Fevered: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (The Carnal Court Book 1) Page 3

  “Kari!” Kent barrels around the tree and is suddenly close. “Are you all right?”

  I’m so confused. My brain is muddled, trying to connect the dots. Kent is here too? I close my eyes and fight against the way my body feels like it’s shredding itself apart. “Am I dead?” The words feel strange on my tongue, like they’re not coming from me.

  “No, you’re not dead,” Kent says, “but you were attacked.”

  His hands are on my arms and no no no it hurts, and everything fades to grey. She’s back. The pain is back. He has to be lying. I’m dead—or I will be soon.

  “Back up,” I hear another voice say, and Kent curses under his breath but his hands leave my skin. “She can’t take the touch right now,” the voice says. I try to open my eyes and there’s another angel. This one’s golden. Tan skin and golden brown hair and green eyes that are looking into mine. “Try to drink,” he says, holding a bottle to my lips.

  Drinking feels good, the sweet coolness of water a welcome distraction from the pain. I want more, but he pulls it back. “You have to go slowly.”

  A third man is standing back, and I think I’m going mad. He’s got green skin, and hair so dark it looks black, but where the sun hits it, I can see the emerald reflection. It clicks in my head, then. They’re not angels. They’re fae. The fae males I saw over me. I glance towards this male’s ears, and my suspicious are confirmed when I see that they slope into gentle points.

  “I don’t…understand.”

  “You were attacked with black magic,” the golden male says. “We’re taking you to the best healer we know, but we have to go the long way.”

  “You still haven’t explained why that is,” Kent says, voice venomous and sharp.

  The green male takes a step forward, “Because traveling with magic isn’t easy on your body, and if we transport her all the way there, it will kill her. Is that a good enough reason?”

  Kent doesn’t say anything, but he looks furious.

  I swallow, and my throat is dry, but I get a few more words out. “Who are you, and where are we?”

  The golden one holds the bottle to my lips again, and I let refreshing wetness soothe my throat. “My name is Brae. This is Verys,” he says, pointing to my all-white angel. “And that’s Aeric.” The green man.

  Kent looks at me. His arms are crossed like he’s angry, but his eyes aren’t. Not when they look at me, anyway. “We’re in Allwyn.”

  “Oh.”

  It hurts too much to move, but I make my eyes focus on the scenery. This definitely isn’t what I’m used to. We’re in a jungle. Tall, broad trees teeming with vines and moss, the undergrowth is built up, and the very air feels green. Full of life. Streaks of sunlight shoot down from the canopy. Everything about this place screams magic, and I’ve always wanted to come here. I just wished it weren’t like this.

  The pain rises up in a wave, and I can’t hold in the moan that escapes me. Nothing in my life has been like this. Not the pain in my feet after hours of point work. Not the broken bones I felt as a child. Nothing.

  On the heels of the pain comes anger. Why am I here? I’m supposed to be at a gala watching my friends get the promotion of their lives. I’m supposed to be drinking and dancing with them and attempting to have fun. At least pretending that I don’t desperately miss that life. The plan was not to get attacked by a blonde bitch and swept off to the faery realm. “Was the potion really that bad?”

  “What?” The question comes from Verys.

  I have to swallow again before I can make out the words. “I sold that fae a potion earlier today. While I was making it there was a huge burst of magic. I don’t know where it came from. I offered to make her a new one, but she took it anyway.”

  His smile is grim. “I don’t think this had anything to do with a potion.”

  “Then why?”

  Brae is the one that speaks now. “We’re going to find out. But first, we have to keep you alive.”

  “I’d like that.” Fire slashes through me, piercing my gut and running up my spine like I’ve ingested live coals. I can’t breathe, vision going white. There’s nothing other than this, and I can taste that magic—orange and ash. It lasts forever and not at all. I don’t know how long. And when it fades to a level where I can think, I realize that I’m still breathing, hauling in air. It’s thick with moisture and the scent of the forest, and I cling to that. Right now, that’s life.

  The men—all four of them—have their eyes trained on me. They’re all gorgeous, and it seems ridiculous to notice that right now. But on the bright side, if I’m going to die, at least I’ll have something beautiful to look at.

  My gut churns, and I roll to the side just in time to expel the water and bile that’s coming up my throat. Over and over until everything that I ingested is gone. My lips burn with it, and my body is shaking now along with that ever-present ache. It’s a reminder that I could be in agony at any moment.

  I don’t even have the strength to sit back up against the tree, I just lean to the side, avoiding my own vomit as I lay my head on the ground.

  “We need to move on,” Verys says, and there are murmurs of agreement from the others. Even Kent.

  Hands gently turn me and lift me until I’m once again cradled in my angel’s arms. Closing my eyes, I let the motion of floating rock me as we move. I can’t even open my eyes.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ________

  KARI

  I fade in and out, floating. Ever floating. Carried by different sets of arms. I can feel the time passing, the fact that we’re moving, but not much else. The backdrop is pain—rising and falling.

  When I open my eyes and am suddenly clear, it feels like an electric shock. I don’t know how I got here, but it’s dark, and I’m leaning against another tree. This time in a clearing. Light from the fire in the center of the space is casting sinister shadows across the canopy. Beyond the edge of light, anything could be lurking. At least that’s the way it feels.

  Around the fire are the four men, and they’re speaking. Arguing. About me. I don’t think I can use my voice yet, and I can feel the agony lurking beneath my skin waiting to spike. So I close my eyes and listen. It’s Kent’s voice that I latch onto first.

  “There has to be something that you can do.”

  “Not currently,” Brae says softly.

  Kent practically growls in frustration. “You’re telling me that three powerful fae can’t just use magic to make this go away?”

  A third voice. Aeric, I think. “Why do you refuse to understand this? This isn’t something that we can just magic away. She is dying. You can’t just restore someone’s life force.”

  “Just—”

  “No,” Brae cuts Kent off. “Aeric is correct. Just because we have magic doesn’t mean we can cure her. Fae have skillsets just like humans do. For right now, the magic I’m feeding that curse, and the fact that she’s on magical soil, is keeping her alive. That has to be enough until we reach Urien.”

  “That’s taking too long,” Kent says. He doesn’t sound angry now. This is something else I can’t identify. “If we don’t—”

  His voice breaks, and it sinks in what he’s saying. If we don’t move quickly, I’m going to die. Like I already almost died on that street in New York. Terror seeps into my chest. I don’t want to die. The thought of fading into that place again makes my heart pound, and I hear myself say, “Can we portal there?”

  All four of them look at me in unison, and then they’re moving. Kent is by my side in seconds, and he’s on his knees, looking into my eyes. There’s stubble on his jaw, and I see my own terror reflected in his eyes the second before he kisses me. The gentle brush of his lips ignites butterflies in my gut, and I’m feeling a different kind of ache. No matter the gentleness, I can feel his desperation and his fear. For me.

  The surge of emotion rushes through my chest, and tears fill my eyes. I’ve wanted Kent to kiss me for so long, and this isn’t even close to how I wanted it
to happen. We shouldn’t be here.

  The tears spill over and I can’t stop them. How can I? I can barely move. But I try.

  I reach out with my hand and catch his. There’s so much more that I want and he understands. He’s so gentle as he pulls me into his arms, and I sob against his chest. We shouldn’t be here. He should be taking me to a party and pulling me away from the others to kiss me at sunset. Not while I’m dying.

  I’m dying.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers into my hair.

  There’s nothing that I can say back. Instead, I let the tears flow, relaxing into his body. I give in to the sadness that this isn’t the way I first wanted him to hold me, or the first way I would feel his body. Kent doesn’t like fae, and he’s hinted that he has a very good reason for that, though we’ve never really talked about it. The fact that he’s here with me, the fear in that kiss, the way he’s holding me now say more about what he feels for me more than any words could.

  It’s the pain that cuts off my tears, slithering up my nerves and choking me until all I can do is breathe and dig my fingers into Kent’s shirt to hold on. The only sound is the crackling flames, and I fight the urge to scream. I don’t know where we are, and not all the stories about Allwyn are good ones. I have no idea if screaming is safe.

  When my vision clears, I become aware of the acute silence around me—so thick that it’s almost loud—with all four sets of eyes on me.

  Finally, Verys speaks. “It’s getting worse.”

  “I honestly couldn’t say. It’s all just pain.” My voice sounds like I’ve run a race, jagged and rough. “But I asked before, could we portal there?”

  Brae shakes his head. “We mentioned it before, last time you were awake, but I don’t think you’re strong enough. My gift is identifying and manipulating magic. This thing inside you—” He cuts off like he’s looking for the right words. “I’m worried that it would rip you apart if we went through a portal. It’s already siphoning your magic and life force somewhere else. Splitting that connection could kill you.”

  I swallow, noticing the way that Kent’s hands tighten on me when Brae says that it might kill me. “Yeah, I’d like to avoid that.”

  Glancing at the other two, I realize that Aeric is staring at Kent with open hatred. Specifically, the way that Kent has his arms around me. Is holding me. I want to ask why, but I can’t. The pain is rising up again, this time twisting and turning in my gut threatening to make me vomit again. I can feel myself fading again, to that floating place where nothing exists. I don’t want to go back there.

  “Please,” I manage, and Brae is crouched in front of me.

  “May I?”

  I nod.

  With infinite gentleness, he places his hand on my chest. It feels like a streak of pure sunlight is being poured into my heart. Shimmering heat and brilliance, and the pain eases, leaving my body limp in Kent’s arms. But I can’t look away from Brae, and his golden brown eyes are fixed on mine as he pours more of his magic into my body until I’m bathed in it. The sensation is like being encased in golden light, and for a brief moment, I can’t feel the pain slithering under my skin.

  I smile at him, even though that motion feels foreign to me right now. “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, Kari,” he says softly, his hand still on my chest.

  There’s a flutter in my gut, and I look away, suddenly aware of how I’m in Kent’s arms. Brae pulls his hand from my skin, and as soon as he does, I’m exhausted. The pain is gone, but all I want to do is sleep. My eyes are already closing.

  “How long until we can reach your friend?” Kent asks.

  Verys sighs, “If all goes well, a week.”

  “That’s a long time.”

  “It is,” Brae agrees, “But if she can continue to survive on our magic, all will be well.”

  Aeric clears his throat. “We can take tonight though. For her to rest.”

  There are sounds of agreement and shuffling as they move. I don’t have my eyes open anymore, and I don’t think that I can keep myself upright.

  “Kari,” Kent whispers in my ear. “Can I stay with you?”

  I’m too tired to do anything but nod once. He takes over, lowering me to the ground so I’m pillowed on his arm, and holding me close. “Sleep,” he says, his lips pressing to my temple. “I’ve got you.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  ________

  KENT

  I watch Kari fade into sleep, and sweet, pure relief flows through me as her body relaxes. I’ve never been as fucking terrified as I am right now, but I’m sure as hell not going to let those fae bastards see it. The past year seems like a blur, and I’ve been reliving every time I could have kissed her, but didn’t. Every time I could have asked her out and acted on the feelings that we both knew we had.

  Instead, I’m here. In Allwyn. I swore never to set foot in Allwyn again and I do my damnedest every day to track down the terrible things that leak from here into the human world. But for Kari, I’d do it a thousand times. I will do it a thousand more times if it means that she survives.

  Seeing her writhe in pain and not being able to do anything about it—the anger that rises in my chest is enough to make me feel like I can set something on fire. Twelve hours ago I thought that we were finally going to be together. This isn’t what I meant. I’ve been in love with her for what seems like forever, and I’m sure as hell not ready to let her go yet. I’m not going to let another person that I love be taken away by the fucking fae.

  I swear if that happens, I’ll burn it all to the fucking ground.

  The anger in my chest is oppressive, and I need to move. Need to breathe. I move slowly so that I don’t disturb Kari. She needs every bit of pain-free rest that she can get, and I’m not going to get in the way of that. But as soon as she’s laying peacefully, I make a beeline for the trees and step outside the ring of light.

  We’re in a fucking jungle. Part of the Kingdom of Nature, or so I was told by the pale one—Verys. All I know is that it’s vividly bright and humid and there are too many hiding places to make me feel truly comfortable. In the night, the humidity has condensed into mist, making the spaces between the trees milky. The light from the fire spears outward into the night like a beacon. The only thing keeping me from putting it out is the idea that we might be more vulnerable without it.

  I pace back and forth between two large trees, moving as fast as I can without breaking into a run. There’s an itch to jump and scream, and I just need to take the edge off with some kind of movement. If I were home I’d put on my gloves and beat the hell out of a bag, but I don’t think my hands would appreciate me beating the hell out of this tree. I need more than this, or I’m going to explode.

  The sense of movement is there more than any sound, and I turn to find Aeric watching me. Sneaky bastards, the fae. I hate that they can move so silently. “Shouldn’t sneak up on people,” I say. “Could get a fist to the face.”

  Aeric smirks. “You wouldn’t be able to hit me.”

  “Care to back that up?” I’m itching for a fight, and more than anything he’s the one I want to do it with. The way he’s been staring at me makes it clear that he’s not a fan. Well, the feeling is mutual.

  “That’s not an effective use of my time,” Aeric says. “But after this is over, if you still want a beating, I’ll happily give you one.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I mutter.

  He leans against the tree. “Why are you away from Kari? It seemed like you couldn’t wait to get your hands on her.”

  I start to pace again, trying to ignore his question. It’s none of his business, but at the same time I find myself answering. “I was angry enough that I was afraid that I would wake her. And once she’s safe and home, I’m going to prove that you all did this. After that, it’ll be open season on the three of you. Not even fae laws will save you, and I will find you.”

  Aeric laughs, but it’s a humorless sound. “Be my guest, Williams. If you
’d gotten there five minutes earlier, you’d have all the proof that you need to know that we didn’t do this. And if we did, why would we be going to all this trouble to save her?” He pushes himself off the trunk and takes a step towards me. “None of us want her to die. Don’t you get that? That’s the last thing any of us want.”

  There’s an unmistakable sound of bitterness in his words, but they can’t be a lie. I can feel the truth in them. But there’s still that nagging voice in the back of my head. Fae don’t take an interest in humans for no reason. There has to be something about Kari that drew them to her. And I’m still not convinced they didn’t do this—that it wasn’t a set-up to get Kari into Allwyn. And besides. All that stuff about fae not being able to lie is bullshit.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Why what?”

  I clear my throat. “Why don’t you want her to die? She’s a human. She’s nothing to you. She’s—”

  Aeric moves past me, cutting so close I nearly lose my balance stepping out of the way. He mutters something about keeping watch, but doesn’t turn around as he disappears into the halo of firelight. Shit.

  Should have known better than to expect information from a fae.

  The rabid energy is still running through my body, and I can’t get the feeling out. I wish I were far from here, where I could run and rage and a hundred other things. But then Kari would be here alone. With them.

  I drop to the ground and start to do pushups. Then crunches. Then burpees. It still isn’t enough. But now I’m sweating, and there’s no way that I’m going to be able to rid myself of this feeling. Not tonight. I’m going to have to swallow it and try to breathe. For Kari.

  Stepping back inside the ring on firelight, my eyes go straight to her. Aeric is on the other side of the clearing, back to me. Good.

  Kari hasn’t moved from where I left her, though she looks paler. Somehow less vibrant, like some of the color has been stolen from her hair and skin. But she’s still beautiful. She’ll always be beautiful. It feels impossible to want someone so much. I swear, I’ve never felt about anyone the way I’ve felt about her. For a brief second, my mind flips to the fantasies that I’ve had about her—about what would happen when I eventually took her to bed.