Fallen Angel: A Post-Apocalyptic Paranormal Romance (The Wickedest Witch Book 3)

by Meg Xuemei X

  Why?

  I couldn’t have imagined the whole thing. The Furies had recounted my words when I’d stepped through the portal into Akem’s jungle. “I have to do this, so he won’t find me. I won’t endanger the kingdom.”

  When Senator Wellstone came to visit again in the afternoon, I invited him for a tea in my study that blended into an inner garden where a wealth of peonies bloomed.

  My darkness formed walls around us to prevent anyone from hearing our conversation.

  Senator Wellstone stared at my darkness in amazement. “You show only me your magic. Why is that, Your Highness?”

  “Because it won’t attack you,” I said. “It thinks you’re less dangerous than the others.”

  “Oh,” he said, not pursuing further.

  “How many people know the true reason I ran off the realm, Senator Wellstone?”

  “Only your royal house and my great grandparents—Senator Earnest Wellstone and his wife—knew about it. My house was secretly designated as your guardian, should you return.”

  Not even the Nightshades house.

  “Lady Cortnie Nightshades was Senator Earnest Wellstone’s wife and my great grandmother,” he added.

  My breath caught. Cortnie was Kaara’s sister. Eugene Wellstone, the senator who sat across from me, was her family.

  Eugene smiled. “I saw my great aunt standing behind you on the view screen. I didn’t reveal myself to her for a good reason. It’s better no one knows about our connection. I’ve meant to ask you why she didn’t come home with you. She’s your captain.”

  “She married a wolf,” I said, tears twirling in my eyes just thinking of her. “She’s the Wolf Queen now.”

  “What?” Eugene’s smile froze. “For real? A wolf, like with fur and all?”

  “He has shining gray fur, very healthy and thick,” I said. “King Marrok is a shifter.”

  Eugene looked like he needed some strong drink, even though it was early on a sunny afternoon.

  “I let you in one of my memories,” I said coolly, my tears gone. “You met vampires, cannibals, and mutant dragons in the scene. Wolf shifters are actually the most normal among them.”

  “Great Aunt Kaara was the wildest one in the family,” he said. “But she might have gone too far. I’m worried about her future offspring.”

  “They’ll be fine, a little fluffy maybe,” I said. “But you’ll have powerful allies and relatives on another planet.”

  He sighed.

  “What do you know about my hunter, Eugene? Who was hunting me?”

  “The Angels, the most brutal and advanced species,” he whispered. “They’ve conquered two-thirds of the universe. We do not say their names, in case the whispers reach them and bring them to the empire. Your parents erased any record of them after you left.”

  “Then how do you know the Angels were hunting me?”

  “We heard tales about the formidable race from other colonies, then one day the First Seer of the Death Valley visited. Even my great grandparents didn’t leave any more details about that, prohibited by the Seer.”

  “What did the Angels want from me?” I murmured to myself.

  “We don’t know. But the crown had to ship you off, so the Angels wouldn’t come looking for you. If they came, they’d enslave the realm. That’s all I know.”

  I swallowed. “Did you realize I came back with a powerful Angel?”

  Eugene must have seen Gabriel’s magnificent, massive wings, and I’d used to lie naked atop them. Longing and pain filled my head, but I blinked back to reality.

  I was here alone without him.

  Eugene nodded grimly. “The Seer provided us with a temporary StarGate for the passage. We got to you as fast as we could before the Angels’ ship could trace us. The Seer also promised the Angels we encountered didn’t know who you are. We took the risk.”

  He was fulfilling his house’s pledge to the crown.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He nodded.

  I tried to string the pieces together.

  If the Angels had been hunting me, Gabriel would have known. He was an Archangel. He would never allow anyone to lay their hands on me.

  When he’d met me, he’d known nothing about me and my race.

  But then, he and his High Prince had been at war with the Reaper Angels, and he’d been hunting their leader—the Dark Lord.

  Could it be that the Reaper Angels had been hunting me?

  It seemed that only the First Seer could answer all the questions, since she appeared to be the focus point. She’d also predicted Gabriel’s fall onto Pandemonium.

  Where could I find the First Seer of the Death Valley Galaxy?

  “Do you know anything about the Angel race and their civil war?” I asked.

  Eugene shook his head. “All I know is that we do not talk about the superior race, we do not whisper their name, and we do not want them to come here. Now that you’re back, we won’t let anyone outside our circle know about you and your magic. You did right refusing to show your magic at the hearings.”

  I could still attract the Angel invaders to the realm.

  The senators had never intended for me to take the crown. Eugene appeared to be my friend and a guardian, but he was also one of them. And by revealing himself as the great nephew of Kaara Nightshades, he knew I would never harm him.

  That was why they’d sent him to me in the first place.

  Lucky for them, I hadn’t set my eyes on the throne.

  I withdrew the darkness to my feet. The study instantly brightened, and the bitter-sweet scent of the blossoms from the garden wafted toward us.

  “How’s the tea, Senator Wellstone?” I asked.

  29

  The Witch

  The sunlight and sprinkles of rain fell on my face, and I gazed at the rainbow arching over the Royal Palace. That was the empire I once remembered. The only difference was, during my era, there was no silver dome concealing the Palace, and no skyscrapers in the realm ever dwarfed it.

  I followed the flow of the tourists toward the Royal Palace—part of which was now open to the public as the royal museum. My shaded sunglasses covered half of my face, and the brim of my hat draped down to my eyebrows. This generation wore slick, unisex pants, and I got myself a pair as well.

  I was just like any face in the crowd. Three of my guards trailed behind me, blending into the crowd. I couldn’t get rid of them anyway. I didn’t even bother to try. For a moment, I thought of Kaara. If she’d returned with me, I wouldn’t feel so alone, but I was glad that she didn’t come home only to realize that this was no longer our world. I was thankful that she had a new life with her mate Marrok. She would never be alone.

  Mate. Gabriel had once declared me as his fated mate.

  I shook my head and entered the outdoor express elevator when it was my turn. It would take us to the top floor, where my family used to have grand masquerade balls. Three centuries later, the public was still obsessed with the royals’ private lives, especially when they thought the last royal bloodline was gone.

  The public hadn’t known that I’d returned.

  To them, I was history.

  My darkness twirled and shielded me yet remained invisible.

  Through the glass of the ascending elevator, I watched Lithuaria Empire unfurl beneath me.

  The sky was so blue, and the pure sea stretched away at the far end of the capital. The whole city seemed to be floating above the ocean, and the flying cars all around were like small ships, sailing in the air at high speed.

  I could literarily ride the storm and walk on water with the aid of my magic, yet it would impress no one of this age. My magic had also become a relic. The realm had done better without me and my magic.

  The elevator paused, reaching its destination. I stepped out, as did the plainclothes guards. They didn’t make eye contact with me. I knew they all felt sorry for me.

  I strolled to where I’d stood before leaving the realm, the sight now blo
cked by the wall of the dome. On this spot, the queen had told me how our people had feared me. And when I returned, this was no longer my home.

  “Mommy, look! The lost princess!” A girl’s voice startled me.

  My heart pounded, and I snapped my head toward the voice.

  Her little finger wasn’t pointing at me but at a statuette that bore my resemblance.

  They’d made a statuette for me. No wonder when Captain Ravenna had first met me, she’d murmured, “You look just like her.”

  My statuette stood at the north corner. She wore a tiara that seemed made of fire, which symbolized my magic. Her hands were spread as if she wanted to fly out of the dome.

  I’d flown with the Angel.

  And I had lost him.

  I should never have come back.

  I’d believed that I returned to rule, but this was no longer my time or my place.

  I could still change my course. I could take Queen Faya and chase ThunderSong wherever it went. I sighed. I might just as well chase the wind. Or I could head toward the planet of Earth and find the High Prince of All Angels in his Fey mate’s Twilight Realm and wait for Gabriel there. But what if he no longer wanted me?

  The Archangel hadn’t exactly asked me to stay with him when we’d crossed the portal.

  Or I could join Kaara and aide her mate’s war. No, they would feel sorry for me. I had no place in their future, either, except winding up being their kids’ nanny.

  The tourists rushed by me while I stood still, like my statue.

  As a wave of nostalgia and grief slammed into me, I no longer wanted to linger in the Royal Palace. I followed the departing crowd into the descending elevator.

  Lithuaria Empire lounged beneath me, flying cars whooshed by me, and strangers not of my era surrounded me.

  I suddenly understood why the realm still feared me.

  It was tempting to turn the clock back with one magic wave of my TimeFire and bring back the world I belonged to.

  I wasn’t the lost princess, who had now returned. I was a nameless shadow that fell through the crack of time-space.

  I walked out of my former home and went a different way to the crowd.

  PART IV

  30

  The Angel

  I found Fiammetta sitting on the bench near the fountains outside a grand theater. She was supposed to watch the opera inside, but she was all alone here. Not totally alone. Three of her disguised royal guards loitered nearby, watching her warily. She ignored their existence, just as she’d disregarded everyone on Pandemonium.

  But somehow, she’d changed. She still wore her icy mask, but the fire beneath it was vacant. There was no purpose in her gray eyes, but carelessness and inhuman coldness.

  My heart iced over.

  I’d arrived at her planet last night and tracked her down today.

  As soon as I’d fulfilled my obligation to the Furies, I’d flown here non-stop. ThunderSong had made several quantum jumps to reach Icearth galaxy. My ship now hovered above the Planet of Nesnurn. Several of my battleships were patrolling above Lithuaria kingdom, also cloaked.

  I’d followed the instructions from the magical band and found a Dragon King, to whom Daisy wanted me to deliver her message. To my delight, the gold band had instantly fallen off my wrist and gone to him. The elder King had cursed, but he was no match for an Archangel even if he’d been in his prime.

  The heirless king then had issued a creed—whoever could either win the hearts of the three Fury beasts, or bring their heads to the king would inherit his kingdom. Before I had left, a group of warriors—three gullible, hot-shot Dragon princes from the neighbor kingdom included—had set off toward Pandemonium.

  Daisy was going to be busy, and I doubted any of the renowned or nameless warriors would pick winning her beastly heart over beheading her. Good luck waiting for her true loves. But I wasn’t worried for her. The half-Fey, half-Dragon was a big tough girl.

  What I worried about was my mate. She was not as safe as she thought she was in her own realm. My crew had collected enough intel about her empire. The Lithuarian commoners hadn’t known that their lost princess had returned, and the new regime was terrified of her magic.

  It’d been three months now and she hadn’t made a move to reclaim her throne.

  I approached her, and she instantly tensed and straightened her back. She stared in my direction, yet looked through me, just as she’d once looked at me—a total stranger.

  Had she already forgotten about me? Had her amnesia returned?

  We could start over. I could make her remember me again.

  If she couldn’t commit, I would just wait.

  Then I realized that she couldn’t see me while I wore a cloaking device—courtesy of High Prince Seth. I did not intend to reveal myself now, since no Angels had come to this galaxy before.

  Fiammetta sniffed, as if a smell was bothering her, then she sighed. “I’m losing my mind.”

  I wanted to tell her she wasn’t. I wanted to pull her into my arms. Her scent of faint flame and night blossom was driving me out of my mind. I held back. I might endanger her before I could learn more about her realm. And I wanted to quietly observe her and know about her. If I could understand her more, then I could gain her heart.

  But by midnight I could no longer resist her pull.

  I visited her.

  31

  The Witch

  It had been three months now, and my heart still ached for Gabriel. He’d completely forgotten me, but time hadn’t helped me get over him.

  I missed him every day with my every breath, and when I slept, I dreamed of him.

  Earlier tonight, I’d thought he’d come to me when I’d sat on the bench near the fountains. I’d felt his body heat, which only he had, and I’d scented him—sandalwood on his skin and sky and wind on his wings.

  Yet I hadn’t heard the wing beats, but my own rushing heartbeat, drowned out by the waterfalls.

  Like tonight, I dreamed about him again.

  To my bliss, it felt so real.

  I could feel his warm, hard chest against my back as he spooned me. His feathers caressed my breasts, then his powerful hand held their heaviness, easing their ache.

  His erection pricked between my thighs and rested heavily there.

  “My witch,” he whispered, his voice lighter than feather, and sweeter than honeysuckle.

  So aroused, I moaned and ground my ass against his groin.

  “If you keep moving like that, I’ll have to fuck you,” he said. “Initially I only want to hold you, feel you, and smell you.”

  That was his language, crude yet more erotic than anything.

  I ground against him harder, to provoke him to put his cock inside me.

  He let out a low groan and hooked my leg on his arm. With my entrance open, he aimed the blunt head of his thick shaft between my folds, just like how I remembered.

  “I think of fucking you every second of the day,” he said.

  His hard cock thrust into my lush wetness and stretched my muscles.

  I gasped at the erotic sensation I missed so much.

  He stilled, giving me a second to adjust his size.

  My tight passage remolded around his cock.

  I slammed my ass toward him, riding along his hard length, faster and faster. I hadn’t had this for too long. I needed it. Blissful pleasure rippled in me. Yet I dared not turn, afraid to see a different face, afraid the illusion would vanish. I also controlled my urge to climb on top of him, stroke his wings, and ride him, for fear any change of position would drive his image away.

  I couldn’t have him in reality, but at least I would enjoy him in my dream.

  He groaned hoarsely between whispering my name. Then he pinned my hips and took control, as he’d always done. He thrust into me powerfully, as if I were everything to him.

  “Skies, I can never get enough of your sweet pussy,” he said.

  Breathlessly, I murmured something in response. Pleasu
re kept building up and I was coming. He felt it and thrust wildly into me. The blunt head of his rod drove into my depths again and again with an Archangel’s strength and speed that none others possessed.

  When the heavenly high wave took me under, I cried out, and the Angel rode through the perk of the waves.

  I woke up in the morning with sunshine on my face and a smile on my lips. I hadn’t felt so good for a long time. My smile dropped the instant I turned.

  I was alone in bed.

  I sniffed. His scent, harsh and tender, male and intoxicating, stayed on my pillow.

  Gabriel was on the other side of the universe, but I missed him so much that I’d made the dream more real than anything. I was indeed losing my mind. I pulled the pillow that had his scent against my nose and cried.

  32

  The Angel

  Last night, wearing my cloak device, I’d snuck into her bed in her Royal summer mansion and made love to her, and she’d thought I was a dream.

  Her body had been on fire for me. No matter how big her commitment phobia was, she couldn’t deny her body’s need for me. Our mating bond, once formed, would last forever, but I would give her time to realize it, to truly want me. I didn’t want just her body. I wanted all of her. I wanted her mind being occupied with me and her heart aching for me, just as I pined for her.

  I had lost control last night. I should have taken care not to let hot sex get in the way of my winning her heart. No matter how badly I wanted to fuck my mate, for the next few nights, I restrained myself from getting into her bed.

  I didn’t reveal myself. I followed her. I observed her. And I protected her in secret.

  Until she started collecting her harem.

  33

  The Witch

  Gabriel didn’t come to my dream again, though I woke up every morning with his name on my lips.