Emerald Vows: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Marked Souls Book 3) Read online

  Emerald Vows

  Marked Souls Book Three

  Sabrina Shelley

  Copyright © 2018 by Sabrina Shelley

  All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, locations, and events in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons or places is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the express consent of the author.

  Contents

  1. Rory

  2. Nico

  3. Ryker

  4. Rory

  5. Xander

  6. Rory

  7. Xander

  8. Rory

  9. Rory

  10. Rory

  11. Drew

  12. Rory

  13. Rory

  14. Rory

  15. Rory

  Silver Daggers

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  Rory

  Xander’s body presses mine even further into the dark alley. My heartbeat accelerates and my breath turns shallow.

  The soft, soothing stroke of his hand on my back does nothing to calm me because the way his dark eyes shift around the alley only confirms my biggest fear.

  We’re being followed.

  “Night’s Watch,” Xander breathes, so softly I have to strain to hear him.

  “How? We were so careful.” We’ve managed to avoid being caught so far. But after three weeks of being on the run, I’d hoped we would have lost the Regime goons by now.

  Xander glances down at me quickly, his eyes flashing with frustration. “Watchmen must have been sent out to every city within a five-hundred-mile radius.”

  I can’t blame him for being frustrated and angry. Three weeks ago, he knew every inner working and machination of the leaders at Aisling Institute. A golden child of the Regime.

  And now he’s a wanted man. Stripped of his rank and position as Commander of the Night’s Watch. An enemy of the very people he took a blood oath to serve. It’s very likely that the only other person with more of a bounty on their head is me. Everyone in the entire Regime is looking for us. All six of us.

  “We need to let the others know,” I hiss, trying to see over Xander’s shoulder, but he’s got me pinned against the brick wall in the corner of the alley so tightly that I can’t see anything but his broad shoulders and clenched jaw.

  He presses a finger to my lips. Yeah, I know we shouldn’t be talking and risk drawing attention. But it’s safer than reaching out to him with my magic. What comes next will send out enough magical energy as it is. No need to start putting out the radar signal any sooner than necessary.

  The other guys need to know, though. If this seedy street on the outskirts of Ravenswood is swarming with Watchmen, then it’s time for plan B.

  Without being able to connect with Nico or Ryker magically, I’m not sure how to let them know. Our plan already has so many flaws it’s ridiculous. But getting out of the city is top priority, and we have to work with what we’ve got.

  We don’t know if Nico is in place yet on the corner, in full beggar disguise, waiting to cause a distraction while we escape, or if he was even able to get to his assigned station without being detected in the first place. Ryker and Drew are in an even more precarious position, back at the safehouse we’re leaving. The safehouse that will be compromised soon enough, just like all the rest we’ve abandoned—if it isn’t already. With Ryker lying there unconscious, projecting his consciousness into one of the ravens that fill the trees on the outskirts of town, and Drew the only person there to protect him, they’re no safer than any of us. As for Killian, he wouldn’t even tell us where he was going or what he was doing, stretching the limits of my trust in his mysterious actions even more than usual. He just gave us coordinates and told us to meet him there at midnight.

  Like I said, the plan is fucking flawed. Yet here we are, waiting for a signal that will force us to move unknowing into what awaits. It’s a risk we have to take. Being on the run from the Regime isn’t for the weak, that’s for damn sure.

  We wait in silence, Xander keeping watch on the mouth of the alley, his finger still on my lips. My tongue darts out nervously to wet them, grazing across his fingertip in the process.

  His eyes snap to mine, the dark threat that usually resides there replaced by a different kind of danger.

  “Not now, sweetheart.” He smirks. “Let’s get you in a proper bed first.”

  My cheeks flame and I grind my teeth. Obviously I’m not trying to seduce this asshole guardian of mine when we’re running, quite literally, for our lives. My feelings about him are still so mixed that I’ve been keeping my distance from him as we’ve traveled from safehouse to safehouse over the last few weeks.

  That doesn’t mean my body doesn’t react to the sexy way his lips lift in that half-smile or the way his hand resting on my hips grips me a little tighter. But I’m still a little surprised at the words that come out of my mouth.

  “Get me to that bed, and we’ll talk.”

  Xander’s eyebrows lift slightly but narrow when my body suddenly stiffens and I swallow hard.

  “What is it?” He searches my face.

  “It’s time.”

  I echo aloud the words I just heard in my mind, in Ryker’s voice. There and gone in a second’s time. From wherever his raven is positioned, he sees something that lets him know it’s go time.

  Xander immediately jumps into action, reaching out to me with his magic. I sense it hitting me differently than I have before. Xander’s magic always has a certain feel to it—aggressive, commanding, immediately taking charge—much like himself. But right now, with it being imperative that we keep any use of magic undetectable, it comes at me almost tentatively. A gentle brushing against my own magic.

  I try to mimic the controlled flow of his magic, barely reaching out with my own. It hits me that only a few weeks ago, I had almost no control of my magic. I’ve come so far, but it’s been at a terrible cost.

  My thoughts rest briefly on Dr. Belmont, on the mysteries surrounding her, but when Xander frowns at me, I realize I’m focusing on the wrong things, likely starting to look like Dr. Belmont herself as I channel Xander’s power to shapeshift. Quickly, I focus in on the image of the person I’m supposed to be projecting. I have no idea who this young woman is, but Xander spent hours with me last night trying to help me perfect her appearance.

  Likely, it doesn’t matter what image I project when we exit this alley as long as it isn’t my own. But Xander is a perfectionist. He wants to leave nothing to chance.

  It doesn’t take long for me to take on the form of this random woman. It’s a matter of adjusting my hair to be slightly lighter and changing my features to be less sharp, less defined. I could be anyone. She could be anyone. Just a young woman in the wrong part of town. When I look back at Xander, he’s watching me from a face I’ve never seen. Just a guy.

  And I’m just a girl. For a moment, I wonder what that would be like. If life were still so simple that I could just be a girl out with a guy. What it would be like if Xander and I had met under different circumstances. If we were different people.

  But that’s ridiculous. This is my life now. I’m Enemy Number One in this fucked up world. And if I’m going to have a chance in hell at rectifying that, of discovering the secrets that lay hidden in the past—that will hopefully help me figure out my future—then I have to g
et to those stones that Ryker is leading us to.

  Which means getting the hell out of this city.

  I meet Xander’s eyes, and he nods at me. We intertwine our fingers and play our roles, walking out of the alley into the shadowy street. There’s trash everywhere, puddles of murky water and who knows what else covering the cracked asphalt in this rundown part of a town where people have long since stopped caring.

  When I look up to a wire connecting two battered buildings with crumbling brick, I see a raven. It catches sight of us and flies to the west. Ryker.

  Okay. That’s our path. Xander and I stumble down the street, leaning into each other as if we’re just two people out too late after a wild night. It draws no attention, and that’s a good thing because there are Night Watchmen patrolling every corner.

  We don’t have far to go. Just a couple blocks down, the tree line marks the edge of the city. I think I can see the leaves flutter on one of the trees as the raven settles on a branch and watches the activity below.

  We make our way closer and closer, stepping over a man sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against a building. As we pass, his hand reaches up and brushes against mine. Instantly, I feel a wave of emotion. Nico.

  I glance back at him in his rags and worn out hat that covers most of his face, and give him a small smile, appreciating the reassurance and love he sent me in that brief moment of contact. The trust and total confidence in me and my ability to pull this plan off.

  As we get to the corner of the next intersection and start to cross, I keep my head down, but my eyes are on the Watchmen. If any of them sense that Xander and I are using magic, even in the slightest capacity, they’ll be onto us. We’re uncomfortably close to them, and I instinctively dial back my magic, trying to let my features become as unremarkable as possible, to draw as little attention as I can.

  Just as we cross to the other side of the street—only one block to go—the back of my neck begins to tingle. I can feel the scrutiny of the four Watchmen, one on each corner, and I grip Xander’s hand tighter.

  “Hey!” the closest one calls out. “You. What do you think you’re doing?”

  My heart nearly starts beating out of my chest and my steps falter. Shit.

  But Xander keeps walking, pulling me along beside him.

  “Get off the street, you filthy bum!” the Watchmen bellows.

  Immediately, I feel their attention shift, drawn by whatever emotion Nico is projecting to attract their eyes toward him. The crunch of their boots grows fainter as they walk toward him, and I have to fight not to turn my head to see what he’s doing. It’s fucking dangerous. If they find out who he is—and all they’ll have to do is get close enough and see behind the grime he has all over his face—the game’s up.

  “It’s fine,” Xander whispers. “We’ve got this.”

  When we’re about fifty feet from the tree line, I see the raven watching me. In my head, I hear Ryker’s voice.

  Keep straight.

  Then the raven takes flight, over to another grouping of trees, and stirs up a flock of birds that start cawing and flapping their wings, causing such a commotion that the Night’s Watchmen turn away from Nico and head that direction, weapons drawn.

  I can barely breathe. When I chance a look back at Nico, he’s nowhere to be found. Now it’s just us, steps away from our destination.

  Then we’re free.

  Xander I step into the tree line, dropping our guises and disappearing into the shadows.

  “Ryker said keep straight,” I murmur. That’s the last we’ll hear from him. He’ll have withdrawn his consciousness from the raven and will be making his way with Drew to our meeting point. Now it’s a matter of everyone getting there.

  Ten yards into the trees, I hear footsteps coming from the left. Before I can panic, though, Nico appears in the shadows. We all continue silently. No more magic. No more sound. Nothing that could leave a trace of which direction we’re going.

  It’s imperative on this last leg of our journey, as we head to the final safehouse before we arrive at the stones, that we buy ourselves as much time as possible.

  The walk seems to drag on forever, but finally I see a glimmer of moonlight reflecting on metal. And Ryker, Drew and Killian standing beside an old vehicle. I want to jump in their arms, to kiss all five of them, to celebrate the fact that we did it. That impossibly, we made it out of this godforsaken city undetected.

  But I don’t. There will be time for that later. We still have hours ahead of us until we reach the safehouse.

  Taking a look at the vehicle that’s waiting, I wonder where the hell Killian found it. It looks like it was salvaged from some long-ago war. But I’m not complaining. It will get us through the woods to the safehouse.

  We climb in silently, Drew driving since he’s the only one who knows where this place is—some friend of his from back when things were normal is apparently some type of survivalist or something and he has a cabin deep in the very woods where the stones are hidden.

  The hours pass slowly, and at some point, I must fall asleep because the next thing I know, the vehicle is slowing.

  “This is it,” Drew mutters.

  I tense, scanning the darkness, though I can’t see much. There could be anyone or anything ahead in the shadows. A cabin. Safety. Or we could be walking into an ambush.

  At this point, I just don’t trust that shit won’t still hit the fan. But as the car comes to a stop and we emerge cautiously, we all realize it at once.

  We made it.

  A feeling of relief and elation washes over me. For at least one more night, we’re safe.

  Nico grabs me from behind, pulling me up against his chest, and I know he feels it too. It’s like we all feel like we can finally breathe. I’ve been on the run with these men for three weeks. We’ve barely had time to do anything but be constantly planning or moving. We haven’t had time to just be, to talk, to relax. And I realize how much I want to just spend time with them without such heavy weights on our shoulders.

  And tonight, for this brief moment in time, I feel like we can. I think they all feel relieved as well because as I look around at their faces, they’re all smiling.

  “We made it, love.” Nico bends his head and runs his lips along the side of my neck.

  I spin in his arms, smiling up at him, and his mouth crashes down on mine. For a moment, I’m taken by surprise. There was no warning, no tease. But even more, there’s no brush of magic reaching out to mine as Nico kisses me. We can’t risk it, of course. But it’s the first time I’ve kissed Nico without feeling his magic, his emotions, even his thoughts in his head.

  And…it’s nothing like I imagined it would be. Kissing Nico is such a full body experience. Mind, emotions, touch. But right now it’s entirely physical, our bodies reacting instinctively to one another, passion roaring to life in a heartbeat. I fucking love it. It’s like without all the rest—the magic and subtle influences that normally accompany his kiss—all it is, is us. I have to admit I’ve wondered if the magic and our bonds are what enhances my attraction to my guardians. If I would really care for them the way I do if those elements weren’t there.

  Now I know.

  In fact, all I know in this moment is how badly I want Nico. He’s totally consuming me. My arms wind up and around his neck, my fingers digging into his skin. I feel like I’m on fire, blood rushing through my veins and heating me from the inside out.

  On a moan, I open my mouth to him, and he sweeps his tongue against mine, taunting and teasing me with every stroke.

  “Damn, Rory…” He tangles his fingers in my hair and pulls my head back, exposing my neck.

  His mouth comes down hard, demanding, teeth nipping at my sensitive flesh.

  “I thought you weren’t a vampire, Arendale.” Ryker’s deep laughter rumbles through the air. My body shivers in response, and I feel a throbbing need between my legs.

  I open my eyes to look up at Nico and can’t help the grin. “You look absol
utely filthy.” I forgot he was all grunged up like a beggar. His face is all dark and smudged with dirt, but it makes his seafoam eyes stand out in even more stark contrast.

  He makes a low, growly sound in his throat. “Maybe you like it filthy, love.”

  “Maybe I do,” I tease, feeling high on Nico’s kisses and our temporary freedom.

  “I can vouch for that,” Ryker says, coming up behind me and grabbing me by the hips.

  Winking at Nico and making him grin, I spin to my other guardian, digging my fingers into his hard, broad chest.

  “Prove it.”

  No one has to tell Ryker twice. His mouth is on mine, devouring me whole. It’s raw, unrestrained, primal. I love the way he consumes me, my body immediately surrendering to his touch. Everything about him is rock-hard. And I do mean everything.

  I shamelessly grind against him, my pussy begging for delicious friction.

  “Fuck, little witch. I’m about to bend you over and take you right here.” He grips my ass and turns me around, drawing a whimper from my lips.

  “Jesus, get a room.” Drew’s voice is full of laughter.

  “Sounds like a perfect idea,” I purr, reaching for Drew and pulling him to me.

  Holy shit. Ryker isn’t the only one crazy turned on right now. Drew’s cock is hard against my belly. And Ryker’s is pressed against my ass. Oh god. As I grip Drew’s face and pull his mouth to mine, the thought comes out of nowhere.

  I wonder if they’d be down for sharing?

  I giggle against Drew’s lips. I mean, they already are in so many ways. Why not share me in every way?

  Just the idea of it has my pussy clenching, and my panties are instantly soaked. Drew drops to his knees, his hands on my legs. He grins up wickedly at me, then bites my upper thigh. Fuck, if he’d move over just an inch, I might come right here and now.