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

by A. M. Hardin

  Jade smirks as she moves to my side while Celeste stands on her other side. Jade’s eyes trail over my challenger. “You’ve got this shit in the bag, Crystal. She’s got nothing on you.”

  “It makes me wonder why she thinks she’ll win this so easily,” Celeste says nonchalantly. “Not that I really give a shit. I’m just curious.”

  “Because the princess is weak,” Miranda says with a snarl. “I’ll see you in the combat arena, princess.”

  With that, Miranda disappears.

  I sigh and glance at my guards and my friends. “Might as well get this shit over with.”

  Jade snorts. “You said that about this ball, too. Regretting that one yet?”

  I give her a feral grin, causing everyone around me except my friends to frown in confusion. “Of course not. I finally get to have a little bit of a release.”

  Jade’s and Celeste’s mouths both turn into feral grins as well. Yeah, my friends are just as bloodthirsty as I am. Sometimes worse. However, tonight, I need to get this shit out before I explode.

  * * *

  “Are you seriously going to fight Miranda?” Ezra asks curiously.

  I smile as I watch Miranda at the other end of the arena talking with Rita while glaring at me. “Of course, I am.”

  Prince Julian, who followed after my group, frowns as he studies me. “Why though?”

  Jade snickers. “Crystal never backs down from a fight. Especially as wound up as she is right now.”

  “Do you think you’ll be able to defeat her?” Julian asks, peering between Miranda and myself.

  Celeste laughs as I give him the same feral grin that I gave Jade earlier. “I could kick her ass in my sleep.”

  “You said yourself that you don’t want this engagement,” Julian reminds me as Maxwell and Levi approach. They had gone to my parents to try to get them to stop the fight. I already knew it wouldn’t work and so did Levi, so I’m honestly shocked he even bothered.

  “What about it?” I ask, raising a brow at Julian.

  “Why would you fight for it?”

  I chuckle as I put my wings away, shocking everyone, except for my friends. “I’m not fighting because I want this stupid arranged marriage,” I tell him bluntly. “I’m fighting because I want to.”

  Levi frowns. “Since when do you want to fight?”

  I smile at him. “Since Celeste and Jade came into my life.” They taught me more than how to use my powers. They taught me how to keep control during a fight. Taught me how to overcome my dislike of fighting and to find the joy and fun that fighting could be.

  Levi continues frowning as my parents make their way to us. “Crystal,” my father says. “We would like a word with you.”

  “What do you need, father?” I ask politely. The moment they moved over here I had blanked my face so they wouldn’t know how much I’m actually looking forward to this fight.

  He glances at our audience. “In private.”

  I sigh. “There’s no point in having it in private. I’ll just tell them what you say anyway.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Very well. Your mother and I think it would be best if you didn’t use your magic during this fight.”

  “What magic?” I ask, my voice lower and tinged with the anger I’m desperately trying to hide at their request.

  “Any of it,” he snaps.

  “If she uses hers, you can bet your ass I’m going to use mine, father,” I say, doing my best to keep a sneer out of my tone and off my face.

  “Then we will inform her not to use hers as well,” my father says nonchalantly.

  Still determined that no one find out that I’m a dark fae apparently.

  “That’s not right,” Celeste says with a glower on her face. “She should be able to use her powers. She’s worked hard all this time to gain control over them.”

  “I said no, and that is final,” my father says, glaring at my friend. “I do not care for what is right in this case.”

  I put a hand on Celeste’s shoulder. “It’s fine.” Giving my dad my attention once more, I add, “Go tell Miranda that no powers are to be used, then. I’m ready for this to get started.”

  My dad stares at me for a long moment before nodding once and he and my mother move to Miranda, presumably telling her the same thing. Although, I wouldn’t put it past them to tell her to make it hurt.

  Within minutes, Julian, my friends, and my guards slowly disperse to the seating area to watch along with the others that came to watch the duel.

  Miranda stalks confidently to the middle of the arena, clearly believing she has this in the bag. I smile brightly at her as I meet her in the middle.

  “I’m shocked you accepted this challenge,” Miranda says, her tone snarky. “After all, what can a powerless fae do in a challenge like this?”

  I smirk. “I can kick your ass with or without powers, Miranda. Don’t act so tough. You’ll only embarrass yourself in the end.”

  “You may begin!” My father’s voice echoes over the arena.

  Without delay, Miranda pushes a wave of power at me that literally knocks me on my ass across the arena.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Crystal

  Mother fucking bitch.

  Looks like someone isn’t hesitating in using her powers. My ass feels numb for a moment from the impact to the hard ground. As I spring up, I ignore the pain in my ass that went from numb to throbbing painfully, real quick. I’m just glad she didn’t manage to put me through the damn wall. That would have hurt like hell.

  I glance at my father and watch as he scrubs a hand over his face, looking frustrated.

  I snicker as I turn back to Miranda. I walk slowly back to her. The shock on her face almost makes up for the fact that she just threw me across the damn room. “What? Were you expecting that to do more damage than it did?” I pout. “How sad for you. You’re not as strong as you thought you are.”

  A growl escapes Miranda and I feel the ground tremor slightly from beneath me. Ah, that’s right. She has control over the earth. Before she has a chance to do what she’s planning I make my move.

  Lightning fast, I’m in front of her, my hand clasped around her throat. “I hope you have more than that, Miranda,” I hiss as I put my face a breath away from hers. “I have a lot of anger to work off.” As I speak the last word, I slam her down on the ground, putting a nice Miranda sized hole beneath her. I let her go and step back, letting her get over the shock and get her breath back.

  As much as I don’t want this to last forever, I don’t want this to end too quickly so I don’t have a chance to work off the anger and frustration my being back here has caused.

  Miranda gets up but her gaze falls to the ground where her body made an outline. She looks up and meets my eyes, the first flickers of fear showing there, pleasing me way more than it should. “How?”

  I raise an eyebrow. “How what?”

  “How can you move that fast? For that matter how the hell do you have so much strength that you can do that with one fucking hand?” She gestures to the imprint in the ground.

  I snort. “It’s really not all that fucking hard. Now, are you ready? I’ll take it easy on you, Miranda, because as much as the reasoning for this duel annoys me, I don’t really want to kill you.”

  She scoffs and the fear that was in her eyes is replaced by anger once again. “You say that as if you truly could kill me.”

  Snickering, I shake my head. “Are you ready?”

  “Let’s go, princess bitch.”

  I feel the blast of power before it reaches me this time and I smoothly step out of the way. “Do you know any close combat moves?” I ask, exasperated.

  With a growl of frustration, the earth shakes again as Miranda’s wings flutter, bringing her into the air.

  I watch, curious. What the hell is she planning on doing? I doubt she has the power to level this place, although I wouldn’t be against it if she did. I’ve spent way too much of my life in this stupid ass arena.
<
br />   Clumps of earth—more like boulders than clumps if I’m being honest—pull out of the ground as Miranda raises her arms. “You shouldn’t toy with me, princess. I’m stronger than you think.”

  I raise an eyebrow at her, giving the boulders an uninterested glance. “Yeah,” I drawl. “I’m pretty sure you’re not if this is all you’ve got.” As soon as the words leave my mouth she throws her arms down and the boulders come barreling toward me.

  Without thought, I leap onto the top of the first boulder to get near, quickly leaping to the next. And the next. And the next. Until I reach Miranda in the air. Once I reach her, I punch her hard in her cheek. The power behind my hit throws her out of the air and into the ground where she skids until she’s got all her precious earth hugging her body.

  “Oops,” I mutter to myself as I land nimbly on my feet. “I really didn’t mean to hit her that hard.”

  Miranda pulls herself up and glares at me. “That hurt.”

  Oh, Gods save me from this whiny brat. Pretty sure it was supposed to, dipshit.

  I don’t say anything, just watch as she shakes the dirt out of her hair. Really? You’re fussing over your damn hair in the middle of a fucking fight? A pathetic fight, if I’m being honest. Hell, I’ve fought humans that were tougher than Miranda.

  Miranda tugs her dress back into place, since it’s currently twisted a little bit around her body. With anger flaring in her gaze, she moves quickly toward me. Finally. She’s coming close. Hopefully that means this will be a true fight.

  In moments she throws herself at me, throwing punches and kicks at me. I neatly dodge most of them, though a couple still manage to clip me. I’m impressed she’s able to kick in the monstrosity of a dress she’s wearing. I continue fending off her efforts, not ready to let loose on her just yet. Every time a punch or a kick is blocked, anger and frustration flash in her eyes and on her expression.

  With a piercing shriek, she throws a punch at my face, only this time I can feel her building power in her hand, so I know if I get hit with that punch it’ll hurt like hell. Might even be enough to actually knock me out.

  I dodge the punch and grab her wrist as she pulls back. Giving her a smirk, I say casually, “Now, it’s my turn.”

  Twisting her arm and bending it awkwardly, I hear a snap as the bone in her arm breaks. My mouth curves into what Jade and Celeste call my bloodthirsty smile. Miranda cries out in pain a moment before my foot makes contact with her center, knocking the breath out of her, and cutting off her cry. She gasps for air, struggling to catch her breath.

  I release her arm and she cradles it against her as she bends over, protecting her midsection. “Bitch,” she hisses, as she looks up at me. Her anger is burning hot compared to what it was when this fight started. It surprises me because she was already supremely pissed at the beginning. Now she’s absolutely livid.

  She stands up straight and the ground tremors beneath us as her anger grows. In a heartbeat she pulls more boulders from the earth. I sigh. This again?

  The boulders circle us fast, slowly closing in on us, until the circle shrinks enough to where the only thing in the center is me. Pebbles fly in the air, tumbling off the boulders and smacking into my skin, leaving welts and scratches here and there. What the hell is she planning on doing, crushing me?

  Done playing, I step closer to Miranda. Panic flashes briefly in her eyes as I step past the boulders, narrowly missing getting hit by one. I hear a whooshing sound in the air. I jump as high as I can, flipping through the air, back into my spot where the boulders had circled me before. The boulders all zoom into the space I was just standing as I went toward Miranda. They crash with a loud boom, shaking the ground beneath our feet. When Miranda realizes I escaped her boulders, her expression twists, once again showing her fury. The ground rumbles menacingly a moment before I’m encased in an earth tomb.

  Well, now. This is interesting. And damn inconvenient.

  I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as my heart starts racing in my chest. My mind threatening to go back to the dark, long ago as it processes that I’m in a relatively small enclosed area with no way out. Fighting through the panic and flashbacks, I hold my hands against the earth in front of me and push my power into it, attempting to break it down from the inside out.

  It doesn’t work.

  No, no, no, no. Come on. Breathe. Focus. Push past it, Crystal. You have this. Just breathe.

  I pull my hands away from the wall in front of me and feel the sweat on my palms. I wipe my hands down my dress, as I attempt to ignore the fact that my hands are shaking.

  Let’s try this again.

  I put my palms against the wall again and push even more power outward into the earth encasing me. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t do anything.

  My deep breaths to keep me calm are done. My breaths are coming fast now. Tears prick my eyes as helplessness rolls through me.

  My little fists bang on the door, only to be ignored. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, mommy! Let me out, please! I promise I’ll be good!”

  I shake my head, forcing the memories back. No. Not now.

  The darkness inside me that’s been growing since we’ve arrived back in Faerie tempts me to let it loose to get myself out of this. I feel it like a weight pressing against my chest.

  Maybe I should just. . .

  Maybe. . . Just a little more.

  * * *

  Levi

  I clench my fists tightly, not caring that it’s drawing blood as I watch Miranda trap Crystal in the earth. My breath catches in my throat. Trapping Crystal in the earth was either the smartest thing Miranda has ever done or the dumbest. My mind races as I remember the last time Crystal was in such a position.

  It was after Crystal’s powers manifested. She cried in my arms for hours before she finally fell into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares of the dark.

  “Is Miranda trying to kill her?” Ezra asks, his eyes as wide as the rest of ours, pulling me out of my thoughts.

  “Looks like it,” Jade says, sounding bored. I glance at her and Celeste and notice they both have the same bored look on their faces. They don’t look as worried as the rest of us guards. Hell, even Crystal’s parent’s look worried.

  “Aren’t you worried?” I ask, trying to keep the bite out of my tone, but I don’t succeed.

  Jade and Celeste turn to me. “Please,” Jade scoffs shaking her head as she turns back to the arena.

  Celeste shrugs. “Crystal’s got this in the bag. Miranda’s weak compared to Crystal.”

  I open my mouth to say something but Jade cuts me off, “Just watch, Captain. She’s going to be fine. I can’t say the same for Miranda though. She’ll be hurting after this, if she manages not to die.”

  “The princess has been beaten!” Miranda shouts at the king and queen. “She’s not going to get out of there on her own. Not until I release the earth myself.”

  Celeste and Jade chuckle. “Oh, how wrong she is,” Celeste murmurs, a smug smirk on her face. “Crystal’s just having fun with her. She also doesn’t want this to end too quickly.”

  “Too quickly?” Maxwell asks, sounding shocked.

  Jade nods. “She needs to work off her anger. If she holds it in . . . well, let’s just say, it won’t be pretty when she explodes.”

  “Well?” Miranda demands. “I defeated—”

  The entire arena rumbles as a black smoke and streaks of pink light starts drifting out through the bottom of the little tomb Miranda had encased Crystal in, cutting Miranda off. Miranda turns to the mound of dirt and gapes along with everyone else in the arena.

  Power pulsates through the air, so much power that it’s almost suffocating. What the hell?

  The earth tomb holding Crystal explodes, shooting the dirt in every direction, hitting many of us in the seats. Several of the watchers start coughing, myself included. Once I’m done coughing, I gape at the sight of Crystal standing there with a glitter of something in her eyes. Something simil
ar to bloodlust, only it’s not bloodlust. Whatever it is, it sends a shiver down my spine.

  “Shit, not good,” mutters Jade. I don’t turn to look at her, instead keeping my eyes on the females below. In the blink of an eye, Crystal is standing in front of a clearly shaken Miranda. Without a word spoken between the two of them, Crystal grabs her by the throat and throws her hard across the arena.

  Not even giving Miranda a chance to make contact with the wall quickly zooming at her, Crystal is suddenly behind her and kicks her flying body back across the arena, only this time Miranda lands on the ground, skidding and flipping across the ground.

  Once she stops moving along the ground, Miranda slowly gets up, looking like she’s in a supreme amount of pain.

  “She should have just stayed down,” Celeste says, disappointedly.

  “Mhm,” Jade agrees as Crystal again seems to materialize in front of Miranda and punches her in the face, bringing a shaky Miranda down to the ground again. In a heartbeat, Crystal is on top of Miranda, baring her teeth before punching her in the face again. And again. And again.

  Suddenly, Jade and Celeste are there, pulling Crystal off a bleeding and clearly broken Miranda. Crystal continues trying to break free of their hold, in an attempt to get back to the unconscious female on the ground below. In a moment, Crystal pauses as Jade whispers in her ear. Breathing heavily, the tension leaves Crystal’s body.

  “A bloodthirsty female isn’t she?” prince Julian’s father says, approval coating his words. “I like her.”

  Julian sighs at his dad.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Crystal

  “You won. Breathe. You don’t want to kill the dumb female,” Jade says in a calm whisper, causing me to pause in my struggles.

  “Come back to us, Crystal,” Celeste adds, standing in front of me with her hands gripping my shoulders. I also realize that Jade has her arms wrapped around my waist.

  I move my gaze between my friends as I struggle to process what happened. I remember Miranda surrounding me in the earth. I remember struggling at first to get out of the damn thing. That was pissing me off, then. . . I stupidly let my powers go and ceased containing them as I should have in order to get out. Unfortunately, the power overtook me completely. I only meant to let a little more of it out than I usually use.