Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Edmund’s thumbs smoothed over my sleeves as he met my gaze.

“Release you? I would rather take another blow to my head than see you walk away from us. And we do not see you as a toy, Kellen. We only meant to prove to you that I will not react with jealousy when you are with my brothers, no matter what they do.”

“I told you…we won’t fight over you,” Eadric said.

“We’ll save our fighting for the trackers,” Garron said.

Whether Garron intended for it to be a reminder or not, he was right. Any quarrel I had did not apply to those in this glade but to those waiting outside it.

I cautiously eased from Edmund’s hold.

“I believe I should return to my studies.”

Edmund kissed my forehead. “Run while you can, Trouble.”

“I’m not running, Edmund. I’m walking away. Know the difference.”

I retreated to the back of the cottage, seeking a quiet place to practice. Yet, when I arrived, I stared at the trees, lost in my thoughts.

Previously, I’d allowed their kisses because I’d thought them playful, a lark. But now I knew they were not.

Edmund had said he loved me.

Liam had implied they all did.

I’d worried their feelings would lead to conflict. However, they hadn’t. They’d kissed me in front of each other and had proven they had no quarrel. Even Edmund, who lost his temper at most everything, hadn’t reacted badly, only as his usual self.

What about me, though? Had they considered the turmoil I would feel? Both the emotions they were evoking and the distraction of them were something for which I had no time.

A frustrated sound escaped me. Why couldn’t they focus on what was important? Their fanciful notions regarding what they felt for me were not as important as the trackers attempting to hurt them. Or as important as breaking their curse. Could they truly not see that? Could I not see that?

Closing my eyes, I let out a steadying breath and focused on what mattered at present. In order to break a curse, I needed to learn everything I could about casting.

I opened myself to the energy around me. The forest pulsed with it. Ignoring the trees, I fixated on the grass beginning to renew its growth with the coming of spring. The vast spread of it wasn’t small enough for what I wanted, though. I needed to test my control.

Slowing my breathing, I searched for the smallest pulse of energy and found a seed fallen from a tree. Its uniqueness caught my attention. The seed’s energy was insignificant compared to that of a mature tree, yet I saw it shone brighter.

“What did you find?” Garron asked quietly beside me.

“A seed. It’s small, almost unnoticeable, but I think—” I touched its energy with my own, neither taking nor giving, curious what would happen. Its energy expanded, growing. As it grew, the brightness didn’t fade or increase but spread out. I realized it wasn’t only the energy expanding but the tree itself growing.

“It contains the same energy, regardless of its size.” I opened my eyes to look at Garron. “May I have some seeds from the cellar?”

He retrieved a handful of dried peas. Their energy was much smaller than the tree’s seed. I set one on the ground at my feet and focused again.

With barely a touch of my energy, the seed sprouted before our eyes. Its roots sank into the ground as its vine grew. Buds appeared. Flowers turned to pods. Leaves withered, and the pods hardened, creating more seeds.

“Did you see that?” I asked.

“I did. Are you tired? Dizzy?”

Confused, I glanced at him. “Why would I be? I only touched it with my energy. Didn’t you see how it pulled energy from the ground?”

Garron frowned. “Can you do it again?”

I did and watched how the seed’s energy expanded to encompass the plant until the buds formed. Then, the plant began to pull energy from the ground to place into the pods. Once the plant withered, the original energy returned to the earth, a cycle that kept a perfect balance.

“I never saw that casting is a work of balance before this,” I said. “We take the energy but return it when we cast.”

“Correct. And how it returns depends on the spell,” Garron said.

Knowing I wasn’t causing harm freed me of some of the fear I’d held onto since the first time I cast.

I connected with the air and shook the seeds free of the plant. Once they touched the soil, I touched them with my energy again and watched them grow. A tangle of vines rose, and the pods ripened before our eyes. Once I withdrew my connection, the vines stopped growing.

Perfectly ripe pods beckoned. I plucked one free and ate it.

“It tastes the same,” I said.

Garron ate one as well. “Try to touch the seeds we’ve planted in the garden.”

“All of them?”

He nodded. I closed my eyes and focused. There were many seeds in the dirt, and it was impossible for me to discern which were planted and which were blown there by nature.

I opened my eyes and watched as I touched them all with my energy. Green sprouted from the ground, covering everything. I stopped when they were all just a few inches tall.

“Well done,” Garron said, taking my arm and turning me. He looked into my eyes for several seconds. “And you feel well?”

“Not a bit tired. I promise.”

“Why did you stop then?”

“I thought Daemon and Darian would like a chance to weed before I went further.”

Garron laughed and called for his brothers. They came running from around the cottage. Worry and anger reflected in their gazes until they saw us standing peacefully by the newly sprouted garden.

“Claim your rows. He who finishes first gets to sleep next to Kellen,” Garron said.

“I didn’t agree to that,” I called as all seven brothers jumped the fence and started squabbling over rows.

I found more unsprouted seeds deeper in the ground in the rows with too few weeds and listened to Darian curse when they emerged larger than the others.

“Tell us when to start,” Eadric called.

“Go!”

I watched weeds fly from the garden. Edmund and Brandle moved with determination. I slowed them down with more weeds. Eadric missed a good portion of his. I withered those by absorbing their energy. Liam caught me and arched a brow. I withered some of his, too.

“Lamb, where is my help?” Daemon demanded.

“Oh, my poor thing,” I crooned as I gave the weeds in his row more than a nudge. They exploded from the ground, tall stalks as thick as sapling trees. A few of them were trees. I bit my lip when I saw what I’d done.

Daemon blinked at the tree trunk as thick as his forearm.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I apologize.”

They all started laughing as Daemon jumped the fence and fetched the ax. I drained the tree’s energy until all that remained was soft wood that disintegrated at the first touch of the ax.

Darian and Eadric won, and I found myself cuddled between the pair inside the cottage after dusk.

“This is nice,” Eadric said, nuzzling my neck.

I lightly elbowed him.

“Behave.”

“But you like it when we touch you.”

“I do not.”

“Liar,” Darian said, petting my arm, which he’d pulled across his chest. “You like it very much, which makes you skittish and contrary.”

I lifted my head to scowl at him. “It does not.”

“Sounds contrary to me,” Eadric said.

“Continue to vex me and you will lose your place. I believe Liam finished after you did.”

“I will gladly take Eadric’s place,” Liam said from his spot farther away.

Eadric patted my hip. “You are very agreeable, and I was wrong, Sparrow. You hate when we touch you.” His hand trailed up my hip and curved around my waist. My breast was in his palm before I knew his intent. My breath left me as he gently pinched my nipple and caused it to pebble.

“Yep. Definitely an adverse response.” He continued to pluck and roll the sensitive bud between his fingers as I fought to deny the sensations it created.

“You’ve proven your point,” I rasped. “Please stop.”

“Why must you refuse the truth, Princess? Do you truly believe we have ill intentions toward you?”

“What would you have me do, Darian? Allow you all to take turns with me? Use me while you wait for me to break the spell holding you? Not only will I be exiled from my home for the magic I wield, but I would also be rejected from any polite company wherever I go for being a wanton woman. Is that your level of care for me? To see me with a future where I am alone and rejected by everyone?

“No, Princess. A future where you are never alone because you have us.”

I snorted.

“I am young but not as naive as you would have me be. I know men speak sweet words when they want something and cruel ones when it suits them. Do as you will.” I rolled into Eadric, giving him access to my other breast.

“No, Sparrow. We want to do as you will.” He nuzzled my neck, creating more heat. “Tell us what you want.”

“I want you to stop plucking at my breast and go to sleep.”

“How many times has he gotten away with touching her now?” Daemon asked. “Not a single cuffing.”

“I question my sanity,” I responded.

Darian pulled me away from Eadric’s wandering hands and onto his chest. His fingers stroked over my hair.

“Sleep, Princess. I will protect your virtue.”

“She’s stronger than she knows.”

The words penetrated my dreamless sleep and drew me toward reality. I had my hand under Darian’s shirt and my head pillowed on his chest. Eadric’s arm was wrapped around my waist, and his hips were firmly anchored to my backside. His desire for me pressed against me quite noticeably.

“Is she in danger?” Brandle asked.

“I’m watching for signs but haven’t seen any yet,” Garron said. “I would like to take her to the mines tomorrow.”

“No,” Edmund said. “She said they would attack soon.”

“After then,” Garron said.

“You’ll need another to go with you,” Liam said.

“I think it’s too soon,” Eadric said from behind me. “She needs more time.”

“I agree,” Brandle said. Edmund and Darian echoed his approval.

“Tomorrow matters little when I won’t survive the night,” Darian whispered.

“What’s she doing now?” Daemon asked.

“Now? Nothing. She settled again. But she keeps tugging at my shirt. I think the material is bothering her and she wants it off.”

“Here,” Eadric said a moment before he stole me away from Darian.

“You two better not wake her,” Edmund said as I listened to a rustle of cloth.

“Ready,” Darian said.

Eadric returned me to Darian’s bare chest. I was awake enough to know I should protest and sleepy enough to rub my cheek against the warm expanse of skin. His hand captured the back of my head, cradling it. Petting it. Encouraging me to do more than nuzzle against him.

I turned my head and kissed his chest the way Eadric had kissed mine.

Darian's low groan echoed in the cottage.

No one spoke as I swirled my tongue around his nipple. Under my palm, I felt the thundering of his heart and took pity on him. With one last flick of my tongue, I released him and rested my head against his chest.

It took a long while for his pulse to slow.

Sleep drew me closer to its welcoming embrace.

“What did she do?” I heard Daemon ask just before I succumbed.

“She kissed my chest. With her tongue.”

“Lucky bastard,” Edmund said.

“You cook and do dishes tomorrow,” Brandle said.

His brothers all agreed. Darian did too. I fell asleep to the sound of his chuckle.

The warm expanse of the chest beneath my cheek was Daemon’s, not Darian’s. I didn’t know how I knew; I simply did. It rose and fell in a steady, soothing cadence. My fingers drifted over his bare skin, memorizing the feel of it as I thought of Eadric’s words before I fell asleep.

I’d read countless books from Mr. Bentwell about heroes loving damsels who desperately needed their protection. It seemed perfectly acceptable for the women to accept the hero’s advances—written in splendid detail—in exchange for his total devotion.

If it were only one brother, would I have already succumbed like those damsels? Without a doubt.

The problem lay in the number of them. Yet, hadn’t I said I would give my life to save my sister?

When I thought of Maeve and the power she wielded, I knew one brother would never be enough to stop her. I would need them all. Why, then, was I so hesitant to give my heart to seven brothers in exchange for their help?

Daemon twitched under my wandering touch, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Eloise is the bold one,” I said. “She acts with very little thought of the consequences. I consider things thoroughly so that I’m not surprised by any outcome.

“Since arriving, I’ve had very little time to think, Daemon, and with each passing day, you ask me to give more when I still haven’t come to terms with what I’ve already given.

“I’m willing to put Eloise’s life before mine. Unconditionally. However, that doesn’t stop my fears of what might come. The certainty of death was easier for me to accept than the uncertainty of the future I imagine after I accept the seven of you.”

I lifted my head to look down at him.

“You’ve all kissed me then asked for more kisses. I thought it was playful at first and then a means to force me to choose between you. You’ve proven it wasn’t either of those.

“It’s plain all of you want more from me. But what then? What happens when each of you has bedded me and I am heavy with child? Will the seven of you decide who is to marry me without consulting me, as you do now? Or will I be cast aside by all? Homeless and ruined?

“I can accept any outcome that sees Eloise safe and free. But can you? Have you all considered the possibilities? Will you go mad not knowing if I’m carrying your child or Darian’s?”

“Ah, Lamb, you’re breaking my heart,” Daemon said. He wrapped me in his embrace and comforted me in a way I desperately needed. “We will not cast you aside. Ever. That you’ve thought of allowing any of us the privilege of fathering a child fills me with untold hope. If that should come to pass, we would rejoice. The entire kingdom of Turre would hear our joy.

“For now, we simply want this. Talk to us. Spend time with us. If you wish to show us affection, we want how you do so to be your choice. Don’t do things to please us. Please yourself first.”

I lifted my head again to meet his gaze.

“And how will we endure the judgment of others?” I asked.

His mouth tilted at the corners.

“Judgment? You mean envy.” He gestured to the length of himself. “Do you not see the glory of my body? Women would stand in line for a chance to view this. And you would have seven of us. You will be the envy of every woman in the kingdom.”

I snorted. “Conceited man,” I said without rancor. “And what of the men in the kingdom? Will they look kindly upon a woman who lives with seven men?”

“With your powers, they dare not look at you in any other way.”

“I am not cruel, Daemon. I will not use my powers to subdue or hurt those whom I offend.”

“That is why you have us. I dare any man to object, though I doubt any would for the reasons you think. They will likely see you and be jealous of our good fortune.”

I snorted. “Unlikely.”

He rolled us so I lay beneath him and framed my face with his hands as he supported his weight on his forearms.

“You do not see yourself as we do. You are beautiful, Kellen, and everything we’ve dreamed of finding.”

I studied the sincerity in his gaze then lifted my head to brush my lips against his, needing to know how he truly felt. He groaned at my offering and deepened the kiss. The stroke of his tongue against mine reignited the heat that Eadric had coaxed forth the night before.

Wrapping my arms around Daemon’s torso, I let myself sink into the sensation of being kissed—the feel of his lips, the touch of his fingers against my temples and hair, the weight of his hips settling against mine.

I tore my mouth from his, breathing heavily as he kissed his way down my neck. When he reached the ties of my shift, he lifted his head to look at me.

“Eadric is right,” I admitted. “I like being touched. But I would like more time to accept the change my life is about to undertake. Please.”

Daemon groaned and kissed me again. I felt his desire for me. The burning need to kiss me until he ran out of air. To lose himself in me. Then, I felt the truth of his devotion. He was ready to give his life to protect me.

I threaded my fingers in his short hair and kissed him until I ran out of breath. Panting, we broke apart and stared at each other.

“You are beautiful, Lamb.”

“And you are too handsome for your own good, Daemon.”

He gave me a cocky grin and rolled to the side, taking me with him so he could hold me in his arms.

“I’m still afraid,” I admitted.

“I know. We’re a patient bunch, though.”

“Patient?” I laughed. “Liar.”

A throat cleared, and I lifted my head to look at the open door where the other six stood. Heat flooded my cheeks, and I tried to remove my leg, which had crept around Daemon’s waist. He caught my thigh and shook his head.

“You can worry about judgment from other people, but not us. It’s not allowed.”

I arched a brow at his commanding tone, and he shrugged.

“He’s right, Kitten. With us, there is no judgment.”

“We also won’t ever cast you aside,” Liam said.

“We may try to steal you from each other, though,” Darian said. “Playfully, of course.”

Daemon lifted his head to look at his brothers.

“But she has the final say.”

They all nodded and looked at me expectantly.

Not yet ready for the level of hope and encouragement I saw reflected in their gazes, I changed the subject. “Is breakfast ready?”

“It is,” Darian said, elbowing his way through his brothers. I watched him grow and duck to accommodate the low beams as he crossed the room.

“She’s mine,” Daemon said, wrapping his arms around me.

“She’s hungry,” Darian said. “Give her over.”

Daemon kissed my chin, nose, and forehead then lifted me as if I weighed nothing. Darian plucked me away with the same ease and hugged me close.

“Hmm. You’re so warm,” he said. “I like it.” He started walking toward the door.

“I won’t stay warm in this shift. Let me get dressed first.”

It was usually a task I completed alone. Darian wouldn’t hear of it. While Daemon folded the blankets and rolled up the mattress, Darian helped with my lacings and took great care in straightening my skirts—a ruse to pet my legs and backside.

“End the idle wandering of your hands and feed me, or suffer,” I said, swatting the straying appendages. He chuckled and finished lacing my boots.

“There you are, Princess. Adequately dressed, to my misfortune.”

“Incorrigible,” I muttered.

At the table outside, Brandle ladled out a portion of boiled oats and berries for me, which he handed to Eadric.

“Who is serving as my cushion?” I asked.

“Do you have a preference?” Garron asked.

I shook my head and watched him and Liam race to the bench in front of me. Liam won. I didn’t simply sit on his lap; I made myself comfortable, reclining against his chest as Eadric fed me a bite at a time. When Liam’s arm curled around my waist, I held it and allowed myself to like it—openly, without shame or regret.

He kissed my neck and told Eadric not to feed me too quickly.

I laughed, and it was…good.

The pair playfully fed me then relinquished me to Garron. He and I had only just begun to work on a new spell inside the cottage when a tingle of warning had me pausing.

A shout rang out in the clearing.

“Protect Kellen!”

“Stay here,” Garron said. He ran out the door and slammed it closed behind him.

I glanced from the door up to the loft and to the hidden cellar. Something whispered that none of those options were safe. I wasn’t safe. No matter what I chose, I would face danger.

Glass shattered behind me.