by Jenna Lee
“Looks like someone is out of shape,” I tease running my hand over her back.
“Yep, so bad. Just give me a minute,” she says between breaths.
The door opens and Blair comes out. He looks to Dara and I give him a nod walking back inside. I look back to catch him putting his arm around her back to help her get inside. Looks like training is going to be tough for not only Dara but all of us. Let the fun begin.
3
Dara
Someone pinches my arm; I groan rolling over. Another pinch.
Leave me alone. I ignore them. Another pinch to my arm, what the hell. I punch out connecting with flesh.
“Ow, that hurt, bitch,” Jolie complains.
My eyes open to find her right there in front of me. Her face only inches from mine.
“You’re the one that pinched me first, what did you expect?” I huff back closing my eyes.
“Come on, get up before Harlan makes you. It’s training day, remember?”
I groan like I need reminding; I had been dreaming about it all night dreading how badly it’s going to hurt. But if we kept putting it off any longer, we wouldn’t be fit enough to fight for the final stone. Now that I had the Topaz stone, I felt amazing like I could take on the world. My body feels alight like nothing could get in my way. I had been dying being cooped up in my room for the past week. But I wanted to be by Kayla’s side at all times to make sure she’s well cared for. The energy I have is like nothing I have experienced before. I craved to have Ruby in my hands; I need it and without it, we wouldn’t be able to take back Silvia. James would destroy what we had left of our village. I wouldn’t let that happen to Silvia and the people that lived here. They deserved to live a full life without a worry in the world. I’d die to protect my home. I now have everyone I love here with me and I’d do everything to keep them safe.
Loud footsteps echoed up the stairs into my room. I quickly push back my sheets and jump up. Running to my closet I throw on the first top I see along with some tight black bike shorts. Just as I pull them up Harlan walks into my bedroom. I spin around leaning back against my closet taking deep breaths, trying to act cool.
“I’ve been waiting ages for you,” I say pulling my hair up into a bun. I look up to catch his side smile.
“Yeah right, Dara, that’s why you’re puffing and out of breath.”
“I am so not, been up for hours, waiting.”
“Meet down in the training room in five and, Dara, some shoes would help,” he teases. Following his sight, I realise I didn’t have time to put shoes on. Dammit, busted.
He leaves with Jolie snickering as she follows him into the hallway. She’s all ready to go, she skips along behind him excitement written all over her face. She has been dying to get back into training to work on our magic and my new powers from Topaz. This past week has really put a hold on our next mission, but everyone knew that our number one priority is Kayla and her health. Now that she’s awake and moving around a little it’s time to get back to work.
Kayla stirs awake, I make my way over sitting on the bed next to her. Alaric is on her other side wide-awake watching her. Watching these two made my heart full. Kayla deserves to have someone like Alaric that treated her like a princess just like my warriors did to me. Alaric had been so amazing this past week he never wanted to leave her side. If we forced him to he wasn’t far away. I’m so happy for my bestie. Alaric fits right in with our little family. My warriors trusted Alaric with their lives and in turn, so did I. Leaning down I give Kayla a kiss on her forehead.
“We’re going to do some training now. Rest up and come in when you’re ready. We need to attend to your healing.”
“Wish I could come and watch now,” Kayla says looking back over her shoulder at Alaric.
He groans, rolling his eyes at Kayla’s stab.
“The man candy will be smokin’,” I tease back grinning.
She laughs and then starts coughing which turns into a coughing fit. Alaric’s right there rubbing her back.
“I’m not going. I need to be here with you to make you feel better,” I state, drawing my brows together.
She covers her mouth and once her coughing stops, she takes a sip of water.
“No way. Get out of here, Alaric will look after me. You need to get back into shape. I’ll be there soon anyway,” she argues back.
I regrettably get up taking a step toward my door, glancing back over my shoulder I watch her.
“I’m fine, get out of here.”
Leaving her in Alaric’s care I make my way down the stairs and into the training room.
Stopping at the entrance I take a moment to look around at my warriors. Harlan’s squatting with a huge-arse weight leaning on his shoulders, while barking orders to Oliver and Blair who stand watching. Sweat drips down his naked chest, and I lick my lips looking him up and down. His abs move with each rep. I find myself gawking for a good minute.
A loud boom breaks my ogling coming from the magic dome. I find Jolie in there practising magic. Throwing spells against the walls causing the sounds.
My gaze comes back to the guys, Declan has his sword in his hand practising on a makeshift dummy. The poor dummy has cuts all over its body.
Making my way over to Harlan I give Declan a small wave. His eyes light up and he charges at the dummy giving it a stab to the heart. That’s my warrior. Tough as shit.
Harlan’s still in a squat, the weights now are gone. So, I sneak up behind him running my hand over his arse then I give it a hard smack. He spins around grabbing a hold of my wrists.
“Naughty little vixen.” He smirks and I hear the guys laughing behind us.
He pulls me forward so that I’m flush against his body. He grinds against me and instantly I’m reminded of yesterday’s fun in the forest. The way he made me scream in pleasure. The way he pushed me against the tree, thrusting into me. I whimper at the thought. He leans down kissing me hard and I give it back just as much. He pulls back way too quickly sporting a huge grin.
“Playtime later, we got work to do.”
“Damn it, I was enjoying the show.” Oliver pouts.
“I wasn’t, so good riddance. Come on, Dara, we got training to do,” Jolie pipes up coming out of the dome.
“First, we need to warm up. I’ve set up a circuit, it’s written out on the board there. Let’s get into it,” Harlan says pointing to the whiteboard on the wall near the training mat.
For the next hour, Harlan puts us all through hell. We run, jump, punch, kick, and fight against each other. By the end, I’m on my back panting hard. My face feels like it’s on fire, burning hot. Oliver hovers over me with a cheeky grin. Oh, here we go.
“I wish I could have you on your back right now panting from something else.” He winks walking off to help Declan set up their next workout.
I roll my eyes. I’d rather be panting from that too right now. But we weren’t going to save Silvia by sitting around fucking all day.
Hey, I beg to differ, Oliver mentally argues. Causing me to laugh out loud. I couldn’t get away with any of my own thoughts around here. Now it’s Jolie who appears over me offering me her hand. At least my girl came to my rescue.
“Come on, girl, we got training to do.” She drags me into our protected dome where we could practice our magic.
“Now, repeat to me what your father’s message was about Topaz, again,” Jolie asks as she starts pacing back and forth.
“Dara, my darling, you did it. You retrieved the second stone. These won’t come easily. Lives will be lost in the process—all for the cause. Your destiny—to bring James down once and for all. Topaz will bring you the strength and courage you’ll need to fulfill your destiny. Embrace it as Ruby will be the final task and the hardest of them all.”
“All right so it will bring you strength and courage,” she says, stating the obvious.
I did feel like I have more energy, but I hadn’t noticed any difference to my strength yet. Courage might com
e later when I’m put on the spot, I guess.
Jolie is quiet for a few minutes still pacing. She suddenly stops, I follow her gaze out of the dome to the door. Elijah’s standing there talking to Blair, his eyes are drawn straight to Jolie. She blushes but doesn’t shy away; they hold each other’s gaze. I smile to myself. I’d definitely be grilling her.
4
Jolie
My eyes are glued to his as soon as he walks through the door. My heart starts beating faster when his gaze finds mine. I feel my cheeks heat, but I don’t dare break the contact. I can’t, even if I tried. Something held me there transfixed, his beauty, yep, the way he made me feel like no other, yep.
Dara snaps her fingers in front of me, but I can’t stop, I won’t be the first to give in. Her chuckle meets my ears. Elijah winks and I swoon batting my eyelashes. He breaks the contact just as a force hits me. My body flies in the air then I crash down against the hard ground. I groan glaring straight at the bitch that caused it: Dara.
“That was uncalled for, Dara.” My voice rises.
She laughs it off pointing at Elijah.
“Someone had to get your attention off him. We got work to do, remember.” She winks.
“You little bit—”
My words die off as Elijah runs through the dome straight for me.
“Shit, you all right?” he asks, kneeling down he takes my hand into his own.
I melt, my body going to jelly. My eyes flutter. I manage to nod as he lifts me up off the ground. He leans in tucking my hair behind my ear. Dara comes up behind Elijah and pops her head next to his pulling faces, raising her brows up and down. She throws back her head laughing.
“Aww, you two, get a room already, would ya,” she teases.
Dara shoves Elijah farther into me, he places his hands on my shoulders. His body now flush against mine. His abs press against my chest and I struggle to breathe. He sighs and slowly lets go of my shoulders then walks out.
My brothers are right there grilling him with what that was. Oh God, kill me now. I not only had Dara in my ear but now my brothers would be giving Elijah shit. Turning around, I find Dara smirking, she’s standing there with her hand on her hip.
“All right, training starts now. I’m going to make sure I kick your arse for that little stunt.”
“Yeah, yeah Jolie. You loved it.”
I roll my eyes grabbing my crystals off the ground. Alaric walks in with Kayla by his side. He’s got his arm around her back letting her rest into him. She looks better than a few days ago. Some colour’s coming back to her cheeks. I’d come to like the chick; she had a spark about her that you couldn’t help but warm up to. I hated to admit it, but I was jealous of her when we first met. The close relationship she had with Dara. You could tell they had something special, a bond that couldn’t be broken. Even if James did attempt to break it. But after she woke up and included me that jealousy all vanished away. Plus, she meant a lot to Dara which is all I need to like her. Alaric helps her to the ground in front of me and Dara.
“Thanks, Alaric. We want to perform some more healing magic on Kayla. We need to get her fit and healthy before our next mission,” I say offering him a tight smile.
“I’ll just be outside with the guys if you need me.” He squeezes Kayla’s shoulder and walks away.
I can tell by the way he keeps looking back over his shoulder he doesn’t want to leave her. He joins the other guys but doesn’t take his eyes off her.
Setting out the crystals around Kayla’s body she looks curious. I keep forgetting that she’s new to all of this, to Silvia and the magic. We didn’t exactly have the time to slowly ease her into everything so I’m sure she’s feeling overwhelmed with all this magic. Especially where Dara is concerned. She just knows her as a normal human, not this powerful witch that she is now. Dara comes over with a smudge in her hand. She lights it up with a lighter and I’m instantly hit with the lavender, sage, peppermint, and rosemary. Together they helped with cleansing the room, ridding it of all the negative energy, and assisted with the healing. Dara starts dancing around Kayla, moving the smudge stick around as the smoke fills the room in a thick layer.
Kayla cracks up laughing and I join in. Dara just smirks and continues skipping around letting the air fill with herbs. She stops, placing it in front of Kayla. I join them kneeling down in front of Kayla with Dara next to me.
Dara reaches for my hand and I pick up Kayla’s. As soon as her hand touches mine, I notice how cold she is. She looks to me, offering a weak smile. Kayla’s inside our crystal barrier while Dara and I are outside. We want all our power going straight into Kayla to help her heal.
Nodding to Dara we close our eyes bringing forth our magic. My purple magic springs to life like fireworks. My heart warms, I haven’t used my magic all week, and it has been eating me up inside. My magic’s a part of me like my second skin, without being able to release it, it hurt. It built up wanting to explode from my chest. Dara squeezes my hand and I know she feels it too. My eyes peel open just as our magic collides together dancing all around Kayla’s body in a protective bubble. It then moves exploding into her chest. She jolts backward, but we hold on to her keeping her still so our magic can take full effect. Her eyes start rolling into the back of her head just before her body starts convulsing. Dara screams and we let go. A loud piercing crack fills the room then I’m flying backward. I land with a thud right on to my back. Pain rips through my shoulders down to my toes. Pushing myself up I look around in a panic. What the hell was that?
Dara’s over on the other side of the room laying on her back. Kayla’s in the same spot but she’s leaned over on her side.
Alaric runs in with the guys right behind him.
“What the fuck happened?” he growls pulling Kayla into his arms.
As soon as he touches her, he jolts away rubbing his arm. Shaking myself off I crawl over to them. Kayla’s eyes open and she looks around confused.
“I have no idea, we used our healing magic on her and then the next second we’re both thrown across the room,” I admit tucking my hair behind my ear.
Dara manages to nod joining us.
“I’m fine, I feel a lot better,” Kayla whispers.
I let out the breath I was holding in. Thank fuck for that.
“The electric pulse must have been a reaction from our magic. It might have been too much for her. We haven’t used our magic in a week, we gave too much,” I say looking between Dara and Kayla.
Dara’s on the ground next to Kayla holding her hand. Dara’s shoulders tighten and I can tell she feels terrible. Kayla pushes herself up to a standing position, and she smiles brightly.
“Hell yeah, I feel fucking great,” she raises her voice.
We all crack up laughing, well, that just lightened the mood.
5
Oliver
After our ruthless workout session, we decided to have a big cook up for lunch. We were all starving, especially Dara. She had been complaining about it for the past half an hour. I’m leaning over the stove flipping some burgers with Dara clinging to me. Her cute little hands are rubbing down my abs and, my God, it’s hard to keep my hands from attacking her. If everyone wasn’t around, I would flip Dara around, slam her against the cupboard, and pound into her sweet pussy.
“Do it,” Dara whispers, behind me.
I groan. “Don’t you dare tease me, princess.”
“I do what I want, remember.” She moves around sneaking under my arms and pushing me away from the stove.
Her chest flush against mine, she smirks fluttering her eyelashes at me. This girl will be the death of me. My arm snakes around her back, I wrap my hand around her ponytail giving it a tug. Her head falls back and she whimpers.
Leaning down I bite her lip pulling back. She grabs a hold of my neck pulling me back down. Our lips crash together. Her sweet minty breath invades my mouth as her tongue sweeps out. Grabbing on to her arse I lift her up pushing her on to the kitchen bench.
&
nbsp; “Mmm, I want in on this,” Blair growls coming behind Dara on the other side of the bench.
He pulls himself up moving his legs around Dara’s. He pushes into her from behind and she moans into my mouth. My dick pulses begging to spring free. Dara must notice as she reaches down her hand and squeezes my cock.
Fuck, this girl.
I close my eyes just as she starts jerking me off.
“Fuck,” Harlan curses coming in behind me.
The smell of burning meat hits me, Dara pulls back kissing me lightly.
“You’ve burnt the fuck outta them,” Harlan curses.
Dara grins up at me. She spins around giving Blair a kiss to the lips. Dara’s our everything.
Spinning around, I fix myself up and try to make good of these burnt burgers.
“Oh, well, at least it was worth the fun,” I say laughing.
“For some of us,” Harlan whines, pulling out some plates.
“We will finish this later, princess.”
“I look forward to that.” She smirks, sliding off the bench.
After a massive lunch, Declan and Dara start clearing up.
“I’m gonna head out to the skies to check up on things,” I tell everyone.
“Good idea, bro.” Declan nods to me as I head outside.
Goose bumps appear over my skin; the temperature had dropped significantly since earlier today. Summer days were long gone, it had been some time since the sun had peaked. That has something to do with James and his obsession with ruining Silvia. I still can’t understand the point of him ruining Silvia, is the end goal to get rid of everyone then have Silvia to himself? At the rate he’s going there won’t be much left.
