Phoenixcry: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 1) Page 23

  Max tried to get me to read Harry Potter once, but I couldn’t stomach it, the pain was still too real and hot in the back of my mind. Maybe I didn’t grow up in a cupboard under a set of stairs, but cages can come in all shapes. Mine was lined with silk and velvet, and my family looked at me with just as much disappointment and disgust.

  My phone buzzed in my hand, and my heart leapt into my throat. Her phone number flashed on my screen. My trembling fingers accepted the call and I lifted the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  Silence greeted me.

  “Hello?”

  I heard a soft breath.

  “Holy shit,” she said. I closed my eyes.

  “Daria.”

  “Darcy Evangeline Llewellyn. You missed my coming-of-age. It was nice. I wore purple. Mother was scandalized.”

  I brought my hand to my mouth, and suddenly my eyes were burning with tears. It’d been so long. I took a shaking lungful of air.

  “Dar, you okay?” she asked, her voice turning worried.

  “Yeah, Dar, I’m okay.”

  I heard her laugh at the nickname we’d called each other. We weren’t remotely identical, her skin freckled and mine clear, her hair black and straight, where mine was lighter brown and curling, but our names were close enough we’d pretended we were the same person, split into two bodies.

  “Well you’re doing that almost-crying thing. I mean, it’s been years. I don’t even know what you look like anymore. Mom made me throw out all the pictures cause…” She sighed. “I missed you. Then I was mad at you. Now I get it.”

  The aching maw in my chest gave an unpleasant pulse.

  “I can’t say I’m sorry. I’m not. I had to go.”

  “Like I said. I get it. It sucked, and holy shit your dad got crap for months about it. A Llewellyn, leaving the fold? A council brat, cursing out the whole council? I mean it was pretty freaking spectacular.” There was a smile in her voice. “Do you still suck at magic?”

  “Do you still not know the difference between foundation and concealer?” I shot back. She laughed, and it patched over the ache in my heart.

  “Who needs makeup when I can just cast a glamour? Creston says it’s false advertising, but I barely use it, which horrifies Mother. She says that someone so talented should be more interested in putting on a pretty face than I am.”

  Same old Daria. One of the best illusion casters that the council had ever seen, and she was more focused on reading history books than making the impossible come to life.

  “How is Creston?” I asked, hating how I hesitated. But I needed to know.

  “Still pissed. Still has the scars on his balls. I don’t know how you managed that, also, don’t ask me how I know either. It’s not cause I looked, I swear.”

  I laughed out loud. It was like no time had passed at all from when we’d last talked.

  “I have a favor to ask you.”

  “I don’t have any money. At least not yet. Oh. I didn’t tell you? I’m getting married.”

  “What?!”

  “Ugh, yeah, in a few months. You’re not invited, so don’t worry, although I don’t think they would know where to send the save-the-date card.”

  “Married to who?”

  She hesitated for a long moment and a sinking feeling came over me.

  “I… well. Slade Noble.”

  She’d named the head of the council. The Noble family could be traced back right to the beginning of the council. They’d never gone without holding a seat.

  “That’s an honor,” I said, not able to keep the strangled tone out of my voice.

  “You can say it. He’s thirty years older than me.”

  “Uh. Do—do you...”

  “Love him? That’s a joke. No. But he needs an heir, and he figures that someone young enough will give him lots of time to get one.” There was a flat tone in her voice that chilled me. She sounded so resigned. Like she’d already made up her mind about her future, about what was happening, and she wasn’t going to do anything to change it.

  She didn’t sound like my Daria.

  “I guess congratulations?” What could I say?

  “You’re not going to convince me to run away? Where did you go anyway? No, don’t tell me. Then I can’t tell them.”

  “Do you want to run?” I asked, pouncing on that small idea. She could stay in my bunk while I was on tour. Max could take care of her, teach her all about life in a world that was—

  “I’m not brave like you, Dar,” she said, her voice wistful. “But it’s okay. He’s not the partying type so I don’t have to turn into some sort of engagement-throwing, crowd-entertaining social harpy. Why’d you call anyway? It’s been a bit too long for this to just be a polite social call.”

  The boys. I had to focus on the boys, because right then I wanted to get on a plane, go home, and rescue her from her fate. Daria was better than Slade Noble. He was a bitter, dried up lemon of a man, who didn’t deserve someone as brilliant and talented as her.

  “You’re the smartest witch I know—”

  “Do you need money?”

  “No! No I don’t need money,” I bit my lip to keep from laughing. She really hadn’t changed. “I wanted to ask you about heartstones?”

  The line went quiet, and then, cautiously, she asked,

  “What did you want to know?”

  “How to make them.” More silence, this time for too long. “Daria?”

  “Remember when I said you were brave? No. You’re crazy,” her voice was flat again; unamused.

  “Ummm, okay, that wasn’t the response I was expecting but I can work with it. I’m serious. How do you make a heartstone?”

  “You don’t. Unless you want to die. Especially you, because you’re so bad at magic. But even I wouldn’t try to make one. I don’t think anyone’s made one for at least a hundred years, if not longer. Why a heartstone? They’re not really that powerful unless,” she trailed off and I could hear a frown in her voice. “Werewolves use them, need them, really, for their long lives, the ability to heal and their strength, their vocal powers, oh, and procreating. They shoot blanks unless they’re near one at least semi-regularly.” She huffed out a breath. “Darcy you’re not, you haven’t met a werewolf have you?” There was skepticism in her voice, like she thought the idea was sort of ridiculous but had to ask it just in case.

  My silence told her everything she needed to know.

  “I’ll come get you. Do you need money? Seriously. I’ll send you money. I can borrow a credit card.”

  “Daria, I’m fine. I don’t need money. I’m good. I’ve got—I’m in a good place.”

  “I could find you if I wanted too,” she threatened. I laughed.

  “You couldn’t find your own head if you lost it. You were never good at finding magics. What do you mean by I’d die if I created one?”

  “I mean that the last lightning witch to make one died. That’s why we stopped making them. It took too much out of him, and he just crumpled and died. It’s sort of this whole, witching-embarrassment thing.” Daria sighed. “So are you hanging out with a werewolf? They’re treacherous. Seriously, if you are, you need to get away as fast as you can.”

  The thought of any of the guys being treacherous was stupid, and I snorted.

  “You sound like our parents.”

  “Yeah well they’re not totally clueless about everything.”

  We were both quiet for a moment, hurt hanging in the silence. She spoke first.

  “Dar, I don’t know where you are, or what you’re into, but trust me. It would take a crazy-powerful witch to make a heartstone, and then he or she would probably die while making it. And werewolves are dangerous, blood-thirsty, and honestly, I’m not all that sad that they’re dying out. They’ve killed more humans than I can count, and quite a few witches too.”

  I wanted to yell at her that she had no idea what she was talking about. Imagining any one of my guys as a vicious killer wasn’t even possible. Ace
was a goofball, more prone to bursting into stitches than hurting anyone. For all Eli was growly and grouchy, it always seemed to be in an effort to protect us. Charlie would never murder anyone because the risk of him getting blood on his phone was too great and he loved that piece of technology like it was a child. Cash, there was a thread of violence in Cash, for sure, but it was more that he was desperate for solutions to save his pack.

  And Finn?

  Finn, who tenderly had shown me that a girl’s first time could be fairly painless, who’d taken care with me as if I was the most precious thing in the world? Finn whose love was so big that his heart couldn’t contain it, and it spilled out into his music, his affection for his new fans at each show? That Finn? Who hugged young women and never let his hands stray past their shoulders? He could’ve gotten away with it, I’d known way too many musicians who had, but he never abused the power he had like that. None of the band did. I wondered if that was why Willa put an inexperienced young female in the position of managing them. If they’d been a band of Jake Tuppers, I would have been eaten alive.

  None of my guys were violent, although I had no doubt they’d resort to it if it meant keeping each other, or me, alive.

  “Dar? You there? Did I piss you off?”

  “No. I just—I appreciate the info. I’m sorry I never called.”

  “It’s not okay. I mean it is okay. But I kinda figured you wouldn’t. But you can, you know, any time. Just call. I’m here! Preparing for my wedding.” She sighed. “Just promise me you’ll stay safe.”

  I thought of the hunters possibly on our tail and smiled, even though she couldn’t see it.

  “I’ll do my best,” I said.

  “Dar.”

  “Congrats on your engagement. I’ll tell you what my mother told my sister; just lay back and think of the council.”

  “Ew! She did not! That’s so gross.”

  “That’s my mom.”

  “God, no wonder you ran away. Even Mother isn’t that batshit. Okay, well, I miss you! And stop thinking about making a heartstone. You’re crazy. Okay?”

  “Bye Daria,” I whispered, disappointment rising in me. The one thing I could have given the pack was out of my reach. If there’d been a way to do it, Daria would have known. And told me.

  “Bye Darcy.”

  Twenty-Eight

  I wish I’d had the chance to mope over my call with Daria and what she told me about creating heartstones. Instead of going out to the merch table, I got scooped up by Eli as I turned the corner of the hall backstage. He hauled me over his shoulder before I could say anything.

  “We’re going,” he said when I yelped in surprise. I shoved my hands against his back, pushing my head up as he walked briskly. Behind him the rest of the guys followed, grim expressions on their faces, even Ace, whose frown muscles never seemed to work. They each carried gear, and my backpack was slung over Charlie’s shoulder. My heartbeat picked up, thudding in my mouth and throat.

  “The merch," I croaked.

  “Leave it, Shara is getting it,” Eli rumbled under me as he adjusted me on his shoulder. I dangled like a kitten in his grip.

  “What’s—” I fell quiet when Eli growled. I looked at Finn. He didn’t meet my eyes, turning to glance behind him every moment. We broke out into the cool night air, a crisp breeze whipping up around us. A few short strides and we were at the van. He finally let me down, and I went to get into it. I was moving too slowly, apparently. Eli shoved me from behind and I nearly fell against it, catching myself on a seat.

  “Hey!” I snapped, whirling on him. He looked instantly guilty, and Finn snarled, grabbing Eli by the shoulder.

  “The fuck are you thinking? You wanna hurt her? Fucking idiot.”

  “Guys,” Charlie, the voice of reason, spoke up as he set his gear down by the trailer. “Now is not the time.”

  Finn and Eli stared at each other.

  “Get in the car, Darcy,” Ace said quietly.

  “Can’t I help pack up?” Cash and Charlie were loading the gear into the back already, without the usual care they took. I could hear the quiet, muffled bangs of gear going down and winced.

  “Get in, please,” Finn said. I swallowed and ducked into the van, heading to the back and stared out the window, my heart thudding almost painfully. Eli stood by the door of the van, eyes scanning the parking lot, his shoulders tense.

  “Got it!” Cash called, banging on the back of the trailer as they slammed it shut. Eli walked around the outside of the van and got into the driver’s seat. The engine turned over, sending a soft vibration through the entire vehicle. The guys piled in. As soon as the door was closed, I heard the click of the lock. I sank down into my seat and put my seatbelt on. Finn crouched in the middle of the aisle as we pulled out of the parking lot, staring out the side window at the parking lot as we left it behind. The skin on the back of my neck prickled, like someone was watching me.

  Even after we turned onto the freeway, and we were ten minutes down the road, the feeling didn’t subside.

  “Is it safe to talk now?” I asked, my anxiety making my words sound more annoyed than they were. Finn finally stood, balancing easily in the moving vehicle. He came and sat down next to me. The guys were still tense, and he made no move to put an arm around me like usual. His next words made my heart turn to ice.

  “There was a hunter in the venue.”

  I stared at him.

  “What? How? How do you know? Did he see you?”

  “Darcy, breathe,” he said his brow furrowing. “We don’t know. We didn’t see him.”

  “Then how did you know?” Confusion warred with panic in my chest.

  “They have a certain scent,” he said wryly, the corner of his mouth turning up. “Usually it’s just flat out blood, stale and dried. But the young ones, the new ones, they smell like a burnt out fire, like ash.” He sighed. “This one was young, your age, probably, and didn’t have a lot of kills under his belt.”

  “You knew it was a guy?”

  Finn gave me a flat look as if to ask seriously?

  Ace turned in his chair, and I could see how white he was under his shock of blond hair.

  “There wasn’t anyone weird around the merch table tonight?” Ace asked. I shook my head. Just the usual. I didn’t remember seeing anyone who looked like they murdered mythical creatures for a hobby. Not that I had any idea of what that kind of person would look like.

  Charlie looked up from his phone.

  “Shar’s got our merch on the Glory Rev bus,” he said with a sigh. “Good thing or Willa would have killed us if that hunter hadn’t gotten there first.”

  “Not funny, Gage,” Ace said, slumping in his seat and sounding worn down.

  “Five of us and one of them? Guy wouldn’t have stood a chance even if we’d been fully human,” Charlie said, sounding unmoved by the whole event. How he could be so calm, I had no idea. My heart was trying to crawl its way up my throat and my guts were making unfortunate squelching noises. My chest was so tight that each breath felt like it was going to crack my ribs.

  “So… so why didn’t you… take care of the problem?” I asked. All the boys tensed. Everyone, except for Eli who was driving, stared at me like I was crazy. “What?”

  Finn cleared his throat.

  “Sweetheart, do you know how many kids were in that venue?”

  I closed my eyes as I realized what he meant.

  “Right,” I mumbled.

  “It’s okay,” he said, and his arm finally, finally, came out and wrapped around my shoulder. His heat sunk into my tense, painful muscles and relaxed them minutely. “We’re not gonna risk kids. Even kids who are in college.”

  “Do you see me as a kid?” I made a face at him. He smirked for a moment.

  “Nah, you’re all woman,” he said and kissed me slowly. I sighed and clung to him, still shivering over the close call we’d had. And only thirty minutes earlier, I’d been with Finn in the green room, having one of the best orgas
ms of my life, and a hunter had been sneaking around in the venue.

  “Maybe he was there to watch the show,” Ace said, although he didn’t sound all that sure about it.

  “It’s possible,” Eli drew out the word like he didn’t want to let it end. “Just one of them showing up like that? It could have been a coincidence. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got a show tomorrow, and we’re gonna get there tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Charlie sounded dismayed. “We’re driving all night?”

  Eli grunted in response. I sighed and leaned into Finn, letting my eyes slide shut.

  It was going to be a long damn night.

  Twenty-Nine

  Finn shook me. I opened my eyes. Light was spilling into the van, as the sun peeked over a range of mountains. I squinted and rubbed my eyes. My whole body ached, and when I touched my cheek, I could feel the mark where my seatbelt had pressed into my face.

  “My mouth feels like a rat died in it,” I said, to Finn’s quiet chuckle.

  “We’re stopping for a break. Stretch your legs, rinse your mouth out.”

  “Where are we?” I asked, wrinkling my nose as we pulled into a gas station that seemed deserted. Hopefully the pumps were on. If we’d driven straight for hours we’d be needing gas.

  “Arizona, still” Eli said as he threw the van into park and got out without a word. Charlie opened the sliding door to the van, and I shivered when a rush of cold air hit me.

  “I though Arizona was hot,” I protested, wrapping my arms around myself. My thin t-shirt was not enough to stay warm in.

  “Deserts get cold at night,” Finn said, tugging off his hoodie. “C’mere.” He pulled it over my head without waiting for me to put my arms up. It messed up my curls; I could feel the fly-aways tickling at my eyes and nose, and I grumbled but allowed his warmth and the soft mint scent of him comfort me.

  I stumbled out of the van on shaking, weak legs and stretched my arms up to the sky. Streams of light were crossing it where the sun kissed it, turning it from deep purple to almost white. I breathed out slowly, shaking the last panic from our after-show run.