Dark Pact: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Her Dark Guardians Book 1)

by Alana Serra

  Bile rushed from her stomach, welling in her throat. Rhia only had time to fling herself over the side of the bed and retch violently, heaving with such force that her eyes began to hurt from the strain of it. When she finally stopped, regaining control of her own body, Karak was there with a damp cloth. She wiped at her mouth, unable to look at him. Her entire body was shaking from head to toe, and not just from the retching.

  “You remembered,” Liam said, a softness in his voice that she didn’t deserve.

  “Yes,” she managed. “I… it was like I was being controlled. But it was still me making those decisions. Letting that power use me as a vessel to achieve what it wanted. What I wanted.”

  “You wanted to protect me,” Wesley said. “But dark magic… sometimes it doesn’t take the route we’d prefer. If you lose control of it, it will act in ways that are direct and terrible and beyond anything you could imagine.”

  She expected some quip from Liam, but none came. He, like the others, was watching her intently. The only person who seemed remotely casual was Tanris, and there was an interest in his eyes that went beyond his usual nonchalance.

  “I never intended to kill anyone,” Rhia said. First to herself, then repeated, louder. “I never intended to kill anyone.” Her eyes were wide, her vision blurred by tears as she looked up at her guardians. “I don’t want this power. I don’t want to be able to do this!”

  It wasn’t long before she was a sobbing, trembling mess. Wesley came to her, muscling past Karak for a spot by her side. He sat on the edge of her bed, took her into his arms and held her as she cried against him, her whole body wracked with sobs. She clutched at his shirt, her tears staining the fabric, her throat raw as she sputtered and gasped and tried to remember how to breathe.

  “I know you didn’t,” Wesley kept saying, over and over as he rubbed her back.

  “But you do have this power, Lady.” Karak’s voice was gentle, but even he didn’t shy away from the truth. “There’s every chance this could happen again.”

  “Unless you pact with us.”

  The words weren’t as surprising as their source. Liam. There was no taunt, no cruel joke in his tone. He was dead serious, looking at her with a startling amount of empathy in his emerald eyes.

  “He’s right,” Wesley said, pulling back enough to look at her. “I know you probably think I’d suggest it no matter what, but it’s the only way we can keep each other in check. If you’re pacted with us, you’ll know when we’re reaching that edge, and you’ll be able to pull us back from it.”

  “And we’ll be able to do the same for you,” Karak said.

  She still couldn’t breathe. It felt like something was gripping around her neck and refusing to let go. She lifted a hand cautiously and felt the sharp sting of a burn as her fingers brushed the mark.

  “What’s happening to me?” she asked, looking at each of them in turn.

  “See for yourself.” Tanris was the one to fetch a mirror, offering her the handle.

  Rhia held it up and gasped at what she saw. The mark—the two snakes nearly meeting one another in the center of her throat—was different now. The snakes were twined around one another, forming some kind of winding knot. And there were other, smaller serpents branching off from the main two. She sucked in a breath, her heart pounding into her throat.

  “What does this mean?” she asked, looking from guardian to guardian.

  “None of us know for sure,” Liam said, “but it probably means Aeredus has more of a hold on you now. You’ve… furthered his desires.”

  She felt like she was going to be sick again. Her stomach lurched, but there was nothing to retch up any longer. Even if there was, her body’s response—to rid her of this poison—wasn’t going to help. Aeredus had a hold on her that no amount of physical work was going to loosen. She was trapped, clutched in his talons like a tiny, helpless mouse waiting to be picked apart and devoured, bone by fragile bone.

  “Rhia, listen to me.” Wesley framed her face in his hands, not seeming bothered by the mark or anything else. “We won’t let you succumb. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from falling any further under Aeredus’ command. We promise you that.”

  “Agreed,” Karak said. “I’m willing to give my life if it means keeping you out of his hands.”

  “So am I.” Liam’s voice was resolute, and though he hadn’t come any closer to the bed, his piercing gaze felt so intimate that it was almost like he was pressed against her in the stables once more.

  “Buuut…” Tanris drew out the word, still lingering at the edge of the room. “You need her to pact with you for that to happen. Otherwise you won’t be able to do a thing. What?” he looked at the others. “You’ve been hemming and hawing about it all day.”

  “He’s right,” Karak said, his large hand resting on her shoulder. “It has to happen, Rhia.”

  “It’s still your choice,” Wesley promised her, his tone so sincere she was forced to meet his gaze, “but it will help all of us. Immensely.”

  “And you want this, too?” she looked from Wesley to Liam, meeting his intense stare. “You’re the only one who hasn’t wanted to pact with me, this whole time. If you say it’s the only way…”

  “It’s the only way,” Liam answered without hesitation. “Believe me, princess, if there was any other option, I’d be all for it.”

  Liam approached then, coming to stand before her. He swept back the damp, matted strands of her hair with a tenderness she’d yet to see from him, then leaned down to brush his lips across her forehead. Either she was delirious with fever and still suffering from the aftermath of what she’d done, or things were truly dire beyond words.

  She knew it was the latter. How could it be anything else?

  “If I do this,” she said tentatively, “there can’t be anyone running off, trying to go it alone. That means all of you. All of us,” she corrected herself. “Not just Wesley.”

  “You’d know if we—” he began.

  “I know that, but I want each of you to promise me. We do this together, or not at all. I won’t accept anything less.”

  Liam let out a chuckle, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You’ve just woken from a three-day coma, retched up the contents of your stomach, and you’re still ordering us around?”

  “Yes,” she said firmly, though the corner of her lips tipped into an answering smirk when she saw amusement light in Liam’s eyes.

  “You’ve always had my promise, Lady,” Karak said, squeezing her shoulder as she met his eyes, “but I make it again.”

  “After what happened in Platsia… no, I can’t say I’m eager to let any one of us go off on our own. We need to keep each other in check,” Liam said. “So you have my word, too.”

  Her gaze moved to Wesley. Shame blossomed in his dark blue eyes, a guilt there that made her heart ache. She framed his face, her palms resting against his cheeks just as he’d done to her. Stubble prickled at her fingers, his skin warm against her hands.

  “I understand why you did it,” she whispered. “You wanted to save her, and you didn’t want to put any of us in harm’s way doing it. But if you’re going to ask this of me, Wesley, I need the same from you. You have to let us help. We’ll get her out of there, I swear to you. But you have to promise.”

  Wesley let out a shuddering breath, his gaze casting away from her before returning. “I promise, Rhia. And I’m… I’m sorry. To all of you.”

  “You’re here now,” Karak said. “That’s what matters.”

  “I would’ve done the same thing in your shoes.”

  Once again, Liam’s candid admission shocked her. Things really had changed, for him to act like this. And she wasn’t sure if she liked this new version of him or not.

  A silence settled over the room, with only one real thing left to do. Form the pact. She had no idea how to go about it, but her guardians would. Karak, at least, and Wesley seemed to know a great deal about them, too.

  She trusted all three o
f her guardians, she realized. Trusted them enough that she would have come to this decision regardless. This just brought time into the many factors working against them.

  Rhia looked from face to face again. Tanris was gone from the room, but that was likely for the best. This was between her and her guardians.

  “The sooner the better, then. Whatever we need to make this happen… let’s prepare it for tonight.”

  Chapter 27

  Despite her guardians’ insistence that she rest a bit more, Rhia was incapable of waiting. She delayed just long enough to take a bath and change into fresh clothes, also giving Karak time to find the incense that was needed, and Wesley and Liam time to hunt down the sigil that was required to be traced on the floor, along with the ceremonial sword that was to pass from Lady to guardian and back again.

  On Wesley’s suggestion, they met in an empty room with a high, vaulted ceiling. It was near the dungeons, some of the cold air making its way into the barren space. Close to the ley lines, he explained, and she wasn’t in any position to argue.

  She had no idea what time it was once they all assembled. Before dawn, certainly. The sun hadn’t yet pierced the horizon. Beyond that, she had no concept of time, and really, it didn’t matter. All that mattered were the “ingredients” they needed to conduct this ritual.

  “Do we have enough to burn the whole way through?” she asked Karak, who was busy placing burners around the room.

  “We do. Dwela had a large supply on hand,” he said, nodding to a sack he’d placed in the corner.

  As he began to light each of the burners, the room filled with the smell of sage. It wafted to every corner, almost overpowering in its intensity before Rhia became accustomed to the scent.

  “And the glyph?” she asked.

  Wesley held up a book, his thumb holding the pages open to show her. A symbol was drawn onto one of them. Something easy enough to replicate. He left the book open and retrieved a piece of chalk, drawing the outline of the sigil on the floor, the others stepping back to give him room.

  “The sword was trickier,” Liam said, pulling his own blade from its scabbard. “The one the last Lady anointed is nowhere to be found, but the book says you can deem one fit for the purpose.”

  He turned the blade and held it out. Rhia took it, adjusting to the weight, surprise overtaking her features.

  “Is there a way to undo it afterward?”

  “No,” he shook his head, giving her a wry smile. “I suppose I’ll just be stuck with a blade you’ve worked your magic on.”

  She started to let out a sigh before realizing this teasing wasn’t as pointed and cruel as usual. It was surprisingly good-natured, and that coupled with his willingness to even do this spoke volumes.

  “Poor, pitiful creature,” she teased in return. “Whatever shall you do?”

  “I can think of a few things.”

  Heat flared through her, but she pushed it down with ease this time. Days ago, she would have wondered if pacting with her guardians was to be done in a more… intimate way. Right now, it didn’t matter, and it certainly wasn’t her chief concern.

  Though she was curious how this would happen.

  “You’ve done this before,” she said to Karak as he finished lighting the sage. “What do we have to do?”

  “Assembling everything we need is the hardest part,” he assured her with a smile. “You will stand on the glyph, with one guardian standing before you. He will present you the anointed sword, and you will touch the tip of it to his chest, right above his heart.”

  Her brows rose at that and she looked at the blade in her hands. She’d never used one before. When Desmond taught her, it’d been with practice swords. What if she messed up somehow?

  “That sounds… dangerous.”

  “We’re wearing mail,” Liam said, lifting his collar.

  Chainmeal links clattered together, moving beneath the doublet he wore. A doublet matched by the other two, part of the ceremonial garb Karak had instructed her to conjure for each of them.

  Hers was a flowing black dress with a long train, sleeveless and strapless, hugging to her figure by the grace of the ties at the back that laced only halfway up her back. The men wore black doublets made of crushed velvet that was soft and supple to the touch. Black trousers and high boots completed the ceremonial attire, along with the aforementioned chainmail worn beneath.

  The whole affair was lacking in color, but she wasn’t sure she should expect anything else from a ritual created by Aeredus.

  Drawing in a breath, Rhia looked down at the blade. Once she anointed it, the final preparation would be complete. She ran a finger along the flat of it, purple-black magic trailing behind, tendrils wrapping around the blade, scouring it in darkness. She expected them to fade, but it seemed they’d permanently altered the blade. She frowned at Liam, but he just gave her a single nod.

  Things really were dire if he wasn’t getting onto her about something like this.

  “All right,” she said, working the tremor from her voice. “I’m as ready as I’m going to be.”

  “I can go first,” Karak said, approaching her. “I’ve done it before, and I can guide you through the process.”

  She nodded and stepped into the glyph Wesley had drawn on the floor, Karak doing the same. Rhia handed him the blade, held out just as Liam had done. He took it, bowing his head over it.

  “My Lady Rhia, I pledge my service to you before the gods, without hesitation. I do this of my own free will, fully aware that to serve you, I must do so in mind, body, and heart.”

  Heat rushed to her cheeks, her eyes widening slightly. Surely that was just a figure of speech. They would have told her if the pact bound them to her in that way.

  “I am your guardian, and I swear by this blade that no harm shall come to you while I still draw breath, lest I suffer the full wrath of the dark god.”

  He offered her the sword and Rhia took it, nerves prickling across her skin. This was… intense. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but this went far beyond anything she’d imagined.

  At this point, she would have been less surprised if there was some kind of physical binding required.

  “Now, you must say: ‘I accept your pledge, Guardian Karak. I welcome your service in mind, body, and heart, and I likewise swear to be truthful to you, and to honor our pact regardless of how my power grows. Should I break this pact without your full knowledge and consent, may my powers be stricken from me.’”

  Again, that was… a lot. Not necessarily something she disagreed with, but she still took a moment to think it over. Her gaze swept across the room, to the other two guardians. They both looked resolute. Even Liam didn’t seem to balk at what was being asked of them.

  “You Dark Ladies always have to do everything with such intensity, don’t you?”

  That was a voice she didn’t expect. So much so that she hadn’t even looked anywhere else in the room, including the doorway where Tanris casually leaned, amusement clear in his expression.

  “You shouldn’t even be here,” Wesley said, glaring at the rogue.

  “I doubt I’ll ever get to see this in my lifetime. Will you truly deprive me of the experience?” He turned big brown eyes on Rhia. She rolled her own at him, so he tried a different tactic. “Besides, this way you have a witness, just in case.”

  “Just in case” covered such a variety of things, and Rhia was tempted to make him explain. With her luck, he’d have an extensive answer, and she wasn’t interested in hearing it. Tanris being here wasn’t hurting anything. If he wanted to watch this strange ritual—almost like a wedding ceremony between herself and three men—then so be it.

  “Keep your mouth shut, and don’t interfere,” she warned him.

  “I would never.”

  She sighed and shook her head, turning her attention back to Karak.

  “Do you need me to repeat it?” the half-orc asked helpfully.

  “No, I think I’ve got it. Just… give me a
moment.”

  She drew in a breath and let it out in a long exhale. There was no coming back from this. Once she did it, it was done. While it obviously could be undone for the right reasons, Rhia didn’t intend to do that to these men. They’d followed her. Encouraged her. Supported her. She needed each of them to do this, to survive in this world, and she was beginning to understand that they needed her, too.

  “I accept your pledge, Guardian Karak,” she began, seeing his chest move as he let out a breath he’d been holding. “I welcome your service in mind, body, and heart, and I likewise swear to be truthful to you, and to honor our pact regardless of how my power grows. Should I break this pact without your full knowledge and consent, may be powers be stricken from me.”

  Rhia felt a hum of energy emanating from the center of her being. It spread outward, warming her through, and when it reached her hands, the sword began to glow. Apparently she had done it properly.

  “Now,” Karak whispered.

  Carefully, cautiously, she gripped the sword’s hilt and turned her wrist, leveling the blackened steel at Karak’s heart. She pressed forward with trembling hands until the tip struck chainmail, and not an inch further. As she waited, tendrils of dark magic sprang from the blade, unfurling from it and binding around her wrist, then around Karak’s chest. She looked up at him, panicked, but saw no worry in his eyes. After a moment, the tendrils released them both and wrapped around the sword once more.

  There was no confirmation. No distant chime. No flash of magic. But she knew in her soul it was done. She was bound to Karak, and he was bound to her. Rhia’s eyes met his, looked into their amber depths, and suddenly she could feel the fierceness of his affection for her, and knew exactly how much he wanted to seal this pact with a kiss.

  A blush stole across her cheeks. Was that… part of the pact? He’d said they would know the truth, see through the lies, but she’d assumed that meant they’d have to actively seek it out. If she just… knew now, that was going to make everything far more interesting. And not always in a good way.