by G. Bailey
He groans and tugs me harder against him. Undoing his trousers, I kiss him harder. Using magic, I get rid of all of our clothes and lean back onto Gage’s cock.
He slowly slides inside me, fitting me perfectly as his thumb rolls on my clit. I play with my own nipples as I ride his cock, loving every second of having him inside me. Gage growls and picks me up, placing me on my back and driving right back inside me with one smooth movement. His lips devour my own as he thrusts hard in and out of me, drawing me closer to the edge of ecstasy. I curl my toes as the pressure becomes too much, and I crash into an orgasm. Gage continues to slam into me, making it more intense as he smothers my moans with his lips. I moan as he drives in one last time, spilling his cum inside of me, his eyes blazoned with lust.
“You’re too good at distracting me, Vina,” Gage groans as he rolls off me and I chuckle. “Too damn good.”
“I will tell all of you tomorrow about the vision. Are Sage and Nieve okay?” I ask as he covers us with a blanket.
Pitch is the one that answers me as he shadowlocates into the room. “I just checked on them and they are doing well,” he says. “Izora had to return to Vasili, so Zander and Jonah are staying guard outside Sage’s room until you come back. We all knew you would want someone you trust watching them until they feel better.”
I sigh with relief. My mates know me so well.
“Now, what happened in your vision?” Pitch demands, but instead of answering, I lean up and kiss him.
I’m the master of distraction after all.
The ruins of my childhood home surround me, filling my heart with sadness and regret. I haven’t been here since Keeper Maddox suggested I say goodbye before going to the academy. That was over six years ago now and so much in my life has changed.
I competed in the Fae Tryouts, I fought in a war and won, I became the Dark Fae Queen of Zorya, and I have four incredible men at my side. I also gained friends as well as sisters, and I even met my birth parents before they died. But the most amazing thing of all is the news I have come to tell the man and woman who raised me.
“Hey Mum, hey Dad,” I whisper, placing the wreathed flowers on the gravestone I had made for them. It was Gage’s idea, and although I’d wept like a child when I came back here for the first time, I’m happy I did it; it’s nice to have something beautiful within all the wreckage.
“When I was a kid,” I tell them quietly, “I used to have a dream that I was a princess who lived in the sky. Do you remember? Dad, you built me a treehouse in the garden and we painted clouds and rainbows over it. Although my clouds looked like snowmen.” A quiet laugh escapes me and pained tears well in my eyes. “I wish you were both here so I could tell you this in person.”
Taking a deep breath, I glance at the sky, about to say the words out loud for the first time, but movement in the trees stops me. I turn to see Wren landing on a branch. Rook and Crowe follow her, and the three of them squawk in encouragement.
“I’m going to have a baby,” I tell my parents, smiling at the gravestone. I place a hand proudly on my stomach. “I’m only a few weeks but I already have so much love for my little soybean. I’m more nervous than excited, though. I can’t sleep or think straight. Did you both feel like that when you adopted me?” No one but the wind answers me and my smile fades. “I’ve lost two sets of parents before I got the chance to become a parent myself. I’m worried I’ll make a mistake, or I’ll not be a good enough mum.”
“You will be as great a mother as you are a queen,” Wren says, and I glance back to see her spreading her wings out in a bow.
“We are proud of you, Your Majesty,” Rook adds, his voice thick with emotion.
“Yes, very proud.” Crowe hops excitedly on the branch. “And your birth and adoptive parents would be just as proud of you, too. We are sure of it.”
I blink the tears away and nod at them. “Thank you. If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. I’m so lucky to call you my friends.”
Rook and Crowe bow along with Wren.
“Always,” they say in unison.
Branches snap behind us, and a gust of wind lifts my hair onto the breeze. My guys emerge from the shadows, each one looking as worried as the next. Pitch’s red eyes land on me and then on the gravestone. Slowly, the redness fades and his eyes turn gold again. He nods once, giving me a pained smile.
I place a hand on the gravestone, hugging my parents the only way I can, and stand on my feet. The tightness in my chest has gone and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me. I can breathe again. I’m so glad that I came here.
“Corvina,” Zander whispers, rushing over to me. “We woke and you were gone.”
“Are you alright?” Jonah demands, sweeping his eyes over me. His gaze lands on my hand pressed on my stomach.
“I just wanted to tell my parents the good news,” I say, looking at them,
Gage steps forward. “What news, Vina?”
A smile spreads over my lips. “I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby!”
Their answer is to embrace me, showering me with kisses and whispers of love and adoration.
I have finally got the happy ending I dreamt of as a child, and I couldn’t be happier.
My name is Corvina Charles. I’m a shadowborn, a fae, a queen, a mate, and now I am a mother.
My life is no longer in the shadows and it never will be again.
My dark robes billow behind me as I step out from the shadows. The figure slouched in the dragon throne is not the king I thought I would see here, and nor is the blood seeping through the dais.
“Make yourself known,” I say into the darkness, sensing another presence lingering close by.
A low, quiet chuckle circulates around me. “You have come at a bad time.”
I sweep my gaze over King Cyrus’ dead body bleeding out on the throne. Even I, God of the Dead and Underworld, do not like to see fae killed so brutally. Fae lives were once created and honoured by my mate, and they each should have a death worthy of her love. “It seems I have come at the right time.”
At my reply, the Dark Fae appears from behind the throne. His robe and medallion are the same ones the Dragon King’s advisor donned, except this face does not belong to Julius Griscor.
This is the face of a coward and now a slayer of kings.
“Professor Greyhorn,” I spit his name scathingly. “I do not believe I was summoned here by you.”
“No,” he offers dryly, dragging the king off the throne and dropping him on the dais in two swift moves. “Cyrus called you before I slid my sword through his throat. It’s funny what pleas even a king gives when threatened with death. Even funnier are the noises they make when choking on their blood.”
I watch him settle down on the throne and run his hands over the gilded armrests. I know that look on his countenance all too well; the feeling of power and victory filling your soul until there is nothing left but the need for more. This fae will soon learn that nothing will ever fill that void.
“While I do enjoy talking about blood and death,” I say, narrowing my gaze on him, “I came here to fulfill a bargain, and I despise those who waste my time.”
Greyhorn dares wave a hand at me dismissively. “And it shall be fulfilled, for I upheld my end of the bargain. The king fought in the war and Corvina won. In return, you promised to hand over the Lost Princess of Draconia. Where is she?”
I scoff at his reply. This fae believes that he is a god, which he is no more of one than I am fae, but his insanity has me questioning his motives. His intentions cannot be as pure as King Cyrus’ were. The snake-like Greyhorn cares only about power and greed.
“What do you plan to do with this child?” I eye him closely, waiting for his facade to crack. “She is weak-minded and her spirit frail, much like her mother. She is not fit to sit on that throne no more than you are.”
A derisive grin slides onto his face. “Do I detect a hint of concern, Dark God?”
In reply I lift my hand, seizing the air in his lungs. “Enough of your wasteful talking! While I am a god of my word, if you so much as touch a hair on this child’s body, I will feed you to my dog and bind your soul so that you will endure your death for the rest of eternity with Cerberus feeding on your rotting flesh.” Tightening my invisible grip on his throat, I pull my lips back into a snarl. “Do. You. Understand?”
“Y-yes,” he chokes out, grasping his throat to remove my invisible hold. “Re…lease…me!”
I let him go but only because I have a deal to honour. If I had my way, I would drag his pathetic corpse down to the abyss and let him rot. As he struggles to catch his breath, I climb onto the dais and bring my face inches from his.
“Now, if you want to remain up with the living, you will tell me exactly what you are doing in Draconia and what your intentions are with the Lost Princess.”
Still gasping for air, he shapeshifts into a face that I recognise.
Julius Griscor.
This means it was Greyhorn who convinced the king to help my son win the war, which means he is the one to reap the rewards. A bitter taste rises into my throat. I don’t like dealing with snakes at the best of times. They are too slimy for my liking.
“The throne,” he manages to say, rubbing his throat. “I wanted the Throne of Luna but the halfbreed stole it from me! All I want is to rule my own kingdom. This is the only one left. I have the trust of the people here and the power to protect them. When the child is of age, she will inherit the throne and I will wed her. That is all. Until then, she will be my ward and under my protection.”
“You are no dragon,” I point out with a snarl. “And there are three princes before you. They will rule and protect her.”
He grins. “They died in the war.”
“How convenient!”
“I am a god whether you think me one or not,” he snaps, straightening as much as he can on the throne. “I will be the king here, one day, whether you want me to be or not.”
I step back from the dais, clasping my hands behind my back in contemplation. I am unfortunately bound to honour this deal and have no choice but to hand Draconia over to Greyhorn.
The Dragon Queen is too weak to rule and her other surviving daughter, Kaida, cares not for the throne. It was the sole reason her father summoned me and asked that I retrieve his lost child from the mortal realm. He wished to replace Kaida with the more tameable sister. The desires and cruelty of the fae never cease to amaze me. Truly, they do not, and they far exceed those of the gods, contrary to what the tales would have people believe.
While I don’t really care what happens to magics here, I vowed to Persephone that I would protect her forest should she ever fall. It is why I made this deal with Cyrus in the first place—to honor my wife’s dying wish. One child in exchange for an entire forest. I have sacrificed more for less. And I will be able to ensure her safety from afar, at least until she is of age. It is the least I can do for her father who, while frail, was a noble ruler to his kingdom.
With a wave of my hand, I summon the girl and lay her sleeping body on a chaise by the window. She is young enough to be moulded into a queen, but hopefully, with time, she will be strong enough to give Greyhorn his just desserts once and for all.
For now, all I can do is watch from the shadows, but time is no matter to gods like me. With one final look at the soon to be king of the dragons, I turn away into the shadows and reappear on the edge of the forest near Shadowborn Academy. My son sits with the new queen of dark fae, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, and I simply watch.
He may not want me in his life, but I will always protect my only son.
Looking up at the night sky, I send a silent prayer to my long lost mate.
Your forest is safe in my care, my love. Rest well. We will meet again soon.
The End
It’s the end! Are you okay? I don’t feel like we were ready to say goodbye either! Thank you so much to every reader that picked up this series as well as a big thank you to everyone who helped along the way.
For us, this is our first completed series and we hope you will stick around to read Izora’s trilogy and one more trilogy in this world.
Did someone say dragons?
Thank you one more time! Happy Reading!
Oh, and don’t forget to preorder SHADOWBORN ROYALS: Dark Paranormal Prison Series Book Two!
Villainous Hearts Exclusive Excerpt
Villainous Hearts
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Everyone loves to sin but only the villains embrace it.
After turning a jerk’s manhood into stone, Zara is sent to the Academy for Villains—a place where troublemakers must atone for their sin or risk burning in the Underworld forever. It’s also where Hades claims she’s his reincarnated wife, bad boy Loki of Asgard is determined to seduce her, and the Prince of Darkness wants to turn her into his new vampire bride.
Zara might be surrounded by villains, some of them devilishly sexy, but they have no idea what she’s capable of…and she has no idea what secrets lurk in the shadows waiting to tear her world apart.
Academy for Villains is a Hades/Persephone retelling with a Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance twist featuring various kinds of mythology in a reform school setting. 18+.
Chapter One
Zara
“Why do villains get punished for having fun?” I sit down on the beach next to my sister and glance up at the blinding sunlight. “One tiny hiccup and now we’re stuck at the Academy for Villains for three whole months. It’s so unfair.”
“You turned a guy’s dick into stone and snapped it like a glow stick.” Murie side-eyes me with an amused grin sliding over her lips. “What did you think would happen?”
I give a casual shrug. “He touched my butt so I broke his dick. No touchy, no hurty.” Tossing my long pink hair over my shoulders, I follow her gaze. The sun has nearly touched the horizon. That means the ship will be here soon, and my stomach clenches at the thought. “Anyway, it was my hair that turned him into stone, not me.”
She snorts under her breath. “Blame it on your half Gorgon side like you always do.”
“Hey, it’s a legit reason. I’m cursed!”
Murie drapes her arm over my shoulders, her feet buried in the water lapping at the shore. “And I’m cursed, too. This academy is the only place for people like us.”
“Who? People who are fucked up and not all there in the head?”
She laughs and playfully shoves my shoulder. “Bad-ass women who don’t need a knight in shining armour to save them.”
“I’d probably just break his dick off anyway,” I grumble. “Maybe by accident this time. Maybe. Unless he turns out to be another jerk, in which case I will happily turn his dick into stone and snap it like a glowstick.” I stand and brush the sand off my plaid skirt. “Unfortunately, I doubt the academy will let us use magic.”
Murie pauses, brushing her silver hair behind her pointed ears. “Probably not but it’s worth a try.”
“Have I taught you nothing?”
Our mother’s voice carries on the ocean breeze. We turn to see her emerging from the sea, the waves lapping at her waist. Her purple tentacles vanish and a long, flowing gown of dark seaweed covers her now human body. Her silver hair and lilac complexion are the same as Murie’s. My pale skin, pink eyes, and hair are the complete opposite. I’m also part Gorgon and can’t breathe underwater. It doesn’t take a genius to see that I’m the adopted one.
“Rules are meant to be broken.” My mum dips her toes into the white sand, a smile dancing over her lips. “Be proud of who you are and show no fear.”
I grin at her. “Fear? I laugh in the face of fear.”
As if on cue, the sand beneath my boots trembles. The sun has touched the horizon at long last and the clouds are stained with streaks of crimson and gold. In the far distance, a shadow eclipses the setting sun. I shield my gaze from the blinding rays and watch as a monstrous, dragon-shaped ship
with black sails glides towards us. It should take some time for the ship to reach the shore, but it arrives only minutes later.
My heart picks up its pace as I watch the anchor plunge into the sea. A gangway is dropped down, but at first, nobody disembarks. The dragon wings slowly curl inward and then I see it, the cloud of dark energy seeping down the ramp. A hooded man materialises from the smoke, the shadows licking around his tall frame.
“Captain Nemo.” He inclines his head curtly and then looks between me and Murie. “Are you the Eyre sisters?”
“Depends. You here to take us to our doom?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Also, Nemo? As in the fish?
Murie nudges me in the ribs with her elbow. “Yes, we are the Eyre sisters.”
Rolling my eyes, I give the ship an assessing glance. The deck looks empty from where I’m standing. Surely, we’re not the first ones to get picked up? As I push up onto my tiptoes, the captain snaps his fingers, and something sharp pricks me on the side of the neck. It’s like a mosquito bite only sharper.
“What’s that for?” I rub where he struck, my irritated pulse fluttering under my fingers.
“A precaution.”
“For what?”
He doesn’t answer me. After doing the same to Murie, he says, “Say your farewells. It is time to set sail.”
I salute him. “Aye aye, Cap’n.”
Nemo pivots on his heel and makes his way back to the ship. No sense of humour, huh? Figures.
“Remember what I said, darlings.” Mum turns us around and cups the side of our faces. “Be proud and show no fear.”
This time, I don’t make a joke. I can see the worry in her eyes and it’s mirrored in my own despite my bravado. My biggest coping mechanism in life has always been making light of serious situations. The twisted sense of humour I’ve adopted over the years has got me through some of my darkest moments. But I know, and my family knows, that deep down I’m just as worried as they are.
