Scarlet Tempest, #1

by Juniper King

  I breathed out a chuckle, he must have really been worried about me. I would have reached up and grabbed his arm again, but with his one arm around my stomach, mine were a little pinned. It got me thinking though, there was a time when this kind of behaviour from Ayre would have gotten him an elbow in the sternum, but that seems like a lifetime ago now. Now I felt completely comfortable and safe in his strong embrace. “What’s up, Ayre? You were awfully quiet at dinner tonight.”

  “We should have sex,” he said as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.

  “What?” I said with a chuckle, suddenly feeling a slight awkwardness at being wrapped in his arms. “I know you get a little starved for attention out here in the woods, but don’t be silly.”

  “I’m not being silly, I’m being serious.” His hold around me grew a little snugger.

  I clicked my tongue. “Ayre, stop teasing—”

  “I’ve seen the way you look at me, Selynna,” the way he purred my name had me tingling all over, his mouth whispered beside my ear, his breath hot and his voice husky.

  I shuddered involuntarily. “Well, you’re… very attractive.” I hadn’t been pining for him, he knew as much, but he was for damn sure noticeable.

  He gathered my hair and brushed it over one shoulder, giving his lips better access to my neck. “I’ve fantasized about you, you know.” Goosebumps spread across my flesh at the feather touch of his lips dancing across my skin. “Tasting you, hearing you moan my name. Making you come over, and over, and over…” he drawled out slowly. His lips delicately caressed my skin with every word, sending shivers down my spine with every touch.

  It wasn’t like this was the first time Ayre had been up in my personal space, but he had never been this forward before. The light, jovial undertone that was usually present when he was teasing me was missing. The usually facetious innuendos replaced by an aggressive solicitation.

  Whatever the reason behind his sudden change, I didn’t like it. “Ayre, stop.”

  He ignored my protest, leaning away from my neck and nipping the tip of my ear. “Stop? But, why? Come on, Sel, let me worship your body, let me make you feel things you’ve never felt before.” As he spoke, I could feel his already hard arousal pressing against my back.

  “Ayre, please…” I didn’t want this. I didn’t mind his silly advances, his teasing, but this was too much. I tried to pull away, but his arms tightened, squeezing me against his chest, and squeezing a whimper from my lungs. I didn’t want to struggle or fight back. That wasn’t true, I wanted to bite, and kick, and claw my way out of this situation. But this was Ayre, my friend and confidante. I didn’t want to hurt him.

  “Please let go of me, Ayre.”

  “Are you scared of me?”

  I didn’t know how to answer. I had never been scared of Ayre, not of his reputation as a womanizer, not even when I saw him viciously kill a man. But in this situation, I was afraid.

  His hand worked my shirt up, fingertips lightly brushing my stomach as his teeth grazed the sensitive place where neck meets shoulder.

  “Tell me you don’t want me,” he whispered into my ear. “And I’ll stop.”

  “I don’t—” My words were shoved back down my throat as one hand closed over my mouth and the other slid down the plane of my stomach, his fingers adeptly slipping under the waistband of my pants.

  The sudden mix of shock and fear had me seizing up against his chest. No. This has to be some kind of nightmare. I must have fallen asleep in front of the fire. This couldn’t be happening.

  Ayre wouldn’t do this.

  I bit down on the hand holding my mouth as hard as I could, the coppery taste of blood seeping through my teeth and touching my tongue. His grip on me loosened as he screamed in pain, giving me the opportunity to elbow him hard in the stomach and I burst free from his grip.

  I whipped around to face him, “What the hell’s gotten into you, Ayre?”

  Now that I could see his face, something definitely wasn’t right.

  Working at a tavern for my entire adult life, I had seen my fair share of intoxicated and lecherous men. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Ayre was drunk. But that couldn’t be possible. I’d been with him for hours and he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol. Besides, he wasn’t slurring his words; he wasn’t staggering, and nothing about his mannerisms suggested he was drunk. I couldn’t explain it, there was just something about his eyes—glazed over and trance-like.

  “Nothing’s gotten into me. But I would like to get into you.”

  When Ayre reached out his arm towards me, I reacted on impulse. I threw up my hand, and he flew backwards several feet, slamming hard against a tree. Everything stood frozen in time, my head throbbing, Ayre on the forest floor, and me holding my hand out in front of me as if I were staving off some invisible enemy.

  “Shit, Selynna, what the hell?” He lifted himself up to a seated position, rubbing the back of his head, pulling away his hand to see if there was any blood. “Why did you attack me like that?” His gaze eventually came up to look at me, annoyance quickly morphing to concern. “Sel, are you alright, your nose is bleeding?”

  I didn’t move, still holding my arm in front of me. What? Why was he acting as if nothing had happened? My arm relaxed just slightly. “Do you not… remember anything?”

  “Remember anything? We were sitting by the fire, we just finished dinner…” his face scrunched as if he were searching his memories. Had he really forgotten? His face paled suddenly, and his eyes shot open with a look of absolute horror before he looked up at me. “Sel, I didn’t mean to—that wasn’t—” A look of recognition flashed across his face, before all his features erupted with anger. “Kesra, that scheming bitch.” His eyes flicked back to mine with a look that resembled fear. “Sel, you need to get away from me as fast as you can, do you understand? You can’t be anywhere near me right now.”

  A new kind of tension took hold of my body. I’d never seen Ayre look that intense before. “Ayre, you’re scaring me.”

  “Good, you should be terrified! That was just a taste of what she can do, now run!”

  Just as the words were leaving Ayre’s mouth, a mist coalesced behind him. Had there not been a bright moon in the sky that night it might have gone completely unnoticed, but even with the faint light, it took my brain a second too long to comprehend what was happening. When I tried to shout the sound caught in my throat.

  Ayre must have seen the look of horror on my face because he spun out of the way just in time to escape the full force of Aksel’s strike. The sword glinted in the moonlight as it slashed through the air, blood spraying from Ayre’s back.

  Ayre cried out in pain, his foot slipping out from under him after Aksel’s surprise attack. He collapsed to a knee before Aksel kicked him to the ground and shoved a sword against his throat. It all happened faster than I could even blink.

  Ayre lay prone on his back with Aksel’s sword keeping him pinned to the ground, his ragged breathing echoing through the darkness almost as loud as my own heartbeat in my ears.

  That strike along his back had been a killing blow. Aksel would have killed him if he hadn’t moved quickly enough…

  “Impressive.”

  I startled at the voice that came from behind Aksel. I hadn’t noticed the woman standing there in the darkness, had she appeared with Aksel? It wasn’t Sera, who was she? What was going on?

  The woman took a few steps closer, but it was still difficult to make out any of her features through the blackness. It was her long blonde hair, glinting beautifully under the moonlight, that triggered a strange feeling of recognition from me.

  “I guess you really are more than just a pretty face.” Her voice had a lyrical quality similar to that of Ayre’s, a voice that attracts and captivates. “I have to say, though, I’m a little bit peeved, Ayre.” She knelt and hovered over his body, her voice taking on a tone of annoyance. “I finally had my opportunity with him, but we didn’t even have a chanc
e to begin before I felt my hold on you snap.” For emphasis she snapped her fingers. “So of course we had to come rushing back here before you could figure out what I’d done and come chasing after us.” She rose to her feet before her attention darted over to me, “You just have to keep ruining things for me, don’t you? You broke my hold on him. Any normal girl would have jumped at the chance to fuck a satyr but you just couldn’t go along with it, could you, you little prude. Do you think you’re too good for him, is that it? Don’t want to waste your time with anyone who isn’t Aksel?”

  “She has nothing to do with this, Kesra.” Ayre interrupted.

  I stood frozen in shock. These three obviously knew each other, but it wasn’t a friendly relationship.

  “Oh, on the contrary, Ayre, I’m afraid this little human mutt has everything to do with this.” She took a few more steps towards me, and I instinctively took one step back. She chuckled, feigning surprise. “Are you afraid of me, Selynna? And here I thought we were becoming such good friends.”

  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me in the darkness. It looked like the woman’s hair was becoming shorter and darkening in colour. Her frame was shifting too, becoming more petite and familiar.

  “What are you?” My voice came out shamefully weak, my body as tight with tension as a bowstring.

  “Even you can’t be that naïve, Selynna, you must have figured that out by now.” Sera’s voice said to me, but the woman’s form was already shifting back into the busty blonde Super from only moments ago. “Gods, I hated that form, so mundane. But what better way to get close to you than with a small, meek, flat-chested human, just like yourself,” she mocked.

  It sounded like Ayre was struggling in some way, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of ‘Sera’. A succubus, she had to be. Someone who could change their shape at will and manipulate men. That had to be why Aksel had attacked Ayre, they were friends, there was no way he would have just turned on him like that. This woman… she turned them against each other and tricked me in order to get close to me, but why?

  Distracted by my thoughts I didn’t notice her until she was right in front of me. I tried to pull away, but she snatched my throat, holding me in place. A gurgling sound eked its way out of my throat, she was strong, stronger than I had expected. I tried to pull her hands away but her grip was like a vice. There was something in her eyes that looked manic—possessed.

  “I’ve been trying for years to make him mine and then you show up out of nowhere, just an insignificant little inbred human, and suddenly he’s completely fixated with you? The way he looked at you, like you were actually more than just some petty human fuck, like he actually cared about you. What’s so special about you when he could have had me?” There was nothing lyrical about her voice now.

  She was… jealous of me?

  “You got what you wanted, Kesra, just leave her out of it,” Ayre struggled to yell, but it sounded like the end of his words were cut off with Aksel’s sword pressing harder against his throat.

  “You’re right, I did get what I wanted. But now that doesn’t seem like enough.” Her fingers tightened around my throat, fingernails biting into my skin. “I feel like I’ve been made the fool, having to follow you around and play sweet and nice, trying to be your friend. It should have been so simple; take you into the bathroom, incapacitate you, then go back to the table looking like you. I could have had him that very night! But you had to freak out and run away, you ruined everything.

  “When Aksel came back to Korinth without you, I thought it was my chance, but he was still so focused on you there was no way he would even give me the time of day. And if it was true that you had been taken by a finman there was no way I could take your face and pretend I had escaped.

  “But then it really was my lucky day when I found you three in the forest. All I had to do was wait for you to come by and you invited me right in, just as expected. Poor gullible, stupid, Selynna.”

  This was my fault? “What are you talking about?”

  “Are you really that dense? Around you, their guards are down, they didn’t suspect a thing. They didn’t even notice that I was weaving my magic through the camp all throughout dinner. I would have preferred if he’d chosen me over you, but I grew tired of waiting. In the end, if I have to take control of him then so be it.”

  Her nails seemed to grow, stabbing into my throat and finally breaking through the skin. I gurgled out in pain.

  “Kesra, stop!” Ayre shouted, “Let her go and you can have me.”

  Her grip loosened, and her eyes flicked to the side. “An interesting proposition.”

  She dropped me to the ground and I coughed and sputtered, trying to get air into my lungs. I could feel the heat of the blood trickling down my throat. She could have so easily ripped out my throat with just a flick of her hand. My entire body shook.

  Aksel sheathed his weapon and Ayre pushed himself up on his elbows, giving me one last weighted glance before Kesra was in front of him. She leaned over and stroked her hand down his face, his eyes losing focus as his gaze shifted to her.

  This couldn’t be happening. She’d taken control of both of them, and I just stood there and watched, frozen like a terrified little girl.

  “Well, Selynna, it looks like I have both of the trophies and you have nothing.” She got to her feet and Ayre followed suit. “I do feel a tad guilty going back on my word, but I just had a fun thought. Wouldn’t it be even better if your two lovers were the ones to take your life?”

  Ayre stepped around Sera and slowly stalked towards me, sliding a knife from his hip. Dread skittered down my spine. I turned to run only to have Aksel mist in front of me, cutting off my path of escape, and my heart stopped. I heard Ayre’s footsteps approaching from behind. I was pinned. I had to cause a distraction and put some distance between us, but if I was going to get away, I had to stop Aksel from immediately misting after me.

  I didn’t have time to think about it. I quickly imagined rolling my powers into a physical ball of force between my hands and sent out a violent telekinetic punch, catching Sera right in the face. As her head was thrown back, I could see her nose twist to the side, breaking under the force. Blood exploded from the impact. Sera landed on the forest floor, screaming and twisting in agony as she clutched her face. Aksel and Ayre’s attention darted over to her just as I grabbed the canvas of the tent with my magic and threw it over Aksel like a net off a fishing boat. He was thrown to the ground, caught off guard by my attack and allowing me the chance to swerve around his struggling form and dart into the forest.

  22

  Branches tore at my clothes and exposed skin like the sharp claws of the forest. Something whipped across my cheek but the pain barely registered. All I could think about was running. I focused all my adrenaline into my legs, sprinting as hard as I could. The burn in my lungs didn’t matter, all that mattered was getting away. I needed to put as much distance between me and them as I could.

  My foot hooked on a root and I careened towards the ground in a tangle of knees and elbows, but quickly vaulted back up to my feet like I was being chased by death himself.

  I ran deeper and deeper into the trees, deeper and deeper into darkness, the moonlight struggling to filter through the canopy of leaves above.

  Through the blackness it was getting harder and harder to distinguish the shapes of trees. My pace slowed and I veered around a tree in my path only to hear a wooden ‘thunk’ against the bark where I had just been. I looked back and the barest hint of moonlight glinted off the blade of a knife.

  Oh gods, he’s actually trying to kill me.

  I pushed even harder. My shoulder scraped painful against a tree as I skirted by, only to get my foot caught up in another root. I tumbled to the ground when it suddenly disappeared beneath me. I rolled head over heels down a steep hill, bumping and crashing into seemingly everything in my path.

  I landed in a shallow river, my spine crashing into a large rock. I bit back the scream that
wanted to escape. I couldn’t give away my position. I rolled over, ignoring the fierce pain, and took in my surroundings.

  Hide. I need to hide.

  I slid under a rocky overhang about two feet above the edge of the creek. I laid on my belly, the cold water and mud soaking through my clothes.

  A set of legs landed just in front of my field of vision, splashing water onto my face. I almost shrieked in surprise, slapping my hands over my mouth just in time.

  Ayre slowly sulked around, hunting for me.

  There was no doubt he would find me, even in the darkness all he had to do was turn around and he would see me. I needed to do something fast.

  I haphazardly threw my magic deep into the trees on the other side of the river. It sounded a lot like something falling through the underbrush. Ayre’s legs stopped dead before bolting in the direction I had led him.

  I stayed on my belly in the cold creek, waiting, listening to the sound of Ayre retreating through the brush. My shaky hands unclenched from my face and fell to the ground, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. I couldn’t seem to support the weight of my head any longer as it drooped forward, my forehead falling onto my clenched fists and the tip of my nose brushing the water. My body shook and my eyes burned with restrained tears. Aksel and Ayre, two of my closest friends, the two who had been keeping me safe and promised to protect me, were now trying to kill me.

  I was alone again. Fighting for my life all on my own, but this time the people who might have saved me were the ones trying to kill me. My body shook more violently as memories of Raen came back to my mind and I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to cry, the unfairness overwhelming me. Why was this happening to me? I didn’t belong in this world of mercenaries and Supers. I didn’t deserve this. I wanted to go home. I didn’t want to fight anymore. I wanted my old, boring life back.

  Now was my chance to run. To go back home where I belonged.