Fourth Rite: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 4) Read online

  FOURTH RITE

  A Reverse Harem Tale

  Lovin' the Coven

  Book 4

  Jacquelyn Faye

  ∞ Untold Press ∞

  Fourth Rite

  A Reverse Harem Tale

  Lovin' the Coven, book 4

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2019 by Jacquelyn Faye

  Cover Design © 2019 by Sean Hayden

  Cover Photo © 2019 by Depositphotos/mppriv

  Cover Photo © 2019 by Stockfresh/pilgirmego

  All rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination and or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Untold Press LLC

  114 NE Estia Lane

  Port St Lucie, FL 34983

  www.untoldpress.com

  PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Dedication

  This one goes out to Jason Mamoa's abdominal muscles. You are beautiful, you are strong, and gosh dang it all to heck,

  I LOVE ALL SIX OF YOU!

  You're the only harem I need.

  Chapter 1

  The feathered end of the arrow hit the ground without a sound. The end with the wickedly-barbed, silver tip chimed like a bell as it struck the cracked sidewalk. I stood in the middle of the sidewalk, eyes transfixed on the arrow that had almost sent me to the afterlife.

  That was amazing. I can't believe you caught that…

  Shouldn't we be chasing the elf instead of staring at the stick?

  I transferred my gaze from the arrow back up to my demon familiar, the one who had caught the elven archer's arrow in his mouth and snapped it in half with his incredibly powerful jaws. You want to live? Chasing an elf isn't a good idea. You think he's good with a bow, you should see them with a blade.

  Lord of the Rings good?

  Dread Pirate Roberts good. Even left handed.

  Who?

  Never mind. I reached down and picked up both halves of the arrow off the ground. Dar?

  What?

  I shoved the arrow in my jacket pocket, letting the magic swallow it and effectively making it disappear. This stays between us.

  The German Shepherd's eyes narrowed, and he huffed. Might I ask why? Somebody did just try to kill you.

  We have new coven members coming in every day. Josie's mom and Shea will be here any moment. I don't want to start a panic.

  What if the elf does?

  I left his question unanswered. Do this for me. Please. You know how they can get when I'm in danger. Honestly, I can't handle it right now.

  Yes, Master.

  No. Bad doggy.

  His sigh was very human-like. Thank you.

  For? I rubbed his head.

  Saving me. Another hour in Gehenna and I might not have made it back to you.

  Well, you saved me, so that makes us even.

  The door to the diner opened and chimed, letting out a waft of warm, burger-scented air.

  Yuki stepped outside and shoved her hands in her pockets, turning her face up to the sun and smiling. "I still can't get used to that."

  Her smile made me happy. "You get used to sleeping at night, yet?"

  "Kind of funny. I don't need much sleep. When the sun was up, I was out. Literally dead to the world. Now that I'm not, I only sleep for a few hours and I'm good to go."

  "And you don't even drink coffee. People would die, if it were me."

  Yuki didn't laugh at my joke. She wasn't even looking at me. She was staring at Dar and frowning. I tried to act innocent when she shifted her gaze to me.

  "Seriously?" She put a hand on her hip and cocked her stance.

  I flicked Dar on his snout. "Did I not just get through telling you to keep your mouth shut?"

  She's your familiar, too. If you're going to be stupid, it's up to us to keep you from getting perforated.

  Yeah. What he said. Yuki gave me a disgusted look.

  "Stay with Dar. I'm going to go pay the bill."

  "What are you going to pay him to do?" Yuki wiggled her eyebrows, shifting gears and going from zero to perv in three-point-eight seconds. She needed to quit hanging out with Jimmy.

  I grinned at her and went back inside. Jimmy was mopping the floor and Chief was carrying a tray of broken dishes to the counter while Nana sat in the booth, sipping tea.

  "Thanks for cleaning up. I felt horrible."

  "Yeah, well sometimes hellhounds just fall from the sky. What you gonna do?" Jimmy paused and leaned on his mop.

  "You mean German Shepherds," I reminded him softly.

  "Yeah. I think everybody in the diner saw what really happened. But kudos for the wishful thinking."

  I turned my head and caught everybody staring. They quickly lowered their eyes and suddenly found their meals very interesting.

  Might as well get 'I'm a witch T-shirts' made for everybody.

  I'd planned on bringing everybody out eventually, but things were progressing a little too quickly. Hopefully, things would be a little quieter for a while. I could use the vacation, and I'm sure the good people of Cedar Falls could stand a little dose of normalcy. It was bad enough the town had been attacked by demons, people suddenly announcing themselves a coven of witches might just push them over the edge.

  "Shit," I said with more than a little worry.

  "Nope. None of that. Just some broken dishes. At least he's house broken."

  "Don't start. I have a headache."

  "That's what she said." He bowed at his humor.

  I shot him a dirty look and headed for the counter. "Sorry about all that," I told Marge with an exasperated sigh.

  "No worries, sweetie. Can I get you a coffee to go?"

  "I'll love you forever. More."

  She winked and poured some coffee in a paper cup and slapped a lid on it for me. "Pretty dog."

  "Thanks. That's Dar."

  "Dot, how did he get into the restaurant?" She slid the coffee over to me.

  I leaned forward and whispered, "Do you really want to know?"

  She thought about it for a minute and sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe someday."

  "Well. I can give you the simple answer. Magic."

  "That works."

  "How much do I owe you for lunch and all the dishes?"

  "Here's the bill for lunch, but your boys worked off the dish debt."

  I slipped my card into the black plastic bill holder and handed it to her. "Guess I'll just have to make it up to them later."

  "Let me know if you need any help!"

  Lunch threatened to make a return appearance. Picturing Marge naked was not something that should be done on a full stomach, empty stomach, or any other kind of stomach. Just no. "I don't know about all that, but I might sell the mouthy one to you cheap."

  "The one with the gun? No thanks. I'll take the skinny, purdy boy."

  "Oh, stop. They're both pretty."

  "How do you handle two of them?"

  "Three…" I let it slip without even thinking about it. I needed to have my brain to mouth filter changed. There was a big, gaping hole in it.

  "Three? Don't tell me you and Jason…"

  My blush was all the answer she needed. At least our conversation had taken place in hushed whispers. It was bad enough the occupants of the diner saw my demon dog fall out of thin ai
r. If they had an inkling that I had three boyfriends… Yeah. Being called a witch would be the least of my problems.

  "Maybe."

  "Oh, dear Lord, girl!"

  "Let's just keep that between us."

  "Yeah. Don't need anybody else knowin' your business. Specially, if you come in here walkin' funny."

  That blush I still had on my cheeks turned into a beacon of embarrassment for all to see. I took several deep breaths as I waited patiently for her to ring me up.

  She put the receipt for me to sign down on the counter, pulling out a pen from her pocket. "Hard to believe that just a month ago, you rolled in here and I warned you about not breakin' Chief's heart."

  I smiled fondly at the memory. Josie and I had just gotten into town and were starving. Chief had come in to pick up his food order and I instantly fell in love with his ass in jeans. I'd asked Marge for his number and she told me to go easy on him. He had tragically lost his wife and wasn't looking for a relationship. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. In love. With him. I hadn't said the words to him, yet. But I planned on it. If he ever stopped pissing me off long enough to actually tell him. Glancing over my shoulder, just watching him talk to Nana made me smile.

  "You got it bad, huh?"

  I turned back to Marge and grinned, before leaning over and signing the bill. I gave her a hundred-dollar tip to pay for the dishes or treat her to something special. She deserved it, either way.

  I pushed the receipt and pen back to her. She immediately scribbled out one of the zeros. "Nice try, darlin'."

  "Damnit, Marge."

  "I might have been born at night, but it wasn't last night."

  "What?"

  "I don't know. My mother used to say it."

  "Okay, then."

  She cackled and punched in a few more buttons on the credit card machine. "See ya, sweetie."

  "See ya," I said and went back to our table.

  "You guys ready?"

  "Guy?"

  "Figure of speech, Nana."

  She harrumphed and slid out of the booth, Chief offering her an unneeded hand. She might have seen (almost,nearly) a thousand years, but she could probably still outrun me. She even made me jealous watching her ride her broom. I couldn't do a pull-up to save my life.

  "Thank you, William."

  As soon as his hand touched hers, my hackles rose. It was ridiculous, I know… She was my freaking grandmother, but Chief was mine. Managing to swallow it down, I flashed them both a fake smile and grabbed Jimmy's arm. "Ready?"

  "Um… Yeah?"

  I pulled him out the door.

  Dar stood up and took position in front of me, already in guardian mode. Yuki was looking everywhere but at me. They were being about as subtle as Josie when she flirted. Her idea of subtle was bashing someone in the face with an I want to fuck you brick.

  You guys want to tone it down a bit?

  No. Dar's voice left little room for argument.

  He's long gone and not going to take another shot with this many people around.

  You willing to bet our lives on that?

  And there it was. They were worried about me, but I needed a reminder that it wasn't just my life on the line. It was all of ours. If I died, so did they. Dar had resorted to playing dirty.

  Fine. Guard away.

  "Well, I need to get back to work."

  I turned back to Chief and nodded. "Be careful."

  "I will. See you tonight?"

  Jimmy, since his accident, was still on administrative leave. He had broken his back when a truck fire exploded, and been miraculously healed, by me. At least it gave him the opportunity to spend the day with me. Later that evening, the three of us were meeting for dinner. They absolutely refused to tell me where we were going but I vetoed Italian. It would be a few weeks before I could set foot in there without blushing myself to death. "Yep."

  He gave me a small smile and turned me around, gently caressing my lips with his. "Have fun."

  "You, too. Put a hurting on all that paperwork."

  "You have no idea. The mayor is on my ass about the demon attack. I don't know what to tell her."

  "Her?"

  "Yeah."

  I stared at him for a moment.

  "You…okay?"

  "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

  "You just seem a little shocked."

  "Surprised that the mayor is a woman."

  "Well, it is the twenty-first century. I hear you guys can even vote now."

  "So… Do you often have dealings with the mayor?"

  "Yeah…" He nodded slowly.

  "Is she pretty?"

  What in the fuck is wrong with me?

  Even Dar looked over his shoulder at me. Jimmy chuckled beside me and Nana cocked an eyebrow. It was at that moment it wasn't just me who thought I was a jealous psycho. Everybody did. It was almost a relief.

  Chief took a deep breath and nodded. "Would you like to meet her? She's actually a decent human being, for a politician. She's even been asking about you. It's not every day that a well-meaning stranger moves into town with lots of money and starts buying properties and helping the locals."

  I blushed once again. Wanting to say no, and that I trusted him implicitly, I said, "Yes. I do want to meet this woman."

  Seriously? What in the fuck is wrong with me?

  "Okay. I'll introduce you sometime."

  "Okay."

  "All right."

  "Yep."

  "Dot?"

  "Yes?"

  "Switch to decaf," he said with a wink and headed for the station.

  I sighed, wanting to call him back and apologize. At least I knew I had a problem, and that was half the battle. Turning to Jimmy, I put my head against his chest. He patted me on the head.

  "You okay?"

  "No. I feel stupid. I don't like feeling stupid."

  "Want my honest opinion?"

  "I don't know. Do I?"

  "I think it's hot when you get jealous, and I'm pretty sure Bill does, too."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  "Good, because I can't seem to quite control it."

  "You should see your mother, dear. They don't call her the Bitch Queen for nothing."

  "Yeah. I'm pretty sure you're the only one who calls her that, Nana."

  "Hmm. You may be right. Well, I have a house to put together. You children behave yourself."

  "Don't blow anything up," I called after her.

  "It's Friday. I only blow things up on Tuesdays, Child."

  With a cackle, she was off. I'd probably take the secret to my grave, but I was grateful. Grateful she had moved and was around in my life. It made me less homesick, probably because the resemblance to my mother in looks and attitude were uncanny. I couldn't tell her that, either. She'd probably blast me from the face of the earth.

  "So, where are we headed?"

  "Store. Want to see how Jason is doing."

  "You just want to look at his ass."

  "You probably do, too."

  "I've seen it. It is quite impressive."

  "You're an impressive ass, too, sweetie." I patted his arm.

  "Um…"

  I laughed as we walked the few doors down. He put his arm around me, and I snuggled into his warmth while ignoring Dar in front of us. He had taken point and left the almost overbearing presence of the overprotective vampire to cover our rear.

  "Seriously. What is going on?"

  "What?" I looked up at him innocently.

  "Your familiars look like they're waiting for more demons to show up and try to eat us."

  "I have no idea."

  He narrowed his eyes, but let it go.

  He pulled the outer door to the bookstore open for me, the inner door was propped open and I gasped as I got a look inside. Over half of the bookshelves were already in place, un-sanded and un-stained, they were still impressive looking with their naturally dark wood.

  "Holy shit," Jimmy said what I was thinking.

  "Ye
ah."

  Freddy Johnson had said the shelves were going to be a couple of weeks to install. It had only been a few days…

  "Hey, Dot. Whatcha think?" Freddy saw me before I saw him. I walked into the store and saw him in the corner with a couple of workers, fitting a shelf.

  "It's beautiful! Holy crap, they're going up fast."

  "Well, I thought it was going to take a while to find enough of the same wood. Turns out the lumber mill was filling a huge order that was cancelled at the last minute. You were in luck."

  I smiled, knowing the truth. When he'd told me what he was doing, I may have cast a little bit of a luck spell on him. I was glad to see my magic wasn't getting rusty.

  "Isn't that strange."

  "Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "You might have the keys to the place next week. Better go check on your boy, though. He was fighting with the licensing department last time I was in the kitchen."

  "Oh, boy."

  I headed back, Jimmy and my familiars in tow.

  Jason was sitting at a makeshift table in the middle of the kitchen. "Hey, handsome."

  "Dot!" He stood up and the chair shot back, bumping into the wall and leaving a faint mark on the fresh paint.

  "Easy, tiger."

  "Sorry. You scared me."

  "I have that effect on people."

  He gave me a droll look and rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

  "Came to check on you. Freddy said you were threatening the nice ladies in the licensing department?"

  He grabbed the chair and offered it to me. I shook my head and held up my hand. He turned the laptop to me and sat back down.

  "They're claiming that we need to have separate licenses for the bookstore and the coffee shop, which is in a completely different world because it's food service. I really need Josie to come by and fill out the forms because it's her ball of wax."

  "Oh. That's nothing major. She's at the furniture place. I'll have her park her butt here when she's done."

  "That works. Thanks."

  "Deep breaths, Jason."

  "Yeah, yeah. Just panicking because Freddy is ahead of schedule and I don't want to slow you down."