by Meg Xuemei X
Eye-patch shot toward the portal, but a thread of my red lightning coiled around him and dragged him back from the brink of the shimmering gate, bringing him back to me.
I stared into his eye, and the red abyss that was my eyes reflected back to me.
“Still want to harvest me, old clown?” I asked. “Here’s my gift to help you return to your glory.”
I slammed my red lightning into Eye-patch’s chest.
He screamed. Atlas’ furious shriek was a melody in my ear. I wished he could scream longer and feel the burn, but then Eye-patch blinked. He was himself again. His Dark Lord had abandoned his imperfect vessel. Incomprehensiveness and fear formed in his eye before my lightning diminished his every cell and returned him to skeleton, then dirt.
Earthlings had a saying: from dust we are formed, to dust we return.
Were Angels made of star dust?
I would ponder on that when my body wasn’t aching so much.
It was the first time I’d used my most lethal magic and I didn’t know how to take it easy. Besides, I couldn’t take it easy when I had a hostile force to burn.
My magic consumed me.
My last red wave rolled across the horizon, red lightning sparking faintly at its vanguard before whimpering out. There were no more Angels in sight. Reaper and a few Angels had escaped through the portal. Pity.
I turned toward Ares. Merlin and his dragon had reached him. The druid knelt beside my prince, tending to him, and the dragon guarded the entrance, his massive form blocking part of my sight of Ares.
My heart burned with need and desperation for my mate and my stomach churned with acid fear. Would Merlin be able to save him? I wouldn’t know how to live in a world without Ares.
Intense pain, pride, and amazement were etched on Ares’ face, and his amber eyes, though dimming now because of the loss of the blood, never left me.
I had to go to him. I had to fly back to him.
But the flame winked out, and my wings vanished.
I had no magic, strength, or no energy left. I plummeted toward the ground.
“Freyja! Ventus!” Ares roared, blood pouring out of his mouth.
Stop yelling, idiot, I wanted to say.
Something snatched my body before I hit layers of Angel corpses at the bottom of the cliff.
Ventus had me in his huge claws.
Hello, Witchling, he said in my mind.
You and your brethren should address me as The Great and Terrible First Witch of Earth from now on, I advised. I believe I’ve earned the title today.
It’s an inside joke, right? he asked as he soared up toward the villa.
“Hey, Dragon.” Ventus said. “Move aside and let my mistress pass.”
The blue dragon sent me a cautious look, gave Ventus an evil eye, and puffed out a stream of fire. But she swept her tail of golden-blue scales and allowed us to approach Ares and Merlin.
What an attitude! Ventus murmured, but for a second, he was staring at the dragon’s splendid scales with envy.
Ventus gently laid me beside Ares.
I knew how I looked—ashen face, lifeless dull eyes, dry and chapped lips. On top of that, my flaming hair was splayed around my head in wild tangles.
Merlin had extracted the angelblade from Ares’ chest and miraculously stopped his bleeding.
I sobbed in relief, yet my fear lingered.
“Freyja,” Ares whispered, “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, but you saved yourself and us. You returned to me.”
“Where else can I go without you?” I asked weakly.
He reached for me, his thumb tracing across my cheek, and his energy burst in me like a beam of sunlight.
Merlin grabbed Ares’ wrist and lifted it off my skin. Both of us growled.
“Not now,” the druid said. “She’ll absorb your life force. She can’t control herself when she’s depleted.”
“Then let my mate have it!” Ares snarled. “I won’t let her deplete.”
“There will be a time you’ll need to give her energy, but that time is not now,” Merlin insisted.
My dull eyes warned Ares to back off.
A humming of machines grew louder in the air.
To my horror, a fleet of Reapers tore through the rift of the portal.
Revenge was a bitch. Atlas had known that I was worn out, and he was determined to take me today. There was no chance in hell I could get up again and throw my power at another horde.
I’d timed it wrong. The horde of tens and thousands of Angels had been the distraction. Atlas’ true force had been waiting behind the portal to strike me. They’d waited until I’d emptied myself of my magic. When they captured me, they would put me inside a glass coffin to prevent me from regenerating until they tossed me onto the operation table before their Dark Lord.
I thought we’d won the battle. In the end, I was but a fetus against an ancient serpent.
A flash of dark lighting pierced through half of the sky.
My heart leapt.
ThunderSong materialized. I’d never been so happy to see High Prince Seth’s symbol of a black lightning bolt slashing across the ship’s hull.
ThunderSong led a fleet and came to meet the Reapers.
A formidable Angel stood beside Gabriel by the view window, his golden wings arching behind him and his eyes burning with furious black lightning.
“Fire!” the High Prince of All Angels bellowed.
Fia, who leaned against Gabriel, tilted her head to give the High Prince an evil eye, probably annoyed at his loudness, before turning toward me with a wicked grin.
I wasn’t in the mood to return even a half smile. I didn’t even have energy left to stab a finger in her direction to accuse her of using me as bait.
What a wicked world! And I stared into its delightful face as the real battle broke out.
My last thought was Ares.
And my flaming wings.
I was once glorious.
I was loved.
CHAPTER 17
The Matehood
My eyes fluttered open. Warm sunlight sifted through the silk curtain adorned with drawings of a phoenix.
Immediately, I knew I was in the Silver Palace of Mysth from a memory.
The suite smelled of spring blossoms. Outside the window, the landscape of green, violet, and blue sprawled to the red forest.
A sob escaped me. My mother had stayed in this room and looked out the window at the red and silver trees before she’d been sent to the monster Angel King.
A flute sounded near, bringing joy and sorrow at once.
A large hand touched my face before I turned to search for Ares.
Another sob of joy and relief caught in my throat.
Ares had survived.
His knuckles traced across my cheek, and my need for him rose greatly.
“How do you feel, love?” he asked.
I blinked at him. I’d been used to him yelling at me, “Freyja, stop it.” Or “Freyja, must you screw it up?” It felt strange that he now called me love and used his enticing, velvet voice on me as if all of a sudden I was made of paper and glass.
“How long have I been out?” I asked.
“Three nights and two days, love,” he said. “Seeing you like this drove me out of mind.”
Was my name going to be ‘love’ from now on? I frowned at him.
“What displeases you, love?” he asked. “Do you feel pain? I’ll send Einarr to fetch the healers.”
So the advanced human also lived. What about Lucas, the guardians, and the others?
I seized his arm to stop him from rising to call Einarr or anyone. I didn’t want him to leave me for a second.
He sat back on the edge of the bed. “I won’t leave you, love.”
“How’s your chest wound?” I asked. “Let me see it.”
He unbuttoned his shirt. “I regenerated well with Merlin’s help. The Fey aided you with their Earth magic.”
A jagged scar was blunt on his
chest. I vowed that the Dark Lord would pay for it one day.
“The blade missed my heart by an inch,” Ares said, grabbing my hand and pressing it against his warm chest. His strong heartbeat thumped against my palm. Feeling the pulse was intoxicating, not only did it mean that he was alive, but for a Nephilim who carried a death touch, who didn’t inspire a heart to beat but instead to stop, the thrumming under my hand was one of the greatest feelings in the world.
“It now beats even faster and stronger for you,” he said.
I stared at his chest, his muscles rippling, his heat radiating, and his scent dominating.
Lust sprang in my veins.
“Want me again, my little mate?” Ares asked, his voice turning from smooth velvet to rough and husky.
I swallowed, but I needed to know if everyone was okay first.
Ares seemed to read my thoughts. He leaned against the headboard and gathered me up onto his lap, his arms sliding around me possessively. I liked him being clingy. I liked it even more when I felt his huge bulge under my bottom. I wouldn’t object if he thrust it up inside me now.
“The Fey and the High Prince’s Fallen Angels came in time,” Ares said. “My main army also arrived. Prince Seth’s fighters blew off a fleet of Reapers. ThunderSong chased into the portal to hunt the rest. The wicked woman and her Angel mate led the hunt. The Dark Lord’s force won’t be a threat for a while, but we must always stay alert.”
His cock pressed so hard against me that it was torment not to have it fill me inside. We could talk while he fucked me, so he could soothe the fire in me. However, it might not be the right thing to do while fury and grief swirled in his eyes.
“We lost Glacies and Jericko,” he said.
An ache squeezed my heart. The guardian of ice had become my friend. He’d liked me. He’d tried to put out my cursed fire. He’d defended me. He would no longer be among us, but he’d always be missed.
Jericko was the one who had the bluest skin among the Dragonians. We hadn’t gotten along, but he had fought hard for Ares.
“I saw Tyrone coming back with Caen to fight the horde,” I said.
Ares nodded, stroking my hair. “He found out Jericko was the traitor.” He shook his head in sadness. “Two thirds of the men Caen brought perished. All of our surviving men are still recovering from their battle wounds. The Fey healers have being using their magic to help heal them.”
His men didn’t have Ares’ amazing regenerating ability.
“Where’s Merlin?” I asked.
“Miss him?” he asked. Thought he knew he was the only man I ever wanted, there was still a hint of jealousy in his voice. He couldn’t help it. Our mating bond demanded our absolute devotion to each other.
“I miss this.” I swayed my hips on his erection and he gasped, his eyes turning molten gold. “But I need to ask you first: do you have a problem with me being the First Witch?”
“I’ve been processing this for three days now,” he said. “You led me on a wild goose chase. You made a fool out of me.”
“When I told you I was the First Witch the first time, and you said, ‘Sure, and I’m the Dark Lord of All Angels.’ Remember?” I winced at merely mentioning my grandfather, but there was no longer an option of avoiding talking about my bloodline.
“You’re an expert at mixing truth and lies,” he said. “No one on Earth has the mind to sort them all out. First, you said the witch was heading east.”
“Didn’t I head east to the Twilight Realm at that time?”
“You said she was the opposite of you—plain, old, and uncreative.”
“Because you prayed she was the opposite of me.”
Ares sighed. “I don’t blame you. I should have known, but I was an idiot. I brought all this suffering to us because I was so fucking blind. When I first touched you, I was on fire, and every cell in me came alive. I wouldn’t feel that way if you weren’t my mate. I’ve never felt that kind of heat toward any female. My instincts screamed that you were mine, but I tried to listen to my cold reasoning. All the signs were there—your emerging magic, my immunity to your death touch, Merlin’s and the guardians’ reactions to you, and the ancient elemental tongue you could speak—but I kept looking the other way. Whenever I’m around you, I truly feel home. Atlantis is mine, but it never feels like home to my soul. When I thrust in you the first time, I blinked out of my existence, because you’ve become my whole world. Yet I still believed the First Witch was on the other side of the horizon while you were in front of me all this time. I deserved all of the torment and more.”
He’d seen all of the signs, but he always caught up with them a step slower because of his belief in the Oracle’s promise. Didn’t they say prophecy was a double-edged sword?
“Will you forgive me, Freyja, my love?” Then he added, “I’ve never asked for anyone’s forgiveness since I never needed to. But you’re my mate, so I’ll do this for you.”
The prince was always the prince, wasn’t he? He sounded like he was doing me a favor. He would have to make a lot of compromises living with me, and I would have to do the same.
I sighed. Being Ares’ queen would take the work of Earth and the Heavens.
As for forgiveness, he didn’t need to ask for that. He’d protected me. He’d always put my life above his. In the end, he’d chosen me above all—the witch and his kingdom.
Now was my turn to ask the tough question. “Does it mean you’re fine with me being the last spawn of the monster Angel King? You hate him and the Angels more than anything, and I have Angel blood in my veins.”
“Why must I care what blood runs in you, love?” he asked in puzzlement. “You’re you, my Freyja. I wouldn’t have marked you as my one and only mate if I don’t love you.”
My heart skipped a beat, then pumped furiously. He’d been calling me love, but it was different than claiming to love me.
“Do you really mean that? You don’t despise me for being a Nephilim—an abomination?”
“You aren’t an abomination, Freyja,” he snarled. “Anyone who calls you that will fall under my sword! You don’t realize how beautiful and special you are. You’re one of a kind, my cunning witch.”
“But you said I forever annoyed the hell out of you.”
“That too.” He kissed my lips, gentle and hard at the same time. “I’ll have to live with that. You’re the only female made for me.”
“I don’t want to be one of a kind.”
“Is that why you hid your true identity from me?”
“That and more,” I said. “I was also mightily pissed at you.”
“Are you still?”
“It depends on what you’ll do next,” I said sultrily and regarded his tanned torso, my eyes traveling from his massive shoulders to his hard chest and muscled stomach. His trousers hung low, and a trail of golden hair disappeared under it suggestively.
His erection grew harder and larger beneath me.
I licked my lips. My panties were soaked with my arousal. He gazed down at me in amusement, lust a dark storm in his golden eyes.
“You’re recovering,” he said. “I won’t hurt you, no matter how much I want you now.”
“Hasn’t Merlin told you that your touch can energize me?”
“That and more,” he said. “He said I’m electricity to you.”
“So what are you waiting for? I need a little reboot now.”
Ares slanted his mouth on mine, and sparks crackled and ignited between us. He deepened the kiss and slammed his tongue against my hard palate. A moan escaped from my throat, and I grabbed his hair.
A raw, guttural sound rumbled from his chest. He pulled my gown off me and caressed my breasts roughly. I ground my ass against his hardness.
“You drive me crazy, my gorgeous little monster,” he said huskily. Even his voice sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. His hands moved to grab and cup my butt, and his mouth took over where his hand used to be, enveloping my taut nipple. His suckling made my blood ru
n hot and cold, then hot again.
“Ares,” I whispered as I yanked his cock out of his trousers.
Its silky head jerked forward. Ares’ lips left my breast. He liked the way I looked at his cock. A moist bead emitted from the slit in response.
“It wants your sweet pussy,” he said, his voice slurry. The prince was in the grip of lust. “How bad do you want me to fuck you?”
“So bad,” I breathed, “but I want to taste you first.”
His eyes brightened. Ares opened his legs wide, his cock shooting straight for the treat.
I bent down, my tongue flicking out and licking the liquid from his crown. He sucked in a sharp breath. He tasted so good that I was on him again in an instant, my tongue tracing the column of his length from the base, all the way up to the head in one slow, languorous movement. When my tongue reached the head, it swept over the thick ring of his crown.
Ares groaned blissfully.
My teeth nipped his cock, and he barked a series of curses and bucked his hips up.
Only then did I take his shaft into my mouth, gliding up and down and suckling him mercilessly.
“You’re gonna make me come, Freyja,” he inhaled and exhaled, his hand tangled in my thick hair. “You’re everything to me, and I need to fuck you now.”
I released his cock and smacked my lips.
Ares lifted me until I was practically sitting on his face. His mouth devoured me, his tongue thrusting into my heated channel. Pleasure rippled through my inner walls and spread further and further. With a nip on my inner thigh, he released me and put me down on bed, bending my knees to my chest to give him uncontested access to my bare sex.
He leaned in and thrust his cock into my depth, right until he hit the hilt, until his heavy balls slammed into my bottom.
The first thrust was the most glorious, and it got only better from there.
He stared at our joined flesh, lust making his face beastly, which aroused me like no other. He picked up the pace and fucked me faster and harder. I wanted to propel up to meet his plunging, but he pinned me right there, in absolute control. The prince merely wanted me to enjoy the ride.
“Such a hot, tight pussy,” he groaned, pulling out a little and driving back in hard. “The best I’ve ever had. The only one I’ll have from now on. Your pussy will always be there for me to fuck whenever I want and however I want.”
