Crimson Kisses: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Marked Souls Book 1)

by Sabrina Shelley

  Yet he went along with my plan anyway. Either because he knew I’d do it without him or because he understands me in a way I didn’t realize. Likely both.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, stretching up on my toes to place my palms on his cheeks. He bends down to meet me, and I place a gentle kiss on his lips. “And I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”

  He chuckles. “You wouldn’t have listened. You have to see for yourself, experience things for yourself. I get that about you, Rory Bright. And as crazy as it makes me, I admire it as well.”

  “Quite an admission from the unyielding commander,” I tease, kissing him again.

  I glance over at the other three men, not sure what to expect from them, especially with this display of affection, but they’re all just watching me with concern…and support.

  “It’s a bad fucking idea, little witch, but we’re here for you. All of us.” Ryker gives me a smile, a bit of that amusement that I love about him slipping in, lightening a situation that’s grim and bleak.

  “We are, love,” Nico replies, stepping forward. “So, shall we do this thing then?”

  I nod resolutely. “Let’s do it.”

  Yeah, I’m way out of my element here, in way over my head, but I’m committed to seeing this through. I just have to figure out how the hell to progress with these mists standing between us and Cassandra.

  Drew approaches as well, and we’re all five standing abreast, staring down the ethereal fingers still stretching toward me. He was supposed to stay with the car, be our getaway man, and he fucking hated the idea. Looks like he’s not down with that plan any longer.

  “How are we going to get her through this?” he asks.

  “We? That’s not part of the pl—” Xander begins.

  “Fuck the plan.” I give him a look, and he heaves a deep sigh, but doesn’t disagree. “We need a new plan.”

  “Okay, here’s the deal.” Ryker turns to face us. “Way I see it, most of the plan can remain intact. Nico helps Rory stay grounded as she makes her way through, I scan the surroundings for any sign of sentient beings—dead witches aside, I’m not messing with that shit—and Xander leads the way since he knows this place the best. Drew,” he chuckles, “you can use your brute force to fight off anything we encounter along the way. Looks like we may need it.”

  “Brute force?” I repeat.

  “You should have seen this guy standing up to the Warden, little witch. Thought I was a brawler, but I got nothing on my man Iver.”

  I look at Drew as he grimaces, and I think we’re all wondering just how much shit the Warden put him and Ryker through. One more reason we need to get moving. We don’t want to stick around and find out. Especially if the way he looked that first day I saw him Aisling is any indication.

  “Okay.” I turn to Nico. “I’m going to need you more than I realized. But are you up for this?”

  He nods. “Don’t worry, love. I sensed what you felt a moment ago stepping toward the mist. But here’s the thing. I think it affects witches much more than guardians, or anyone for that matter,” he adds, casting a look at Drew.

  Xander confirms his statement. “They’re calling out to you, Rory, because they sense your power. As long as you stay focused you should be fine. But the most important thing to remember here is that you can’t draw on your magic at all while we traverse the mists. When you made it through the first time, you weren’t aware of your powers. Now that you’re stronger, if you give off a hint of your magic, the spirits will be attracted to it like a magnet. So no magic. Got it?”

  I nod and press my lips together. Sounds easy enough. What I don’t want to say aloud, though, is that the hardest part will be resisting the siren song of the power I could draw from them. I’ve had a taste of that raw power tonight, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, it feels almost like a drug. Like I just want to draw more and more into myself. No wonder witches burnout.

  Why the hell has no one told me this?

  Then it hits me. Maybe they don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. It’s a fucking scary thought, like I could be more susceptible to the darkness or some shit. I shake the thought off. There will be time for that later. Right now I need to focus on our mission—getting Cassandra out.

  The men surround me, Drew and Xander at the front, leading the way, and Nico and Ryker behind me, sending out their powers. I’m not really sure how Ryker’s vargr abilities work, but I’m guessing if there’s anything alive in the darkness, he’ll know.

  Nico reaches up and gives my hand a quick squeeze as I try to let my mind go blank, try not to focus on the whispers that I can already hear as we take our first step into the mists.

  You’re amazing woman, Rory, he says to me silently, in my mind, sending a wave of affection toward me.

  I couldn’t do this without you, I reply.

  Then a feeling washes over me, almost like a memory of the connection we shared in the rose field, and I feel light. Happy. Serene. As if I can take on the world with Nico by my side.

  But not just Nico. The images that fill my head are of him, yes, but also of Xander, Ryker, and even Drew. Even though only two are my guardians, I have an intense connection with all of them. It seemed impossible at first that I could care for multiple men. But I find that I do.

  I feel my mind drift to thoughts of them, both separately and together, as we continue our silent journey. Another rush of love washes over me, as well as acceptance.

  It’s okay, you know, Nico says in my mind, to love more than one man.

  And I realize that I do know this. Accepting it gives me a sense of peace.

  Then Nico projects an image into my mind that makes me gasp. Me and five men…in bed…together.

  I hear him chuckle behind me, and I want to turn around and give him a look to shoot that shit down. But at the same time, this idea… Well, it really turns me on.

  Holy shit.

  Stop it, I tell him, but even in my head I can hear the amusement in my tone. He’s totally messing with me now. At least, I think he is.

  Suddenly, Xander and Drew stop, and I almost run into them, I’m so distracted with the images that are now burned into my brain.

  “Nice job, Arendale,” Xander clips out, but I catch a smirk on his face and I wonder how much he knows about what Nico just did.

  I look around, pulled back into my surroundings. Whoa. Nice job, indeed. We’re standing in front of the gate leading into Eastwatch. Nico managed to keep me sufficiently distracted.

  I clear my throat and shift on my feet. “Um, yeah, nice job,” I mumble, my face feeling like it’s on fire. But what can I say? It worked.

  “Okay, Rory, here’s where it gets difficult again. I hope you didn’t wear yourself out too much with that display back in the car.” Xander takes my hands. “Time to put on your Wicked Witch Halloween costume again.”

  I blow out a breath. Yeah. Keeping up my Dr. Belmont façade in the other prison was taxing enough. I was fresh then. I’ve used an obscene amount of magic since, and we still have so much more work ahead of us.

  I close my eyes and repeat the process Xander and I have practiced. This time it comes faster, and when I open my eyes again, I’m looking through Dr. Belmont’s blue eyes into Xander’s dark ones.

  “Wait, you aren’t going to be the Warden?” my Dr. Belmont voice says.

  He shakes his head. “I think it would be best if I reserved all my power for you to draw from. Just in case.”

  I nod. He’s probably right. Besides, it’s not uncommon for Dr. Belmont and Xander to be seen together in Eastwatch.

  “I think the rest of you need to stay here, too. I don’t want to create too much suspicion. Vargr, you can do your cat trick so you all know what’s going on inside.”

  “No way,” Drew objects. “I’ve come this far. I’m not letting Rory out of my sight now.”

  “He’s right, Xander,” I say, putting my hand on his arm. “If things go wrong, it could be dangerous having just the
two of us in there.”

  “If things go wrong,” Ryker interjects, “it won’t be just the two of you in there.”

  It comes out like a growl. Like the idea of things going wrong brings out a feral side of him I’ve never seen.

  “Fair enough.” Xander looks at Drew with barely hidden contempt. But then a grin flashes across his lips briefly. “But you’re going in as my prisoner.”

  I hate the way he says it, like he takes pleasure in the idea, but we don’t have time to get into it now. The clock’s ticking. So we leave Ryker and Nico at the gate. Xander pulls out a pair of handcuffs from his jacket and cuffs Drew, then taps in the code on the gate.

  And in we go.

  Ryker wasn’t wrong. The place is swarming with guards. They’re everywhere. I don’t think I’ve seen this many guards in one place the entire time I’ve been at Aisling. It’s unnerving. What are they expecting? Why are so many guards here? If this is a trap, do they truly need this many?

  As we make our way across the open space headed to the main part of the prison, Xander gives Drew a shove from behind, causing him to stumble.

  “Seriously?” I mutter.

  “Just making things believable, Dr. Belmont,” he replies.

  God, when he’s not doing things that are slowly winning me over, he’s really fucking infuriating.

  “Nice job, Commander North,” I say in Dr. Belmont’s voice, loudly so all the nearby guards can hear me. “You seem to have amassed quite the number of guards here. Care to explain how you came to this particular amount?”

  He shoots me a look like, what the fuck? But I just smile and lift my brows.

  “I think that would be best discussed once we’ve disposed of our prisoner here, don’t you agree, Dr. Belmont?”

  I grimace. “Then lead the way, Commander.”

  None of the guards pay us any attention other than moving quickly out of our way if we come too close to them. It’s as simple as it was at the other prison. And surprisingly, I’m able to maintain my appearance with more ease than before.

  The next minute, Xander is opening the barred door leading down into the cells and pushing Drew in ahead of him.

  “This is what happens when you violate the laws, roughneck,” he says, loudly enough for everyone in the prison yard to hear. Then the door is clanging shut behind us.

  I let my façade drop and glare at him. “Was that really necessary?”

  “Do you want them asking questions, Rory. Come on. Get over it. Besides, we all know what happens when you fuck another man’s witch.”

  Drew turns on him with a look of contempt, barely containing his rage. I don’t blame him. Right now I want to throat punch the guy, belittling what Drew and I shared like that. But then he turns to me and sighs.

  “It’s fine, Rory. The skinwalker is just jealous he wasn’t the first one to have you.”

  Xander turns to him, a smug smirk on his face. “Hope you enjoyed it, roughneck. It’s the last taste you’ll ever get of her.”

  Oh shit.

  The wrath that I feel at that unnecessary remark is nothing compared to what comes over Drew’s face. And then he unleashes.

  He comes at Xander almost out of nowhere, taking him off guard, laying into him with his fists with a violence I’ve never seen. I have no idea what happened to his cuffs, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say he ripped free of them. Brute force was right.

  “Stop!” I scream, but to no avail. Drew is likely seeing red, and I can’t say that I blame him. How is it that I can feel such mixed emotions about one of my guardians? There are times when I think I really could love Xander, then there are moments like this when I don’t think I can despise him any more.

  Drew lands a punch to Xander’s gut that sends him flying down the stone steps, and he’s hot on the trail, rushing down behind Xander to continue this mission. I’m not sure if he’ll stop until he’s beaten him to death at this point.

  A loud clang sounds from far ahead down the dark tunnel leading to the cells.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  Shit. It’s Cassandra’s guard. I’d know that malicious voice anywhere.

  “Stop it! Both of you. Stop!” I run after Drew and pull on his arms, trying to put an end to this before they ruin everything.

  He whirls on me, his face a mask of pure rage, and I step back involuntarily, frightened by this side of him.

  “Drew,” I whisper, “please.”

  I seem to reach him, wherever he’s gone inside himself, and his face slowly relaxes from the contorted mask it’s become.

  “Fuck. I’m sorry, Rory.” He reaches for me. “I just couldn’t let him talk about you, about us, like that.”

  “I know. But now is not the time.”

  I realize I’m shaking. Looking down at Xander where he’s lying on the steps, I start to say something, but then the sound of footsteps fall heavy on the stone floor down the tunnel.

  “Who’s there?” the guard calls out, his voice ever closer.

  “Xander,” I whisper in panic. I’m back to looking like myself again. If this guy comes around the corner and finds us, it’s all over. He could sound an alarm. He could take me captive. Anything could happen if I don’t get my Belmont mask back on immediately.

  I rush to him, hoping to draw on his power, but there’s not much there for me to draw on. He struggles to stand, bleeding from his nose and mouth.

  Then he’s there, Cassandra’s guard, staring at the three of us in shock.

  “What the fuck is this?”

  Cassandra is right behind him.

  “Rory?” she gasps. “What are you doing? I told you…” She’s shaking her head slowly, fear in her violet eyes. She looks even worse than the last time I saw her, nearly emaciated from the lack of nutrition and cruel treatment of her guard.

  “Cassandra!” I rush toward her but am stopped by the guard bulky arm.

  “Not so fast, witch.” He looks from me to Drew to Xander, eyes full of suspicion. “Well, well, what have we here?”

  The smile that passes over his lips is pure evil.

  Xander turns to face him. “Step aside. The Warden is returning and wants to see your prisoner.”

  It could be plausible. But the guard isn’t buying it. “Oh, Commander, I’m sorry but I’m afraid I don’t take orders from you.”

  “The hell you don’t. Hand her over.”

  “My orders come from Dr. Belmont, and seeing as how she’s clearly not with you, nor has she communicated any of this to me, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait for her.”

  Fuck. If only I’d not let my magic drop when we made it inside. But what was I supposed to do? Xander was being such and ass, and then Drew went all Rocky Balboa on him.

  “And until then,” he adds slowly, smiling, if you could call I that, “I think I may just need to keep you all here and await her arrival.”

  I don’t think. I just react.

  All the emotions rolling through my body—fear, anger, desperation—seem to give me enough energy to fuel my power, to recharge what I’ve already spent.

  And amplify it.

  I raise my hands and point them at his chest.

  Then unleash the full force of it all.

  Bright red light comes forth in two blinding bolts. I don’t miss my mark.

  But I also can’t seem to stop.

  My intention was to knock him out. To take him down for the count, grab Cassandra, and get the hell out.

  But blazing fire continues to rip from my hands, wave after wave of power connecting the two of us in a horrific tangle of pain and fury.

  If I thought the power I wielded in the car was immense, it pales in comparison to what I’m feeling now. I’m flooded with the rush of it, the thrill, the pure control that I have over everything.

  Except I’m not in control. I can’t seem to stop. The magic is the one controlling me. I was a fool to think I could wield such magic.

  There’s always a price to pay…r />
  And this time the price may be more than I was willing to bargain. Because as the bolts of red fire continue to rush from my palms, it narrows to a laser-like point, intensifying, lighting the entire tunnel with blinding light as it rips through the guard’s chest.

  “Rory! Rory!”

  I hear my name as if it’s coming from far away, tinny and distant, like an echo from another dimension.

  Then Xander and Drew have me by the arms, pulling me back, prying my hands behind me.

  “Stop. Stop it now. That’s enough!” I barely process the words. But the next ones take me to my knees.

  “Rory, stop. He’s dead. He’s already dead.”

  It’s Cassandra, crouched in front of me, cupping my face in her hands. “It’s over.”

  A sob wrenches itself from my gut, the pain of it mirroring the cracking of my own heart.

  “No. No, no, no. It can’t be.” My words are coming out as incoherent sobs. “I didn’t mean it. I want to take it back. I’m sorry. I just meant to knock him out.”

  I collapse in a heap as the sobs continue to wrack my body.

  I killed a man.

  Grabbing Cassandra’s hands, I look at her desperately. “I want to take it back,” I repeat. “I can undo it. I didn’t mean it.”

  Xander wraps his arms around me from behind, and Dr. Belmont’s words come back to me.

  What’s dead stays dead…

  “No,” I wail, sinking back against Xander, wanting to draw comfort from him. But I can’t. How can I feel comfort when I’ve just killed a man?

  Still, I allow him to hold me, to rock me back and forth until my sobs begin to die out.

  “Rory,” he murmurs, “I know this is a lot to process right now, baby, but you need to put this away for now. We have to get out of here. Now. We’re out of time.”

  It’s quiet in the tunnel other than my ragged breaths now, but I can hear a commotion out in the prison yard. People must have heard. They’ll be coming to investigate.

  “He’s right, Rory,” Drew says, crouching down beside us. And again they seem to have put their animosity aside for my sake.