Phoenixheart: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 7) Read online

  Phoenixheart

  #7 in The Rogue Witch: A Reverse Harem Romance

  KT Strange

  Copyright © 2019 by KT 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.

  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.

  Contents

  Stay in touch!

  1. Darcy

  2. Darcy

  3. Darcy

  4. Darcy

  5. Darcy

  6. Darcy

  7. Darcy

  8. Darcy

  9. Darcy

  10. Darcy

  11. Darcy

  12. Darcy

  13. Darcy

  14. Darcy

  15. Darcy

  16. Darcy

  17. Elias

  18. Darcy

  19. Darcy

  20. Darcy

  21. Darcy

  22. Darcy

  23. Darcy

  So. This didn’t go as I planned.

  Stay in touch!

  About the Author

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  One

  Darcy

  When would I ever learn? Creston’s feet hit the ground, thudding down on the living room floor as curls of smoke enveloped us.

  “Darcy,” he breathed, reaching for me.

  “Don’t!” My hands crackled, sparking up, a sheet of lightning erupting between us for a second and I stumbled back to get as much space between him and me as possible. Creston blinked, the light from my power blinding him momentarily, before his pupils focused on me again. A smirk curled across his mouth and he hitched his head.

  “Oh, you’re going to be like that, are you?” His eyes dragged down my body and my skin prickled, my throat going tight. How dare he look at me like that? “I’d have you even now, defiled as you are-”

  “Enough,” Eli cut in, stepping into the house, Finn a stride behind him. Creston flicked his fingers in the air, and in a breath fires blossomed up from the ground, cutting the guys off before they could take another step. Finn growled, and just beyond the flickers of orange and red, I saw Eli shove Finn back, protecting his brother. Fury rose in me, an echo to Creston’s flames and I launched myself at the bastard, knocking him to the ground. He grunted as we went down, his hand lifting to wrap around my throat. His fingers burnt me, slender threads of flame searing my skin. A cry ripped from my throat and I yanked back, hands out in front of me, lightning crackling off my palms, to hold him at bay. My skin throbbed sharply, making it hard to breathe. An arm wrapped around my middle; I gasped.

  “I got you,” Finn said, pulling me back. I glanced to the side. Creston’s flames had extinguished, and Eli slid between us, slamming his booted foot down into the middle of Creston’s chest. Creston choked, inhaling sharply in the silent room. “Let me see,” Finn’s voice was dark, as he tilted my chin up to look at my neck. He snarled in response.

  “I’ll burn their marks off you, bitch,” Creston’s words were wheezed, but the glimmer of red in his eyes when I met his gaze made me swallow hard and press back into Finn’s chest.

  “You won’t even look at her,” Eli said, reaching down to grab Creston by the throat. “Let’s see how you like it.” His boot slipped, and he hauled Creston into the air, holding him up as if he weighed nothing at all. Creston’s legs shook, his back arching as Eli choked him, no match for one strong werewolf who’d just been exposed to a heartstone even for a short period of time. Creston made a choking, garbled noise, his eyes flaring wide. Fire sparked at his fingers, trailing up his arms and he reached for Eli’s hand with his own.

  My heartbeat thudded in my ears and I pulled away from Finn. Fire had burned me, and marked Finn. He wouldn’t get Elias too.

  Electricity crackled along my skin from the toes up, expanding outward, filling the room with the noise, the bright blue-white blinding me as I moved forward. I felt them, the three of them, the power licking around them, before it narrowed in on Creston like a wild creature finally let loose.

  The first time I murdered I hadn’t meant to, turning a hunter into dust right in front of me before I could think to stop it. This time, I rode the power, in control of it barely, as it wrapped around Creston’s body.

  Eli dropped him as Creston screamed, curling up on the floor where he landed, his body twitching as the lighting struck him, biting at him, coiling around his limbs until he jerked, seizing helplessly. I wouldn’t let it kill him, not this time, he had too much to account for. Two steps took me to stand over him, Eli and Finn a half-step behind me, their silent support a bulwark against the shame that flitted in the back of my mind.

  Creston turned his head to look at me, tears clinging to his lower lashes, his mouth shuddering open and closed as the pain lashed him over and over again. He choked, his eyes rolling back and I jerked, feeling like I was the one who’d been struck with a live wire. I was no better than him. I dropped my hands, letting them fall to my sides, the power running out of my body and sinking into the ground, dissipating around us.

  Creston groaned, his body going lax. I inhaled, the air coming to me filled with charged ions, making my whole body feeling like it was glowing. A nudge of fingers against my palm from behind, it was Finn, before he wrapped his hand around mine and squeezed it gently. His touch grounded me, knowing he was right there. Eli didn’t reach for me, but I felt him, his breath caught in his throat, like he was waiting for me to make the next move.

  “This has to stop,” I whispered to Creston. He lifted his head, blood streaking from his nose. He let out a wet chuckle, coughing.

  “I can’t stop,” he said, pushing himself up on his arm. “You will be mine, one way or the other.”

  My wolves bristled, but didn’t move, waiting on me. I closed my eyes for a moment. He was forcing my hand, demanding that I give him something that I wouldn’t.

  “This doesn’t have to go this way,” I said, and he laughed, lifting his eyes to meet mine. His mouth contorted.

  “You will be mine or you will be dead,” he replied, confidence lacing his words like he knew it to be true. He pushed himself up on one arm, that limb shaking.

  “I don’t think so, son,” Finn growled, and stepped in front of me. Creston snorted.

  “Oh really, the great protector, here to save his witchling princess from the great dragon,” Creston said before his gaze cut to Eli. “Or was that you? I can never tell you two apart. Two equally stupid mongrels-”

  Finn moved so fast, that Creston’s words choked off in a squeal, Eli a second after his twin, the two of them hauled Creston up.

  “You have one chance to walk out of here,” Eli said, “I suggest you take it before we ruin you.” Creston squirmed in Finn’s grip, his chest heaving with each breath. More blood d
ripped down his face, this time coming from the corners of his eyes. I swallowed my revulsion down. I had done that to him, but it was no less than he’d ever done to me. I needed to stare him right in the face. I would never hide away from what I was, or what my powers could do, not again.

  “Never,” Creston said, “as cliche as that is, never,” he spat blood in Finn’s face, but my wolf didn’t even flinch, if anything, his grip was tighter, making Creston wheeze for breath sharply. “You have no place to judge, dog, when you took away all choice from her the moment you met her. My Darcy would never ask for you, your touch, your stain on her.”

  “Finish it,” Eli said, his order low, his voice devoid of emotion. Finn’s shoulders squared, and Creston closed his eyes.

  “I should burn you alive, but it would be better… one last…” Creston’s words were barely a whisper, and then I felt it, the tug deep inside me, my powers uncoiling to strike, without my permission. My chest lit up, my skin burning, the glow searing right through my clothes, right over my heart as Creston yanked the lightning from me. The power arced through the air, jolting into Finn’s back. He dropped, like his knees had been cut, and Creston stumbled back, free from the werewolf’s grip.

  Time seemed to slow down, as the fires circled Creston where he stood, holding us back, and Eli dove to grab Finn, dragging him back.

  “Finn,” I cried out, turning to look at him. He groaned, lifting his head with a shake.

  “Alive,” he said, “sorta.”

  “Darcy,” Eli’s voice was an order that I didn’t need to hear the rest to understand. I whirled on Creston. His power over me would only end with his blood on my hands. So be it.

  “It’s over,” I said, lifting my fingers. Creston laughed, the sound sick and echoing in my head.

  “Never, love,” he whispered, the sound curling in my ears and making me shudder. I called the lightning, rode it like a wave inside me as it rose up, reaching for him. It encircled him, sensing his weakness, the shape of the light changing, until it blurred out my vision, the bright, white form of a wolf the last thing I saw as I closed my eyes.

  His voice, screaming, filled my ears, words that melted together. Finn and Eli grabbed me, pulling me back, as I opened my eyes, Eli’s breath exhaling hard in my ear.

  Creston was floating in mid-air, his back arched, head tipped back, his body glowing from the inside, shuddering with my power. It had filled him, and I felt it tearing him apart, his mouth open as he screamed my name.

  Finn wrapped a hand over my eyes as my power blew outward, knocking the three of us to the floor. Glass shattered in the windows, and the noise whited out my hearing until there was nothing but a high, piercing sound.

  Then the world went dark, and silent. I felt Finn breathing against me, Eli on my other side as they curled around me protectively. I opened my eyes. Everything was in shadow, what little light there was, filtering from outside.

  And Creston?

  There was nothing left, not even dust. My throat went tight, my body aching all over.

  “He dead?” Eli asked.

  “Looks like it. Unless he’s playing hide and seek,” Finn growled. I shook my head, sitting up. No. He was gone. Really gone. There was a profound emptiness where I’d felt his power, now that it was missing I realized that’s what it was.

  “We need to talk to Wolfe about him telling us there’s no more curses on you, and there secretly is,” Eli grumbled. I lifted my hand to where my heart beat under my ribs, feeling the skin there through my shirt.

  “I don’t think he knew. He’s not perfect,” I said. The skin felt normal, no sign at all of the curse allowing Creston to control my powers for that split second earlier. Any magic he’d placed on me would die with him, or rather had died with him.

  My face was wet. I wiped at the tears. Was I crying over him?

  “Darcy?” Finn was there in a moment, pulling me against his chest. I let my forehead rest on his shoulder and shivered.

  “I’m really tired of almost dying,” I whispered. Finn chuckled, his voice hoarse.

  “I wanna know how he knew about us fighting the dragon,” Eli said.

  “Should have asked him that before our girl lit him up like a Christmas tree,” Finn mumbled into the top of my head, holding me tight. “You okay, doll?”

  “Just killed my first boyfriend. I guess it’s true what they say, that you never forget your first love,” I said, trying to find the humor in the situation where there was none.

  “I’m just glad you’re alright,” Finn said, and then sighed as he grazed fingers over my neck. “He got you good.”

  “I’ll heal,” I said, wincing at the painful skin. Eli got to his feet and held out a hand for me, lifting me to my feet when I grabbed onto him. Finn dusted himself off as he stood, looking around the room. “So where do you think Tupper is?”

  I swallowed. Shit. Tupper. Was he even alive? What about Willa?

  “I don’t know.” I let out a shaking breath. “Let’s just get out of here.” We could figure out the answers to all those questions later. I let Finn take my hand, Eli’s arm around my shoulders from the other side as we walked to the door.

  My foot barely hit the threshold when the flames roared up, winding around us, their heat scalding my skin.

  “Darcy…” Creston’s voice echoed in my head, threading through my thoughts. “This is my final gift to you. You will see them die…” The world turned to flame, the only thing other than the heat was Eli and Finn’s grips on me as the ground fell out from under my feet.

  Two

  Darcy

  The air around me screamed, thundering in my ears as I spun. Eli had his arms around my waist, Finn clinging hard to my hand. Smoke, and the scent of hot stone filled my nose, thick in my throat as I coughed.

  We were falling, endlessly, spiraling downward. Finn’s fingers slipped from mine and I cried out into the void as he vanished from my side.

  I pried my eyes open, Eli’s face was pressed to mine, as his grip flexed. I looked down, the breath leaving my lungs as a shadowed hole opened up in the never ending red and orange of fire.

  We tumbled down, and I slammed my eyes shut, waiting for the shattering impact.

  Instead I felt the ground rise up to meet me, cradling me as my legs crumpled under me. Eli went down with me, and we landed, sprawling on the ground. A few feet from us, Finn was on hands and knees, lifting his head, face a mask of relief when he saw me.

  My elation at having survived was short lived. I glanced up and froze, Eli’s arms around me the only thing that kept me from crying out.

  We were in the middle of the witch’s council, actually in the middle of it. The great, dark flagstone floor was familiar from when I’d visited my father when I was younger for boring council meetings. It stretched out in all directions to the raised platform that the council members sat at in a full circle around the room. The chairs, great, wooden carved things, stained ebony to be more impressive and imposing, were ranged at equal points around the circular room, and in each of them was a robed witch, their eyes glued to the three of us.

  Nobody moved, until my father leaned forward, his brow furrowed, staring at me as if he couldn’t quite believe it. Then his upper lip curled.

  “Traitor!” He got to his feet, his hand lifting up.

  I knew what was happening before it began, and I scrambled to my feet, my lightning flaring to life in front of me, lighting up the ground in a large circle and doming over Finn, Eli, and me as a protective shield. I braced myself as the flare of of my father’s power lashed at mine, like a physical strike that shoved me back a foot. Eli was next to me in an instant, stepping behind me so that I could lean on him for strength.

  “Lewellyn, cease these childish antics,” an unfamiliar voice, younger than it ought to sound given the weight of the words that it carried. “You will not kill your own daughter in the sanctum of the council.”

  I lifted my head, craning it to see beyond the veil of my fli
ckering powers, trying to figure out who had spoken.

  “Who the fuck is that?” Finn asked, with a shake of his head as he joined me and Eli, pressing up close to me as he eyed the council members who sat, their faces blurred by the lightning.

  “No idea, but the guy who just tried to hurt us is my father,” I muttered.

  “Shit like that is enough to give me daddy-issues,” Finn said, although any humor in his voice was buried under the very real concern that tinged his words.

  “Let down your shield, Llewellyn-daughter,” the same voice came again, and I heard footsteps behind us. I turned in Eli’s arms. A young man, barely in his mid-teens stood at the edge of my powers. He wore a robe of the council, just like my father did, but instead of a deep navy velvet embroidered with silver and gold lightning strikes, the boy wore robes of royal purple, picked out with stars and constellations. It looked too big for his shoulders, drooping down his arms.

  “No way,” I called back. “I’ve seen first hand what witches do to werewolves. I want safe passage out of here, or so help me I’ll bring the ceiling down on all of you.”

  I’d do it, too. My power was trembling, waiting to strike. I’d never felt so full of strength before in my life, but my control was slipping. If we didn’t get out of there soon, I just might bring down the roof on us as well as the witch’s council.

  The boy smiled and turned to my father, who reluctantly took a seat under the heavy gaze of someone many years his junior.