Euphoria: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (The Carnal Court Book 2) Read online

  I close my eyes as he presses a kiss to my temple. “We know, and we’re with you. Forgive us if we’re a little overzealous. Every one of us will be on edge.”

  I nod. They won’t be the only ones.

  It’s only a few hours later that we’re all standing in the common room of the house in front of a glowing portal. This is the way that I couldn’t travel when I was ill—the vibrant pink rip in space is so bright that it makes me squint. The light is painting the walls and furniture, shimmering like moving reflections.

  Kent has my small suitcase, and though they make light of it, they’re all carrying magically-concealed weapons. Ones that are so sharp, I can’t see there being any defense against them. They’re taking this absolutely seriously. They might actually have to use the training they’ve been putting in. I didn’t even consider that. This is real.

  But I will say, one of my favorite parts of this is seeing them in human clothes. Jeans and t-shirts and henleys that make me want to rip those same clothes right off of them. They all look damn sexy, and Aeric and Urien have changed their skin color to look more human. They claim it’s so that they’ll draw less attention to themselves. But if they think that four sexy fae who look like them aren’t going to draw stares they’re absolutely fucking insane.

  “Ready?” Aeric asks me.

  I nod. They’ve explained what we’re doing and how we’re trying not to leave a magical trail that can be easily followed. Kent takes my hand as we step through the portal, and I don’t really even have a chance to look around and see where they’ve brought us because another portal is opening up in front of us, a different color and a different place, and we just keep walking.

  It’s a really weird sensation, continuously walking and never moving anywhere. Going through the portal is a little dizzying. Magic pulls at the edges of me in buzzing waves, and I feel like I’m falling for a moment, though my feet never leave the ground. Every portal starts as a ball of light. Vivid blues and greens and golds. They expand and shift into jagged cuts through the world and as soon as they’re open we step through.

  Never once are they the same size, shape, or color. The only thing that makes them the same is the glowing, curling edges that throw off glimmers of magic like ripples in water. I pass through so many portals that I lose track of the time we spend walking through them. Kent’s hand keeps me grounded, and I’m grateful for the anchor.

  Every time we open one of the portals and step into a new place, we’re laying a trace of magic for Ariana to follow if she’s watching—and we all know that she is. The portal I step through this time feels like home, and it takes me a second to realize why. I’m not walking forward anymore. And suddenly familiar sounds and scents seep into my consciousness. New York.

  We’re in Central Park. A corner of it that isn’t often crowded. The weight that’s been sitting on my chest eases, and that new magic seems lighter. It’s happier because I’m happier. I can breathe.

  The sounds and the smells of the city—the trickle of voices from elsewhere in the park, and restless ambiance. Wind and cars and noise. There’s something about Manhattan that eases my soul. I know there are plenty of people that would call me crazy. That the idea of the hectic city being comforting is fundamentally opposed to their idea of what peace should be. But I love it just as much as I love Allwyn—more because I’ve loved it longer.

  I expected it to be different, somehow. Like everything that’s happened to me would somehow be reflected on the face of the city. But New York is New York, and it’ll go on the same way no matter what happens. There’s something a little comforting about that. From looking around, it looks like a normal, late-summer day here. It’s warm enough, but I can feel that fall chill in the air.

  Kent squeezes my hand and turns me to face him. “I need to go.”

  He’s going to take care of things at his job and retrieve some things he wanted from his apartment. The rest of us have other plans. “Okay. Stay safe, please.”

  That lopsided grin I love so much flashes, and he’s back to the cocky officer I fell in love with. “I’m always safe, Ma’am.” He presses his lips to mine, and doesn’t stop when I expect him to pull back. Instead he presses deeper, stealing the air from my lungs and leaving me breathless when he finally pulls away.

  “If any of you want me to be able to function you’re going to have to stop kissing me like that in public.”

  Kent only smirks. “See you soon.”

  He disappears down the path towards the edge of the park downtown. We need to go uptown, because our first stop is the store. It’s not that far of a walk, and one I’m pretty familiar with. I used to get off the train at 59th and cut across the park on nice mornings. Because I’d much rather walk through Central Park than be trapped in the subway.

  The guys form a loose circle around me, keeping an eye out for any potential danger, but I don’t mind. All of this is perfect. I’ve missed this walk. I’ve missed seeing the yellow cabs and flower shops on the way up Amsterdam and rustle of Central Park’s trees. Normal. It’s what my mind has been craving. Even the first view of my little storefront makes something ease in my chest.

  Urien puts his hand on the small of my back. “This is beautiful, Kari.”

  “Thank you.” I step closer and look through the windows. It’s exactly as I left it, except for the mail piling up behind the door and what looks like some notes that were slipped through the mail slot. But there’s one catch. “I forgot that I don’t have the keys.”

  “Not a problem,” Aeric says, reaching out a hand. He covers the lock with his palm, and there’s a subtle glow against the metal, and the lock clicks open. Right. Magic. I push the door open door, forcing the pile of mail back, and we crowd inside. The scent is one of comfort and familiarity. Herbs and the remnants of the last magical fire that was lit. It smells like home.

  But at the same time, it doesn’t. Walking in here doesn’t feel like I thought it would. I love that I’m here, and I love the memories that I had here, but I don’t miss it. And it does make sense. I’m proud of what I built here, but anyone would have told you that I wasn’t truly happy. I was trying to make a life only a few blocks away from the life that I really wanted. I was wasting away wishing for what didn’t exist anymore.

  In a way, I’m relieved. Even though it hasn’t been long, my life in Allwyn doesn’t feel like that. It feels full and perfect. And I’ll happy to go back to it. It’s good that I came here, because I know that now.

  The guys file in behind me, and before I can even show them around they spread out, checking the corners for any hidden danger. Aeric slips into the back room for a few minutes, and nods when he returns. They all relax at once, agreeing that there’s no immediate danger.

  Brae slips into one of the comfortable chairs in the waiting area and stretches his legs out. “I can see waiting here for a potion or two.”

  I gather up the mail that’s on the floor and carry it over to the counter to sort through it. “I’m sure I could make you something if you wanted it,” I say. “But I don’t think if I unleashed brand new magic on a potion that I’d be able to tell you what kind of effects it would actually have.”

  There are bills and a ton of spam mail, and more than one hand-written note asking if I’m all right and where I am. That’s nothing compared to the amount of voicemails on the store phone. And I hadn’t even thought about emails, but I’m willing to bet if I check my business email that I’d be drowning in it.

  Everything is intact, if a little dusty. I run my finger along a shelf of jars that hold the more common of my ingredients, and Urien appears by my side. “What are the things you wanted to retrieve?”

  “There’s a bit. But I don’t know how I’ll take anything with me.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ll send whatever you want to keep to the house.”

  I blink up at him. “You can do that?”

  He leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Of course. And the magic is
small enough that it shouldn’t be enough to track. We’ll be fine.”

  “That’s awesome!” I grab his hand and pull him into the back room. I’m sure there’s nothing I have here that I can’t get in Allwyn in abundance, but I have some things I want still. I have a shelf of bottles—both decorative and filled with rare spices and oils—that I’ve collected since I started the store. It’s one of my favorite things here. In the afternoon the sun floods through the small window at the back of the store and illuminates the shelf that they’re all sitting on. I can’t wait to have these in my room in the mansion. “All of these.”

  I watch as Urien picks up a bottle, and it disappears in his hand as if it never existed, accompanied with a dark, shadowy burst of magic. “That’s crazy.”

  “They’ll be safe, I promise,” he says.

  I pick a few more things from my supplies, and some things around the rest of the shop. Some of my favorite books that I kept for the customers along with a few keepsakes. But when Urien and I have finished our circuit of the store, I feel good. I feel like the roots that I left here have been shifted, and that’s a good thing.

  “I have to take care of things here,” I say. “Need to contact the landlord about breaking the lease and such, but I don’t think I have anything more to do here at the moment.”

  Verys is standing near where he’s left my suitcase. “Shall we go see your friends?”

  Looking around the store, I feel more settled and hopeful than I have in days. I’m calm and happy and I can’t wait to take care of things and get back to my life with these amazing men. Closure. That’s what this was. And I needed it.

  “Yes,” I say. “That sounds perfect.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  ________

  KARI

  I start walking outside of the store without thinking, my men flanking me. And it’s not even until we’re almost to Lincoln Center that I realize what a fucking idiot I am. I went on autopilot, and it’s the same way I walked on that day. I turn the corner onto the street, and stop. I can’t seem to make myself move any closer, and three of them know why.

  “Muscle memory,” I manage to spit out. “We should have come a different way.”

  Brae steps to my side. “We can go back,” he says. “Go around.”

  We could. Or I could face it head-on. “No. No, I need to walk past that spot.”

  And I manage to get myself walking. But in my head I’m being pulled back to that day, and hearing her voice as she called to me from down the street. And then darkness and fire and pain. Ashes and oranges flood my senses, and pain ripples up my skin. She’s killing me. I know she is. I thought we’d be safe and that she wouldn’t find me.

  “Kari.” It’s Verys’ voice. But he wasn’t there. Not until later. “Kari.”

  My vision clears, and I’m standing on a street with them, and Ariana is nowhere to be found. But I can still feel the echoes of that pain, and I’m there. I’m there. I can’t breathe. More hands on me. And magic too. Magic that tangles with what’s now mine and wakes it up. Another set of hands and more magic. “You’re alive,” Aeric says in my ear. “You’re alive, Kari. She’s not here.”

  “We’ve got you,” Brae says.

  This is a memory that I’m having. It’s not real. She’s not real. But it feels like it is. I can feel so vividly the way she made everything about who I am disappear, absorbing my power and my life. I remember hearing Kent’s voice on the phone and knowing that it was going to be the last time. Realizing I never told him how I felt.

  I can feel the way I was burning and see the way the color faded from the sky. But the sky is blue right now, and the air I’m hauling into my lungs is clean and not filled with smoke and pain. I lean into their embrace, letting them hold me up, and comfort me. She is not real.

  She is not real.

  I am not dying.

  I open my eyes again into Verys’s silver ones, and he smiles just a little. “There you are.”

  “I didn’t expect that,” I say.

  “It’s not uncommon,” Brae says. “Or unnatural. I can’t say that being in this place makes me feel good right now. But we’re here, and she’s not.”

  I take a deep breath. I’m here and she’s not. All of us are here.

  My heart starts to slow, and I inhale deeply, calming my breathing. I lean back against Aeric’s body, letting him take my weight. He smooths his hands down my ribs, presses his lips just below my ear. His magic washes through me in one steady wave, washing away the lingering memories of bad magic. Aeric’s magic isn’t the magic I usually associate with being calm and steady. That goes to Brae. But right now it’s a rock, grounding me.

  “I’m okay,” I say.

  “It’s fine if you’re not,” Aeric says roughly in my ear. “I’m not. I don’t want to let you out of my sight or out of my arms for the next hundred years.”

  I cover the hands holding my waist with my own. “You have a deal,” I say. “As soon as we get back to Allwyn.” It’s a promise that none of us believe that we can keep, but it feels good to say it.

  “So this is where it happened?” Urien asks gently.

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  “She’s bold. To attack you somewhere so open.”

  “Indeed,” Verys agrees. “She’s not trying to disguise her efforts.”

  Even now, at a time when you wouldn’t expect much foot traffic here, there are a few people walking down the street. More than one of them are looking at the way the three men have me pinned between them. Ariana either got luckier than she’s ever been in her life, or there was a reason there was no one on the street. “It was a trap,” I say. My voice is calm, but I am not. “There’s no way that on this street with the Gala that night that I would have been alone. She planned it. How did she know where I’d be?”

  Aeric pulls me more firmly against his body, and I see the fire in Verys’s eyes as he presses his lips together. He’s thought of it. They’ve all thought of it.

  Urien is the one who speaks now. “It would be easy enough to divert humans with a simple barrier at either end of the street. It’s likely that she followed you, picked the opportunity where she had to divert the least people, and struck.”

  I shake my head. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. “Let’s go. I don’t want to stay here.”

  They don’t hesitate, and we’re moving around the corner into Hearst Plaza together. Immediately I feel better. To me, it’s still one of the most beautiful places with the trees and strange sculpture pool. Whenever I come back to visit New York, this is one of the places I will go, I’ve already decided.

  Funny how I’m already planning visits here like I’m from somewhere else. Goddess, this is absolutely insane. But this is the path I’m choosing, and I have to embrace it, even if I don’t know the end or where the new magic inside me is leading.

  I cross to the center of the Lincoln Center Plaza and perch myself up on the fountain in the middle of the tourists sitting there. It’s late enough in the day that Emma and Odette will almost be done with rehearsal, and we decided to wait for them here, even though it’s more open. I can’t say that I don’t feel jumpy after seeing that spot, but I walked past it, and that’s the most important thing. No blonde woman in a black dress is coming to kill me.

  Aeric didn’t want to let go of me, but he did in order to fan out with the rest of the guys. It’s better if I don’t look like I’m surrounded by four men and drawing attention from tourists and locals. They also think that spreading out might help with the concentration of magic. But they’re conspicuous even if they don’t want to be. Even with ‘normal’ skin colors their still tall, gorgeous men. They’re going to get stared at. It’s amusing to me that they think no one will notice.

  I close my eyes and breathe, trying to center myself and letting the mist from the fountain cool my face.

  All bets are off on what reaction I’m going to get from my friends. My phone was broken in the attack, and this is the fas
test way to let them know that I’m alive. They’re probably going to kill me. If the positions were reversed, I would be furious. The thing I’m counting on is that they know me well enough to at least let me explain.

  The Goddess’s magic—or my magic now—I’m honestly not sure what to call it, gets a little brighter. While I sit and wait, I reach down inside I touch it. Might as well. It’s not a bonfire now. It’s more like a match. Much easier to control, and the more it rests inside the less alien it feels. Though I’m not sure I’ll ever get rid of the knowledge that this was placed in me. It’s not really mine.

  I’ve only ever used my little bit of magic, and that’s just a thread. Even the small amount that I have cupped in my imaginary hands is more than I’ve ever had to work with. The way I sense it, it shimmers like glitter—one of those fireworks that’s nothing but a shower of gold and silver sparks. It’s diamonds in the sun. Undeniably gorgeous, dangerous, and alluring.

  I move it around in my mind, drawing a few shapes with it, and it bends to what I want it to do without hesitation. Far easier than I expect it to be. For some reason I thought I would have to push or fight with it, but I suppose that that doesn’t make sense. It was a gift. I shouldn’t need to fight with a gift.

  Waving it back into a ball of light, I think about what I could do with this much magic. The Goddess said that I’d need it, so I’ll need to practice with it. I haven’t had a chance to ask the fae males to teach me more about it and how to use it. But maybe I can try something on my own.

  Molding magic feels strange. I don’t know if imagining it like holding coalesced light is the most effective technique, but for the moment it’s working well enough. With that same ball that I just formed, I try a couple of more solid shapes first. A heart, a daisy, and then a star. Who knows if me imagining those shapes is doing anything at all but creating images in my head—but the guys will be able to tell.