by Eve Newton
I blink. Something about her words chill me to the bone.
“Why didn’t you come to me with any of this?” Luc roars at her. “You are my Witch. You work for me!”
“My loyalty is with Lucifer,” she chokes out as Luc tightens his hold on her again. “Al-always with Lucifer. My-my husband.”
~ CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ~
Axelle
You could hear a pin drop.
“What?” Luc hisses, letting her go.
“Are you saying you are Luc’s grandmother?” I ask, absolutely floored by this news.
“Indeed,” she says, straightening her robes.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” Luc remarks.
“Don’t I wish,” the old Witch says. “I did die, in childbirth. Your grandfather decided that he couldn’t live without me, so he brought me back. But I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was a Demon Bound and I died doing what I was made to do: bearing a son for my husband.” She pauses to give me a scathing look. “Not even Lucifer himself could take away the damage to my essence that got ripped away by that ungrateful little bastard. I started to age and as I did, my powers of foresight grew.” She looks back at me again and I gulp as her shrewd eyes bore into mine. “You have lived, and you are thriving. You are the perfect match for him.” The bitterness in her voice resonates around the room.
“What?” I roar at her, my heart pounding as I take in what she just said.
“That was his plan, wasn’t it?” Luc says deathly quiet. “You put him in the painting and gave father a chance to rule, to take a Demon Bound and see if she fared better than you. When she didn’t, you bided your time and tried again.”
She just shrugs. “He didn’t want to replace me, but I made him try. He is the true ruler of Hell. He should never have needed to give it up for anyone. He will reclaim his rightful place when I release him from his prison and takes Axelle as his bride. He will raise your daughter in his image, but she will never rule. He will breed a son with your wife…”
“ENOUGH!” Luc thunders. “I’ve heard enough of this bullshit. No one will ever get their hands on that painting, nor my throne. You are fucking deluded if you think that I will sit by and watch this happen. You did all of this for nothing, grandmother.”
“So, let me get this clear,” I interject to Luc’s rage. He is killing the old crone and he can, in a minute. I need to wrap my head around this. I’ve gotten lost in this information dump and I want to wrap it up so that I can stop neglecting my newborn babies with this crap.
“You put your husband into a painting, faking his death so that Gravla could rule, become the Devil and secure himself a Demon Bound to breed with.” I grimace at this turn of phrase that describes myself. “When she died giving birth to Luc, you waited a couple of thousand more years until he found his own Demon Bound, me, and now that I’m here, alive and well, you want to hand me over to him? Not to mention, you managed to foresee that I would fall in love with an Angel and have his son, no, sons, so that you could…what? Raise an army of Dark Angels to storm the gates of Heaven?”
The Dark Oracle gives me an interested look. “Clever little bitch, aren’t you? Lucifer will enjoy your intelligence and wit, along with your body.”
“You are sick!” I shriek at her.
“I love my husband,” she spits back. “I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure he gets what is best for him.”
The penny drops then. “Oh, it’s all you, isn’t it? Oh, he will be flaming mad if he ever gets out of that painting!”
“He isn’t getting out!” Luc yells at me.
“You’ve gone a bit batshit crazy,” I continue to the Witch.
“Perhaps,” she says with a shrug. “Perhaps being this creature has ruined my mind, but my plan is sound. Lucifer will reign again!” she ends on a shriek.
We all stare wide-eyed at her as she goes up in flames, burning from the inside out, until there is nothing left but ash on the floor, that is scattered by the cool breeze that follows.
I stare down at the baby in my arms. She has gone hot; her wings of flame have disintegrated the blanket that was wrapped around her. My hands are blistered from the heat that she sent towards the Dark Oracle that killed her.
Dumbfounded, I look at Dashel. Our son is flapping his tiny black wings, creating the cool after the heat that his sister caused.
“Oh, unholy Hell,” I mutter. “I need to sit down.”
I drop to the bed, holding Annabelle close again now that her wings have disappeared.
“What just happened?” I ask weakly as she starts to wail.
“I—I…” Luc starts, but then sighs. “That old Witch was insane. I cannot believe that all of this time she was plotting this, waiting and waiting for you to come along.”
“Please don’t ever let anyone release Lucifer from that prison. I don’t think I can cope with that,” I beg my husband.
He turns to a thunderstruck Evan and takes the box with his father stuffed inside from him. “You do not ever need to worry about that, my love. We are rid of all threats to our family now. Our children will grow up safe in the knowledge that their legacy is secure.”
I look at Dashel and he nods in agreement. “I will do anything and everything to make sure the twins are safe,” he says. “Whatever it takes.”
“Same,” Evan says, “but I don’t know what I can contribute.”
“Just be here for us,” I say with a loving smile at him.
“That I can do,” he says and returns the smile and sits next to me.
I lean my head on his shoulder. “Are you…okay…with this?” I ask.
He kisses my forehead. “Of course,” he says. “I never wanted children and that hasn’t changed, my love. Maybe in time we can try, but for now, I’m happy with you and our relationship. Are you okay with that?”
“All I want is for you to be happy. All you have to do is tell me how and I will make sure that I please you.”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” he murmurs to me.
I nod with a happy smile that then clouds over slightly. “Do you think Annabelle knew what she was doing?” I ask Luc tentatively.
“Absolutely!” he exclaims with a beam of pride. “I cannot wait to see her grow into her powers. She is going to be amazing.”
I gaze down at her and then at Shax as Dashel arranges him in my arms before he sits on my other side. “My beautiful children,” I sob with sheer happiness. “So few months ago, I had nothing and now…” I look up at my three men. So very different in personality, so utterly good-looking and sexy in different ways, so much in love with me as I am with them. “Now, I have everything, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Luc crouches in front me, holding out the box from before that I never got to open.
“What’s this?” I ask with a knowing smile.
Luc grins at me and opens it.
I gasp in surprise as I was expecting a huge diamond ring, but this one is even better. I know exactly what it is. I chuckle with delight as he takes it out of the box and places the ring on my left ring finger. I watch the diamond flicker with blue and orange and cast a glance at Evan.
“Seriously?” he asks with a laugh. “That’s mine?”
“I kept it, thinking I might need it in the future. Seems that I’ve just made my wife very happy with it,” Luc snickers. “But there’s more…” He pulls out an orb that looks similar to the one that I wear around my neck with Dashel’s soul in it. This is loose and he rolls it around his palm. He gives Evan a sidelong glance before he clears his throat. “Jezebelle’s,” he states.
Evan snorts and shakes his head.
“What do you want to do with it?” Luc asks me.
I look at Evan. “Do you want it?”
He snatches it up off Luc’s palm and peers at it. “Where is she, anyway?”
“I banished her. She is a trouble-maker and I will not have my wife concerned about her,” Luc answers.
Evan raises an
eyebrow. “Fair enough,” he says, “but I’ll keep hold of this, if you don’t mind.”
I shrug. “As long as you don’t plan on giving it to her…” I chew my lip.
He rolls his eyes at me. “I know what a bitch she can be. I loved her once but I only care about your happiness now, Axelle. She stays gone, simple as.”
I nod, satisfied with his answer. “Keep that to honor the memory that you have of her. I won’t ever ask you to destroy it.”
He nods and then looks down at Luc as he places one hand on his knee, the other on Dashel’s. “This is our family, something that I have never had nor wanted. Now, I can’t see my life without any of you. I couldn’t be happier either.” He leans over to kiss me softly, as Evan and Dashel nestle in even closer to me.
“To us,” I say with a laugh that they return, and I know that there won’t be anything we can’t face as long as we are together.
~ EPILOGUE ~
Twenty Years Later
Annabelle
I fluff out my vivid red hair, adjust my huge tits in my black leather bustier. I lean in closer to the mirror and pucker up as I apply a coat of red lip gloss to my full lips. I wink at myself, my green eyes alight with admiration. I know I’m gorgeous. I don’t even have to adjust anything about myself.
“Happy birthday, Sis,” Shax says, lounging in my doorway, tapping his fingers on his thigh. He is dressed head to toe in black which makes his blond hair look even lighter.
“Baaaby,” I cry at him and fling my arms around him. “One year today, I will rule Hell! Fucking can’t come soon enough.”
He grunts at me. He hates it when I call him ‘Baby’. He was born before me, or should I say, my dad pulled him out of our mother before me. It was positioning, nothing more, but he prefers to think he’s my older brother. My precious twin. I would die without him and I know he feels the same. We are inseparable.
He loops his arm through mine. “You will kick ass,” he says, telling me what I want to hear, when I want to hear it as he always does. He props up my ego and I adore him for it. Not that I require validation, I know I will kick ass, but it’s nice to hear as well.
I bend down and pick up my nail studded bat that is leaning against the wall by the door. “Time for the Daily Dealings. You in?”
“Not today,” he mutters. “Watching you deal with the disobedient Demons in this place, while a delight, isn’t on my birthday wish list.”
“Oh?” I inquire, now full of curiosity. “Who is the lucky female?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” he drawls.
“Yes, that’s why I’m asking,” I reply with a tut.
“Go and do your thing, Belle, I’ll catch up with you later.” He leans forward to give me a kiss on my cheek.
I pout at him but let him go.
“Ready?” Dad asks me, flaming in beside me with a broad grin. He indulges my evil side and I shiver.
“Always,” I say. “Do we have some really bad Demons on the docket today?”
“As it is your birthday, I ensured that there were,” he says with a laugh, but then he goes serious. “You are carving out your destiny, Annabelle. I couldn’t be prouder of you. We have one year left to make sure that when you take my power, you are ready.”
I frown at him, the thrill I had dissipating quickly. “What do you mean ‘take’?” I ask him carefully. He has never mentioned ‘take’ before. I assumed he would hand it over and I’d be Queen of the Damned.
He sighs and takes my hand. “I can’t give it to you. It’s something you have to take. You have to be prepared to do whatever you need to do to take it.”
“What?” I snap at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.” What he is suggesting is out of the question. “I am not fighting you for it.”
“You’ll have no choice,” he says.
“We will find another way,” Mom says, slipping in next to Dad and fixing him with that glare that makes even the most powerful Demons quake in their boots. “I told you, I will find another way.”
He bends down to kiss her. “And just in case you don’t, Annabelle needs to know what is required of her to rule,” he says.
I look between the two of them, my anger flaring up. “Way to ruin my fucking birthday. Thanks a lot,” I snarl and storm off, pissed off and scared at what my father wants me to do. I cannot leave it to my mother alone to find another way for me to get that power. I’m going to have to help her because one thing is damn sure, in a year’s time, I’m becoming Queen. I just don’t want to have to kill my father to do it.
The End
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EXCERPT FROM:
THE DRAGON HEIRESS
The Dragon Realms, Book 1: A Reverse Harem Fantasy
(Delinda: The Daughters of Forever
The Forever Series, Book 18)
By Eve Newton
Copyright © Eve Newton, 2019
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
~DELINDA~
I stare at the ceiling, feeling restless. It’s late, so the Fortress has quietened down. I’m glad. I love being in the Dragon Realms. I love being the Heir to the Empire, but this place bustles from early morning to late at night with servants, guards, Guardians, guests, and residents. Sometimes, it gives me a headache. Not that I am not social. I usually adore the gatherings and activity. It was so very different when I lived here with my tyrannical grandmother, Tiamat. She kept to herself. Unsurprisingly. No one dared to be that close to Her. But then Uncle Dracul staged a massive coup and killed his own mother to end Her reign of tyranny and became Emperor. He named me as his True Heir, twenty-two years ago, shortly after my birth. It was believed that this was my destiny because my mother is Queen of the Dragon Realms and my father is her Dragon’s Chosen One. Turns out that isn’t exactly how it happened, but we don’t talk about it. That will change, though, if it kills me.
Anyway, my uncle seems to prefer the company. Which is good. If I had to rattle around in this place all by myself, I would want to go back to Earth.
I rub my knuckles along the bridge of my nose and sit up. I flick my long, blonde hair over my shoulder and scoot to the edge of the bed. It is late, and quiet, enough for me to risk visiting with To’Kah. I shouldn’t, but I just can’t keep away from him. He is gorgeous and sexy and so sweet. The only dark spot is that he used to be my mother’s Guardian before she found my papa, and no longer needed him to balance her Power. He got handed off to me as the best of the bunch for the Heiress. He was in awe of her and did things he regrets deeply now. You see, my mother is a bit of an anomaly around here. She was born, as a human, from an illicit affair between my grandmother and Drake, King of the Dark Fae. She was turned into a Vampire at sixteen, back in the year 1012. It was only about twenty-four years ago that she came into her Dragon Powers, when an eons old prophecy kicked in. So, being Queen, a royal female that hadn’t come along in a very long time, she was highly sought after. But then, that has always been the case with her, it seems.
I wish sometimes that To’Kah wasn’t my Guardian, then Uncle D might consider him as a suitor for me.
I roll my eyes. Arrange
d marriage. Ugh. What is this? The medieval times?
My sister, well half-sister, had one last year and it worked out for her. Which was lucky. Really, that could have gone either way. Our mother and Arathia’s father, CK, made a huge decision to hand her off, but she is happy now and has a child. I hope that things will work out the same for me.
There has been talk of a Chosen One, a Dragon male that is destined to be mine, just like Mother has with my father. I hope that is the case, or how will I just shack up with some strange Dragon and have to live with it? I will do it, of course, because it is expected of me and I intend to show all of these Dragons that I am the true ruler of this Empire.
Someday.
I don’t think I want that yet.
I am happy being Dracul’s Heir, for now. First born to the Dragon Queen, so powerful, and the only one of her children that has the full Power of the Dragon. But I’m not ready to rule an Empire, and I get to do what I want. Well I used to. I am currently on lockdown after I may, or may not, have Shifted to my Dragon form on Earth and laid waste to my sister’s castle lands in Scotland when we were attacked by an elite Hunter task force. I grimace as I remember the event. I couldn’t control the rage inside me that they had dared to breach the property and attempted to kidnap, not my brand-new niece as we’d thought at the time, but my baby brother instead. Assholes! Dracul was not impressed with my display and so I cannot leave the Dragon Realms until he decides I am no longer a liability.
Doesn’t exactly keep my high sex-drive fulfilled. Much to the ignorance of my uncle, I have a few Earth-bound lovers that I used to visit regularly. It has been weeks since I was allowed on Earth, except for a very bizarre hour-long visit with my father a couple of days ago. I don’t know the purpose of the visit, but it didn’t seem to be for any reason, I can fathom. But under the watchful eye of my papa, I was hardly able to engage in any sexual activity.
So, that leaves To’Kah.
