Euphoria: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (The Carnal Court Book 2) Page 4

  Brae’s eyes go dark with lust at the same time that the sparkle with humor. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I turn back towards the impossible number of roses, but I don’t let go of him, nor him of me. “What do I need to pick? Is there a number?”

  “Whichever you’re most drawn to. Nothing more complicated than that. As many as you like.”

  They’re all incredibly beautiful, how do you choose? Braw walks with me down with the aisles of flowers, and I look. Petals that are sharp like blades and metallic gold. Electric green and blues and flowers that look like homegrown lightning. Crazy, and beautiful. But it’s not till I reach the back of the room that I see it.

  There’s a bunch of flowers that tugs on me. There.

  The petals are soft like velvet, and so dark that you could mistake them for black. But they’re not black. Blue, purple, and green, all so dark you can’t tell, swirled together so all you can see are the glimpses of color in the half-light. They’re something so alien, so far a part from what I ever imagined a rose would be.

  I feel that sense of rightness that I’ve grown used to looking for here. These are the flowers I need. There are seven of them, and it doesn’t feel right to leave any of them behind. I gather them up, careful of the wicked-looking thorns.

  “Happy?” Brae asks.

  “Yes. Where do we pay?”

  He shakes his head as we walk to the door. “You don’t, for these. Offerings are not something that you make a profit from here. Anyone can take these to the temple if they choose.”

  Guiding me through the avenue towards the temple, I try to imagine a place in the human world where something like that could happen. It would be rare, if it could happen at all.

  So much of fae culture is counter to what we were taught to believe. I don’t know if that’s because the only fae that humans can remember experiencing were those that tried to take advantage, or if we have a tendency to only see the bad. But all the same, even though I’m sure Allwyn has a dark side, the bright side is so much brighter than I ever hoped that it could be.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ________

  KARI

  The temple looks like I remember it the last time Brae carried me inside it: a massive building of deep red stone formed like a tent blowing in the breeze. There are a few other colors mixed in here and there, but red is dominant. It speaks to lavish nights spent under the stars and near fires with a desert wind whispering in the dark.

  We slow as we approach the entrance. “I’ll wait as long as you need. Don’t worry about the time. And if you need help connecting to magic, you can always ask.” Brae kisses me lightly, and I smile at him.

  I don’t want to show him my nerves, even though I feel them. But it’s not every day you go to try to speak to a goddess. One that clearly has a vested interest in your life. “I’ll be back.”

  Entering the actual temple feel like deja vu. I’m glad that this time I’m entering on my own two feet. A priestess is there, completely naked except for gold at her wrists and neck. She’s beautiful too, with dark brown skin and hair a deep red almost like mine used to be.

  Her smile is serene. “You are Kari?”

  I stop. “How did you know?”

  “I was present for your healing. I am glad to see you alive.”

  “Me too,” I say, looking away. It hadn’t occurred to me that people might remember that. I don’t want to be known by that attack or weakness. But I’m glad that she was there all the same.

  “Why have you come, Kari?”

  “I—” I have to take a breath and swallow. “I would like to speak to Cerys, if it’s possible. She saved my life. She gave me four fae mates.” I can’t bring myself to say five out loud. “It seems that she wants something from me, and I felt like I needed to ask.”

  She nods. “Of course. You will need to remove your clothes.”

  I expected that. Placing the roses down briefly, I slip the dress over my head and put it on one of the waiting shelves. The only thing that’s steeling my nerves is the fact that nudity is commonplace here, and people think nothing of it. The priestess doesn’t even blink when I retrieve the roses and turn back to her. “Follow me.”

  She leads me down a familiar path through the carved stone, like through the layers of the tent. We pass rooms, some dark and some bright, all releasing the sounds of pleasure and ecstasy. When we reach the wide-open space that I remember, there’s sex there too. Magic is thick in the air, even if it’s not as many people as the last time I was present.

  But we don’t go into the alcove with the altar. Instead the priestess leads me through the path of writhing bodies and through the other side of the temple entirely. Here, we step into a small garden that’s open to the sky. The high walls are the same red stone, and space is overflowing with roses at the edges. There’s an open space of soft grass, lush and green, and there’s an altar here too. This with a familiar statue of Cerys, though the scale is smaller than at the Crystal Court.

  It’s quiet here, with that peace that I’ve come to find so comforting. “I hope that you find what you seek,” the priestess says, and bows slightly before she disappears.

  I hope so too. But what do you do when you want to talk to a goddess? Just start talking? Think at her?

  She seems to have answered me before…but this is…different.

  I approach the statue slowly. The grass is soft under my feet, and I’m aware of the utter stillness around me. Placing the roses at the base of the statue, I sit in front of it, much like I did in the Crystal Court with the Rialoia. Kneeling doesn’t feel right, and since my gut is the only thing I have to go on, I follow it.

  “I don’t know why I’m here,” I say softly. “I mean, I know why I’m here in the temple, but not here. In Allwyn. I know it can’t be a coincidence that you gave me five fae mates—even if one of them tried to kill me. I just…

  “I know I felt you when we were saving Verys. I know I did. And I have to believe there’s a reason to all of this. I’ve had too much randomness in my life. Please tell me what you want. Why me?”

  It has to have a meaning. It has to. The burst of magic that told me that Verys, Aeric, and Brae were my mates came before Ariana attacked me. Was that the reason why?

  Despite what the wonderful men around me might say, I am not special. I have nothing to make this seem warranted. I’m just a girl from New York with a little bit of magic. Nothing more.

  The garden stays still and peaceful around me, and even though nothing happens, its peace still sinks into me. I could sit here for a long time just absorbing that feeling that everything is right in the world. But I still don’t have any answers.

  Long enough passes, that I wonder if the silence is the answer. Perhaps I should go. Or maybe ask Brae for the help that he offered. Maybe there’s something that I’m doing wrong. Some step in a ritual that I missed. I close my eyes, resisting the urge to give into the endless spiral of questions that drag my mind down into panic and despair. “Please.”

  It’s all I can think to say now. Everything I have.

  Only stillness surrounds me.

  Disappointment sits heavy on my shoulders. I shouldn’t have hoped for this. Shouldn’t have convinced myself that this is what I needed.

  As I stand to leave, a cool breeze drifts against my skin, and my eyes catch on the roses I offered. They’re breaking apart, petals floating on that air, and others from around the space joining them in a swirl of color and silk. It reminds me very much of the spell I cast that day, the roes swirling through each other in helixes.

  “You summoned me?” The melodic whisper comes from behind me.

  I jump, spinning to find the petals coalescing into a shape that looks almost human. Holy shit. I got an answer. I drop to my knees on the grass, bowing. I don’t care what feels right now—if a literal goddess is standing in front of me, bowing is a good idea.

  “That is…not necessary,” the voice says again, words slow and deliberate. Her voic
e is rich. A sound like comfort—rain on the roof and the crackle of a winter fire. Wind through still trees. Whispered secrets. It sounds like memory. “I would much rather see your face.”

  When I look up, there’s light. Light in the form of naked, glowing, woman. It’s clear that it is Cerys, from the images that I’ve seen of her. Dark hair and beautiful features, not looking any older than I—though that is far from true. The rose petals shift inside her form, restlessly flowing through her power.

  I have no idea what to say.

  She looks at me, head tilted to the side, and she speaks slowly. “It has been…a very long time since I was summoned in a physical form. Forgive me. I am still remembering the reality of words.”

  Still speechless, I feel locked onto the ground. I can feel the grass between my fingers and toes, smell the floral richness in the air, and yet I cannot move.

  Cerys looks at me again, and I see a spark of true interest and focus. “You are human.”

  “Yes, Goddess,” I answer as if the words are pulled from me.

  She steps closer, feet not touching the ground. When she places her hand on my cheek, there is nothing but warmth—no actual touch. Leaning down, she presses her lips to my forehead, and the garden disappears. I’m spinning through my life. My earliest memories and parents and the first time I went to dance class. School and boyfriends and training. The little moments with my friends. Birthdays on the beach and late nights in the city. The joy of getting accepted into the company and being promoted to a principal, and the night I fell. How hard I tried to recover, and how my dancing was never the same. The verdict that I would ruin my legs if I kept dancing, and the moment that my whole career disappeared. The potion shop and meeting Kent, longing for him. And finally now. The attacks and my mates and seeking her out.

  When she releases me I’m gasping for breath. She knows my entire history, and it was shown to her in a second.

  “You sought me out for answers.”

  “Yes, Goddess,” I say again.

  “Goddess…I suppose once.” She wanders towards the walls with the roses and reaches out to touch them. “Such a beautiful thing.” Golden light fills it, and it twists towards her hand reverently, now more alive than ever.

  Nothing seems real. Can this actually be happening?

  “You are not dreaming,” she says calmly. “I have not stolen you away to a nightmare or worse. Though what I have seen in your mind justifies the thought.”

  Finally, my voice makes a return. “Why did you choose me?”

  The Goddess is still for a while, before she turns and looks at me. Those eyes filled with light are infinitely deep, and I have no ability to read what lies behind them. “Power is a strange thing. You only truly control it if it is entirely yours, and sometimes not even then.”

  I wait, because she’s not finished. I know.

  “My power is mine, and it is not mine. I use it. I sense it. But I gave it away.”

  Shaking my head, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “Do not be ashamed of that. It is not an easy thing. When I rebuilt this world I gave my power to it completely. And yet it is mine, and so I could not separate myself from it. I am Allwyn, and Allwyn is me. The power I relinquished is infused in this land, and it chooses for itself. Whether or not I am aware of it. Sometimes I am. Sometimes I am not. But we are still one.”

  Disappointment falls through me. She’s saying that she doesn’t know why this is happening to me.

  “We choose things that are for the good of Allwyn and its people,” she says. “Without fail. Some people call that fate, but things can change. Not everything is set in stone. If Ariana had not been stripped of her magic, she may not have entered your shop. Would you be bound with six males then? Perhaps not. But what might have been is now beyond reach, even for a Goddess. All that remains is what might be.”

  My jaw drops open. What? I didn’t know that about Ariana, and she just said six. She confirmed it was six. That includes Kent. And the male who tried to kill me. But the gnawing question of why still swims in my chest. Why me? Out of everyone in the world? Why pick no one?

  “I understand,” she says. “You want more than I am able to give. I would show you my mind if it would not break yours. I am…fractured. I—We—Allwyn chooses. We do not always share thoughts. The connections not conscious, instead they are innate.

  “But we have already chosen you. Woven you together with six others. For that reason alone, you are not no one. You must be here.”

  There. There’s something. “Please,” I ask. “Can you tell me why I’m here? Anything?”

  She looks into the distance, the petals shifting inside her before she approaches me again. “Too many strands to see what might be changed. It is a knife-edge journey, falling one way or the other tangles all the strings. To know would shatter you, and betray the world’s possibilities. But you, Kari, are where you are meant to be.”

  I look down at the ground, stunned by hearing the way she says my name. It’s musical and enchanted, and I feel it resonate down to my bones.

  “The magic you possess is special,” she says softly, “but it is not enough.”

  This time when she touches me, the world erupts in fire. Bright white magic, hurls itself outward and into me, and I’m burning with pure heat but not being destroyed. Magic is falling into my veins and burying itself in my bones and binding itself to who I am. It hurts, and it doesn’t. It has me trapped and I’ve never felt more free. It’s ecstasy and a shimmering waterfall of stars and glitter and fury. It’s too much for one person to contain, and yet there’s more still.

  “You shall bear my power,” the Goddess’s voice whispers through my mind. “The power that is still only mine. You may wield it, or I may wield it, or we shall wield it together. You shall carry it until it is no longer needed. It will protect your mind from invasion. Shield your body from sickness, weakness, and child. Give you strength you never imagined.”

  It is hard to think against the storm of magic crashing down on me like a tsunami. But I’m not ready for this. I know she won’t tell me the future, but I’m not sure that this is something I want. “Do I have a choice?” I ask, voice echoing in the magnificent place the magic has created.

  “No,” the Goddess says, though not unkindly. She’s smiling at me as the light around her form fades, the petals inside swirling outwards throughout the garden again. “The strings cross and re-cross,” she says. “Perhaps you and I will untangle it all. If you can survive.”

  She disappears then, and the final rush of magic shatters down onto me, and I lose myself in the brightness.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ________

  BRAE

  It feels like an explosion of starlight in my chest, that burst of magic from the temple. Bigger than anything I’ve felt in a long time. It’s Kari. It has to be, and I’m on my feet in a second. But this isn’t dark magic. It’s bright and soothing, and I know through that echo that connects us that she is safe.

  I’m not going to break her trust by bursting in there. Not when she’s already nervous and still learning to trust all of us and the fact that we love her. Not when she’s still clearly nervous about having so many mates.

  And she has a right to be. Being with five men would be daunting. I’m amazed we’ve done as well as we have so far, but it’s only been a few days. There are bound to be some growing pains here and there as we figure things out. I know I’ve got questions. Is there going to be a schedule for sleeping in her bed? Will she ever want more than one of us at a time again? What will it be like if she seals the bond with one of us and decides she doesn’t want any more than that?

  It would hurt, but I would get over it. Because she’s mine. That’s never going to change, even if she belongs to the rest of them too. When we were talking about multiple mates this morning, I kept thinking there had to be some magic at play. We’re fae males. I’ve seen jealousy become rampant in our relationships just as it is in hum
an ones sometimes. But maybe the mating helps with that too. Eases our edges against each other so that we’re not constantly at each other’s throats.

  Even if she chooses never to seal the bond with any of us, it doesn’t change a thing for me. I meant what I said. I love her.

  “Brae,” a voice calls, and I look up. Lyassa is standing in the doorway to the temple. When I was still at the temple we participated in rituals together, and she is still incredibly beautiful. I used to dream of her often. But now she holds no appeal for me. The only person I can think about is Kari, and I know that that’s the way it will always be. I meet Lyassa’s worried eyes, and she beckons me. “Your mate needs you.”

  I do not hesitate. Stripping out of my clothes, I put them with Kari’s. “The garden?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  I have the way there memorized. I have every inch of this place in my mind so well I could walk it in pitch blackness. I thought that this would be the place that I would spend much of my time in my life.

  Now I’m not so sure.

  I push through the curtain covering the entrance to the Goddess’s Garden and take in the sight. Kari is laying in the grass unconscious, and peaceful. Rose petals are scattered across the grass and her body—including those she brought with her. But those are not the things that make my heart stutter. The first is that Kari is lit from within like a star. I have to squint my eyes just to look at her.

  The kind of magic that is swimming under her skin is the same kind that exploded from her when we healed Verys. Pure and overwhelming. And the second is that she’s whole. Her hair is that shimmering, rich red, her skin no longer the white of bone. I know before I reach her that when she opens her eyes they will be the green of sunshine through leaves.

  I approach her slowly. The sight of her glimmering like an angel fallen from the sky is one that I want to preserve forever. Lyassa appears at the door, looking on, but I give her a nod. We’re fine.