by Meg Xuemei X
“We’d better get down there before they lose their shit,” I sighed.
“They’re too clingy.” Ash shook his head, then asked, “Ready, baby?”
“We just jump?”
“Leave it to me, Blossom.” He grinned, scooped me up, and jumped down before I gave him a go signal.
A damsel type wouldn’t get along with any of my mates.
His icy current slowed our fall before I thought of getting my red lightning to help. Ash always shared a thrilling new experience with me. With Max, it was about making me comfortable and warm and safe. And during my brief time getting to know Elijah before he turned into an archdemon, he had been protective and possessive toward me.
None of my mates was the overly romantic type, but I didn’t need that kind of romance, considering I was a slave girl raised in the harsh environment of the Underworld. A bunch of roses was the last thing I wanted from them.
As my thoughts wandered to Elijah again, pain bubbled in me. I’d once gazed into his brilliant gray-blue eyes and mistakenly thought I’d glimpsed the oasis of his soul in that tender, intimate moment.
Even the long scar on his handsome face had me spellbound.
I’d given my virginity to him willingly and eagerly.
Now he was hunting my people, my mates, and me.
I wondered if the pain and longing for Elijah would ever go away, or if we’d be able to redeem him or kill him before he killed us.
As soon as Ash landed with me in his arms, our companions rushed toward us, besieging us. Everyone was asking us questions at once.
The rest of the seven clans were still steaming into the cave from the tunnel.
Ash set me down on the ground, and I reluctantly released my clasped hands from behind his neck.
“You’re hurting my ears,” Ash growled at the group around us. He was always blunt, and not everyone appreciated that. “There’s no sign of demons above right now, but they might show up at any time. I’ll need the Alpha Pure team with me for the night watch.”
“Consort Ash, I can take the first watch,” Guy said eagerly.
His men had the climbing gear ready, but Ash could send them up with his current.
Killian growled, brushing everyone away from my side and rubbing my thigh in greeting, so happy to see me return.
“Don’t be rude, Killian. You don’t shove people away like that,” I said, but I couldn’t help running my fingers through his fur to show my affection.
“Queen Calamity,” a voice called some distance away. “I bear grave news.”
Protector Jonathan and his guard prowled through the crowd to reach me.
“Consort Max and the druid didn’t make it into the tunnel,” Jonathan said with grief as he paused in front of me.
My mind went blank before my blood turned to ice.
I swayed. The entire cave was spinning around me, and all the faces blurred in front of me.
Ash caught me. He nearly lifted me, my whole weight leaning on him. Raven, Bas, and many more people put their hands on my shoulders or back to offer me their support.
“Jonathan, tell me what happened, slowly,” Ash ordered.
“The bombs finally blew open the city before we could all evacuate and enter the tunnel,” Jonathan said. Blood still dripped from the side of his face. “The demons came down. There were too many. None of us was their match, except for the queen’s mates. Consort Max and the Omega warriors helped my clan to get into the tunnel while Merlin fended off the demon army alone. And then Merlin was overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies, and Consort Max went to help him.
“The two of them held on until the last of my clan and the Omega warriors got into the tunnel. They gave us orders to run and then they sealed the tunnel’s entrance to stop the demons from following us before the warriors could go back to join the fight by their side. My men and I couldn’t get through to them after that. We tried to remove the rocks and debris that blocked the tunnel, but we couldn’t get past the druid’s ward. None of the demons could get through it from the other side either. We waited as long as we could, and then there was no sound anymore. We had no choice but to leave them behind. I’m very sorry, Queen Calamity.”
Tears streamed down my face, and I didn’t care that everyone was watching my every move. My sky had fallen.
I’d never recover if I lost Max.
I was already shattering inside.
I pushed Ash away. When he reached for me again, I shoved him back. Blinded by a curtain of tears, I couldn’t see clearly who was in front of me, and I didn’t give a damn. I shoved them all away from me, not wanting their comfort.
I was inconsolable.
“I’m going to look for them,” I hissed. “Do not stand in my way. I’m not going to lose Max.”
“My queen, you can’t go. Please. It’ll take hours to go back, and they might not be there anymore.” Many sorrowful voices pleaded with me to stay.
I shook my head. I’d let no one stop me.
Red lightning bled out of me, and I could sense my eyes glowing crimson.
“My queen, please don’t abandon us. Don’t leave your people.” It sounded like Raven’s voice, and then Willow joined her, begging me to listen to reason.
Willow had come through. All of them had come to safety, except Max and Merlin.
They sacrificed themselves so others could live.
But I couldn’t bear their sacrifice. I wasn’t going to take this blow from life or fate.
My eyes were wild, my heart bled, and my thoughts were numb.
I lost it.
I could no longer be reasoned with. All I knew was that I needed to get to Max and Merlin.
I wouldn’t lose my vampire mate who had come to Hell for me.
I had already lost Elijah. I’d lost too much.
Ash pulled me further into his arms despite me shoving him back, and he was yelling at everyone around us.
“Let me handle it,” he snarled. “I’ll take her, and I’ll bring her back.”
I stumbled ahead blindly with Ash guiding me, his strong arm around my waist to support me. And then we reached the entrance of the tunnel. We’d go back to Nightingale.
My tiger followed us, growling at everyone who tried to come to me, knowing I was beyond upset.
We entered the tunnel with Killian guarding our rear.
I wiped the tears with the back of my hand and started running as fast as I could. I’d memorized every turn of the tunnel, so I wouldn’t hit the rocky wall racing like this. If I was fast enough, I might just reach Max and Merlin.
We’d run over four miles before I saw the path was completely blocked. Ash moved faster than a flash and pulled me back before I crashed into the rocks.
“No, no, no,” I cried, struggling free of Ash and lunging at the rocks.
I pried them away one by one, trying to dig a way out, but they were endless.
I just kept grabbing rocks and throwing them out of the path.
My fingernails had broken a while ago and my hands bled from clearing away the rocks. This pain didn’t matter. My heart hurt more. Ash was shoveling the rock beside me with his bloody hands.
We dared not use our magic, for fear the tunnel behind us would collapse.
I didn’t know how long I’d been picking up rocks before Ash grabbed my hands to stop me.
It was a futile effort to dig a way out.
“Stop, Ayanna,” he said. “The tunnel ahead has collapsed. We won’t get through.”
“I must find him. We must find them,” I protested.
“I know, baby, I know,” he said, pulling me into his lap.
I sobbed into his solid shoulder.
“I won’t survive it if anything happened to Max,” I sniffed.
Ash straightened his back and stiffened in my tight embrace.
He pulled back and rolled up my sleeve, revealing the four icons that lined up on my inner arm.
They pulsed with a faint light. The silver-gold, my
bond to Ash, shone the brightest. The second brightest was the purple-gold, which signified my link to Max.
“They’re alive,” Ash said, letting out a breath, his eyes brightening with tears. “If they had perished, the icons on your arm would have gone completely dark.”
And my heart would go completely dark. The darkness had been hovering over my heart ever since we learned that Elijah had turned on us.
“Max’s icon isn’t as bright as mine, since he isn’t as close as I am to you at the moment,” Ash explained. “I feel the bond to them, too. They live. Take heart, Blossom. All of your mates are very hard to kill.”
“That’s good to hear,” I sobbed, trying to rise from his comfortable lap. “Let’s go to them.”
Ash pulled me back toward him. “It’s more pragmatic for them to come to us. They’ll find you. If they return and find that anything has happened to you, you’ll break Max’s heart and mine. Merlin’s, too.”
Hope arose in me, yet anxiety still battered my every cell.
Ash threaded his fingers into my tangled hair to smooth it, and I quieted and calmed against his chest. I almost purred at some point. He kissed me tenderly and pulled me up.
“We need to go back, baby,” he said. “Your people need you. Don’t let them down.”
I nodded, reason returning to me.
I couldn’t be so selfish. If I insisted on going to search for Max and Merlin no matter the consequences, I’d probably plunge blindly into a perilous situation. I might lose Ash.
People have a habit of taking for granted the ones near them to pursue the unattainable instead. I wasn’t going to be that idiot and not see the valuable ones right in front of me.
“Thank you, Ash,” I whispered. “I love you.”
He was silent for a second. Was it the first time I said that I loved him?
His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed back thick emotions.
“I love you more, Blossom,” he whispered back. “You have no idea how deep my love goes for you.”
“I have an idea,” I said. “But are we going to argue over who loves whom more?”
He chuckled, his fingers entwined with mine, and we ran back together toward the cavern, where our people were gathered and waited.
CHAPTER 18
__________________
Sebastian, Octavia, Willow, Guy, and two of Guy’s men met us midway down the tunnel.
“Calamity!” Bas barked. “You can’t just run off like that.” His voice then softened a notch, filled with concern. “Are you all right?”
“My queen,” Octavia called. “What can we do to help?”
“They’re alive,” I said, sniffing and fighting back my tears. “My mates are alive. They’ll find us.” They’d better find me.
“But—I’m sorry, Calamity,” Willow said. She’d seen too many lives lost. She’d had this haunted, hollow look ever since she returned to Nightingale.
“My brothers live.” Ash affirmed.
When we emerged from the tunnel, the seven clans of Nightingale all dropped to their knees.
“Our queen!” they called, overjoyed and relieved that I’d returned.
This was the first time all of them showed me their fealty.
My heart warmed. For years I’d had no one except Bas, and now I had mates and a people.
“Rise,” I said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go into the Shades as one people. Difficulties and dangers will await us at every turn. While we might lose some loved ones in the process, we’ll prevail. We’ll reach the Upper Realm, where honey and milk flow. And we’ll rebuild Nightingale in Atlantis.”
Raven led the cheer, and the soldiers cheered louder.
“All the slaves from the Underworld will join us,” Willow shouted. “They’ve all risen to fight for Queen Calamity. Uprisings are happening everywhere.”
That was probably due to my rebellious speech in the arena and Willow’s hard work at getting the word around. I’d defied the emperor and his Sváva, and I lived. The slaves had seen hope for the first time.
“Please return to your current tasks,” I said. “And everyone needs to rest well tonight.”
I didn’t spend the night in the cave with the rest of the clans, although the women from the Desert Belle had set up a tent for me. I joined Ash and the scout team above the cave to keep watch. No matter how often my people called me their queen, I was a warrior first, and I would always fight on the front line.
I tried to stay up late to wait for Max and Merlin, but at some point, I dozed off and curled up on the hard ground.
The icon—the third one—flared with warmth on my skin. Before I could open my crusty eyes, Max was upon me, pushing the blanket off me and gathering me into his strong arms.
“Ayanna,” he whispered.
I clung to him tightly, as if holding on to my lifeline.
He planted hot kisses all over my face.
Joyful tears flowed down my cheeks, and Max kissed them away, too.
“I said I’d always come back to you, doll,” he said with a laugh, pleased with my passion for him. “I like to keep my promises to you.”
“I won’t be separated from you ever again,” I said with a sob. “From now on, we’ll always be together.”
Merlin looked over at us while he conversed with Ash. Longing for me seared his violet eyes, but he was giving Max and me our moment alone. And he knew that while I might have forgiven him, it would take a long while for me to warm up to him. We both knew that I wouldn’t accept him as a mate without him truly making amends to my satisfaction, no matter how my body reacted to him and no matter how hard the mating call drove me to the brink of insanity to push me to finish the mating ritual with my last mate and complete a full circle.
With Max and Merlin having returned, the mating heat coursed in my veins like a flux of lava. It wouldn’t cool off unless I fucked my mates.
Max’s eyes glowed molten gold, pure male desire rolling off him in waves, melting my already soaked panties.
The air between us was charged with electricity and high heat.
Ash gazed at me a few paces away, his eyelids hooded, his lust heavy.
Another current of heat hit me in full force. Merlin looked at me as if I was the most desirable thing in the world. He balled his fists at his sides, restraining himself from eliminating everyone between us and claiming me right there.
His steely will might have won for the moment, but he couldn’t stop his magic, which was more susceptible to his carnal need, from leaking its true desire and intention.
I turned to fix my attention on my vampire mate, who held me in his arms.
“Max,” I whimpered, shivering with want. “I feel so hot.”
We couldn’t just mate like beasts in the open, as the soldiers were grouped around us. Yet one of my hands was tempted to touch my slick, aching pussy, and the other hand wanted to stroke his cock.
“My feelings for you are beyond the mating fever, doll,” he said. “I want you more than anything and anyone, even if there’s no mating bond between us. You’ve awoken everything in me, everything primal and male.”
He scooped me into his arms, his wings spreading, and he took me to the sky.
I pressed my breasts against his chest as I pictured ripping off his clothes.
“Where can we go?” I asked, gazing down to search for a spot where we could mate.
There was no shelter on the ground but the dry, cracked land sprawled beneath, the vast cave occupied by the clans, and the black mountains on the horizon where we’d have to pass to enter the Shades.
“I’ll fuck you in the sky,” Max said.
Elijah had mentioned that in this realm, the sky extended infinitely.
“But—”
“You’ll enjoy it,” my vampire mate promised.
I wondered if he’d done that before, but I suppressed the thought before unnecessary jealousy overcame me. No matter how many lovers my mates had had in the past, the men belonged to me now.
<
br /> “My cock is so hard for you, it hurts. I need to fuck your hot, tight pussy as soon as possible.”
My blood heated, and I was dripping wet.
The only thing in my mind now was to get Max’s big cock inside me.
Max slanted his mouth over mine, and I gasped, wanting more of him. Wanting all of him. Our tongues mated in an erotic dance. His scent of cypress and masculinity dominated me, enveloping me.
While he kept flying high, I worked to get his cock in my hand.
It was silky and massive in my palm. I gave it a few short, hard pumps, and Max hissed in pleasure. His one hand held my buttocks to support me, the other cupping my breast before sliding down.
His hand slid into my trousers and found the slit.
Max chuckled darkly. “You’re so ripe for me, doll.”
“You have no idea,” I sighed and moaned.
“When we reach the Upper Realm, I’ll feast upon your lovely pussy every night. And I’ll buy you thousands of panties and dresses.”
My blood raced in my veins in anticipation at the wicked promise.
Max brushed open my folds, fondling my tender flesh before thrusting a finger into my heat. His calloused thumb rubbed my swollen clit.
I arched my back and moaned as pleasure hit my nerve endings; the pressure of needing urgent release pushed me to propel my ass toward him, riding his thick fingers.
“You’re killing me by being so responsive, doll,” Max gasped over my lips. “I need to fuck you now.”
He lifted my hips, pressed my entrance to the head of his thick shaft, and pushed into me. If I wasn’t so soaked with lust and need, the size might be a problem for me, no matter how many times he fucked me.
He glided in inch by inch to savor our joining, then he drove home and rammed into my molten core with the rest of his steel rod. I felt so full and wanted, and the heavy weight of his manhood inside me felt delicious. He gave me a moment to adjust to his size before he started to thrust, withdraw, and thrust back in vehemently.
“Max, it feels so good,” I moaned breathlessly. “How can it feel so good?”
“Because I’m fucking you, woman.” He groaned as he drove deep into me.
