by Meg Xuemei X
Black rage surged in me.
They’d summoned the vampires to come upon my mate and me.
I leered at them. We Angels used to hunt dragons.
These three could be mutants.
Come on, bitches.
I didn’t have my angelblade, but I’d rip off their heads with my bare hands.
I would kill two and leave one to suffer with me, if the last one didn’t shriek too much.
“Come on in,” I called enticingly. “There are nice goodies in the vampire tower. Lots of meat.”
The three beasts merged into one and phased through the window.
I lunged toward the beast, only to find it had become a naked woman, now standing in front of me.
I staggered back. “What the fuck?”
I wasn’t exactly freaked out, nor was I aroused, considering I’d just had a wet fantasy before this bitc—woman—interrupted me. At this point, I knew I would only get hard for my witch.
And I wasn’t a stranger to the presence of nude women, since I’d seen plenty. Though her entrance was bizarre, what hadn’t I seen in my long march of time?
I eyed the dragon shifter. “How could you get in like that?” I demanded to know. “But you might not get out. Brace yourself, wench.”
“Archangel Gabriel,” the woman said. “I don’t have time for Q&A.”
“You’ll make time and answer all of my questions,” I said. “You’re lucky I haven’t snapped your neck.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Kill a defenseless woman?”
“I have no problem with that. I’m an Angel. Considering your other forms that puff poisonous black fire, you’re shameless to call yourself ‘defenseless.’ Plus, I have you to thank for my captivity. So, give me one reason I shouldn’t slay you right now, shape shifter!”
She sighed. “I have no idea how the Wickedest Witch put up with you.”
She dared insult me after all she’d done? “That’s not your concern. You helped your master separate us.”
“I had no choice,” she said. “When Akem commands me, I have to obey. I’m under a curse. That’s why I came here. I need your help.”
“Can you get out of this tower?”
“Easily.”
“Tell me how to get out, and I’ll break your curse.”
“Don’t you dare trick me, Angel! You have no idea how to break any curse.”
“Get me to my witch, then. She knows all sorts of spells and is great at breaking curses.”
“She can’t even break her own. I wouldn’t have come to you if she could hold memories. Anything I tell her, she’ll forget. So, unfortunately, you’ve become my only hope. My curse isn’t for you to break, but I’ll need you to deliver a message to the one who can.” She raised a finger to stop me from speaking. “I have only half a minute left in this form, and I can’t afford to let Akem know I’m allying with you. My name is Daisy. Every day, I’m allowed to stay in this form in the jungle for an hour. Outside the jungle, I have one minute to have this shape. I’ll help you and your witch escape this planet, if you vow a blood oath to assist me first.”
“No problem. Just get me out of this fucking tower. Now.”
“I can’t get you out. You have the primordial vampiress’ venom in you. I can come and go because I have part of Akem’s power—the only benefit of serving him under my curse. The Dark Prince’s ward can’t stop Akem, but the Wickedest Witch has power Akem can’t overcome. She has yet to learn about the power she has that can throw him off her back.”
“He won’t get on her back!” I snarled, not liking the picture. “Anyway, if I can’t leave here, how am I going to give your message to whoever you want?” I asked in irritation. Then another urgent thought occurred to me. “I’ll figure it out and get out eventually. But if you need my help, you’ll have to send my message to Fiammetta first. Tell her not to come here. Never to come here! This is a trap. Warn her that once she comes in, she won’t be able to leave, no matter what powers she has. Get her to leave through the portal immediately. And if you need a trustworthy messenger, pick Kaara Nightshades.”
“You would rather your witch leave without you?”
“Only one of us can get out. It’d better be her.”
“There’s a problem with the portal. It’s not what she thinks it is. If she goes through it without—” Her face changed, and scales started showing on her cheeks. “My time is up.”
I heard the vampiress approaching.
Jasmine’s call reached us. “Gabriel, where are you? Are you still hiding from me?”
“Go tell Fiammetta, Daisy! Work with her, and she and Kaara will help you. Get her to leave by the right portal as soon as possible.”
“Love?” Jasmine was near the door.
“Fiammetta is already coming. I can’t stop her. I had the one minute because Akem’s eyes are fixing on her. I—” Scales covered Daisy. She morphed back to the Furies and phased out the window.
The three Furies flapped their red wings and shot toward the gloomy sky, shrieking.
Through the window, I saw Fiammetta and Kaara riding on a white rhinoceros, speeding toward the tower. My mate’s icy gaze found me.
“Leave! Leave!” I roared, and flung my hands in the air frantically, gesturing for her to run away from the black tower as quickly as she could.
Fiammetta only kicked the beast harder, spurring it to race faster toward the vampire tower.
The fucking Furies didn’t stop my mate, but flew in the other direction toward the jungle.
Jasmine stepped into the room.
“Gabriel,” she said. “I knew you’d be thrilled.”
I rushed past her to the railing and jumped from the eleventh floor. I landed in a crouch, with one fist planted on the ground, my broken wings arching painfully behind me.
19
The Witch
My captain and I leaped off the rhinoceros—a one-horned wild beast I’d tamed.
The tower of black steel and glass loomed; its gate left wide open in invitation.
The vampire hordes kept a respectful distance from us, perhaps warned by their Dark Prince, who wouldn’t want to scare me off before he could ensnare me.
The wolves and my army waited at the perimeter of the vampire territory.
I strode toward the gate with Kaara beside me, clad in my usual three pieces—breast plates, leather skirts, and knee-high boots—but this time with a red cloak that covered my fighting gear.
Gabriel’s frantic shouts blasted out of the door. “Get the fuck away, Wicked Witch! Don’t ever come in. Run away from here! Now!”
“That’s rude and unnecessary,” I told Kaara. “Was he always this obnoxious?”
“And shockingly arrogant,” she confirmed.
“Once you’re in, Fiammetta,” Gabriel kept yelling, not giving up, “you’ll never leave. It’s a fucking trap!”
I passed through the first gate and jogged straight toward the gated door.
Gabriel tossed aside the vampires in his path and blocked the door, making me wonder why he didn’t just step out.
He charged toward me, but something bound him to where he was. Then I realized he couldn’t get out. He was elbowing some unseen force, his veins jumping on his ink-tattooed temples, his muscles twisting in his corded neck.
His wings fluttered with the effort.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Gabriel,” I said, as I regarded him with my usual icy demeanor.
He widened his bloodshot eyes, once so green. The Archangel looked haggard, as if he hadn’t closed an eye since we’d separated.
My heart contracted.
“Fiammetta,” he bellowed. “This is no fucking joke! Don’t you ever enter! I warn you! Kaara Nightshades, stop your mistress while you both still can leave!”
He tried to reach me again, his wings finally breaking some kind of pulling force, and propelling forward to sweep me away.
Several vampires who had been flung away rushed back at him. They held his ar
ms, grabbed his legs, and hung onto his wings to hurl him backward from the door. He threw them off again with his explosive strength, and they fell upon him the next second like vultures.
He had no angelblade with him, so he couldn’t cut a trail of bodies to reach me.
My Angel had been disarmed.
Lifting the hem of her elaborate, heavy blue gown, Jasmine descended the stairs in the grand hall, and hurried toward the struggling Gabriel.
“Stand down, Gabriel!” she screamed. “I command you! Stay back!”
Desdemona appeared from behind them in a black tuxedo that made him look lordly and striking. He wore a white shirt and black tie. “Control your pet, Jasmine!” he hissed.
My Archangel is no one’s pet.
Gabriel fought the compulsion, his face distorted with agony. As the vampiress kept screaming at him, he grasped his head.
“Let him go, or I’m leaving,” I said.
“Leave the Angel alone,” Desdemona ordered, and Jasmine stopped shrieking at Gabriel.
Her pale skin took on a purple tone. She was furious with him.
The vampire henchmen didn’t swarm Gabriel again with their overwhelming numbers.
As soon as they released Gabriel, he lunged, not at me this time, but at the vampire princess. He grabbed her into his arms, with no care or tenderness, and kissed her on the lips.
My eyes burned, and my darkness twirled around me, hissing. I wouldn’t allow him to touch anyone. I wouldn’t allow anyone to touch him.
He turned to me with a menacing look. “Not so happy about it? If you came for me, it’s already too late. I’m with her. I fucked her. She’s way better than you. Right now, I can’t even stand the sight of you. So, why don’t you get the fuck out, Wicked Witch! Get the fuck out, before I get violent!”
Even so, I wouldn’t leave him behind.
While he had her in his arms, his left wing stretched out from his side to prevent me from entering the tower—his last attempt to keep me out.
Jasmine laughed, caressing his wings.
I stepped in through the door, tossing my darkness at her to tear her from his arms.
Kaara followed.
“No!” Gabriel roared in horror, and immediately shoved the vampiress aside.
“Not so fast, lover,” Jasmine purred. “One more kiss, please.”
I was about to summon my ice spear.
“Quiet! All of you,” Desdemona snapped at his sister. “My lovely date is here. Must you spoil this day that I’ve been awaiting for three years?”
He turned to smile at me charmingly. I’d entered his nest. He believed I was finally his.
Especially when I realized that, a bit too late, the darkness I’d hurled at Jasmine had vanished without a trace before it hit the target.
The ice shield in me and Kaara also dropped.
My power wouldn’t work in the vampire tower.
The moment I’d stepped in, I’d sensed its wrongness. It had been woven through and through with dark spells and curses. Desdemona must have made a pact with some ancient evil power to make his tower predatory and alive.
It chilled me there were things worse than Akem.
That was why Gabriel couldn’t leave. That was why he’d screamed at the top of his lungs for me to flee before I walked right in with Kaara.
And I’d sensed the potent vampire venom flowing in his angelic veins. He’d been fighting it.
Others would have been long gone, their former selves diminished, as they became a vampire. It seemed that Desdemona, or his sister, hadn’t been able to completely turn Gabriel, but he was still under their compulsion. Otherwise, the superior Archangel, who had an ego bigger than the galaxy, wouldn’t have slumped in a corner now, looking defeated.
My Angel was incredibly strong, yet he would need my help to overcome the vampire influence.
He didn’t know we wouldn’t leave him behind.
He thought he was disposable.
“Tried your black magic the moment you came in, didn’t you, Wickedest Witch?” Jasmine taunted, laughing in vicious delight. “Did it work? I’d love some of your icy storms, please.”
“Jasmine,” Desdemona said. “Be cordial. I warned you to behave.”
“I was welcoming my future sister-in-law,” she said. “But I forgot—not everyone knows how to appreciate my fine sense of humor.”
Gabriel snarled, though I wasn’t sure to which part he was objecting—her addressing me as her future sister-in-law, or her self-proclaimed fine sense of humor.
“Welcome to my humble abode, Lady Fiammetta,” Desdemona said. “I’ve prepared refreshments for you.”
“I prefer to dine on the high floor, with a full window and a spectacular view,” I said.
“Of course,” Desdemona said. “It’s arranged to your liking. Every one of your requirements will be met.”
Gabriel raised his head, a heartbreaking look in his eyes. “You came for the leech? You want to date him? Have you lost your mind? What do you see in him? What can you possibly get out of him? Kaara Nightshades told you he’s powerful and strikingly handsome, so you listened to her bullshit? You should never have trusted dimwit Nightshades’ judgments. I used to have an above-average opinion of her, and now I have only contempt for that stupid girl. She failed in her duty.” He growled. “Fuck! This is it. Pandemonium is getting all of us.”
Kaara scowled at Gabriel.
“How foolish are you, Fia?” Gabriel continued to blurt out, his voice quieter now. “What have you done? I was trying to keep you away from this nightmare, and you had to dive right into it. Now that you’ve done it, what am I going to do with you? Why couldn’t you just listen to me for once? Do you know what my worst nightmare is? It’s watching you live in it.”
“Aren’t you a killjoy, Gabriel,” I said. “I can’t let you keep all the fun to yourself.”
“Do I look like I fucking enjoy myself here, witch?” he said in fury. “Look at me! I was the greatest captain in angelic history and a decorated war hero. But now, I’m being treated like a whore by lesser beings in this fucking tomb. My ship can never find me. But must you reduce yourself to my fate?”
I regarded him icily, though my heart went out to him. My entering the vampire tower had broken his spirit. He thought I was as doomed as he was, and that there was no salvation for me.
“Jasmine! I told you that you should have chained your pet!” Desdemona turned to his sister with a stormy face. “Now he’s only an embarrassment. I won’t put up with him for long.” He shook his head in disgust. “Ignore him, Lady Fiammetta.” He raised his elbow for me. “Shall we?”
I placed my finger on the vampire prince’s arm.
Gabriel snapped his head up at us, his eyes burning with rage and jealousy as we glided past him. He struggled up, his wings shuffling aggressively.
“Don’t mind him,” Desdemona advised. “It’s only a show. All day long, he likes to huff and puff, but he can’t do much harm. My sister’s blood binds him for eternity.” The prince chuckled in amusement. “He constantly wants to kill us, but his body won’t listen to his will or his command. Sometimes it’s quite entertaining when it’s not so pitiful to watch him fail. But I won’t let him stay in my tower for too long. I’ve never met anyone more annoying and aggravating than him.”
“Brother, you promised you wouldn’t get rid of him!” Jasmine protested. “He’s mine!”
He looked behind. “Jasmine, keep him somewhere else, will you? Lady Fiammetta and I should not be interrupted today.”
“On the contrary,” I said. “I’d like to have your sister join us. She’s the Princess of the tower, and shall receive the same courtesy and respect. And my former pet, Archangel Gabriel, should accompany us, as a means of entertainment. His misery, our delight.”
Desdemona smiled. “As you wish, Lady Fiammetta.”
20
The Angel
All my efforts to warn her off were in vain. My mate stepped into the vampir
e tower.
She was clad in red, her raven-black hair flowing down to her waist. As always, her presence punched my gut. I’d never seen anyone as beautiful as she was, yet I’d never been so grief-stricken and horrified to see her.
The vampires gawked at her, and the Dark Prince gazed at her in lust and satisfaction, believing soon she’d be his, a trophy queen.
Jasmine glared at my witch. The vampire princess liked to think she was the most gorgeous female there was, and demanded all worship her. But she couldn’t hold a candle to my mate, even though icy light no longer radiated from Fiammetta, and her darkness faded into the dimness of the tower.
I shut my eyes for a second in anguish.
It had begun. Fiammetta couldn’t exercise her powers here. Even when Jasmine taunted her about it, my mate could do nothing. And the Wickedest Witch I knew wouldn’t have put up with the slightest offense.
But from now on, bitterness would be her lot.
It would be my worst nightmare to watch her suffer, especially when she woke every morning and had to relive the never-ending horror.
What could I do to spare her?
I should have protected her, but I’d failed her.
I wanted to strike down the vampire prince when my mate laid her elegant hand on his arm and they walked up the stairs together, but the venom in me bound me and made my mighty body useless to my will.
I trailed after them, brooding on thousands of solutions, but none could save her.
If the Furies visited again—
I wouldn’t give up hope. I would find a way to get my mate out of this tomb.
Then, in the darkest corner of my despairing mind, a light flickered.
When Fiammetta had walked in ruthlessly and unwisely, she’d borne no recognition toward the Dark Prince. But when she’d trained her gray eyes on me, for a fleeting second there, her icy mask had dropped. There’d been heat and longing for me. Her gaze hadn’t been for a stranger, the way she used to peek at me every morning.
