Her father raised a brow. “My daughter, we have all tried to restore her mind.”
“And yet none of you are the Goddess of Hope.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “She gave up everything, father. Everything. I may have set this rebellion in motion, but she restored all of you to power. Surely I can try?”
He nodded and made the slightest gesture.
Two angels hurried from the throne room.
Mark looked from one Immortal to another. He realized he’d been in shock. Nothing Sharen had said had made sense, but now he realized, and the knowledge was like a hand plunging into his heart. Surcy... she didn’t remember them. Again?
How could it be possible? Were the Fates simply cruel children playing their heartless games?
The doors opened once more and one of the angels came in carrying Surcy in his arms.
Tristan sprung forward and snatched her from the other angel. His eyes were wide, fixed onto her face.
The other angel returned a moment later, leading Daniel. Daniel looked confused. How long ago had the Immortals brought him back?
Daniel and Mark hugged, a hard hug that said what their words couldn’t.
They all three stood together, looking down at Surcy’s face. It wasn’t like before, when she had been confused and didn't recognize them. . It was... blank.
She stared off, as if seeing nothing.
“Surcy,” Tristan whispered, the word torn and filled with tears. “Surcy!”
“She can’t hear you,” The God of Summer said. “She can’t hear anything anymore. She is just a shell. The essence of Surcy—whatever made her at her core—is gone."
“Bring her to me,” Sharen, The Goddess of Hope, ordered.
They moved up to the dais with even steps. If Sharen couldn’t fix her, no one could. That knowledge made him feel as if the world was crashing down on him.
Tristan laid Surcy at Sharen’s feet and the goddess knelt down, touching her gently.
Mark spoke before she could act. “If you can’t restore her mind, I want your word that you’ll destroy mine.”
“And mine,” Tristan and Daniel repeated without hesitation.
Sharen’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “You can’t mean that.”
“Promise us,” Tristan said. “Give us the word of an Immortal.”
Sharen looked up at her father. After a moment, he nodded, but his expression was reluctant.
She took a deep breath, and reached out to touch Surcy’s head. Her eyes closed, and minutes of silence ticked by. Her expression changed, from faraway to frustrated.
Come on. You can do this. Save her life. Bring her back to us.
At last, Sharen’s eyes opened. “Something’s wrong.”
Her father spoke. “I told you. It isn’t possible.”
“It’s not that,” she said, and then her gaze met theirs. “I can’t bring back someone I didn’t know that well. But you all can. Touch my hand.”
They obeyed without question, placing their hands upon hers. One second they were in the throne room, the next they were gone, pulled through their lives with Surcy.
He remembered when they saw her on that farm, many years before, the most beautiful angel in existence. One who let them live for reasons none of them would ever understand.
Their memories ran through every laugh, every tear, every small moment that meant more than the big ones, every piece of themselves that contained Surcy.
Someone drew in a deep, shaky breath, but they kept being pulled through time, pulled through everything, until they reached the end. Until they reached that very moment when they touched Surcy, their hearts in their hands, ready to die for her.
Mark opened his eyes. Surcy was breathing hard, her eyes closed. Her entire body shaking.
His gaze met Tristan’s and Daniel’s. Did it work?
Sharen suddenly collapsed. Her demons—no, her angels—surrounded her, pulling the little woman into their arms. Sharen wasn’t looking at them. Her eyes were on Surcy.
“Come on,” she said. “Come back.”
“Surcy?” Mark said, taking her hand. “We love you. Are you in there somewhere?”
Very slowly, her eyes opened, and they were staring at two pools of the deepest blue. “Mark?”
It was like an explosion in the room. Tears filled his vision, and he pulled her into his lap. They gathered around her, kissing every inch of her. Glorying in the look of recognition on her face.
And then, she laughed.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“You all make the strangest looking angels.”
And then, they were all laughing.
She touched each of their faces. “And I remember. Not just this, but before, before Caine took my memories.”
What must this be like for her?
It was something they’d have to deal with, not now, but soon. But they would be there for her, and they would be there for each other.
The God of Summer came to stand closer to them. “My daughter truly is the Goddess of Hope, and she’s given it back to you. Now I must know, can you serve my daughter as she helps to fix these shattered realms? Can you follow her of your own freewill?”
“Freewill?” Surcy asked, confused.
“You won’t have to obey anyone, angel.”
Surcy nodded. “I can do that.”
“And so can we,” Mark said, without hesitation.
The Immortal smiled. And then, a flash of light came over them.
This time, it wasn’t the end. Just the beginning of something more.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Surcy smiled as she stared from her bedroom window. Plants, trees, and flowers spread out in all directions, growing from the ash. It would not be the druid’s sanctuary for Immortals anymore. Instead, it was the place they would train angels and demons who had been placed in the wrong realms by Caine.
They weren’t able to help every demon and angel. Some of them couldn't be pulled from the realms, for reasons the Immortals had not yet determined. They believed it had something to do with the Fates, but none of them were sure.
And yet, they were able to help most of the people and to begin setting things right. It was everything Surcy had dreamed of and more.
Because she wasn’t just an angel bent to the will of new masters. She was working with Sharen, by her own choice.
With her demons... well, her angels, she corrected herself with a grin..
And life, it was actually pretty damn good.
The door of her room opened. Mark, Daniel, and Tristan came in, their dark wings folded upon their backs. Her own wings shivered. She was still getting used to having them back, a gift from the Immortals themselves. There was something strange about not only having them, but seeing her demons with them too.
Daniel grinned. “Sitting in here staring at your wings again?”
She laughed. “I am not!”
“Then, you’re waiting for us,” Daniel’s smile widened and he looked to the bed.
Despite herself, a tremor moved through her body.
“Oh, that’s exactly what she was waiting for,” Tristan said, his voice deepened by arousal.
Too proud to admit it, she turned casually and sat on the edge of their big bed. “I was just going to take a nap.”
“A nap?” Mark asked, too innocently.
She began to undress, removing her clothes in moments. “A naked nap.”
“A naked nap?” Daniel sounded horrified. “Without us?”
She stretched and crawled into the bed, tucking herself under the covers. “I’m pretty tired. Long morning and all.”
“Fuck this,” Daniel said, and then he was tearing off his clothes.
Surcy had to hold back a laugh as he came sliding into the bed.
She wanted to tease him, to torture him, but the second his lips found hers, all thoughts of waiting died. His kiss was so hot, deep and desperate, and everything she loved about him. When his tongue swept inside, she was lost, los
t to his touch.
She was lost until she felt his big hand sliding down the valley of her breasts, down her belly, and then to the junction between her thighs. When he began to stroke her slowly, she gasped against his mouth. Her thoughts spun, and she arched against his touch.
The big bed shifted as Tristan knelt, naked, at the edge. She moaned again with her eyes closed, and Daniel kissed her again. She felt Tristan lift the blanket, and thought nothing of it until his mouth pressed inside her wet folds.
One man stroked her, one man sucked her, and the sensation was incredible. Life-altering.
She moved against them, growing closer to her orgasm with each second.
When Tristan plunged his big fingers into her body, she broke their kiss and began to swear. Mark sat naked on her other side, he caught her lips and his kiss was different... gentler, slower, like an intricate dance. His hands found her breasts, and her nerves screamed as he brushed her nipples with his thumbs.
“Fuck this,” Daniel groaned.
And then, he moved her. Tristan lifted his head from between her legs, and everyone moved back as Daniel came behind her. Immediately she knew what he was doing. She gripped his thighs as he lowered her ass onto his hard shaft.
She was tight, struggling to stretch around him. Then Tristan’s head was back between her legs and the tension eased. The discomfort passed as they gave her everything she needed.
When Daniel reached his hilt, they were both breathing hard. He laid back, gripping her thighs and spreading her wider. Tristan gave her one last hard lick, and then, he moved higher. When he positioned his tip at her entrance, she felt overwhelmed. Could she handle feeling this good?
He plunged in hard and fast, and she cried out, her nails cutting into his shoulders. And then the two men were inside her, moving as one, awakening a higher level of pleasure that she chased like a drug.
“Mark,” she moaned.
He moved closer, and she dropped one hand from Tristan’s shoulder and began to stroke him in slow, even strokes. Her druid groaned, and then they were all working in a rhythm, nerves firing, bodies slapping together. Sweat ran down her back, and Daniel parted her ass wider from behind, his thrusts into her harder with each second.
She felt a ripple over her skin, felt her orgasm building.
“Mark,” she moaned again.
He rose up on the bed and plunged his cock into her mouth. She took him deep into her mouth, the salty, sweet taste of him an addiction. Her arousal grew as she felt him hard and swelling. When he grabbed her hair into his fist and began to thrust harder and she melted at the sensation of him dominating her mouth.
She loved having all three cocks inside her.
Her orgasm came like a wave of pleasure, an explosion of her body reaching the ultimate level of pleasure. The men followed, filling her with hot cum... the evidence of their own pleasure.
She held them close, shaking and crying out around the cock in her mouth as she came. It lasted too long, wonderfully long, until she came back into her body and felt them around her.
Mark laid at her side. They stroked her flesh, and she snuggled between them.
It felt like she was... home. It felt... right in every way.
Which was exactly the instant someone knocked at her door. “Surcy,” a deep voice called. “You’re needed outside.”
“While you do that, we’re going to take a little nap,” Daniel muttered.
She pulled out from between them and whirled on him. “I was going to take a nap.”
“Well, there’s no sleep for the head angel,” Daniel said, smirking.
She punched him playfully in the shoulder. “You’re going to pay for that.”
His handsome lips curled into a smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
A white-winged angel with hands bound knelt outside their new home. Ranks of angels stood behind her, and one angel stood at her side, using his magic to keep her from teleporting.
When she looked closer, Surcy recognized the bound angel. She was the blonde who had helped distract Frink when she saved the kids.
“We caught this traitor,” the angel at her side said, his voice filled with anger. “The Immortals will wish her instantly thrown into the demon realm.”
Sharen met Surcy’s gaze, and she slid closer.
“This is the same woman who helped me when I rescued my demons,” Sharen whispered in a soft tone.
“She helped me save the Immortal’s kids.”
Sharen sighed. “She was also the bitch who told them I was heading to save my demons in the first place.”
“So what do we do?”
Sharen didn’t speak for a long time. “The second she’s turned over to my father, her life will become hell. I’m not sure she deserves that, but she doesn't deserve to remain an angel.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Surcy said, with a humorless laugh.
“Take her to the dungeons. Untie her hands. Tell her that soon she’ll have a chance to escape, and to take it. If by the time she’s caught again, if she hasn’t found a way to redeem herself, then we’ll have no choice but to condemn her to the demon realm.”
Fair enough.
Going to the angel, Surcy grabbed her arm and started toward the little dungeons they’d had built.
“So what’s my future?” The woman asked, tension in her voice.
“That’s entirely up to you.” Surcy cut the ropes from her wrists and shoved her into the prison. The angels there kept a ward up that prevented anyone from teleporting out. “When you have the chance, better get going, and find a way to make up from the wrongs of your past.”
The prison doors shut on her confused face.
Surcy turned and started back toward their home. Angels practiced in the field, some of them from the demon realm, some of them new. But it didn’t really matter.
All that mattered is that a new era had been born where the right people had been placed in each realm. Innocents were no longer being tortured, and cruel people were no longer in positions of power.
Now, when the angels fought to keep humans safe from demons, they were doing what was right. The balance had been restored. Even though there would be more battles in the future, the war had been won.
Yes, the thought of the archangel in the realm of the Soul Destroyer sometimes kept her up at night, and she worried that there were still powerful angels and demons who had remained in the wrong realm. For now, this was enough.
Entering the massive house, she moved through the halls and up the stairs. When she opened her door, her three angels were in a mass of snoring, naked flesh. She smiled.
This was her own kind of heaven. The perfect one.
The End of Book Three. Read on For Lily’s Story AND The Tale of How Surcy Met Her Demons.
Rogue Demon
Mates of the Realms: Half-Breeds
Short Story
Chapter One
During the war between angels and demons, half-breeds fought their own war... this is their story, told through the eyes of Lily, a half-breed herself.
LILY COULD SENSE HIM in the darkness. But where? Her gaze ran over the restaurant, lingering in the shadows and sliding past the spider webs and dust. The abandoned building was creepy as hell, but not more so than half the places she spent her time hunting in. Normally, she’d feel right at home.
But not with this creature refusing to show himself.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she whispered into the darkness, trying, and failing, not to sound sarcastic.
But still, nothing stirred.
Sweat trickled down her back, and every muscle in her body was tense, ready for anything. Because for the first time in longer than she could remember, she had no idea what she was up against. I’ve never seen a creature that leaves behind a trail of dead animals—their essences sucked dry. Their eyes black and soulless.
Which meant, she hadn’t yet decided if this was a
creature she needed to destroy or save. Her bleeding heart hoped for the latter.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” she said, in a sing-song voice she hoped was convincing.
I just can’t let him get a jump on me before I can figure it out what the hell I’m dealing with. But by now, she hoped she was better at her job than that...
So when the sound of gunfire broke the silence, and one blazing hot bullet after another slammed into her chest, she knew she’d fucked up. The burning metal lodged itself uncomfortably inside of her, and the smell of burnt flesh and coppery blood filled her nostrils.
Do not pass out! She commanded herself, even as the world tilted, and she hit the ground.
Her head lolled to one side, and she stared into the corner. Sensing her friend watching her with bated breath. But I won’t give the signal. Not yet.
Warm blood seeped from her wounds, creating a crimson pool beneath her. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to take deep breaths. Pain was just pain. If she didn’t focus on it, she could fight through it.
And be ready to face whatever’s gonna happen next.
A couple long seconds ticked by before a shadow separated itself from the wall of the empty restaurant.
She narrowed her eyes and forced herself to focus as the shadow became something more tangible. An angel. Or at least it had been an angel. Now, something was wrong with him. His skin was green and peeling. His wings nothing more than painful looking stubs of white upon his back. And his face, it held a lifetime of pain. An aged sorrow that took away the immortal beauty of most of his brethren and left behind something sickly.
A disgraced angel has nothing but scars. What’s a battered angel with stubs?
And why didn’t he call his soul-blade to him? Angels and demons could call their swords to them whenever needed. She’d never known an angel to use a gun. In fact, they detested the damned things.
“What are you doing here?” he hissed, interrupting her thoughts.
She pressed her hands to her bullet wounds, even though she could already feel them healing. The things still hurt like a bitch. “Looking for someone.”
Mates of the Realms: The Complete Collection: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Box Set Page 66
