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

by Elizabeth Hartwell

  “Yeah,” he says. “You?”

  I give him a wink, nodding. “We’ll see. Gotta make my exit first. Damn if I didn’t leave my ID at home. See you later.”

  Thankfully, the guards are busy, and I’m able to jump the fence without being noticed. Moving quickly, I snag one of the ‘Mobobikes’ that dot New Haven, pedaling as fast as I can.

  It takes me about twenty minutes to reach my neighborhood, the apartment buildings rising around me. For the hundredth time, I notice the irony that they’re of the same type and construction as the ghettos of Old Haven, but these, at least, have been maintained. Ducking between buildings, I use the alleyways to approach my building.

  Sticking my head out of the space between apartment buildings, I hear a crowd in front of the building, along with a van and a reporter.

  “Get her! Kill the fairy!” the crowd screams in an almost monotone, enraged chant.

  Straining my ears, I can just hear the news reporter essentially repeating what I heard earlier, but then I hear a new piece of information that is like a punch in the gut. “After a night of violence that police are attributing to Paranormal agitators, a crowd has camped outside Detective Eve Carter’s home, demanding that she be put to justice. Police were worried about things getting out of hand, so they went in just moments ago, looking for Alyssa Carter, the detective’s sister, to take her away for her own safety . . . but she was no longer inside. As of this report, no one saw her leave the premises, and she was inside mere hours ago. She is suspected to have gone into hiding, possibly retrieved by her mutant sister.”

  Wait, Alyssa’s in hiding? That’s both reassuring and worrying. She might be safer, but I’m not sure where she could be or who she’s with. The reporter continues.

  “All of this has fueled the violence that has broken out in Old Haven over this murder, and people are angry with what they call lenient laws toward Paras and are starting to take matters into their own hands.”

  One of the mob, hearing the report, interjects. “Yeah, we’re sick of being fed on. Now it’s their turn!”

  The crowd roars, and the reporter, smelling ratings, turns the report into an ad-hoc interview. “And Eve Carter?”

  “That mutant bitch is on the loose because we were too nice. Well, you know what?” the man asks, his face going red. “Kill her and kill them all!”

  The crowd picks up the chant as the reporter makes a cutting motion to her cameraman, but the crowd doesn’t care. They keep chanting, the screams and yelling growing uglier and uglier with each iteration. The chants fuel the anger inside me. These people, some of whom I recognize from the neighborhood stores, who would shake hands with me and smile, cheer me for my work . . . are now calling for my blood.

  They don’t care that I didn’t know or that I didn’t mean to cause any harm. They don’t understand that I want to do everything I can, including putting my life at risk, to save this city from myself and from others.

  Whatever. I melt into shadows, knowing what I need. Alyssa isn’t here, and the government is looking for her. Looking for us both, really, probably banking that if they find her, they’ll find me.

  I jog down the alley, turning and making my way along the backs of the buildings. I wish I could get inside, see what she took with her, get a clue. More importantly, under my bed is my private strongbox, the weapons I started stashing just in case.

  “No way of getting those now,” I whisper as I head toward the bus stop. Besides, I have a feeling that if someone does corner me, I’ve got a chance with my new powers and all.

  I see a pay phone, one of the few left. I hate using it, but I have to. I’ll just have to haul ass as soon as I hang up. It’s probably being monitored.

  I call Alyssa’s phone, but it’s just the answering machine. “Hi, this is Alyssa Carter. Leave a message so it doesn’t get stuck in your head.”

  It beeps and I hang up. It’s an obvious coded message for me. She’s the metalhead from birth, a product of Dad taking her jogging with his music playing. And one of Dad’s favorite songs was Zombie, famous by the Cranberries, but Dad’s version was a cover sang by Bad Wolves.

  I told her to stay away from her wolf boyfriend. With these vigilantes on the loose, I wish she had someone else to turn to, but when that crowd started getting rowdy outside, she must have contacted Zack.

  Skipping the bus, I use some skills I picked up on the streets to steal a car, heading for the outskirts of New Haven. In the forests to the west of town, there are places where shifters gather, especially the Alphas. And while I don’t know if her boyfriend has a house in the hills, I know for damn sure that he’s not sticking around the city on a night like this. He'd better not be. Not if my sister is with him.

  I can see skirmishes between packs of shifters and vigilantes as I drive, but I put my head down and gun it each time, knowing I can’t do anything. Reaching the hilly area known as Wolf Town, I slow, checking the areas where I know packs have their meetings, wishing I knew which pack Alyssa’s boyfriend belongs to.

  Instead, I focus on my feelings. If I can have a link with my guardians, I should have something with my sister, right? Even if we don’t share the same blood, our bond is strong. I turn myself over to my instincts, steering and taking back roads as I feel the need.

  Finally, just as dawn pales the sky, I see her. She’s being held, tied up by a group of eight vigilantes outside a barn that is clearly a Shifter pack house. Stopping the car, I slip out, trying to listen as I get as close as I safely can.

  My hands shake with rage as I see Alyssa. She looks like she’s been put through hell, a large welt on her cheek and blood trickling from one side of her mouth. Her eyes are puffy, and I suspect that she’s been smacked around mercilessly by the men who are surrounding her now.

  “Call to them, bitch!” the one man says, an AK-47 nestled loosely in his hands. “Tell your mutt to come out.”

  “Fuck you,” Alyssa says, always the fighter. Her response earns a backhanded slap from the nearest vigilante, however, sending her sprawling into the dirt.

  Is this what we’ve become? I’ve spent all these years fighting for humanity, when men like this act so inhumane that I can’t even be sure they’re the same species as me.

  I want to run in there, to charge in like Sir Lancelot, but without a gun, it’d look more like the Charge of the Light Brigade. I glance around, looking for a better strike position as the vigilantes yank Alyssa’s hair, humiliating her and calling her vile names in an attempt to draw the Shifters inside the barn out.

  Darkness settles over me, and I think of all the things I’d like to do to these men, but then I see something that breaks my heart. It’s Alyssa, and instead of crying any longer, she’s smiling at them, as if she’s ready for her fate.

  “Don’t come out,” she says, loud enough for me to hear her. “I love you, Zack. Don’t come out.”

  Her words stun the entire crowd, and they shift around with uncertainty until one of them spits in the dirt. “Enough of this shit!”

  Yanking an old-fashioned revolver out of the waistband of his jeans, he grabs Alyssa, forcing her on her knees. “Roy, cover her.”

  I watch as the man with the revolver empties his gun, putting two rounds back into the chamber. “No…”

  The man spins the chamber, flipping it closed and pointing it at Alyssa’s head. “Let’s have a game. You and the rest of your litter come out, or I squeeze the trigger. Let’s see how long you’re willing to gamble.”

  He squeezes the trigger once before anyone can react, before I can react. Just as I’m about to jump up and charge at them, the barn opens, and a young man comes out. He’s shirtless and barefoot, his jeans hanging in strips and rags around his hips from the hell he’s been through tonight. “Here. Here I am! Let her go!”

  Alyssa fights at her captor, but she can’t do anything, his boot firmly on the back of her knee and his left hand entwined tightly in her hair. Rage courses through me, but I have to keep my head. I
back up, getting ready to use the car as a battering ram and distraction when a wolf song splits the air. A giant wolf leaps over the boy, aimed at the vigilantes, a snarl lifting its lip.

  It’s suicide… but it gets the gun away from Alyssa’s head. Now’s my chance. I rush forward, praying I can get a Faelight created on the run.

  Faerie powers, don’t fail me now.

  Chapter 27

  The Guardians

  The neighborhood is quiet as Cole and Noah climb the stairs, tired but at the same time steady and sure. They’ve been up over thirty hours, but with what they just saw at the vampire fortress, they can go longer.

  “We have news—” Cole says as they enter, his voice fading as he sees the apartment. There’s a burn mark on the wall, and Tyler and Jacob are on the floor, their heads nestled against the sofa, a small space between them.

  “What in the hell are you two doing?” Noah asks, his voice rumbling when he sees what Cole’s looking at. “Where is Eve?”

  The two still snore, and it takes Cole shaking Jacob to get him awake. He slaps at his hands dreamily, his voice slurred. “Eve . . . we just . . . so soft.”

  “Wake up, you idiot,” Cole says, slapping him in the face lightly, then harder. “Wake up.”

  Jacob shakes his head, his eyes opening slowly. “Wha . . . what time is it?”

  “Just before dawn,” Cole says, keeping his anger under control while Noah wakes Tyler. “What happened?”

  Jacob smacks his lips, wiping at his eyes as he sits up. “We were trying to calm her, so we taught her about Faelight. Then she needed some more direct action, and afterward, I just felt so sleepy.”

  “You went to sleep, and she’s not here,” Noah says, heaving Tyler up by the armpit and depositing him on the couch. “Cover yourselves, for fuck’s sake.”

  Tyler winces at the anger in Noah’s voice but says nothing as he finds his pants and gets dressed. “I was just comforting her, trying to help her, and I . . . I remember thinking of flowers.”

  “Me too,” Jacob says, blinking. “I remember thinking that Eve would like some flowers. It made me laugh because I’m not the kind to think about that sort of thing, and I wondered if you were creeping into my thoughts, Tyler.”

  Cole sighs, shaking his head. “It seems she has stumbled onto more than Faelight. It is not your fault.”

  “I disagree,” Noah growls. “You are Guardsmen. You should be aware and ready.”

  Tyler shakes his head, clearing out the aftereffects of the magic, and his eyes focus, golden fire swirling in their depths. "You weren't the one—”

  “Enough!” Cole says, stopping the argument before it can develop further. “It doesn’t matter right now. We have found Marcus. The vampires have a massacre planned. We’ve got work to do.”

  Quickly, as Jacob and Tyler get dressed, Cole and Noah fill them in on what they found. “So, we have two missions,” Cole finishes. “First, we find Eve, and then we take out the vampire threat for good.”

  “Agreed,” Jacob says, his own pride wounded. He’d exposed more of himself to Eve than he had to any woman in centuries, and she’d taken advantage of it. But he’s not angry with her, more with himself. He should have known better. If one of his brothers were possibly in danger, he’d never sit idly by, no matter how much danger he put himself in trying to help.

  Chapter 28

  Eve

  Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

  It’s the only thought in my mind as I try to concentrate, using the knowledge my guardians showed me. It’s harder than it seems, trying to think happy things while running toward a pack of armed gunmen who have your sister hostage . . . but then the answer comes, and it’s so easy.

  Alyssa. I love you.

  “TAEN!”

  The ball of Faelight that forms between my hands is intense, the colors blending to a blinding white so quickly that I can barely get it up and over my head before I throw it like a baseball, praying that it will burn the gunmen or at least scare them off.

  The ball flies from my hand like a fastball, but instead of hitting, it careens, almost drunkenly flying from face to face in the group, shifting colors from green to yellow to blue before going back to green and splashing in the middle, exploding in a nearly silent pop that lights the very dirt itself on fire.

  Almost immediately, the sky above flashes, a green lightning bolt ripping the near-dawn clouds apart and cracking, scaring everyone. “What the fuck is that?” one of the vigilantes asks, gripping his shotgun more tightly. He sees me and raises his gun. “There!”

  “Fuck,” I mutter, diving to the side. I should have known I was going to fuck this up. If I’ve done anything, all I’ve done is make myself a target, perhaps saving Alyssa or the wolf they were going to finish off. I roll into a shallow ditch, feeling dirt spray my back. “Smooth move, Eve.”

  Daring to look over the edge of the dirt, I see Alyssa yanked free of the man who has her, her boyfriend landing an impressive left hook that knocks him loopy before helping Alyssa run toward the barn.

  “Eve!” Alyssa screams as soon as the gag is out of her mouth. “Eve!”

  The vigilantes recognize the name like blood in the water. “It’s the fairy whore!”

  I mutter as I try to form another Faelight, wishing I had my gun right now.

  Instead, I’ve got Faelight, sort of, and it’s totally unreliable so far. I throw another ball, chucking it wildly over the edge of the ditch, and roll as another shotgun round chews up more dirt and I scramble for a tree.

  “This would be the time I could use my guardians,” I gasp. But of course, I left them snoring, and who knows where Cole and Noah are?

  “Let my sister go, leave the shifters alone, and no one gets hurt!” I yell, hoping they take my bluff as I throw another Faelight. “Don’t make me angry!”

  “That’s right, you fucks!” Alyssa yells as she hides in the barn. “You’d better run. My sister is here. She’s gonna turn all your heads into tomato soup!”

  Dammit, Alyssa, be quiet. It’s happened once, I don’t know how, and in general, other than chucking unpredictable light balls, my powers are about as reliable as an old man trying to get it up without Viagra.

  Still, I gotta play the hand I’m dealt. “She’s right!” I roar, trying to sound intimidating and powerful. “Walk away, and I’ll let you live.”

  The lead vigilante pulls something out of his pocket, holding it up and pulling a ring on it. Shit . . . a grenade. And the only thing keeping it from exploding is him holding the ‘spoon.’ “Try it. I’m not going out alone!”

  Spying Alyssa’s boyfriend, I remember that shifters are connected to the Fae, and I reach out with my mind, hoping this works. I do my best to picture him, hoping that I’m even doing this right. I feel like a kid playing with a phone for the first time, but instead of calling Grandma, I could end up calling Hong Kong, just ten times worse.

  Zack!

  The boy looks around, startled. Who the fuck is this?

  Eve. Alyssa’s sister. I’m going to try something, but I’m a newbie with all this. I need you and anyone with you to be ready.

  There's silence for a moment, only undercut by a low buzz. I wonder if I somehow lost the connection, and I focus again, but when I do, the deep hum begins to clear, and though I can't distinguish what's being said, I realize Zack is telepathing to someone else. Almost like the line clears of static, he comes back solidly. Better move fast. My father’s wounded. And that’s my brother in the yard.

  I close my eyes, concentrating on one of the vigilantes, the one holding an AK-47 in his hands. Get out of here. Just leave. Go. It’s not safe here. Go away. Go home.

  My heart leaps as the guy with the AK-47 turns to his leader, not raising his rifle but still not firing. “Howard, we need to go.”

  “What?” Howard, who’s still holding his grenade, says. “Are you nuts, Earl?”

  “I said we need to go. Put the pin back in the grenade.”

  Howa
rd shakes his head in disbelief. “I’m not doing a damn thing with this grenade. It’s the only thing keeping us alive.”

  But a few of the other vigilantes seem to follow suit, backing away along with Earl. It seems I’ve scared the shit out of them.

  I know I need to use this time. Soon! I call to Zack while concentrating on Howard. I focus on his mind, trying to encourage him to put the pin back in. No dice. Instead, he starts itching, dancing around while trying his best to hold onto the armed grenade in his hand.

  “What the—” he starts. Suddenly, Howard falls to the ground screaming, scratching at his body and rolling across the ground. “Oh, God, it hurts! Get it off me!”

  His body starts to expand, and he lets go of the grenade to claw at his skin. Thankfully, he’s on his belly . . . but I can only wince as I know what’s going to happen.

  Three . . . two . . . one.

  In his last instant, Howard’s eyes gain some desperate clarity, realizing what’s about to happen.

  Either my powers or the grenade beneath him, maybe both, explode at the same time. Earl drops his AK-47, already having backed away, his eyes going wide with terror. Now, he and the rest are full-fledged running away.

  That wasn’t what I was expecting, but it works.

  One of the vigilantes stays behind, raising his shotgun toward me. “Die, you bitch!”

  Now, Zack!

  I don’t even complete the thought before wolves are out of the barn, even leaping from the hayloft door down onto the sole vigilante. He manages to get a shot off, but from the looks of it, none of the wolves appear hurt. It only takes a few seconds, the wolves ripping his throat out before howling just as the sun cracks the horizon.

  The wolves shift and stand before me, three women and four men, the youngest maybe eleven. Zack steps forward while the two youngest women and one of the men go back inside, presumably to check on Zack’s father while another checks on the wounded man lying in the dirt. He looks bad, but I think he’ll recover.