Order of the Akasha: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Complete Series)

by E. M. Moore

  “I wished we could see better,” Liam fretted, bouncing up and down on his toes.

  “We can’t do anything about it now,” Randy said. “Cops are already there.”

  “Do you think it’s the same situation as the one we encountered the other day?” The setup was the same. Bedroom. We couldn’t quite see the body, but everyone was looking toward the bed, which made me assume there was probably a person there—and that they were no longer living. If they were still alive, the cops would’ve been working on the person, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Instead, they were just waiting around.

  “Looks like it,” Randy said. “Fuck. We’re too late again.”

  As we watched, one of the policeman turned and grabbed the young boy by the shoulders and showed him out of the room. We watched as they made their way through the upstairs, toward the stairs, and then down into the living room where the cop had the young boy sit on a couch. I recognized that look. I’d once had it myself after finding Granny. Her death wasn’t wholly unexpected, but I still remembered feeling that way, like the world was going to be different now and there was nothing I could do about it.

  Travis turned. “Let’s head back. Nothing we can do here now. I’ll head over to the coroner’s office after a little while.”

  We walked glumly back to the Jeep. I didn’t know if it was the same for the guys, but I wasn’t used to feeling powerless. I hated it. What was the use of having magic if we couldn’t even use it to do the right thing?

  Shit, I’d just sounded like Granny. I must be maturing or some shit.

  We got in the Jeep and Travis started it. “Liam, you got class, right?”

  “Yes,” he said, kicking his backpack out of the way. I hadn’t even noticed he’d grabbed it from the shop before we left.

  “I have to be at the tattoo shop in fifteen,” Randy said.

  “Okay, I’ll drop you guys off, then I’ll drop Norah off at the shop before I head over to the coroner’s office and ask around.”

  Randy smirked. “I hope you left a lasting first impression. This chick is going to wonder why you’re back again.”

  I stopped listening after that. Liam put his hand on my knee and squeezed, and I tried to focus on that. He patted it, telling me without saying it aloud that everything was going to be okay.

  He was the first to get dropped off. He leaned over and kissed my temple, whispering to me that he would see me later before telling the rest of the guys the same thing. Randy was next. When we pulled up to the tattoo parlor, my stomach dropped. I was going to be alone with Travis again and that didn’t often work out very well. Randy got out of the car and then pulled the back door open where I was. He unbuckled my seatbelt and slid me toward him before pulling me from the car and shutting the door behind us. He moved close, and my back hit the side of the Jeep before he towered over me. His voice dropped low. “I really am sorry about leaving you in the dark yesterday.”

  My heartbeat kicked up a notch. I reached out and patted his chest. “I know. I forgive you.”

  He leaned his weight into me, his hips matching up with mine as his lips sealed onto my own. He tugged on my hair, angling my head to push his tongue into my mouth and kiss me thoroughly. This fucker. He was about to leave me here all hot and bothered when I’d have to get back into the car with Travis. When he finally pulled away, I was breathless. The world was a haze around us, and all I could do was stare up into Randy’s dark, chestnut eyes. “I’ll make it up to you, anyway.”

  I narrowed my eyes, my legs squeezing together on instinct. “You better.”

  A knowing grin tweaked his lips. He bent low to kiss my ear and then whispered, “Don’t you and Travis go killing each other now, okay?”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know.” Randy backed away and then stuck his head in the passenger’s side again. “I’ll just walk to get my bike after my shift. It’s not too far away.”

  Travis gave him a quick wave of acknowledgment and then Randy sauntered off toward the front door. I turned toward the Jeep. The front door was already open and waiting, and Travis and I had already had a discussion about me sitting in the front seat, so I hopped in, pulling the door closed with too much energy. It slammed, and I inwardly cringed before pulling my seatbelt over and latching it.

  When Travis pulled away from the curb, I dared a peek toward him. His face looked drawn, pensive, looking like Liam when Liam was trying to work something out in his mind. “Back to the shop?” Travis asked.

  I shook my head. “I’d like to come with you to the coroner’s if you don’t mind.”

  Travis’s head reared back in surprise. “Why?”

  I shifted in the seat. “I feel bad for the victims. I’m curious to know what’s going on, and I want to help figure it out.”

  He nodded slowly before taking the next right that directed us away from Historic Salem and the shop, which was where we’d been headed. “Are you going to be ready to open the shop in time? Order stuff is important, but we have to live our own lives, too. It’s hard at first to get used to living your own lives between what you’re doing, sometimes downright impossible, but you’ll get used to it.”

  I lifted my eyebrows at his attempt to try to start a conversation with me, but his stare stayed on the road in front of the Jeep. I hadn’t heard him act as if I would be sticking around before. That was a first. He said I’d get used to it.

  For a few minutes, we drove in silence. I never answered him, and he didn’t try to say anything after that. I kept wanting to say something to fill the gap in conversation, but absolutely nothing came to mind. There was just an odd feeling between us that I didn’t know how to get past.

  At last, though, Travis ran a hand through his hair. “Can I ask you something? I don’t want it to come off wrong, I’m merely just curious.”

  Well, if that wasn’t the biggest setup. My stomach tightened, wondering what the hell he wanted to ask me that would set me off. “Sure.” Then, I added. “But choose your words carefully.” I figured I’d better warn him straight off that I wasn’t going to put up with anymore of his shit. Whether he was trying to be better or not, I didn’t care.

  “Okay…” He scratched his chin. “You kiss Liam, then you kiss Randy practically right after.”

  My jaw clamped shut. Here we go…

  “I’m just curious how that can be. Do you really like both of them? I mean, it’s clear they both feel something for you, as well as Gabe, I just don’t understand it from your point of view.”

  I took in a few steadying breaths before even attempting to answer. He hadn’t actually asked it with any of the venom that was usually directed at me. He had asked it in a way that sounded as if he was merely just curious as to what my feelings were. I looked down at my hands in my lap. “It’s hard to explain, I guess, if you’ve never felt it before. I don’t like one more than the other. When Liam left, I wanted to kiss him goodbye. When Randy left, I wanted to kiss him goodbye too. It’s not weird to me, it’s natural. When you have feelings for someone, isn’t it natural to want to kiss them and show them affection?” I shrugged. “I don’t know another way to act other than what my body tells me to. I’m not analyzing every single little thing when it comes to you guys—I mean, to Gabe, Liam, and Randy—I’m just doing what feels natural to me.”

  Travis stared out the windshield, taking particular care. Eventually, he nodded, but nothing else. No words, no gestures.

  I guessed that was that then.

  15

  Travis pulled in front of an unassuming, one-story brick building. I looked up at the sign and acknowledged that yes, this was where we needed to be.

  Travis unbuckled his seatbelt and turned toward me. “Do you want to wait here?”

  “That would kind of defeat the purpose of me coming along, wouldn’t it?” Otherwise I could’ve just went to the shop and kept unboxing.

  A ruddy pink brightened his cheekbones. Even the tips of his ears went red as I watched him sta
re at the building and then turn toward me again. “Okay. Just so you know, I flirted with the coroner yesterday to get her to tell me stuff. I’m sure I’ll have to do the same, so, maybe just don’t say anything?”

  My temper threatened to rise. It was clawing its way up my throat. “Was that a question? Or a demand?”

  “It was a question. You obviously do whatever the hell you want, anyway, I’m just telling you what I did to get what I wanted the other day, and that was to flirt with the girl. She thinks I’m an aspiring newspaper writer.”

  I chuckled at that. Travis an aspiring writer? Okay. Sure. I shrugged. “We’ll just have to see what happens, I guess.” I couldn’t promise I was going to be able to keep my mouth shut. If I ever had promised that in my life, it would’ve been a lie. I was never very good at it.

  I threw the door open and got out, following Travis up the walkway until he pulled the glass door open and stepped inside. He gave the security guard at the small front desk a short wave. “I’m here to talk to Laura.”

  I clucked my tongue at the roof of my mouth. Once we were a little ways past the security guard who just waved us on in, I asked, “Laura, huh?”

  “Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’.

  A young woman with red hair that billowed past her shoulders walked down the hallway toward us in a white lab coat. She had her face bent over looking at some papers and her flats made no sound on the tile as she walked.

  Travis stepped in front of me and called out to her. “Hey, Laura. It’s Travis.”

  She stopped mid-stride, startled. Then, a gigantic smile took over her face and a blush crept up her cheeks. Instead of being jealous, I felt a little sorry for her. Travis was just using her to get answers, and she was turning into a schoolgirl at the sight of him. Her hand came up in the air to wave, but it was also the hand that held all her paperwork, complete with a sketched naked body and arrows and notes pouring to various parts. “Hi, Travis.” She looked at her hand and lowered the paperwork after noticing what she’d done. “Here for another story?”

  He jammed his hands into his pockets, looking confident as hell. “The same one, I hope. I don’t really know, but word is they found another body just a little while ago. It’s so sad.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes, but in that moment, Travis shifted, leaving me in view. Laura, the coroner, who’d been staring up at him, now glanced at me. She went to look back to Travis right away, but then quickly looked back at me, her gaze freezing there.

  “This is Norah,” Travis said, introducing me. “She’s another student.”

  “Oh,” Laura said, her voice dropping. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too,” I said. I had a feeling that for the both of us, we didn’t mean it at all.

  Travis started talking to her again and that feeling of wrongness in my stomach started up again as he got closer to her, making her smile and giggle. Every once in a while, her gaze drifted toward me and I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but that feeling was like a hangnail. It just kept coming back, rearing its ugly, jealous head.

  I hadn’t even been listening when they both turned and went toward a window. The blinds were slightly open. I walked forward, looking in between their shoulders and saw another middle-aged woman laying on a steel table. A sheet was pulled up to her neck, but she was deathly pale, her hair pulled back from her face.

  I swallowed, my stomach twisting at the sight of her. She was a mom. At least, that was the only explanation I had to give for the young kid in the bedroom where she was found. It wasn’t right.

  The word asphyxiation grabbed my attention. I turned toward Laura, and then up at Travis. “Really?” Travis asked, his eyebrows peaked in interest. “Asphyxiation again? Do we think it’s the same person doing this?”

  “That’s for the police to figure out, but it’s definitely the same kind of death. No marks of any physical nature outside the body, but we can tell they both died from a lack of oxygen.” She stepped a little closer and Travis leaned in. “It’s also strange to note that there was evidence of sexual activity right before they both expired.”

  Expired. Really? Fury spread through my limbs. That was an awful, uncaring term. These people had lives. They didn’t just expire. They died, leaving behind family and friends, and whole lives. It wasn’t like it was milk that just went bad in the fridge from non-use.

  Travis stepped away instantly and peeked back at me. I must’ve made a noise or something because Laura was also looking at me in confusion. I didn’t even bother to smile in encouragement this time. I ran my hand through my hair and then placed my hands on my hips.

  Travis moved in front of me, trying to block my presence. “So, do the police think there’s some sort of sexual predator out there?”

  Laura glanced at me over Travis’s shoulder, but he moved even further around her, completely blocking me out. “It’s a possibility,” I heard her say. “That’s what they’re going on right now, anyway.”

  Travis’s hands moved out from his body and Laura’s eyes widened. I didn’t see exactly what happened, but I could only imagine he’d taken her hand or something. “Thank you, Laura. You’ve been so nice about this. Do you still have my number?”

  She blinked. “Y-yes.”

  “Let me know if anything else comes up, will you?”

  She nodded, only the tiniest hint of disappointment etching her features. No doubt when he asked if she still had his number she was expecting something else to follow that question.

  He turned and walked toward the exit and I followed after him. His stride was long, driven, and I had to hurry to catch up with him. He pushed the door open and walked out, not bothering to even hold it for me before he walked right to the driver’s side and got in. I did the same, eager to catch up with him in case he was going to take off without me. He seemed in a hurry to get the hell out of there. “I’m taking you back to the shop.”

  “Okay… Should we call the others?”

  “They’re all busy right now. We’ll talk about it later with everyone.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he backed out of the parking lot so quickly I had to press against the dash in front of me. “What the hell, Travis?”

  “What the hell?” he seethed, throwing the vehicle into Drive. “I should be saying the same thing to you. I warned you ahead of time how I got the answers before and you did everything in your power to be stuck up around her.”

  I reared back. No one had ever called me stuck up before. “Seriously? I barely said anything.”

  He gave me a look. “It wasn’t what you said, it was how you acted. I’m not your property, Norah.”

  My mouth dropped, and I let out a frustrated scream. “I never said you were.”

  “You sure as hell act like it.”

  “The hell I do,” I yelled, bracing myself against the car door as Travis took a left.

  “Now, I’m going to be lucky if I can even get her to talk to me again thanks to you.”

  I tried to search what just happened for any evidence that I turned her off him. I really hadn’t said much at all, if anything. He was overreacting. I couldn’t be held accountable for the mousy coroner chick being put off by me.

  I told him as much and he laughed darkly. “You’re ridiculous.” He reached out and put the radio on before settling back in his seat.

  I stared at the dash and then hit the power button again, shutting it off. “I’m not ridiculous.”

  He glared at me. “But you are.” Then, he turned the radio back on again.

  “She used the word expired!” I reached out to turn the radio off again, but Travis’s hand was right there. We jammed our knuckles off one another’s and then I stilled as a shot of electricity coursed through my body more powerful than anything I’d ever felt before.

  Travis’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped. The car in front of us stopped short, and Travis had to slam on the brakes so we didn’t rearend them. When the car moved on again, Travis pulled the Jee
p over. Vaguely aware of everything that had just happened around us, I stared down at my still tingling hand. It felt like pinpricks when your hand fell asleep. The rush of pain was subsiding now, but it was instant once we’d connected.

  Wind picked up in the car, my hair tracking across my chin. I looked in Travis’s direction. He hadn’t put his window down or anything. Then, I looked up at him. My mouth dried out in an instant at the look in his eyes. He blinked. His mouth closed and his Adams apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “It’s not fair,” he said.

  “What’s not fair?”

  “This. You. Them.”

  I reached out for him again, but he pulled away, a tinge of fear darkening his face. “Will you just talk to me, Travis? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  He shook his head, then looked back straight ahead, his hands returning to ten and two on the steering wheel.

  When he didn’t say anything for a little while, I tried again. “What’s not fair, Travis?”

  His voice was hollow as it filled the interior of the Jeep, with a stitch of wonder. It was as if he didn’t know how to react. “You were right to yell at me the other day. I deserved it.”

  Tell me something I don’t know. I didn’t ruin the moment with those words though. I just turned even more toward him on the seat, careful to keep my hands to myself.

  Thankfully, he kept going. He turned toward me. “I just want to be myself, Norah. I want to be my own person, with my own thoughts, and actions, and I don’t want anything else clouding it up.”

  I leaned closer, shaking my head. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

  His gaze lowered to my lips, then back up to my eyes. “I’ll take you back to the shop now. I’m sorry for getting mad about Laur—the coroner. For the record, expired is just a term they use so they don’t get too close to the victims. How could they think things through analytically if every case was personal?”

  Although I understood that, wasn’t it also good to take everything personally? Weren’t personal feelings what drove people to do the extraordinary? “You sound like Liam,” I said instead, not wanting to get into another argument with him.