. Peace, a new li
fe with my family, freedom from a curse that had been hunting me for so long, even when I’d been unaware of it. Revenge, because none of this was our fault, and yet, we were paying the price for something another person had done.

  But this was not about the past, not anymore. It was about the future, a future I had to protect. I couldn’t do that if I was lost in my memories, in ancient wishes made by men who had long ago become dust. I was Bjorn Lindberg now and I had a duty to protect my soulmate, to fulfill the promise I’d failed to keep until now.

  The thought anchored me and I forced myself to push back the shadows of the different lives that still had a hold on me. It worked and, with some effort, I managed to open my eyes. I would have been happier about it had I not found myself facing an obviously infuriated King Sterling.

  Shit. It looked like this life wouldn’t end any better than the last ones.

  * * *

  Darius

  Meanwhile, somewhere in France

  The cemetery was quiet when we arrived. Guarded solely by an old human who didn’t even see us come in, it was an easy target and the perfect location for the ritual that would guide us in the right direction.

  It didn’t take us long to find the right grave. The cemetery wasn’t large and I’d had the foresight to check the records before we’d come here. Honestly, the ease with which we completed the first step of my plan disappointed me a little.

  But we’d had plenty of excitement in the past and right now, I preferred boring. Gesturing for the scavengers to come forward, I pointed at the right grave. “You know the drill. Dig that one out and be quick about it. Anyone who slacks off might find that I can come up with a secondary use for our current location.”

  As expected, the scavengers hastened to comply. We had brought shovels and, between that and the physical strength of my minions, it wasn’t a difficult task. Still, they didn’t much enjoy it, since they preferred hunting people who were still alive.

  I watched the plagues dig out the grave with no small measure of satisfaction. I probably shouldn’t have found it so enjoyable to make them do something that involved death in a way they disliked, but since I’d landed in Mathias’s body, I found that I took pleasure in the craziest things.