Euphoria: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (The Carnal Court Book 2) Page 9

  Arms wrap around me. Odette, and then Emma. “Kari, I’m sorry.”

  I shake my head. My head won’t process it. It’s gone. Everything. I was just inside a few hours ago. We planned to go back, and everything seemed fine. But none of the decoys worked. We haven’t even been in New York for six hours, and she’s already here.

  Shouting comes from the sidewalk, and I look over to see Kent sprinting towards me. He takes in the store, and then me, wrapped up in my friends. He’s out of breath and pale, bent over from running. “I heard the call on the radio, and I knew…I thought you might…” Odette lets him pull me out of her arms and into hers. “I thought you might still be inside.”

  I should feel more than this, I think. I shouldn’t just feel blank—like nothing. But I can’t tear my eyes away from the blaze, and all I feel is the push of whatever started that fire pushing against my new power. The magic is awake, and it wants to move. To strike back, and right now it’s probably good that I don’t know how.

  “We need to go,” Aeric says. “We can’t just sit here. She knew that we weren’t inside. This was to draw us out.”

  Kent’s voice vibrates in his chest. He’s still holding me. Should I be doing something? “Brae, can you track it?” He asks.

  “I’m going to try.”

  “I’m going to get Emma and Odette home,” Kent says, taking my face in my hands. “But we need to get you out of here.”

  “No,” I say. Everything rushes back. Feelings and anger and desperation. “I can’t leave. There are things I need—”

  “From your apartment?” Kent asks. “We can’t risk that. Not when she’s destroyed this.”

  No. No, please. I can’t lose that too. I feel the panic rising in my chest and I hate it. I’m fucking done being helpless.

  Urien steps up, hand on my arms. “I’ll get your things, Kari. I’ll make sure they’re safe in Allwyn.”

  “My entire apartment?”

  He gives me a grim smile. “Magic does have its perks.”

  Aeric holds out his hand to me and I take it. “We’ll get Kari out. Urien, collect Kent once you’re done and meet us at home.”

  I glance back at the burning building which is being sprayed down by both firetrucks and showing no signs of stopping—or any signs of spreading to the other buildings. “Home?”

  “We need to fall back somewhere,” Aeric says.

  Emma’s the one that pulls me into an embrace. “Go, Kari. Get out of here. Just don’t disappear on us this time.”

  I hug her back, and I don’t want to let go. Odette too. “I’ll figure something out,” I say. “I’ll make them give me a phone or something so I can text you.”

  “You better,” Odette says. “I need you alive for more details about the sex.”

  I roll my eyes, and she grins only the way Odette can at a time like this. Behind me, light shines. Verys has opened a portal, this one green and glimmering. The abstract shapes spill little bits of magic like leaves onto the sidewalk. Home is on the other side, and with Verys’s hand on the small of my back, we step through.

  The last thing I see is the flames, and the roof of the building collapsing in a geyser of sparks. It hasn’t even been a full day since I stood in this same entryway, and yet everything has changed. I’m so…so tired. We’re standing just outside the wards, and I let myself get lost in the shifting patterns they create in the air. “Kari,” Aeric says, turning to me, and his eyes go wide with shock.

  Hands land on my body—unfamiliar hands. More than one set, and I’m being pulled away from Verys and Aeric. We’re outside the wards. Magic explodes from me in one solid, bright flare. It fills the surrounding air with light, painting the walls of the mansion. It’s like a nova, so bright I have to close my eyes, but the hands on my body fall away and I stumble towards my mates.

  Verys catches me, and I look back to see a figure stunned on the ground. “Last resort,” Aeric mutters, and Verys agrees. A blue portal opens beside us, and humid air blows through. “Where are we going?”

  “Well tell you when we get there,” Aeric says. “Don’t know who’s listening here.”

  Through the gash of blue light there’s an unfamiliar street in what looks like a sleepy town in the middle of the night. We step through. Then Verys is opening one that glows orange tinged with purple that leads us into a wind so strong it catches my clothes and I feel like I might be blown away.

  I step through portal after portal, the sensation of being pulled from place to place making me dizzy. There’s no way for me to track how many places we step through and away from. Until we stop. The sky is dark, though the moon shines bright and full above our heads. It takes me a moment to realize that is not my moon. Earth’s moon.

  The landscape around us is stark and pale, but beautiful in its simplicity. The three of us are standing on a hill, and laid out below us is a city that looks as bright and vibrant as any I’ve seen in Allwyn so far. But it’s considerably smaller. Behind us a house rises on the hill, and an archway made from white stone. A path lined with columns leads to the entrance of the house, which is lit up with pale, silvery magic.

  “We’re in the Lunar Court,” I say. “Aren’t we?”

  “Yes,” Verys says.

  I swallow. This is the place that hurt Verys. He loved this place even though it turned its back on him—was stripped away from him by Allwyn and his own family. I can’t imagine what it must be like for him to stand here. Because of me. For me. He knew this was our destination when we first stepped through the portal. “How long has it been since you’ve been here?”

  He laughs softly. “A very long time.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be fine.” His voice doesn’t make me believe that. Not even for a second. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ________

  VERYS

  I’ve spent a fair amount of time imagining what it would be like to see my childhood home again. I thought that I might be truly happy to see the place where I had the magic that I loved. I thought it might be difficult to face the place where I had known such pain.

  The reality is somewhere in the middle. Memories swim to the surface, good and bad. The day I was thrown out of here by Darran and had no home left. The day I grew a tree in the garden with my magic, and I realized the world was full of possibilities. The moment I realized that my Lunar magic had left me, and that I chose to hide it for as long as I could because I didn’t want to admit it.

  But unexpectedly, I feel relief. I’ve been ignoring this world for far too long, and no matter what happens here I need to put it to rest. Kari’s hand in mine steadies me as we step through the archway of the manor and the wards I know are placed there. They don’t keep us out, but they alert my parents—my mother and Darran.

  I glance over at Kari, curious what her reaction to this place will be. Seeing if she’s all right. They were waiting for us, that fire meant to drive us home where they could ambush her. The attacker that she stunned with her magic didn’t seem...right. But we should have been more aware from the beginning.

  Kari’s beautiful face is open and perfect and taking everything in. She doesn’t realize, still, how much can be read on her face. I’m sure it’s what part of what made her an amazing ballerina—that natural expressiveness. But as much as she’s taking it in and seems curious, I know that she’s hurting inside. Confused and tired and a hundred other things. I would be too if the world I’d built had just been destroyed. And I’d been attacked. Again.

  As soon as we get this over with, I’m going to check on her.

  The courtyard of this house is so achingly familiar, I have to blink to clear the memories from my eyes. White columns that support alcoves and recesses that disappear into the building. Windows that overlook the space. A fountain and garden. The courtyard was the life of this home when I was a child. I can’t help but notice the absence of life now, barely anything growing in the dirt, and the tree that I gr
ew long since removed.

  “Verys?” The soft voice comes from across the space. My chest aches. It’s been a long time. My mother steps out of the shadows into the moonlight and she looks like she’s seen a ghost. I suppose in a way I’ve become that to her. But it’s only a second before she’s crossing the space and drawing me close. “Hello, mother,” I say softly.

  She looks the same as she always has to me, absolutely beautiful. But as she pulls back from the hug and her face is illuminated by the moon, I feel Kari stiffen in shock. I should have warned her, but we didn’t have time. It’s not common for fae to have scars—at least not visible ones. And my mother is likely the first fae she’s seen with any kind of physical imperfection.

  The left side of my mother’s face is covered with broken lines. They’re beautiful in their own way, but also stark and jarring. They’re meant to be a warning—a notice to all other inhabitants of Allwyn that she broke a vow that she made. I know that the scars—which extend down over her shoulder and the side of her body—cause her excruciating pain almost constantly. But she’s never showed it, even for a second.

  I sense his presence before I see him. “I didn’t think my decision allowed for any exceptions.” Darran steps into the light as well, and I feel Aeric go stiff behind me, ready for anything. Kari’s hand goes still in mine, even though one arm is still wrapped around mother.

  I meet his eyes without flinching. At least I can do that much. The pain I’ve buried long ago tries to surface, but I push it back down. Darran used to treat me like the son he thought I was. Even this eternity later, the reversal is jarring. “If I had another choice, I would make it.”

  “What could possibly bring you here without choice?”

  “Sanctuary,” I say.

  My mother takes a step back, and her eyes are wide with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “Clearly not,” Darran mutters, “if he thinks he can seek sanctuary here.”

  Kari steps closer to me, placing her other hand on my arm, and I ball my free hand into a fist. The last thing I want is her exposed to Darran’s poison, but truly, this is the last place that anyone would think to search for us, given my history and the fact that I’ve gone out of my way to sever all connection. I wish it made less sense. Familiar dread and rage rise up under my skin, and it takes everything to bite it back. “Unfortunately, it a matter of life and death,” I say. “My mate and I are requesting your hospitality.”

  My mother’s eyes switch to Kari. “Your mate…” I watch the news sink in. The last time she saw me I was being thrown out of here, and now I have a mate. It’s like watching her realize all the life that I’ve lived without her. Pain fills her eyes, and it only adds to everything weighing on my chest. I never wanted to hurt her, and hopefully I’ll get to talk to her about it.

  But that moment of pain passes, and she straightens. “Yes,” she says. “Absolutely.”

  “Siona,” Darran hisses.

  She turns a glare on him. “I don’t care, Darran. I am not refusing hospitality to my son and his mate because you are uncomfortable. Goddess knows you’ve expressed your opinion on this subject more than enough times.” Darran stares at her, and I think for a moment that he’s going to argue. The muscles in his jaw are working, and I can feel restless magic slithering out from him. But he doesn’t. He turns and stalks away, taking the cloud of tension with him. “Thank you,” I tell my mother, and glance down beside me. “This is Kari.”

  My mother’s smile lights up the courtyard like it’s not the middle of the night and she wasn’t woken by our abrupt entrance. She’s always been a romantic above all things, and I know that when she was younger she dreamed of having a mate. This moment must be bittersweet for her. She steps forward and takes Kari’s hands in hers. “It is lovely to meet you, Kari. I can’t wait to know you better. But I imagine if you’re arriving here, at this time, you must be tired.”

  “Thank you,” Kari says. She seems subdued, and I’m not surprised. This would be overwhelming under good circumstances, and these aren’t.

  “This is Aeric,” I say, stepping to the side so she can see him as well. “If it’s all right, he’ll spend the night, and the rest of our party will convene here in the morning to discuss a plan of action. But only Kari and I require hospitality.”

  “It’s all right, Verys. However many people you need to stay can stay.”

  I shake my head. “We both know that’s not true.”

  She can’t quite meet my eyes when I say that, and there’s an ache in my chest. I wish things were different for her, even if that means I would not be here. “Well, let’s get you all settled, and we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

  Taking Kari’s hand in mine, we follow my mother through the house, and memories continue to pop out at me. I spent years here. But even so I don’t realize where she’s leading me until we arrive at my old rooms. They don’t look the same. My mother puts her hand on my arm. “It is so good to see you.”

  I don’t doubt the sincerity in her voice, and for the first time I wonder if I was wrong to stay away for all these years. I thought I was making things easier for her with Darran, but maybe I made it more difficult for her in a different way.

  “Can we talk tomorrow?” she asks.

  “Of course,” I say. “I would love that.”

  She smiles, but I don’t miss the sadness behind it. “Good. I’ll see you in the morning then.” She gestures to Aeric to follow her. But he doesn’t. He steps to Kari and tilts her face to his. The way he kisses her makes me feel…jealous. Not that he’s kissing her like that, but that I haven’t. Even when she tried to offer me pleasure, it doesn’t seem as intimate as that kiss.

  I’m going to fix that.

  “Good night,” he tells her softly. “I’m going to go home to inform the others what happened and then return. I don’t want the two of you alone.” Aeric’s quick glance at me and fleeting smirk tells me that he knows exactly what’s about to happen, and he’s giving me the opportunity to be with Kari without having to be on guard every moment. I’ll make sure to thank him later.

  Kari bites her bottom lip and smiles up at Aeric. “Night.”

  My mother’s eyes are wide when Aeric pulls away and turns to follow her, and I can’t keep my own smile off my face. We’ll explain it to her later, when Kari’s had some time to rest and come to terms with everything. I know that she says she’s fine, and perhaps the five of us are overprotective—we definitely are—but it doesn’t change the fact that she almost died on us. And none of us ever want to feel that again. That attack just proved that the danger is still very real.

  I pull Kari through the door to my old rooms, and I barely recognize them. They’ve been made into the consummate guest suite. Everything is delicately decorated in shades of silver and white, a gentle glow magically illuminating the space. I can only guess that turning it into a guest suite specifically was Darran’s idea. Erase any sign of my presence and make sure if I ever return that I’ll know that I’m considered less valuable than a guest.

  But Kari is safe for the moment, and that’s the most important thing.

  There’s a large pool, and it’s steaming with heat. I spent my fair share of hours in it when I was younger, and I think she’ll enjoy it now. Kari is standing in the middle of the room, staring into space. Softly, I let my hands drop onto her shoulders and down her arms. “Bath?”

  “That sounds nice.” She says, but her mind isn’t in it. If it were, she’d already be asking me questions. Turning her to face me, I lift her eyes to mine. “Are you all right?”

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “That’s all right. If I could take some of this from you, I would.” Kari steps closer to me, and I wrap my arms around her. I can’t describe the feeling… that rightness that seeps through my bones when I’m holding her. I never imagined that I could fit with another person, and now I cannot imagine my life without her in it. And I’m glad. Though I never would have admitte
d it to myself, I was floundering. I’m a warrior in a time of peace. I don’t want war, but now I have something that I can protect.

  I draw her towards the pool, hoping the lure of the hot water will coax her to open up. To relax and breathe. “I’m sorry about the store.”

  “It’s fine,” she says automatically, pulling off her dress.

  “No,” I say. “It’s not. You worked hard to build that, and now it’s gone. It’s understandable to be shocked and upset. Especially with so many changes.”

  She sinks into the water, and the glow of the water paints her body with light. I’ve spent so many years avoiding looking at people the way I’m looking at her now, trying to avoid any attraction or urge to connect. It still feels strange…but I keep my eyes on her. I let my gaze slide up her legs and the curve of her waist and further. Kari is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I would think that whether or not she was my mate.

  The sigh that comes from her as she dips herself down into the heat has my heart beating faster and my cock wakes up and pays attention. Suddenly my clothes seem like the least important thing that I could possibly have on my body. I throw them aside and follow her into the water as she dips lower, soaking her hair. “I mean it,” she says softly. “Yes, I’m sad. And yes, I am angry. But one of the things I realized when we first visited this afternoon is that it didn’t feel like home anymore. I got everything that truly meant something to me out. And so while I’m fucking furious at Ariana, I’m okay. I had insurance, and so did my landlord.” She sighs. “And I don’t even know what happened back at the house. That magic wasn’t under my control but I’m glad that it happened. Seconds later we would have been inside the wards. But we’re all right, and that’s the most important thing.”

  I turn her to face me, because I’ll know if she’s telling the truth if I can see her expression. She is. I see the anger she’s talking about, and the sadness. But I also see a determination that I haven’t noticed before as well. This was the last straw for her, and now she will fight back. “Tomorrow,” I say, “I’ll start teaching you to control the power.”