War of Winter: (Reverse Harem Serial) (Winter Princess Book 4)

by Skye MacKinnon

  He said that time wouldn’t pass in the real world while we’re in here, right? So there’s no reason not to move my hands down towards his tight arse and squeeze a little, causing him to gasp while still having his lips pressed against mine. I smile and nibble on his bottom lip. In response, he squeezes my bum, pressing me even closer against his body.

  I’m so aroused; I need more. Without warning, I step back and pull my shirt over my head. He chortles. “Keen, are ye?”

  “I need to feel more of you,” I say simply, and look into his eyes. They’re like molten emeralds, full of emotion and softness. He smiles and takes off his own shirt, exposing his sculptured body. Seriously, are Guardians made this way or do they have to go to a gym? If I was a Goddess, I guess I’d create them hot like this – I mean, having some eye candy walking around your palace can’t hurt.

  “Take off the rest,” Arc growls as he steps out of his own jeans. Suddenly I’m a little shy. And worried that this is totally inappropriate. Who ever thought of having sex during a battle? Even if it’s only in my mind. Especially…

  “Arc, I really want you. I really, really do. But shouldn’t our first time be in the real world?”

  He stares at me for a moment. Me, in my bra, my nipples poking through the lacy fabric. My flushed cheeks. My hair, probably standing in all directions from when his hands ran through it. Basically, I must look like a girl ready for a Guardian to take her here and now.

  “Aye, ye’re right,” he finally says. He pulls me closer again until skin touches skin. “But that doesn’t mean we have ta stop completely.”

  He kisses me again, softer this time, like he’s saying goodbye. I’m shouting at myself. Why did I have to be so… sensible? Couldn’t I just have gone with the flow? Damn it, Wyn. You just missed out on sleeping with a yummy Guardian. Bet no other girl would ever voluntarily miss out on that.

  I slowly draw my fingers over his back, my nails leaving gentle scratches. With one hand on the back of my hand, he pulls me closer into our kiss. With the other, he presses my belly against his pelvis, where something hard will end up disappointed today.

  Maybe later. After the battle.

  With a final flick of his tongue against my lips, he ends the kiss.

  Chapter 3

  “You’re late to the party,” Chesca says, sitting on the body of the fiend I saw earlier. His wings have been torn off and his face is… well, not very face-like anymore.

  Remind me not to cross Chesca. And please make her forget that I attacked her earlier. That wasn't me. That was my magic.

  Only now do I take in my surroundings. The ground is littered with dead demons. Burnt demons, mostly. Further away, demons are still fighting, but we are standing in a bloody clearing. An acrid smell hangs in the air. Something like the smell of burned hair mixed with that of steak and dog poo. I try to breathe through my mouth, but the smell still reaches my nose.

  "Did I do all that?" I ask quietly, shocked by the sheer devastation.

  "Yeah, sure you did," Chesca said cheerily, still sitting on the fiend corpse. "It was so magnificent that I'd almost forgive you for attacking me." She stands up in a flash and pokes me in the chest with a clawed finger. "But only almost. I'm going to come up with a nice punishment for you, little princess. Maybe I'll steal one of your Guardians."

  Maybe I deserve that. But then my magic rears up in me. Mine.

  I snarl. "If you want my Guardians, you'll have to go over my dead body." So cliché, but it's true. I won't let anyone else have them.

  And I'm beginning to think that it's not just because of the bond and the ritual. No, it's something much deeper than that. They are special. And mine. End of. If they want it or not.

  Suddenly, Chesca shrieks and points to something behind us, I turn and - a small fireball is exploding in the sky. Aodh is in trouble.

  We run over the battlefield to where the flare came from. Each of us has a signal for when we need help. A fiery ball in the sky is Aodh's. Chesca extends her wings and jumps into the air, quickly leaving us behind as we try to run without stumbling over corpses. A large group of demons is fighting not far from the visitor centre. That means Aodh hasn't moved far since the battle started. He's strong, but there are a lot of demons there - at least twenty, in all shapes and sizes. At least I can't see one of the higher demons we identified earlier. Three of them are dead, but I don't know if the others have been killed yet. Let's hope so.

  When we reach the first demon, I throw him to the ground with a sharp burst of air, ready for Arc to stab him in the chest. We dispatch three more in that way. Quite the team, I think morbidly.

  Chesca's wail breaks through the sound of fighting. A moment later, a gap opens in the demon ranks and I can finally see - and regret it immediately. Aodh is lying on the ground, surrounded by dead demons. I can't see his face, and he's too far away to tell whether he's still breathing. Chesca and Storm are standing above him, fighting the demon onslaught. Chesca is using her wings to slash through the demons in front of her; apparently, those wings are a lot sturdier (and deadlier) than they look. Storm is fighting with his sword, not his magic, hacking at demons, crippling or killing them with each stroke. He's looking magnificent. Every move is practiced. It's a beautiful slaughter.

  "Watch out!" Arc yells next to me and I turn around to see a group of demons running towards us. Great. Just what we needed.

  I decide not to use my fire magic again. Yes, it's effective, but I don't want to risk losing control again. Instead, I reach into the earth, gripping it tightly, then throw it against the oncoming demons. A wall of mud rises from the ground and slams into them, burying them. I immediately let go of my connection to the earth. Not planning to cause another earthquake.

  "Well done!" Arc shouts while freezing three demons with his mind, only to stab them one after the other. "That was good control."

  Is he really telling me that I'm getting better at killing demons? No thanks, not a skill I want to excel at.

  "We could use some help here!" Storm yells and I turn, looking for the best way to kill the demons beleaguering him and the others. More have joined the fray. There seems to be no end to the demons ready to kill us all.

  This needs to be precise; the demons are too close to my friends for large scale attacks. There is a way, but do I dare to do it? Chesca shrieks in fury as a sword cuts into her wing. Black blood drips on the ground. I need to act now.

  "Arc, keep them away from me for a moment," I order, and close my eyes, trusting in my Guardian's ability to keep me safe.

  I feel for their hearts - it's like I've always done this. It's too easy. I can snuff them all out in a second. Why have I wasted to much energy on fighting with the elements? I could have just killed all the demons in one go.

  I can hear shouts from far away. No time to waste. I focus and with a single thought, I extinguish thirty demon hearts at once.

  And then I know why nobody does this.

  Black energy rams into me from thirty demon hearts.

  My magic screams, and I scream, and then everything goes as black as the foreign power raging within me.

  I wake to the sound of sobs. Which makes me want to fall unconscious again immediately. They are heart-wrenching, terrifying sobs. And even though my head is pounding and my body feels like it's been run over by a half-ton demon, I know that it's Chesca who's crying.

  And I can guess why.

  Aodh.

  I remember the fire Guardian, lying on the ground, his face turned away from me, surrounded by battling demons and their fallen brothers.

  Aodh, laughing at the cottage when I tried not to cringe after tasting Chesca's scones.

  Aodh, looking concerned when I arrived with a badly burnt Frost.

  Aodh, a Guardian who actually managed to tame a demon.

  I can feel a tear running down my face.

  "Wyn, are you awake?" Crispin asks.

  I want to open my mouth to reply - but I can't move my lips. In panic, I try t
o wiggle my toes, lift my arms, but nothing is happening. I groan, but no sound escapes my throat.

  I am locked in.

  "Princess, squeeze my hand," my healer Guardian asks, his voice filled with concern.

  I try as hard as I can, but my fingers don't even twitch.

  By now, I'm fully awake. My mind, that is. I reach into myself to look for my magic. Maybe I can use it to send them a message.

  I reach my heart cave, and stare at it in shock. The entrance has collapsed; large boulders stop me from entering. My magic, where is she? Trapped inside, like I am trapped within my body? I try to shift one of the smaller boulders, but it's too heavy. Magic would come in handy just now.

  I kick the stone in front of me, yelling at the pain in my toes. I know this isn't real, but it certainly feels like it is. It's more real than the world outside my body, the world I can't interact with.

  What the hell did I do to end up in this situation?

  Why did I have to try and kill so many demons at once?

  Why didn't anyone warn me?

  I kick the stone again, and this time I'm revelling in the pain.

  It's my penance for the Guardian I killed and the demons I destroyed. My rightful punishment. Me, locked in my body, having to deal with it all instead of laughing it off like I usually do.

  I want to cry, but instead, I scream. All I get back in return is my echo.

  I curl up at the cave's entrance, hugging my knees to my chest. Aodh's face is flashing in front of my eyes. I only knew him for a day, but I grieve for him nonetheless.

  He died for me.

  I didn't protest when he offered to fight.

  I never even thought about it.

  No, I was so obsessed with my own fears and worries that I never considered that it might be wrong to ask so much of him and Chesca.

  Now he's dead.

  Light blinds me. Someone is opening my eyes. I'm looking into blue sky. I try to look to the side, but nothing happens. Great, I can't even move my eyes. A blurry face appears, hiding the sky. Crispin.

  He's looking straight into my eyes. I try to blink, move, do something to show him that I'm alive in here. But after a moment, he lets my eyelid fall shut and darkness surrounds me once more.

  Actually, that's not quite true. I see orange, lots of reddish orange. My eyes are seeing, even though they're not open.

  I think I'd prefer black, I've always hated the colour orange.

  "Why aren't you fixing her?!" Storm's loud voice breaks the silence. There is panic in it, and desperation. If Crispin isn't healing me, something must be seriously wrong.

  "Her body is fine, I've healed the few scratches she had from the fight. But her magic... something is wrong with it. I've never seen anything like it, though. It's as if it's shielded, but I can't see through the shield. It's different from a mental shield, it's slippery and just... wrong."

  "Let me try." Arc's voice is coming closer and the sound of someone kneeling beside me reaches my ears.

  Silence falls. I wait for something to happen. Maybe Arc will appear to me like he did when he was outside my island sphere. Maybe he'll manage to talk to me.

  The bond! Maybe I can communicate through my bond! I've got hope for a second - then I remember that I use my magic to tug on my connection to the guys. No magic, no bond.

  "I cannae reach her," Arc sighs, and I can feel a hand gently running over my cheek.

  "Then try again!" Storm shouts. Inside, I cry for him. He's so angry, so desperate.

  "He's doing what he can," Frost's gentle voice comes from far away. That's so like him, calming his brother, but not getting the chance to do something himself.

  "Watch out!" Crispin suddenly yells, and the ground rumbles below me. Something explodes close by and a blast of hot air hits me. A body falls on top of me - or maybe throws itself.

  Damn it, why do I still feel pain. Could I just be numb, please? Preferably in my mind as well.

  "It's Lewan, I thought ya killed him, Storm!" Arc shouts.

  "I thought you killed him!"

  Someone huffs in frustration above me. Frost. Oh, it's him who's lying on top of my body. "Would either of you please kill Lewan? It's getting a little hot here!"

  He's right, it feels like something is burning around us. The air is beginning to hurt when I breathe in, it's that hot.

  "On it," Storm growls.

  More explosions. Then the sound of wind, lots of wind. Shrieks in the distance.

  Then silence. The heat ebbs away.

  Apparently, whoever attacked us is no longer able to do so. Hopefully he's lying on the battlefield - in pieces.

  Frost gets up, leaving me alone on the ground.

  "Looks like he was just a straggler," Storm grumbles.

  "Some fled when Wyn killed the demons around us, so they might come back. We need to get through that Gate as soon as possible."

  Chapter 4

  My body is lifted by one of the guys. I’m pressed against a hard leather breast plate. They are still wearing their armour. It’s hard to tell who is carrying me – they’re all broad and muscly and wear armour. And they all smell of blood right now.

  But then, does it matter? They’re all my Guardians.

  I am pressed close against the guy’s chest. There’s an arm under my knees and another wrapped around my back. It’s not uncomfortable, but the swaying without being able to see what’s happening, is making me queasy. What happens if I need to puke? Will I choke on my own vomit, unable to open my mouth? I decide not to find out.

  There’s an eerie silence around us. The guys aren’t talking, and I can’t. Apparently, there are no demons left at Calanais. The battle was so chaotic, I totally lost track of how many we killed. How many I killed.

  It was necessary, but I know that I will never forget the smell of blood and burned demon that is now wafting over the battlefield. It’s a miracle, really, that we all managed to get out relatively unscathed. With ‘we’, I mean the Guardians and me. I don’t want to think of Aodh and Chesca.

  Where is Chesca, by the way? She must have left while I was unconscious. I don’t think she could stay quiet for this long.

  We finally stop and the queasiness slowly disappears from my stomach.

  “Are you ready?” Storm asks quietly.

  “Aye.”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.” The last one to speak is Frost, close to my ear. He’s the one carrying me. “But do you think this is safe? She won’t be able to think of our destination when we step through the Stones.”

  “We should probably all hold onto her,” Crispin suggests. “Arc, have you contacted the healers on the other side?”

  “Aye, they’re ready. Perhaps they ken what’s wrong with the lass.”

  “Stand close together and hold her tightly,” Storm commands.

  Three pairs of hands are gripping my body in various places. There’s a grumble inside of me. I dive deep until I’m in front of my heart cave. One of the large boulders blocking the entrance has split in half! There are still many others obstructing my connection to my magic, but something changed. It must have been their touch; this can’t have been a coincidence.

  “3…2…1…go!”

  We step through the Gate.

  I’m flying on a rainbow. A fucking rainbow.

  Everything is bright and colourful and magical. Magic! I can feel my magic! She’s not inside of me though, no, she’s floating by my side, purring as the wind tousles her fur. She’s stretching her limbs; finally out of the cave I have kept her in for so long. She grins at me, and I smile back. We’re friends, taking a ride on a rainbow that looks like a unicorn belched while flying loops through the air. It’s not a rainbow that starts on the ground and then forms a half circle. No, this rainbow is like a rollercoaster, stretching infinitely into the distance, shaped in curves and loops and – is that a heart shape up there?

  This must be a dream. A very lucid one, though. It feels so real. Have I taken drugs? />
  “Wyn!” someone shouts from behind me, casting a chiming echo through this rainbow world. It’s Storm, riding the rainbow like a surfer rides a wave. I laugh and try to swim against the flow to reach him, but it doesn’t work. Luckily, he’s an expert rainbow-rider and reaches me in no time.

  “Wyn,” he rasps, and then I’m in his arms, squeezed against his chest. My magic chuckles and moves further ahead, giving us some space. I never thought she’d be this considerate.

  Storm lifts my head with a finger gently held beneath my chin. His eyes are soft, and he’s actually smiling at me. Storm, smiling! This must be a dream.

  He comes closer until our lips almost touch. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispers, his breath hot against my skin.

  I'm trying to come up with a reply, but my mind is blank. So I do the next best thing: I get up on my toes and kiss him. He groans and nudges my lips open with his tongue. He's starting out gently, but after a few soft kisses, they turn wilder. While claiming my mouth, he slides his hands under my shirt.

  I moan as he breaks our kiss.

  "Don't worry, Princess, I'm not finished yet," Storm growls, and rips my shirt in two. How the hell did he do that? But I couldn't care less when he unhooks my bra and takes it off, together with the remains of my shirt. He goes on his knees in front of me and looks up with a strange look in his eyes. Desire? Devotion? Admiration? Hard to tell. He kisses the soft skin between my breasts and I moan again. While he's leaving a trail of kisses down over my belly, he grabs my bum with his hands. I push my pelvis forwards, an open invitation. He chuckles.

  "Patience."

  "Since when are you promoting patience?"

  In response, he unzips my jeans and slides them down, encouraging me to step out of them. All I'm wearing now are my panties (and my shoes, but that doesn't count). I wish I had put on some nicer ones, but when I prepared for battle this morning, wearing pretty underwear wasn't high up on my agenda.