Guardians of Magic: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Guardians of the Fae Book 1)

by Elizabeth Hartwell

  “I know it’s a lot to take in,” I reply shakily. “And I’ve spent the past forty-eight hours or so wondering if I’m ready for a nice Thorazine vacay. But now, after the captain this morning and now this . . . what the fuck’s going on, Joe?”

  He’s sympathetic, at least, rubbing a blood-stained hand through his hair. “I believe you, Eve, but . . .”

  “But what?”

  “I can’t just delete this,” Joe says, patting his pocket. “A lump on the eye, even a busted rib . . . hell, that happens in police work. But this, this isn’t Old Haven, Eve. I’ve gotta call the coroner. And I’ve got to take you in. The whole thing’s on camera.”

  Joe reaches for his handcuffs, and I get up, backing away. “Please, Joe. I didn’t try to kill him. He was killing me. It was my head, it was just . . . screaming. I thought my brain was going to melt.”

  Joe sighs, looking at me with a pained expression. “It was all on camera, Eve. What do you want me to do? I need to get someone in here to take care of this kid’s body, and if I let you go, they'll nail my ass for it. Look, we go down to the Precinct, and you can explain it to the captain. There has to be a way we can work this out.” Joe pauses, running his fingers through his hair, and a crazy thought runs through my head. He’s going to need to really shampoo the shit out of all that come tonight. “Don’t get pissed, but I have to ask. This was an accident, right?”

  “Of course it was!” I yell, pissed. “How many times do I have to say it, Joe, I didn’t even know I could do that. I just wanted the pain to fucking stop!”

  “Fuck. Eve, I’m sorry. You know I have your back, but let’s just see what the captain has to say.”

  Joe does me a favor and doesn’t handcuff me. This is a bad fucking idea, but what else can I do? Just run? And then what?

  Joe calls the captain himself, having him come down to the building to respond to the call. In the meantime, he calls the coroner, starting the evidence chain while I wait out in the hallway.

  As I wait, my brain runs in terrified little circles. Oh, God. I can’t believe it. I look down the hallway, itching to run. I could. Easily. But where would I go? Duh, to the faeries. I’m really wishing I would’ve listened to them right about now.

  The biggest thought that keeps going through my head is that the faeries were right. They said I was a danger to myself and others . . . and I didn’t fucking listen to them. Now, a young man is dead. Sure, he was a piece of shit thrall, but he didn’t deserve to have his brains turned to oatmeal and his head exploded.

  When the captain gets to the building, he’s got a full crime scene crew with him and two SWAT guys flanking him. “What the fuck is she doing uncuffed?” the captain asks. “You said she killed a suspect.”

  Joe looks chagrined as he approaches, but I understand and turn around, letting him cuff me. Joe escorts me outside, where in the alleyway next to the building, Joe and I tell the captain what happened.

  It doesn’t go as well as it did with Joe, but I didn’t expect it to.

  “You’re telling me that you’re . . . what, some kind of fucking new Para?” the captain asks, his temple vein pulsing as he gets more and more pissed. “So, you were rooting around in my head this morning.”

  “Captain, I—”

  “Shut it. You fooled everyone, and you fucked up with this just a few days before my ceremony with the Mayor! What were you even . . . fuck!”

  One look in his eyes tells me that I can’t tell him everything. Cole, Noah, Jacob, and Tyler might be strange, they might be deadly with their weapons . . . but they’re not bad men who should be locked up, and I know that’s exactly what he’d like to do. At least, I don’t think they are. I square my shoulders, my mouth intentionally pressed in a line, telegraphing that I'm done talking.

  “You know what, freak? We’ll just park you down in the holding cell at the 54th, then call DHS. I bet they’ve got a whole crew of lab coats ready to see if they can figure out just how you pulled it off. Get her out of here,” the captain growls at the two SWAT cops nearby. “And if either of you feels even a twinge in your head, shoot her.”

  The guys come to pull me away, but I resist, looking at the captain. “You want to know what the most disgusting part of today was? Hearing what you actually think of people.”

  The captain’s face turns purplish and he jabs a finger at me. “Get her out of here!”

  In the van, the two SWAT watch me carefully. “This was an accident, you guys have to believe me,” I tell them. “The captain . . . he won’t. But you must keep your eyes and ears open. The vamps are moving. Marcus is coming.”

  “Shut up,” one of the guys says. “Another word and I’ll Taze you.”

  We get to the station, and they drag me through booking, half the cops stopping what they’re doing to watch. “Hey! Look for Marcus!” I yell. “New Haven’s in danger!”

  They weren’t lying. I feel the Taser pressed against my back and all my thoughts are obliterated in a scream of pain. When next I can think, I’m being chucked into one of the holding cells specially prepared to deal with Paranormals. Three of the cops are holding their heads, and one of them wipes at his nose offhandedly, where he’s bleeding. Did I do that? Did I somehow hit them again when I was Tazed and nearly kill three cops? What am I becoming?

  Once the door is closed, the handcuffs loosen. They’re the new generation that don’t need a key but can be computer-controlled. Small comfort. No bars, just a twenty-square-inch steel grate to communicate, no window to let in sunlight or moonlight.

  Now what?

  Chapter 15

  The Guardians

  “Well, now this is a surprise,” Noah says as the four guardians look down from the roof on the crime scene below. “I didn’t think we’d have to deal so . . . directly with the incompetent police of this city.”

  “Yeah, well, I call it a disaster,” Tyler frets, his hands clenching on the grip of the bow. “What do we do?”

  “We turn disaster into information,” Cole replies calmly. “We need to get into that building and find out what happened. Without being noticed.”

  Jacob’s lip lifts in disgust. “Are you kidding, Cole? Your calm and logical approach is why Eve is now arrested in the first place!”

  Cole’s eyes narrow, both in anger and in regret. Tyler, in his usual animal form of a falcon, had arrived just as Eve was getting hauled into the SWAT van. Weaponless and naked, however, Tyler could do nothing but watch from the roof and listen as best he could until the other three arrived.

  “Jacob, I was placed in charge of the group for this mission, and while I share your desire to charge after Eve, the simple fact is that we don’t know where she is now. Her scent will have dissipated, so unless you plan on methodically searching every possible detention facility in the city, we need information.”

  Noah nods, shrugging off the bag that holds their weapons. Carefully stashing Tyler’s and Jacob’s weapons, the two transform into small birds before they take off, finding their way to an open window and making their way inside.

  The two quiet as they fly down the stairwell and into the interrogation room. Taking spots on the wall, they observe the CSI team doing their jobs.

  “So, you heard the story, right?” one tech asks the other as they dust for prints on the handcuff. “She just thought at the guy, and his head popped.”

  “So, if she can just blow off dudes’ heads . . . you think it’s safe for her to be in the basement back at the 54th?” one CSI says. “I mean, what if she decides to just start popping heads like grapes?”

  “The captain said it’s okay,” the other tech replies. “Those cells can hold a transformed shifter. Maybe they’ll bounce mental waves too or something. Me, though, I don’t trust it. I’m keeping my fucking distance.”

  “Because of her or the captain?”

  The one CSI chuckles. “Yeah, he looked pissed. I guess he’s got more invested in that little blowjob session the Mayor’s giving him than he wants to l
et on. Think we got everything we need?”

  “For now, let’s get the coroner in here. Maybe he’ll be able to say how she did it.”

  Tyler and Jacob, seeing that they don’t need any more information, leave the room. Neither of them says anything, although the anger coming off Jacob is palpable as they fly to the roof and transform. “She’s in a fucking cell.”

  “It was the best assumption,” Cole replies, refusing to be baited. “Now we deal with it.”

  “Deal with it?” Tyler asks angrily. Normally serving as a buffer between Jacob’s frivolity and Cole’s level-headed approach, it’s obvious his immediate attraction to Eve has him balancing on edge. “Cole, she is in danger! You know what humans do to those they fear!”

  “Then set aside your own fear and focus on the now,” Cole says, cinching the belt on his jeans tight. His three friends were always difficult on missions, despite their ability to fight together almost seamlessly. Now, with Tyler’s personality more combustible . . . he doesn’t want that kind of headache. “Yes, I let Eve have some freedom. But that’s what the Fae are supposed to be, free, yes?”

  “Yes, but we also don’t let children do what they want,” Noah rumbles, adjusting his boots. Noah’s always had little patience with those whom he feels are being ignorant, stupid, or just beneath him . . . and in Eve’s case, she was being two of the three, though it was understandable, given her situation. Aside from being a fraction of their age, this is all new to her.

  Cole eyes Noah, then glances over the lip of the building. “Before we go . . . what did you see in there?”

  The two squat down, each recalling what they could. “In the words of the fairy godmother, ‘Tinkerbell has been pretty busy,’” says Tyler. “That was a mess.”

  “Busy? That’s like saying I’ve got a big cock . . . massive understatement,” Jacob jokes. It’s not a time for jokes, but Jacob has a knack for disguising his anger with a thin veil of snide sarcasm. “She had a fucking field day! If she’d been with us against the demon hounds, we could have brought some lunaberry tea and worked on our tans.”

  “Are you done?” Tyler asks, still upset. “Stop fucking around. She’s in jail, and it’s our fault!”

  Cole shakes his head, still thinking. “It has me worried. What you saw . . . we knew her powers could cause chaos, but this was . . .”

  “Violent?” Noah asks, and Cole nods. “I feel the same. Even for a Fae warrior priestess, that sounds extreme.”

  Jacob also nods. “She must be a level of power many magnitudes above anything seen in Lunaria in a long time.”

  Cole nods, standing up and looking over the edge of the building as the coroner brings out the human’s body. Noah joins him, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t trouble yourself, Cole. We all share blame. The human’s death is on our heads.”

  “No, old friend,” Cole says, turning away. “Tyler and Jacob are right. I moved slowly . . . and now his death is on my hands.”

  “So, what shall we do?”

  “Pretty obvious,” Jacob says, adjusting the forearm sheaths for his knives. “I think it’s time we went to the police.”

  Chapter 16

  Eve

  “I have to get out of here,” I mutter, pacing back and forth in the small cell. The 54th might have holding cells, but they’re not much bigger than a broom closet inside the walls. I can’t help but wonder how many innocent Paras were forced into such confined spaces. And I may have arrested some of them.

  For the first hour or so I was in here, I tried to keep my cool. I sat on the poured concrete bench, closing my eyes and trying to meditate or calm myself. I know that’s one of the main ways that cops break suspects. We just get them too keyed up to remain in control.

  But that’s not what they’re doing here. Nobody’s going to take me into a room for questioning. No one will dare. They’re all afraid of me. I’m sure by now the word has gotten around, and the captain for damn sure has warned anyone working security in the holding cells to stay away. Carter popped that guy’s head like a water balloon, and unless you want to be buried in a plastic shopping bag, you’ll keep your distance unless you must.

  I sigh, rubbing my throat, thirsty. Regardless of what happens now, whether they charge me with Reigns’s death or not . . . my life will never be the same.

  “If only I’d listened to them,” I mutter, sitting down and rubbing at my temples. “They were right. I need to learn control.”

  I stare at the white walls, wishing I could blow a hole through it and escape. However, no matter how hard I try, it seems my powers are either on the fritz or just don’t quite go in that direction. Because no matter how much I scream, thrust my hands out, stare at the walls, or think of holes appearing in the barriers in front of me . . . that wall’s still just as thick, just as much concrete and steel as it was when they chucked me in here.

  Why can’t I have powers that are useful? Or at least ones I can use when I need them? What good are they if I can’t call on them in dire need?

  Maybe you can if you learn to control them.

  I shiver as I think about what I did to Cody. Okay, I must have some sort of matter manipulation powers . . . but what I did is awful. “I’m a monster.”

  The kid may have been a vampire thrall but he didn’t deserve to die. He needed to have a good ass-kicking, maybe, but that’s it.

  I hear muffled boots in the hallway, and my head jerks up as the lock in the door whines and the magnetic seals release with a loud ka-chunk. Two guards are in the doorway, both armed. “Captain says someone to see you.”

  Relief floods me, and it’s hard to not tear up as they handcuff me and lead me out of the cell. “Don’t even think of trying anything,” one of the guards says as the elevator opens. “You know why.”

  They keep their guns on me the whole time, obviously scared. If they only knew I have no idea how to use my power even if I wanted to.

  They escort me down the hall to one of the high-security interview rooms. It looks like Hannibal Lecter’s room from the movies, with a thick slab of bulletproof glass separating the room in half, and on my side is a simple wooden folding chair. I sit, and a minute later, the door opens.

  It’s Joe, looking better than I do I’m sure since he’s changed clothes. He’s at least sink-washed his hair too. “How’re you doing, Eve?”

  “Joe, you gotta get me out of here,” I reply, my hands shaking. “I’m going Skippy in there.”

  Joe sighs and nods. Opening the bag with him, he takes out a T-shirt and slides it through the narrow slot in the wall that’s normally used for papers. “This might help. I know it’s tough, and I’m working on it, but the captain is pissed. And between you and me, I think he's terrified.”

  I take the shirt, seeing it’s one of my spares we all keep in our desks. “Thanks.”

  “I’m doing all I can, Eve. In the meantime, change shirts and sit tight.”

  “Thanks for the shirt, Joe. Think you can get the guards to bring me my spare pants, too?”

  He gets up, nodding. “I’ll try. In the meantime, someone's here to see you. It’s the most the captain was willing to do so far.”

  “Joe!” I yell as he leaves. A moment later, the door opens and I’m shocked when Alyssa comes in the room, looking nervous. “Alyssa?”

  “Eve!” she says, sitting down. “What happened?”

  “It’s a long story. How much time are they giving you?” I ask, tilting my head when Alyssa shakes her head. “What?”

  Her eyes fill with a kind of awed horror. “Eve, it’s all over the net. You’re trending.”

  “What is?” I ask, a chill running down my spine.

  Alyssa rubs her hands together, looking at me worriedly. “You know, the video.”

  Oh, God. My life is officially over. The Paras hate me for being on the squad, and now everyone else is going to hate me too. Maybe I deserve it.

  In the back of my mind, part of me knows that the biggest victim in all of this is
probably Cody Reigns . . . but when I think about his evil thoughts and the plan he knew about, my level of sympathy lowers a smidge.

  “I . . . I didn’t mean to!” I protest hollowly.

  Alyssa sits forward, her face inches from the glass. “Why didn’t you tell me you had powers all this time? You know me. I wouldn’t have thought any less of you.”

  “I didn’t know. Until two nights ago, I never knew I had powers. Hell, I don’t even know how to use them!”

  Alyssa’s mouth drops open in the stunned silence that follows. “Tell me. Tell me everything.”

  I sigh, taking a moment to calm and gather myself. I need to figure out a strategy for getting out of this, and talking to Alyssa helps. I open my mouth to tell her everything, but then I remember where I am. Everything said in these rooms is recorded, and the captain’s idea becomes clear. They brought her here so I could spill everything. They just used my sister to pump me for information, even if she doesn’t know it.

  “Eve?” Alyssa says after a moment.

  I nod, lowering my voice, even though it’s useless. The mics they use in here could record a fart from a housefly. “I need you to listen to me carefully. Don't tell them anything. They’re just—”

  “But—”

  I narrow my eyes. “Alyssa, listen! They’re gonna be watching you. They’re watching us both now. And . . . I know that you’ve been spending time with a . . . unique boyfriend.”

  Alyssa gasps, looking up. “Zack? You knew?”

  “Of course I knew. I was going to let you come out with it in your own time, but that’s what has you so worked up recently. You see, I know him, and I know his record. Other than some rinky-dink stupid shit that a lot of boys get into, he’s clean. But I’m not sure if you should be around him right now. For his safety, but more importantly, yours.”