Phoenixash: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 4) Read online

  Phoenixash

  #4 in The Rogue Witch: A Reverse Harem Romance

  K.T. Strange

  Copyright © 2018 by K.T. Strange

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  For more information:

  http://kstrange.com

  [email protected]

  Book Design: Heartcandies Publishing

  Cover design: Ciaran Strange

  Photography: Curtis Noble curtisnoblephotography.com

  Model: Becca Briggs beccabriggs.com

  Contents

  Stay in touch!

  1. Darcy

  2. Darcy

  3. Charlie

  4. Darcy

  5. Darcy

  6. Charlie

  7. Darcy

  8. Darcy

  9. Darcy

  10. Darcy

  11. Charlie

  12. Darcy

  13. Darcy

  14. Darcy

  15. Charlie

  16. Darcy

  17. Darcy

  18. Darcy

  19. Darcy

  20. Charlie

  21. Finn

  Life is a rollercoaster. Sometimes I wish I was shorter.

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  About the Author

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  One

  Darcy

  They say family isn’t always made up of the people who share your name or your blood. Sometimes, family is made up of the people you choose, of the people who stand by your side when you need them most. Before I had the pack, the band, the guys? Max had taught me that lesson.

  I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life and into the next. I’ll remember how her knees gave out, the roaring silence in my ears, and the flames that came after. The scream that ripped from my throat was wordless, just an unending cry giving voice to the shock and the pain as I watched my best friend die right in front of me. It’s weird how in moments of panic or crisis, you recall the smallest details. Like the air being so crisp it stung as I inhaled, gulping for air, or the skid of gravel across the cement as I ran toward the fire.

  The flames licked the sky, the heat searing on my skin when I came as close as I safely could. The crackle was intense, the blaze so loud that it hurt my ears. A burst of flame shot heavenward and I stumbled back, throwing my arm up across my eyes to protect them.

  “Darcy!” Eli’s voice was strained behind me. The door to the jam-space slammed, and seconds later a pair of thick arms wrapped around me, tugging me backward.

  “Max, she’s…” Words failed me as Eli dragged me away. My body felt numb, ice creeping along my veins, slowing me down and making my tongue thick in my mouth.

  The flames burned on regardless of the sharpness of my breath in the back of my throat, or the way it felt like my heart was being unravelled in my chest.

  “What the fuck,” Charlie skidded to a stop beside us, reaching out to touch my cheek. The rest of the guys were a few steps behind him. A sob heaved through my body and Eli hugged me tight.

  “Holy shit.” Cash’s eyes were wide, Finn stopping beside him, his expression mirroring Cash’s.

  “Guys, the car’s gonna go next.” Ace put a hand on Eli’s shoulder, and he grunted, stepping back.

  “We need to get—” Eli’s voice was drowned out by the rolling growl of thunder above. He flinched as it ended in an abrupt clap that deafened us all.

  I didn’t flinch. The power was inside of me, streaming upward, invisible threads of magic tugging at the winds, calling up the clouds. Tears streaked down my cheeks as the rains began.

  It was too late. I knew that. She was gone. But I had to do something. The fire hissed, fighting back against the droplets.

  “Darcy?” Finn’s voice was warm in my ear as he crowded close, his arm wrapping around me above where Eli’s firm grip held me against his chest. I blinked away tears, but they kept coming.

  The sky lit up, lightning arcing in the clouds, though nothing was going to tear my gaze away from the spot I’d last seen Max. She had crumpled to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut. With another peeling growl of thunder, the clouds opened up and the rain streaked downward. The water pounded over my skin, soaking me anywhere that wasn’t touching Eli.

  My breaths were coming in shaking gasps, and when my legs gave out, Eli kept a hold of me.

  The fire was finally dying, whatever had fueled it burning up. The car behind it, the Uber driver’s car, had blackened streaks across the paint, and bubbles where the paint had warped as it boiled. Pushing at Eli for him to let me go, I snapped at him,

  “Let go.” I wrestled my shoulders from his grip. The dying flames were at knee-height, not nearly eight feet tall like they’d been at first. The rain continued, pelting my skin so hard that it stung.

  “Darcy.” Ace dogged my side when I stepped forward. “What happened?”

  “Max, she, there was a guy,” my voice was shaking and I took another step toward the fire. My brain scrambled for the last time I’d seen her, the last time I’d heard her voice. Had I taken her for granted? Her face was fuzzy in my mind, blurred around the edges. I couldn’t see her in my memories.

  Another step. The flames guttered. Wind dragged across my skin. I shivered. The rain poured over us, spitting and popping when it hit the fire.

  The heat flared once, twice, and went out, relinquishing its captives.

  My heart dropped to my stomach and I staggered. Ace caught me.

  “The hell,” he whispered. The cement was white, bleached and scorched by the flames. A fine pile of ash heaped to one side.

  In the middle of it sat Max, naked, her legs folded up under her, arms crossed over her chest. She lifted her chin to look at me. Her skin was streaked with soot, her hair lank and wet around her shoulders as the rain dumped down on us.

  “Darcy,” she croaked, her voice hoarse. I let out a wordless cry and ran to her, skidding onto my knees, heedless of the pain. I wrapped my arms around her and sobbed into the side of her face. She shuddered and pressed into me. She was naked, I realized in the back of my mind, but that was lost to the flood of relief that warred with confusion inside of me.

  The crunch of gravel made me pull my head out of Max’s hair, the hesitant footsteps of the approaching guys.

  “Darcy,” Max whispered, and she squirmed. “I’m—”

  Naked. Right.

  I tugged off the hoodie I was wearing and wrapped it around her shoulders as best I could. Her blackened fingertips dug into the fabric and she pulled it closed around her front.

  “What happened?” I asked. She stared at me, her eyes wide.

  “I don’t know,” sh
e answered, the honesty in her voice tinged with confusion.

  “We need to get inside.” Finn’s words were brimmed with concern.

  “Can you quit that?” Eli asked, gruffly, with a sharp look to the sky as he knelt down next to me. I squinted up into the rain and shook my head.

  “I dunno how I did that in the first place, it just happened,” I admitted, before wrapping my fingers around Max’s wrist. “You okay to stand?”

  “There’s a lot of things ‘just happening.’ Here,” Eli said, helping Max up. The hoodie was overly large and gave her at least some coverage down to her thighs. Even still, I noticed the guys were politely averting their gaze when we turned.

  “So, spontaneous combustion, that’s new,” Charlie said, eyeing the car behind Max. “Where’s the driver?”

  “Inside,” Eli growled. Cash came up on Max’s other side. She wobbled for a step or two, her face pale, before regaining coordination over her limbs. Questions bubbled up in my throat but I swallowed them back down until we were safely inside and the scene, the pile of ashes of what had been her attacker, and the soot-streaked car, was shut outside.

  “Tell me what happened,” Finn said as Max sat down on one couch. Ace went to grab her a pair of boxer shorts and Cash cracked open a bottle of water for her.

  “There was this guy, her driver, the car service. He got out of the car when she did, which I thought was weird and then—”

  “I just felt pain.” Max’s voice was rough, even after she took a big gulp of the water Cash gave her. “Then… nothing.”

  Cash glanced at Eli, whose jaw was tense. Finn sighed and rubbed his temples. Charlie was the only one who looked remotely relaxed, leaning against the wall next to the couch we were sitting on.

  Ace trotted out with a pair of pajama pants, a pair of mine anyway. They’d be like capris on Max, but that didn’t matter. She kept tugging at the hem of the hoodie, pulling it down towards her knees. Ace passed her the pants, and the guys looked away when she wriggled into them.

  “We’re going to need to dump the car,” Eli said, with a significant glance at Cash. He gave a sharp nod.

  “Got it,” he said, and high-tailed it out of the jam space, the door slamming shut behind him.

  “What’s he doing?” I asked, my gaze flicking from the door back to Eli.

  “This isn’t the 40’s anymore, guys,” Charlie drawled. “That dude-bro had a cellphone on him, and his last location is going to be a drop off right in front of our home.”

  “I know that,” Eli growled at him, eyes narrowed. Beside me, Max flinched, her fingers gripping the bottle until the water splashed out over her hand.

  “Here,” I said, taking it from her gently. Her hand was shaking, small tremors starting in her core and radiating out through her limbs.

  “What’s happening to me, Darce?” She looked at me, the fear in her eyes making my mouth go dry. “I felt it, the knife—”

  “Let me check where he cut you,” I said, my fingers going to her side. I hadn’t seen blood earlier, but the last few minutes had been a blur of panic and relief.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” she said as I unzipped the hoodie enough to feel along her ribs, searching for blood, for the stab-wound I’d seen her get. Smooth skin met my probing fingers, and I pulled my hand out with a shake of my head.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the four of the pack who remained. Finn’s face had concern written all over it, Ace looked on the edge of tears, Eli looked pissed, and Charlie looked… well, almost like he was going to laugh or something. Maybe that’s how he dealt with weird situations.

  “I’ve got some idea,” Eli said. His eyes locked on Max. “Who are you?”

  “Eli,” Finn’s voice was low, warning.

  “What?” Max plucked at the hem of the hoodie she wore, staring up at Eli. “Eli you know me.”

  “That hunter at the venue, he thought you were a werewolf, and we all thought it was because you’d been around us. It didn’t make sense to me at the time. So who are you?”

  Max shook her head.

  “I don’t understand what you mean—” Her voice broke. My arm went around her shoulders and I glared at Eli.

  “Do you have any other mode on that personality dial of yours than absolute jackass?” I snapped. Finn came to stand beside Max, turning to glare at his twin. He folded his arms over his chest.

  “You know what this is,” he said.

  “I’m not sure I do,” Eli’s scowl was unwavering.

  “Hürtgen,” Finn snapped the word and Eli flinched. My eyes flicked back and forth between them. Ace cleared his throat, but neither twin looked at him. Charlie sighed and Max shivered in my embrace.

  “What’s, um, Hurtgone?” Max asked.

  “Hürtgen,” Finn corrected her pronunciation before explaining. “It’s a place, In Germany. We ran into a firebug like you there, a long time back.” As he spoke he didn’t take his eyes off of Eli. “Stand down, brother. You know what she is.”

  Eli’s eyes flickered and he looked away with a sigh.

  “Y’know those things called words? You might want to use them, right now, to explain what the fuck is going on,” my temper snapped, strained from seeing my friend die in a fire and come back to life in a matter of minutes.

  “What my pack-brothers are not saying, and being vague about in general, is that you, Max, aren’t exactly what you think you are, or what we thought you were.” Charlie spoke up as he spun on his heel, coming to stand in front of me and Max. He crouched down, and reached for one of Max’s hands. She let him. He turned it over, sliding his fingers across her palm. “No marks though.”

  “Well there wouldn’t be, would there? Not if she’s not burning on the regular,” Finn said, his voice dry as a bone.

  “I’m not what I think I am? Marks?” Max repeated, her words hollow. It was all I could do to hang onto her, trying to project comfort and calm into her with my embrace.

  “Drink,” Charlie said gently, and passed her another bottle of water. She took a sip.

  “You’re like us, Max,” Eli said after she swallowed a few mouthfuls of liquid. “You’re not human.”

  “No human could survive a fire like that,” Ace said.

  “No human could start a fire like that,” Charlie added, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Impressive.”

  “She’s not a witch,” I cut in. Eli gave me a flat stare and rolled his eyes. I glared right back. “What?”

  “We know that. We knew that the second we met her.”

  “She’s a phoenix,” Finn said. My muscles went tight.

  “What?”

  “I’m a what?” Max squeaked, and crushed her second water bottle in as many minutes. Charlie pried it from her bloodless fingers.

  “We can explain,” he said.

  “Yeah, you’re gonna,” I said. “They don’t exist, they haven’t for, well, forever and ever. She’s not—” I glanced at Max and she looked back at me, rising panic in her expression. “It’s fine, Max, I promise, it’s fine.”

  “I’m not,” she said. “I’m not a phoenix. That’s not real. They aren’t real.”

  “No less real than werewolves or witches, sweetheart,” Charlie said, and his words were more kind than sarcastic. Max inhaled, her breath sharp and shaky.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, then leaned forward and was.

  Two

  Darcy

  I wrung out another wet cloth and pressed it to Max’s forehead. She was pale and sweaty, her eyes dull and half-lidded.

  “I don’t even know what this means,” she’d said, after she’d been sick for a second time, barely missing puking all over Charlie’s shoes the first time. The guys gave us a few minutes, backing off to stand at the other end of the jam space. Eli and Finn were engaged in a quick, quiet whisper-fight. Ace was shooting daggers at Eli, and Charlie was looking at his phone, a frown on his face.

  �
��Don’t think about it,” I urged her gently. “Just take deep breaths.”

  “I started that fire.” Her voice was weak, a thread of disbelief in it. “Me. I burnt up that guy—”

  “He stabbed you,” I interrupted her. “He stabbed you, and um, you did something. I guess it was self-defense.” My mind tracked through everything I knew about mythical creatures. Not much, really. A mixture of me never paying attention during lessons, and also most of those creatures having disappeared long before I was born.

  If the guys were right, and honestly, I had no reason not to believe them, then my best friend? She was one of those long-lost myths. I pulled an elastic hairband from around my wrist and tied back her thick, red locks into a pony in case she hurled again. By then, she probably didn’t have anything left in her stomach, but a person could never be too careful when it came to puke.

  “Have you ever spontaneously lit anything on fire before?” I asked her, cautious in how I picked my words. She’d killed someone. By accident, and he’d stabbed her first, so in my mind it was fair, but I knew Max. She’d gone through life never hurting a fly. With a cop for a father, and enough conflict between him and her boyfriend, she avoided fights as much as possible. I don’t think she’d ever cut in line at the freshman cafeteria and that place was a zoo on the better days.

  “Other than some candles and incense, no,” she said, trying to make a joke, but her voice was weak. “I always used matches before.”

  The door to the jam space opened and we all looked. Cash stepped in with a sigh, glancing over at me and Max before calling out to Eli.