Darkness Bound: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Witch's Rebels Book 2)

by Sarah Piper

  How many times had she said that to me when the Tower turned up in one of my readings? How often had that shocking, life-altering, foundation-crumbling Tower card energy graced my life? How many lessons had it taught me, forcing me to rebuild again and again as I stood in the ruins of something I once held so dear?

  Before I’d even learned to walk, my birthmother died. Calla had adopted me, given me a home, taught me about magic, and loved me as her own, only to be murdered before my eyes, savagely brutalized by Jonathan’s family. Jonathan murdered Sophie, my best and most cherished friend. I’d learned that I was a Shadowborn, a necromancer who could manipulate souls. I’d discovered that someone had signed my life away in a crossroads deal, and that the man I most trusted in this world was the demonic guardian charged with delivering my soul upon my death. My house had been destroyed, also by Jonathan’s hand. I’d become his prisoner. I’d been forced to watch helplessly as he executed women—women I might’ve been able to save if only I’d thought more quickly, acted differently, been another person altogether.

  Lightning. Smashed bricks. Dashing myself on the rocks below, trading one pain for another.

  So many tower card moments, shaking down the foundations of everything I held true, forcing me to stand in the ruins of an old life and rebuild, again and again and again.

  But through all that devastation and loss, I’d also made friends. Reconnected with my magic. Built another home with people I cared for deeply.

  And I’d fallen in love. I was still falling in love.

  I pressed my fingers to my lips, the cinnamon taste of my demon lingering, and I smiled.

  I used to think the Tower card was a warning. You couldn’t always know where the lightning would strike, or how much damage it would do, and you definitely couldn’t stop it. But if you heeded the card’s advice—if you readied yourself for the storm, as Sophie always said—you might be able to to lessen the impact of your impending fall. To prepare yourself to get up once again, crawl out of the rubble, and begin the long, slow process of putting your life back together.

  But maybe Sophie and I had been wrong.

  Maybe the Tower wasn’t about figuring out how to survive the fall and thrive in its aftermath, but deciding what you were willing to sacrifice so that someone else might.

  I thought of Asher, his chestnut hair sticking up from where I’d run my hands through it, his sea-blue eyes telling me more than words ever could.

  When he looked at me like that, I felt him in my very soul, warm in all the places it had connected with his, binding us forever.

  I thought of Haley and Reva and the other witches, imprisoned somewhere in this cave. I thought of Fiona, broken and afraid, still waiting for the chance to find her inner strength. I thought of all the beings Jonathan had hurt, and the ones he’d yet to get his hands on.

  I thought of Ronan’s protectiveness and his strong, steady heartbeat, and the dizzy way I’d felt the first time he kissed me. I thought of Emilio’s soulful eyes and infamous brownies and his boundless empathy. I thought of Darius’s commanding touch and the tender side of his heart he’d only shared with me.

  And I thought of Liam, guiding me through the strange, dark, beautiful landscape of my magic. My soul.

  His words came back to me now, echoing from another time, after another man had tried to hurt me—Travis, the man from the alley. The man who’d killed Bean.

  The man’s blood is literally on your hands, Liam had said, trying to stop me from trapping Travis’s soul in the Shadowlands.

  I knew what I had to do now, and I knew what it would cost me.

  But when this particular tower crumbled to the ground, if I could give the people I cared about a fighting chance at surviving the fall, it would be worth the price.

  Jonathan was coming too, confused and wobbly as he got to his feet. “What… What’s happening?”

  I chanced a final glance at Asher.

  I knew he didn’t want me to go through with this, but I also knew he’d back me up, no matter what. I offered him one last blazing smile, and he returned it with a crooked smirk and a wink I felt all the way down in my bones.

  Then, he slumped forward, groaning in fake pain.

  Jonathan stumbled over to the gate.

  “No more bullshit, witch,” he hissed, and again I thought of Travis. Of Liam’s advice.

  The combination of blood and soul is like a magical key to a very ancient, very complicated lock. In possession of both, Shadowborn have the ability to banish the souls of the living to the Shadowrealm.

  At the time, he was trying to save me from making a grave mistake.

  Now, those words were my saving grace.

  “I… I’m sorry, Jonathan,” I said, forcing a weakness into my voice that sounded pathetic, even to me. I lowered my head, as if I were ashamed and exhausted. “I can’t… I can’t fix him.”

  “Then I guess he dies.”

  “Please,” I whispered, getting down on my knees. “I’m begging you. Let him go.”

  “And give up my leverage? I think not.”

  “You don’t need leverage. I don’t want to play this game anymore. You’ve killed most of my friends. Destroyed my home. My mother’s dead, I have no family. Everyone I’ve ever loved is just… just gone.” I met his eyes, channeling all of my hatred, my anger, my grief into a look of complete and utter resignation. “I’m done.”

  He considered my words, his face softening. “In some ways, I’m sorry to hear that, Rayanne. I was looking forward to playing the game a bit longer.” His grimace took over once again, his mouth crooked, his eyelid twitching. “In other ways, time is of the essence.”

  “Jonathan,” I said, releasing a weary sigh. “I’m spent. I’ve got nothing left. So if you have a price, name it and let’s end this.”

  He unlocked the bars and swung open the gate, already greedy and dumb at the thought of getting his hands on my magic.

  “I want all of it,” he said, leaning against the stone wall. “The power to raise the dead, to take souls… hell, Rayanne, if you’ve got the power to snap your fingers and make a dollar bill appear in your pocket, I want that, too.”

  At his words, the indigo flames ignited, swirling gently across my palms, and I gasped in horror as though he were responsible for the magic rather than me.

  His eyes widened eagerly. He was practically salivating.

  “I hate you,” I whispered, letting a tear slide down my cheek.

  “Unfortunate, yet irrelevant.”

  I held my palms out in front of me and lowered my eyes, certain the deception in my gaze shone as bright as the moon.

  The anticipation.

  The thrill.

  For so long, I’d underestimated him. We all had.

  Now, he was underestimating me.

  “Okay,” I said meekly. “I think… I think I just need two ingredients to make this work.”

  “What do you need?” he asked.

  Without a second thought, I lunged at him, slamming into him with the full force of my magic, the full brunt of my strength. He hit the ground harder than before, his eyes wide as the back of his head bashed against the rocks.

  I leaped onto his chest, pinning his arms as I lowered my mouth to his neck. I bit hard, ignoring the wet, coppery slime of blood in my mouth as I tore out a chunk of flesh.

  Blood gushed from the wound, coating my skin.

  Jonathan gasped and sputtered, his legs kicking feebly beneath me, but I wasn’t done yet.

  Calling upon the blackest magic in my heart, I watched my blue-green flames turn black and oily. Then I yanked the tattered fabric of his soul free from the confines of his physical form.

  It writhed and twisted as I took it inside me, but unlike Travis’s soul, there would be no escape for the hunter. No last-minute swell of guilt, no sudden attack of conscience, no sage advice from Death, trying to keep me from condemning my own soul in the process.

  My own soul no longer mattered.

&nb
sp; We are, all of us, bound for darkness.

  I grinned wickedly, finally answering Jonathan’s question. “Your blood and your soul, hunter. That’s what I need.”

  Thank you so much for reading Darkness Bound! I hope you’re looking forward to the rest of The Witch’s Rebels series, starting with the next book, Demon Sworn.

  If you loved reading this story as much as I loved writing it, please help a girl out and leave a review on Amazon! Even a quick sentence or two about your favorite part can help other readers discover the book, and that makes me super happy!

  If you really, really loved it, come hang out at our Facebook group, Sarah Piper’s Sassy Witches. I’d love to see you there.

  Finally, if you’d like to stay up to date on all the witchy book news, plus get insider access to exclusive content and advanced review opportunities, sign up for the VIP Readers Club: https://www.subscribepage.com/darknessbound

  XOXO

  Sarah

  Origins of The Witch’s Rebels

  Thank you so much for checking out Shadow Kissed!

  I was primarily inspired to write this series by three things: my fascination with Tarot, my love of all things witchy, and my desire to see more kickass women telling stories for and about other kickass women.

  I’ve always enjoyed books, movies, and TV shows about witches, monsters, and magic, but I never found exactly the right mix. I wanted a darker, grittier Charmed, an older Buffy, and most of all—as much as I love the brothers Winchester (who doesn’t?)—I really wanted a Supernatural with badass bitches at the helm, hunting monsters, battling their inner demons, and of course, sexytimes. Lots and lots of sexytimes.

  (Side note: there’s not enough romance on Supernatural. Why is that? Give me five minutes in that writers’ studio…)

  Anyway, back to The Witch’s Rebels. We were talking about badass bitches getting the sexytimes they deserve.

  Right.

  So I started plotting my own story and fleshing out the character who would eventually become our girl Gray, thinking I had it all figured out. But as I dove deeper into the writing, and I really got to know Gray, Darius, Ronan, Asher, Emilio, and Liam, I discovered a problem. A big one.

  With so many strong, sexy guys in the mix, I couldn’t decide which one would be the hero to win Gray’s heart. I loved them all as much as she did!

  I agonized over this.

  It felt like the worst kind of love triangle. Er, love rhombus? Love—wait. What’s the word for five of them? Pentagon! Yes, a love pentagon.

  Pure torture!

  But then I had my lightbulb moment. In the face of so much tragedy and danger, Gray fights hard to open herself up to love, to trust people, to earn those hard-won friendships. Her capacity for giving and receiving love expands infinitely throughout the story, so why the hell shouldn’t she be able to share that with more than one man?

  There was no reason to force her to choose.

  So, she doesn’t. And her story will continue!

  You, dear reader, don’t have to choose either—that’s part of the fun of reverse harem stories like this. But if you happen to have a soft spot for a particular guy, I’d love to hear about it!

  Drop me a line anytime at sarah@sarahpiperbooks.com and tell me who’s winning your heart so far! I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours! *wink wink*

  About Sarah Piper

  Hi! I'm the author of The Witch's Rebels series and other sexy, swoony urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels-in-progress. I live with my adorable husband in New York City, but I'm secretly (okay, not-so-secretly) longing for a little cottage in the woods. Or maybe by the sea. Or in the mountains? Pretty much anywhere we can escape from all this craziness!

  In the mean time, I spend my days sleeping like a vampire and my nights making inappropriate jokes and innuendos, writing witchy stories, playing with my ever-expanding collection of Tarot cards, reading way too many books, binge-watching Supernatural (Team Dean, in case you're wondering), and obsessing over the best way to brew a cup of tea.

  You can find me online at SarahPiperBooks.com and hanging out in my Facebook readers group, Sarah Piper's Sassy Witches! If you're sassy, or if you need a little more sass in your life, or if you need more Dean Winchester gifs in your life (who doesn't?), join us!