by Kailin Gow
Princes of Paradise
(M.A.G.E. #1)
Magical Academy of Gods and
Elementals
kailin gow
KAILIN GOW
Princes of Paradise
Published by Romance on The Go, an Imprint of
Sparklesoup.com
Copyright © 2020 Kailin Gow
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
graphic,
electronic,
or
mechanical,
including
photocopying, recording, taping or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without the permission in
writing from the publisher except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, please contact:
www.sparklesoup.com
Second Edition.
Printed in the United States of America.
2
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
DEDICATION
For those who believe doors open when you
take a leap of faith.
3
KAILIN GOW
Prologue
The stones glowed brightly, seeming in their
otherworldly light to mirror the gleaming of the stars. The
night was black, as black as a squid's ink, but she was not
afraid. She had the stones – their ancient power calling to her
as she held them in her hands. She had the book, its pages
seeming to grow warm upon her fingers as she turned them.
And she had her love – and she knew that he would keep her
safe.
The crimson sunset had vanished into the black
waters, and now all was still. They stood at the top of the
volcano, a volcano that had not erupted in many centuries –
since the old days. Since long before the Erosion had come
to change the shape of the world.
But she felt its power. She knew that deep within the
volcano, the power of flame lay waiting, like a dozing beast,
waiting for her to harness its strength, to let the force of the
4
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
fire take over. She knew that she had the power: she would
connect with the molten lava, with its heat, its beauty. She
would make its strength her own.
She was beautiful; she knew it now better than she
had always known it. The stars and stones alike shone down
upon her, casting her dark face and flashing eyes in their
milky pale light. The stones were piled high – green and
blue, yellow and red, precious gems from all corners of the
island. She had found them all herself; they had called to her,
each one, since she was a child. She had felt a connection
with each tiny gemstone as she held it in the palm of her
hand, pocketing it for her collection. Now, staring at the
circle of stones she had made, she knew why. It was for this
purpose that she had been chosen. It was for this purpose that
her abilities had been formed.
She sat cross-legged in the center of the circle, her
book on her lap. It was the book of the Fire King, the god of
fire, its ancient tongue intelligible to the Fire's children
alone. She knew what her destiny was. She would bring back
the Sacred Fire, its purifying force, its flames. She knew
what the scientists knew and did not say – that the Erosion
5
KAILIN GOW
was getting worse, that soon the whole earth would be
engulfed in water. The ice caps would melt; the tides would
grow stronger. The people did not know; the Earth did not
know. But she knew.
And she knew it was her duty to stop it. The Sacred
Flame would come, at once creator and destroyer, push back
the waves and call from its molten depths new lava, new
earth.
And she was doing it with her love at her side. She
gazed at him, her heart beating faster. She knew his beauty;
his beauty floored her, as if she were seeing it for the first
time. It was always like the first time. She knew the source
of his flashing eyes, his powerful animal muscles, his broad
shoulders. The power of the flames rushed through him. He
drew his beauty from the source – like her, he called upon
the volcano and its ancient ways.
He was the Fire King, and for thousands of years he
had been searching for his Queen, the goddess from whom
he had been separated. The goddess who had more power
even than he to destroy and to rebirth. The true power of the
twin ways of flame – death and resurrection. And only she
6
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
could regenerate the earth. Only she could rebuild its lost
lands. He had searched for her, evermore frantic – knowing
that he had to find her before it was too late. Before the
Erosion grew too dangerous. Before the Calypticon. For the
gods of Water would submerge the earth to suit their own
ends – if the fire gods did not strike back.
The girl knew the legends well. After all, she had
grown up on the island. She had not mingled with the other
outsiders, the generations of new settlers who peopled the
island with fast cars and shiny beach homes. No, she was one
with the Veteri – she sought them out. She knew their hiding
places. She listened to their stories. And she knew the Fire
God sought one born of a mortal, who would from her flesh
reveal her powers. And she would win the love of the Fire
God. The Fire God who had spent centuries seeking her, who
had assumed human form, who sought out the one who loved
him above all else. The one who loved him so much she was
willing to die for him, and to be reborn. The one who would
past the test.
And she was that goddess. She knew that now, her
heart beating faster with proud certainty. From the moment
7
KAILIN GOW
she had met him she had known him – seen past his brilliant
blue eyes and cruel charm to the flame burning within. And
she had wanted it so badly – for the tales to be true. For the
legend to be real. To be his goddess. And it had been proven
true. She had not run from him, from the danger of his
desires. She had stood by him, borne his passion, burned to
his touch.
And now she would summon the Sacred Flame.
It was time. She would fulfill her destiny. The great
task of the stones – from these small, hot gems she would
make the fire.
But first she had to pass the test. A bonfire had been
prep
ared for her in the basin of the volcano, drawing its
strength from the volcano below. She would walk through
the flames. She would stand in their heat.
But she would not be burned.
She would simply be reborn, her goddess form made
clear.
“Stop!”
She whirled around to face him, and her face
crumpled with compassion. She knew this man – she knew
8
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
he was the enemy of her love. His ways were not her ways;
he belonged to the realm of water. That shadowy cool force
that only dampened her flames. She had loved him, once –
but she could not think of that now. That was before she had
learned who he was – that was before she had discovered her
destiny as Queen of Fire.
“Don't do it – it's too much a risk I can't save you
from these. Even my power won't extinguish these flames.
It's too much a risk.”
The Fire King scoffed. “Some faith you have in her,
cousin! Be off with you!”
“Please – it's too dangerous. You're risking her life.”
“I have found my love,” the Fire King said. “She has
found me. She is the Goddess. Let not your petty jealousy
blind you to that fact. She is mine now.”
The girl's eyes were wide with sorrow. “I'm sorry,”
she whispered to the man. “I'm so sorry.”
But she did not hesitate. She turned and walked
proudly towards the bonfire, which set the night blazing with
its light. Flames licked at the hem of her dress; she could feel
its scalding heat. But she knew it would not burn her. She
9
KAILIN GOW
knew it would not hurt her.
She had to prove her faith. She had to prove her love.
She had to jump in.
No sooner was she in the midst of the flames than she
knew something had gone wrong. Her skin was blistering;
agony beat in her blood. She screamed and could not scream,
for her mouth was filled with smoke, with fire.
“Help!” The cry escaped her lips. “Somebody help
me!”
But there was nothing they could do. The greatest
oceans in the world could not have put the fire out. She heard
them yelling, screaming, calling her name – she saw,
between the licking of the flames, them running towards her,
repelled by the magic that guarded the bonfire, thrown upon
their backs. Her screams choked into nothingness; her pain
became nothingness too. She heard them screaming her
name as she died.
And then the flames were gone, carrying with them
her body, turned to ash, and the ashes blew forth over the
silent night. All that was left of her – scattered to the winds.
“No...” The Fire King was doubled over. He felt her
10
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
pain. He felt her burn. Tears were stinging at his eyes. “No!”
“You killed her. You fool – you killed her!”
“She was the goddess!”
“She wasn't a goddess – she was a girl. My girl. And
you killed her!” A punch, a blow. The Fire King did not
bother fighting back. He let the Water King kick him, bruise
him, spit upon him; he let his blood run freely into the earth.
This pain was better, he thought. Anything was better than
the guilt that was overtaking him.
The guilt running alongside the fear.
For he knew now, with terrible certainty – time was
running out. The woman he loved was not his goddess. She
was dead – gone from him forever. And if he did not find his
goddess soon, then the whole world would suffer for it.
11
KAILIN GOW
Chapter 1
Mackenzy (Mac)
Three Years Later
The flames licked gently at the twigs, the embers
gleaming red and orange beneath the night sky. The night –
an endless black punctuated intermittently by stars – had
taken on an eerie glow. I leaned in to feel the warmth from
the fire. I couldn't take my eyes from the flames, each one
bearing upwards towards the stars, flickering and lapping
and licking, as if each of them was participating – too – in
the dance. For they were all dancing, not just the fires but the
girls, their hips shaking in time to the music. Their grass
skirts elegantly shuffled from one side of their toned,
graceful bodies to another; the leis they wore sparkled in the
light of the flames. I had never seen so much color before.
Green and red, yellow and orange – the flowers seemed to
be dancing, too.
12
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
The sight took my breath away. I had seen luaus on
television, of course – ever since the Erosion they had
become common all over the new islands of Europe – but
this was the real thing, a Hawaiian luau, one dating back
from the old days. Before the Erosion. Before the waters
came.
The dancers were the most beautiful girls I had ever
seen. Dark-eyed, with smooth coffee-colored skin, they all
seemed to belong to the same world as the flames and the
flowers – exotic, mysterious. They were not from the
California Isles – they were not the sort of people I was used
to, overwhelmed by their smooth chrome gadgets and
gliding cars. No, life here was simpler than that; I had
discovered it already. The Cutter Imperial Hotel of Oahu did
not offer, as the Angel Island branch had done, high-tech
virtual reality rooms to their guests at dinnertime, in which
those paying for the most expensive suites could adjust their
walls to make it look like they were being served fois gras in
Paris, or pasta in Rome. Instead, they offered the same
evening entertainment they had done for decades, even
centuries: an evening luau beneath the full moon. My mother
13
KAILIN GOW
had been Event Director for seven hotels in five different
countries – I had long grown cynical when it came to the
luxuries provided by high-end hotels. I had seen her clean up
every VIP's mess; I had peered behind the scenes at every
celebrity-studded affair or the corporate launch party of the
latest microcomputer prototype. I was jaded when it came to
the lavish, the over-the-top. But this was different. This
struck me as none of the other events had struck me – this
simplicity, this beauty. I felt something stirring within me as
my eyes fixed on the flames, transfixed by their heated
splendor. I belonged here, I felt, leaning my face into the
flames. This place was meant for me.
I laughed at my thoughts. How silly, I told myself. I
had only been in Aeros a couple of days; I hadn't even gotten
the lay of the land yet; I hadn't even started school. And
Angel Island, California, had been my home for three years
now – it was there that I had my friends, my old crushes, my
teachers, my local pizza joint. And yet here I was, staring at
the dying-down of the danc
e, feeling more at home than I
had ever been in my life.
What was this place?
14
Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )
A new dance was starting up again. This time the
male dancers sprang forth, their taut muscles rippling in the
firelight, their bare chests exposing their handsome frames
to the world. I felt my cheeks blush as I found, to my
embarrassment, that I could no more easily remove my eyes
from the ten buff men currently leaping and springing forth
before me than I could from the flames.
Luckily, my mother's laugh broke the spell, and I
turned towards her. She looked younger than I knew her to
be – one day in Aeros, I thought to myself, and she's already
settled in. Her rosy cheeks had taken on a russet tint as a
result of that day's sun; her pearly teeth shone as her mouth
spread wide into a smile. I craned my neck to see the source
of my mother's delight.
My eyes widened with surprise. My mother was
talking with her boss – a kind of fraternization that would
certainly have been frowned upon by the far stricter staff of
the Imperial Hotel Angel Island. But Antonio Cutter, with his
long black hair and leisurely tan, didn't look the part of a
stiff-necked employer. His brash good looks and muscular
frame seemed to belong to a man who spent his days surfing
15
KAILIN GOW
and swimming, not cooped up fumbling over numbers in an
office.
“Mackenzy!” My mother summoned me over,
waving her hands in time with the music. “Come here!”
