Hopeless Realm: A Reverse Harem Series (The Hopeless Series Book 3) Read online

  Hopeless Realm

  Hopeless Realm

  A.K. Koonce

  Contents

  1. The Blood Moon

  2. The Healing Process

  3. Unlikely Friends

  4. When Turtles Fly

  5. An Angel and a Prince

  6. Best Fucking Friends

  7. Shuddering Annoyance

  8. An Attack

  9. Friendship is Overrated

  10. The Simplicity of Love

  11. Visions of Destruction

  12. Outshine the Darkness

  13. Nefarious

  14. Home Coming

  15. The Armed Seven

  16. D + K + R

  17. Family

  18. Rising Courage

  Epilogue

  Also by A.K. Koonce

  About A.K. Koonce

  Hopeless Realm

  Copyright 2018 A.K. Koonce

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover design by Desiree DeOrto

  Editing by Varankor Editing

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from the author. Any unauthorized use of this material is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales are entirely coincidence.

  Created with Vellum

  To the Hopeless. May the gods grant peace upon their souls.

  One

  The Blood Moon

  My head jostles, my teeth jarring together repeatedly. Fearful blue eyes are the first thing I see when I wake. Fear, like it’s a tangible living thing, is flashing in his beautiful gaze. I feel it draining right into me with intensity.

  Strong arms are cradled around my body and his chest heaves against me with every stumbling step he takes. My head bobs against his shoulder and he glances back behind us once more.

  Crimson washes out the sky. It’s an ominous color of deep red like the heavens are wounded and bleeding out. But shining stars light our path as he carries me through the thick tangle of trees.

  “What are we doing, Ryder?” A thrashing feeling pounds against my fingertips as my hand settles over his heart. It’s strong. Strong but full of terror.

  He adjusts my weight, pinching my feathers in the process, sending a spike of pain through my shoulder blades.

  Then I see them. The beautiful inky black wings arching up from my back. My fingers delve into them, distracted momentarily from the change my body just underwent hours ago.

  If I had known the well of the Hopeless would have transformed me into an image of strength and stability, I would have leapt into it years ago.

  “We have to get to shelter before the Blood Moon comes.”

  The Blood Moon.

  “What’s a Blood Moon?”

  Harsh breaths fall from his lips as he checks behind him once more.

  “When nightfall comes, this realm lives in terror. Because when it gets dark, the sky turns red for exactly one hour.”

  “Why? I don’t understand?”

  A large tree trunk slams into his shoulder and he winces from the jarring impact. It misses my face by less than an inch and I find myself clinging closer to him. Carefully he lowers me, my feet meeting the lush green moss of the forest floor. He leans into that tree and gulps down breaths as he stares up at the ominous sky.

  “Nix slip from their realm to here for feeding. They’re nocturnal and relentless. The wardens of this land put a spell on our sky to signal the time that the nix are coming. When the heavens bleed red, and screams slash through the night, death strikes this world in lashing chaos.”

  The stream of information doesn’t make much sense to me.

  “What’s a nix?”

  He pushes the locks of his blonde hair from his face as he levels me with a serious look. “If we don’t hurry, you’re going to find out.”

  My wide eyes land on the iron cuffs still wrapped around his wrists, preventing him from using the one ability we really need right now.

  He can’t teleport us. But I have at least one thing I know we can use.

  “I can fly us, just point the way and I’ll fly us.”

  “Do you even know how to use those things? Back in the mortal realm, that was just your new fae energy pushing through your veins. It’ll be harder now. You’ll need training and guidance, just like I did when I went through my changing.”

  His training was a disappearing act. Mine has to be easier than that.

  The tired sound of his voice drowns out into a whisper as a shrieking noise emits through the air. It’s like a scream that’s crawling through the woods, clawing at the trees and sinking right into my body. The fine hairs of my arm stand on end as a shiver skims through me. For only a second, Ryder and I stare wide eyed at one another.

  “Fuck, they’re here.”

  His warm, calloused palm grips my hand and then we’re running once more. Limbs snap against my broad wings. I tuck them in against my back the best I can but they’re too big. I’m slowing us down with every tree that slams into my delicate, glossy feathers.

  Another deafening cry lashes through the night, sounding nearer. Then I hear it; wood splintering, cracking with a hollow sound. I look back over my right wing, and white, shining eyes meet mine. I stop in my tracks, stumbling into harsh bark and falling to the damp ground as I just stare into the nix’s large, glossy gaze. Long claws are sunk right through the heart of a wide tree trunk. It’s an image of deadly power. Spindly limbs are covered in slick blue skin, as if the thing just leapt from the ocean to meet us here in the middle of the forest.

  A long, lashing tongue sweeps across each individual jagged tooth within its wickedly smiling jaw. It holds a disturbingly human resemblance.

  “Kara, get up.” Ryder pulls at my hand and I keep my eyes fixed on the creature that’s ten yards away. Slowly, I stand with tension strung through my legs.

  “Ryder, hold on to me,” I say in a cautiously low tone.

  “What?”

  Uneven breaths heave from him. Exhaustion and confusion fills his features.

  But I don’t answer him.

  I sink my nails into his back as I hug his large body to mine. With as much strength as possible, I push off from the ground, arching my back as my wings take flight.

  My sword dangles from his hip, shoved into his belt and it bumps reassuringly against my thigh. It fuels my strength just knowing it’s near.

  Ryder’s heavier than I expect. His weight’s hard to hang on to, my fingers gripping his shirt while his strong arms hold tightly around my neck. It makes it hard to catch the air.

  Right now, I’m cursing every small ounce of food I’ve ever seen this man eat.

  I’m just off the ground when pain stabs through my calf with so much intensity I cry out. My scream mingles with the shrieking death calls of the nix. Furiously, my black wings beat against the cold winds, attempting to pull us higher as the nix’s talons embed deeper in the flesh of my right leg, shredding through the leather of my black boots.

  The skin tears and the weight of the creature drags the flesh painfully down. Another screeching cry leaves its thin lips as it gnashes at the sole of my shoe.

  My heart thunders to life but I shove the fear down low inside myself.

  I refuse to believe I escaped the mortal realm just to die by the hands of a sinister creature on the very first day.

  White eyes narrow on my tense face and I
give it one more long hard look before raising my other boot and slamming it down in the center of its slick, boney face.

  Another scream accompanies its tumbling fall to the ground and I shove through the air hard with so much power my shoulders begin to shake.

  It’s exhausting. Every single sweep of my beautiful wings is slowly draining my energy. Tree limbs break beneath the power of my flight. One stabs deep into my feathers and I try to ignore the throbbing pain of it. On uneven and reckless wings, I carry us above the trees. Ryder’s arms are wrapped around my slight shoulders and I feel his attention on me.

  Neither of us speak or make note of how terrible I am at flying. It’s like the wind itself has holes in it, making me lose my balance and dipping us to the earth every few seconds before I right myself once more.

  I chance a glance at the ground below and gasp from the sight I see. Thousands of shining, white eyes look up at us, following our bobbing trail through the sky.

  “Where am I going. How far is it?”

  I don’t say it, but I can’t keep this up for much longer, a few minutes at the most.

  “It’s a mile ahead.”

  A mile. Never in my life has a mile seemed like the longest distance I’ve ever heard. I sweep my wings through the air harder, and my eyes close as sweat beads down my temple. Ryder’s grip on me hasn’t loosened at all, he won’t let me go. That thought makes my worry slip away, at least I can count on him right now.

  Chanting screams are heard from below, beckoning me to return to the demon-like creatures awaiting my failure.

  Our flight becomes jarring and stumbling.

  “Just soar, Kara,” he whispers against my neck. “You don’t have to do everything to the max. Just relax and let the wind catch your wings for a bit.”

  A shaking intake of air hits my lungs and I nod to him, expanding my large wingspan to its fullest. Strong winds carry us a bit higher into the sky, caressing my feathers as I keep my eyes tightly closed.

  It is oddly relaxing.

  “You’re doing great. I can see the gates, we’re almost there.”

  My eyes open slowly and a single shining light is seen in the distance. Long iron spikes surround it, interlocking like a gate formed from the center of the earth, striking through the dirt just to encompass the towering building within it.

  “That’s an excessive gate.”

  “It’s the Iron Bar,” he tells me.

  “Clever name.” My words are harsh and painful to speak.

  “The gate’s made of pure iron to keep out the nix. Water spirits can’t touch iron.”

  I push my wings a few beats, wanting badly to enter the safe haven just yards away. We lower slowly, gliding through the comforting breeze.

  “That’s low enough,” Ryder warns.

  I nod and attempt to level us out. My back arches, failing to haul us up even an inch. Seriously, once we land we’re going to have a real talk about his weight. It’s like cradling a solid—sexy—boulder in my arms.

  Lower we sink, gravity is tearing us down to the terrible world once more.

  “Kara, that’s too low.”

  Nix race across the plains of the grassy land, their blue bodies soaring over the ground at flashing speeds. At the gates of the Iron Bar, they wait like begging dogs to be fed.

  “Kara, we need to go higher if we’re ever going to clear those spikes.”

  “I know, stop yelling at me.”

  “I’m not yelling at you,” he yells.

  The tips of the spikes are rusted and I lift my legs, crouching to clear the sharp bars of the fence.

  But I’m not graceful enough.

  The iron stabs through my jeans. I feel the warmth of my blood before the painful scream ever leaves my mouth.

  The hard earth hits my shoulder, bending the fine bones of my wing.

  “Fuck, Ryder. Ryder.” Tears sting my eyes as I look across the yard at him.

  He shoves off from the ground without hesitation. Dirt covers his white shirt and he kneels at my side within seconds.

  “It’s alright. You’re alright. It’ll be alright.” His strong arms slip beneath my wings and legs, cradling me to his chest once more.

  Pain like I’ve never felt before fires through my body, starting at my shoulder blade and spiraling down to my bloody and tattered leg.

  “It hurts. Gods above, it hurts.” I bite my lip and clench my eyes tightly closed. Trembling breaths leave my lungs.

  I still hear them. I hear the hissing screams of the nix that are waiting at the gates to enter and devour us whole.

  “Just try to think about something else for right now.”

  I try my best to listen to his advice.

  The metallic building looks more like a bunker than a bar. Not a single window gives us a peek inside. Strong panels of iron are bolted in sheets, creating four walls for the intimidating, towering structure.

  “Just so you know, I’m an excellent wing-man,” I say in a shaking whisper with a joking tone, attempting to break the coiling pain that’s flooding my body. Talking about something else doesn’t distract my mind as much as I’d like.

  “Yeah, because a gorgeous and aggressive blonde is just the person you want trying to get you laid. It’s not that kind of bar. If I was bringing you here for that, you’d most definitely be the world’s largest cock block, I promise.”

  “I’m sorry, did you just say something about the world’s largest cock?” A weak smile is all I can manage.

  His bright eyes land on me and he bites his lip, but the smallest of smiles peeks out between the worry flooding his face. I’m reminded how handsome he is. The ends of his pale hair sweep back and forth in the breeze as he shakes his head at me.

  Truthfully, the word ‘gorgeous’ is swirling through my mind at hyper speed. I need a wall between us. I need one of those iron sheets of metal placed precisely between me and the twins’ best friend. Ryder’s handsome and charming and funny and magnetic. And if I sleep with one more sexy fae, I’ll need to start attending addiction meetings or something because I’m starting to realize this is a serious problem for me. Sure, sure some people struggle with alcohol and some with drugs, but an abundance of sexy men is a real problem.

  Not the worst problem …

  Definitely, the best one I could have chosen …

  It’s pretty beneficial for me really …

  Harshly, his boot kicks several times at the bottom of the dark, metal door, interrupting my ridiculous thoughts.

  Seconds pass.

  When it opens, a woman with smooth, beautiful features stares down at me. Dark chocolate eyes look to me with awe and her full lips part without sound.

  Her long ebony hair hangs in thin, sleek braids around her beautiful face. Just barely I catch the delicate tips of her pointed ears.

  When she speaks, nothing but confusion swirls through me.

  “Where the hell did you find an angel, Ryder?”

  Two

  The Healing Process

  “Mesa, she needs your help.” Ryder tells the woman as he carries me inside. “The right wing’s just fucking destroyed and her leg’s really banged up.”

  “Yeah, so is your leg.” She closes the door behind us as her attention lingers on Ryder’s tattered jeans.

  Without asking, Ryder takes one hand and flings a mound of paperwork and glasses from a table. The glass shatters against the floor as the crinkled papers waft around us. He lowers me to the now spotless table. Pain floods me. I wince, keeping my eyes closed tightly.

  Bright lights shine above. Through glimpses, I see a large kitchen sink, piled with shot glasses and a few white plates.

  “Where the hell did you find an angel?” Mesa asks again, her wide eyes taking in every inch of me.

  “I’m not an angel,” I say in a tense tone. Every move I make feels like fire is flooding my senses.

  Her dark hair fans across her face as she nods. “I’ve seen an angel. You’re it, love. Visitors from the Realm of
the Gods don’t come to our world. What the hell are you doing here in our realm? With him?” She throws Ryder a look that says he’s not worthy of my presence.

  “I’m just a fae with wings.”

  A small doubt-filled laugh hums through her.

  “Fae don’t have wings; it’s no use lying, love.” Her arms fold across her petite frame as she studies me intently.

  I glance to Ryder but he only stares at me, not adding to her statement.

  Fae don’t have wings …

  “Will you help me or not?” I breathe out in a shaking exhale as sweat clings to the back of my neck.

  She nods to me and on stalking steps, she comes closer. Gentle fingers run through my thick black feathers.

  “You really did a number on these.” She shakes her head at my careless treatment of my beautiful wings. “My magic won’t work inside the Iron Bar, but I have some strong remedies I’ve made up. Ryder can heal your wings more once the sun rises.” Her gaze lingers on the torn leather of my boot where the nix attacked me. “Unfortunately, the nix have poison in their veins. It’s a painful healing process, but a quick one.”

  She glances down to the iron cuffs encircling Ryder’s wrists. With quick steps, she walks to a cabinet on the far wall. When the door opens, I see hundreds of small bottles corked and tagged with scrawling handwriting.

  Her nimble fingers touch a few before picking up one in the back. She also grabs what appears to be a black razor blade. It holds my attention.

  When she walks back to us, she hands Ryder the odd-looking blade. He begins running the edge of it across his cuffs and the metal against metal starts to melt the iron from his wrists. It’s similar to the one Tristan used on my cuffs in the mortal realm.