Fallen Angel

by Meg Xuemei X

  She sent him an annoyed look. “The oath will be between us only.”

  “I won’t keep a secret from my mate,” Gabriel said. “It kills relationships. I’ll not sabotage our bond.”

  I twisted my torso and gave him a hot kiss, and he gazed down at me with a doting smile.

  Daisy rolled her eyes, though she had no right. After all, she had invaded our space.

  “The curse of my condition requires it,” she said. “This time tomorrow, when Fiammetta enters the jungle and keeps Akem’s eyes on her, you’ll follow me into the sky and we’ll seal the pact.”

  I narrowed my eyes on the Fury suspiciously as I wanted to ice her over with my magic.

  “Don’t look at me as if I were a thief, Wickedest Witch,” she said. “If you think I’ll take your man, ease your mind now. I won’t be able to, even if I try. In fact, I once stood naked and defenseless in front of him while he was having a wet dream about you in the Vampire Tower, and he still threatened to rip my head off.”

  I regarded her. “I don’t think you’ll ever be defenseless.”

  Just then, scales appeared, covering her neck, and she gasped and gagged. The next, she grew a tail. Daisy raced toward the window and leaped out.

  One beast split into three.

  They shrieked wrathfully.

  Your Archangel isn’t my type, she hissed in my head. I prefer my own kind.

  With another round of shrieks, the Furies were gone.

  Gabriel spun me to face him, his cock still buried deep inside me, hard as granite.

  The Archangel’s stamina was incomparable.

  “What did she say before she left?” he asked. He knew she’d telepathed me.

  “She said you aren’t her type,” I said. “Heartbreaking, isn’t it?”

  He chuckled. “Only you can break my heart. I lie bare in front of you, mate.”

  My heart fluttered. Did he mean he’d fallen for me?

  His face darkened the next second. “The Fury is out of her mind if she thought I’d let you go to Akem’s lair alone. I won’t let you out of my sight for a second.”

  I cupped his face in my palms. “We might have to go with her arrangement if we want to leave Pandemonium. Her reasons are right.”

  “What if the blood vow she mentioned separates us?” he asked, staring at me.

  “Take care with your wording and find loopholes. Set up null conditions if she can’t follow through her end of the bargain. I believe you’re good at that?”

  He smiled at me. “I excel at everything, baby.”

  Before I rolled my eyes, he bucked his hips up and thrust inside me, his arms wrapping around me, as if to prevent me from escaping. Where would I go, anyway?

  A moan from my throat shut down any more words from me.

  His cock thrust into my depth.

  Fire traced through my veins; pleasure rang in my blood.

  I heaved my hips up and down, riding along his hard length, moving in sync with him.

  By fate, we were made for each other to do just this!

  “I still won’t allow you to go to the jungle alone,” he said, returning to the topic. “I won’t put you in danger.”

  “I’m not your crew, or your soldier, Gabriel. And don’t forget for a second that even though we mated, I’m still the great and terrible Wickedest Witch. Don’t use such words as ‘allow,’ ‘permit,’ ‘forbid,’ to me. You can’t shield me like that. I know you worry about me, but I’ll be fine. And who said I’ll be alone? The Fury promised that you won’t be far from me when I enter the jungle. You can fly now. If something goes wrong, you can always snatch me up. You need to learn to have confidence in me. Akem won’t take me down that fast, now that I have my fire.”

  He lifted me up and down, thrusting into me harder and faster, as if wanting to completely own me. “You always complained about me talking too much. But I said only one sentence and you returned with twenty.”

  “I was trying to explain,” I said, my breasts bumping into his face as I moved up. “We can’t beat Akem by our blunt force.”

  “What’s on your mind, witch?”

  “I’ll tell you only after you service me well.”

  “Service you? Now let’s see how I truly service my woman.”

  He laid me back in bed, bent my legs to my chest, and unleashed his Archangel’s raw power as he thrust all the way into my molten core.

  9

  The Witch

  Gabriel and I walked through a maze in the ruins and crossed a broken bridge, the City of Nine now a smudge sketch in the foggy distance.

  The white wolf, who had fought beside Gabriel, led his pack move ahead of us. Rocky, Kaara’s second-in-command, sent his men spread along the jungle.

  We hadn’t spotted any vampires, cannibals, or other hostile clans.

  Marrok was guarding Kaara in the tower with just a few wolves. No one could break my ward made of fire and darkness, so they would be safe while the majority of our force had accompanied me on this trip.

  This time, it was different for me. I remembered all that had happened on Pandemonium, though nothing beyond that. I recalled my encounters with Akem and how he’d invaded my mind.

  One time his darkness had almost drowned me. But now, with part of my memories back, I knew his powers and secret desires. My fire magic was ready for any confrontation. He would never have a chance to get into my mind again. But today, I might just let him in, and allow him a glimpse at what I wanted him to see.

  I would enter the jungle alone.

  I wore a blue cashmere top, a pair of black pants, and knee-high boots instead of my usual three-piece—breast plates, leather shorts, and boots, only because I wanted to hear no more of Gabriel’s grumbling about other males staring at my belly button.

  Maybe he’d indeed mellowed me. I should take care not to let him change me too much and lose my identity.

  He brushed back a lock of hair that had tumbled onto my face behind my ear.

  “If you sense anything wrong, you’ll shout out loud.”

  “You’ve said that a hundred times,” I said.

  “I’m just worried.”

  “I appreciate that you’re worried about me, but when you keep repeating every small instruction, you make my head spin.”

  “I won’t repeat it, but we must put our mating bond into use. It’s a virtual connection between us. I’m better at getting a signal. Before anything goes wrong, you’ll shout—”

  “Gabriel.”

  “Fine, I was just saying—”

  The dark jungle loomed in with pine trees lining up at the fringe. I knew not to be fooled by its normal appearance. Everything inside Akem’s forest was predatory. Lurking behind the pine trees were cannibal plants. Gabriel had had some fun experiences with them.

  The wind sent the smell of bitter blossoms and sulfur our way from the jungle.

  This was it. We were here.

  I’d sensed Akem’s presence without entering the center of his domain. He knew I was coming, and he was waiting eagerly.

  And this time, I wasn’t clueless.

  I’d developed a strategy that even Gabriel wasn’t aware of. I couldn’t tell him, for fear that Akem’s ears were everywhere.

  I’d analyzed the Furies’ every word.

  We couldn’t beat Akem with our brute power. Then I must seek to trick him instead of hitting him directly.

  If my portal couldn’t sustain a group of people walking through in files, and I had only one shot, then we should fly a spaceship through it. Gabriel’s shuttle was right there, near the original portal.

  The Furies had also stressed that Akem was the only energy source on this planet.

  If I set it up right, I could make Akem power up the Red Dragon—the only way to get everyone out of Pandemonium.

  First, I needed to give Akem what he wanted or what he thought he wanted the most.

  The Furies’ shrieks reached us.

  “I don’t like this,” Gabriel said.
“I don’t like you going in there alone.”

  “I know,” I said, tracing his jaw line with a spark of fire on my knuckles. “I’ll be fine.”

  The Furies skimmed over the canopy of the rainforest, their sharp wings cleaving off leaves, twigs, and branches in their wake.

  Wolves howled in fear and rage, and my soldiers shouted out warnings. Archers had their arrows nocked. Those arrowheads wouldn’t even scratch the Furies’ unbreakable scales.

  The only one who could take them down was Gabriel.

  He pulled me to him and kissed me hard on the lips, scorching me.

  My chest tightened. Gods, I hope this won’t be the last kiss.

  He fanned his wings and shot toward the Furies.

  They crashed and battled into the high sky.

  It was a show for Akem should he ever look, but the Archangel hadn’t drawn his lethal blade strapped behind his back between his massive wings.

  I tore my gaze from the sky, took a deep breath, and entered the jungle alone.

  10

  The Angel

  I battled the Furies in the sky, for the show of it.

  The beasts charged me from three directions, their eyes fiery.

  “Come on, bitches,” I called. “We Angels hunt dragons.”

  The sky was our domain. The universe was ours.

  I plummeted at speed a few feet lower than them, wheeled my steel-hard wings, and swept them over the bellies of two Furies on each side of me.

  They flapped in the air at my force and screeched furiously.

  I laughed. That was fun.

  One of them recovered soon, went beneath me, and surged up to bite into my foot.

  She was playing dirty, but I let her, for only an angelblade could hurt me. And my weapon was one of the rarest, most deadly angelic swords in the universe. If I drew it, the dragon ladies would know hell. But my mate had asked me to play nice, so I resisted the temptation and stayed away from my blade.

  I swung my foot and kicked the Fury in the skull. She wailed, releasing my boot, but her fangs had torn it half-open.

  Nasty beast.

  To retaliate, I shot like black lightning toward the main Fury—the brain—and drove a punch onto her jaw from beneath. My blow connected to the scales on her chin and sent her flying backwards twenty yards. To her credit, she didn’t plummet to the ground but spun, and picked herself up in the air.

  Sweeping her tail, she turned to flee. The other two Furies followed her suit.

  I gave hot pursuit, chuckling all the way.

  I stopped laughing when I couldn’t see my mate.

  Fiammetta had entered the jungle alone. My heart sank into ice. I needed to get back to her, but I also knew I had to stay put.

  I resorted to monitoring our mating bond to pinpoint her exact position.

  I wouldn’t stay too far away from her, but the fucking Furies kept flying in the direction of the gray sea.

  Fine, I’d just settle the blood vow business with them quickly and return to Fia.

  I flapped my wings rapidly and flew past the Furies. “Go no further,” I snarled. “I don’t like to be too far from my mate.”

  The Furies halted, surveyed the surroundings—we were all alone, and merged into one.

  Daisy dropped onto the top of the thick canopy.

  I hovered in the air and tossed her a robe I brought with me for her to cover herself.

  She shrugged it on, rubbed her jaw, and glared at me. “Must you hit me that hard?!”

  Females like to hold a grudge forever.

  “I had to make it seem real for Akem,” I said.

  “He wasn’t even looking! He’s been fixing his eyes on the Wickedest Witch. He’s even more obsessed with her now.”

  “Then all the more I need to get this done fast and return to her in the next minute.”

  “Akem won’t bite your pretty mate’s head off at the moment!” Daisy said. She was still mad at me for punching her jaw.

  But shouldn’t she be as tough as nails? She was the Dragon lady, for crying out loud.

  “I don’t want my female to stay with him one more second than necessary,” I said. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is for her to be on this planet? Her enemies—Akem, vampires, cannibals, unlawful clans—are everywhere.”

  “She’s a big girl. She can handle Akem, especially now she can spew fire. Why don’t you sit down? You, hovering in the air, beating those flamboyant wings, will bring unnecessary attention to us.”

  I touched down on the canopy but, being much heavier than her, I fell through and ended up perching on a high branch. I stuck out my head through the space between the leaves and stared hard at her.

  She threw her head back and gazed up at the gray sky. “I miss the sunshine on my face. Neither my memories nor my imagination can catch the feel of sunlight anymore.”

  Fiammetta must have missed the same.

  “When we get out of here,” I said, “I’ll take my mate to the violet sea. She’ll enjoy sunbathing on the golden beach.” She could wear her three-piece, or better, nothing at all.

  Then I stopped. It was insensitive of me to say that in front of Daisy. Fiammetta had been trapped here for three years, but the Dragon girl had been cursed and enslaved for centuries on Pandemonium.

  Angels weren’t known for our compassion, but I felt sorry for her.

  However, if it was her strategy to use her misery to make me feel bad for her and manipulate me—

  “Let’s get on with the business,” I growled. I needed to harden my heart, especially when Fiammetta was alone down there with the evil elemental entity.

  Daisy sent me an exasperated look. “The only person you won’t bare your teeth at is probably the witch.”

  “She’s super amazing. Why should I be mean to her?”

  “Did you think she was awesome when she kicked you out of her chamber right after sex?”

  “How dare you spy on us!”

  “That was quite amusing, but I never reported the details to Akem. Anyway, let’s get this over with before you start to huff and puff even more. Good news is I don’t need you to vow on your blood. An Archangel’s words are binding.”

  “What do you want me to swear?”

  “After you cross the portal, you’ll deliver my message before you escort your mate to her home. You’ll take care of my affair first, above anything else.”

  I pondered. One message was easy. I could just take Fiammetta with me to deliver the Furies’ notes before I brought her home. This actually worked for me. I could use that opportunity to get Fia to spend more time with me in my spaceship. And when she had to go home, she would already be addicted to me and couldn’t live without me.

  I wouldn’t even need to persuade her to go with me to the next galaxy. I would wiggle a finger, and she would follow. I knew I was asking her to give up her throne, but I would give her more. I would give her everything I had.

  “No other strings attached, right?” I asked. “Just a message.”

  “Only a message.”

  “What is it, then?”

  “When you vow the oath, the message will appear.”

  “Who am I to deliver it to?”

  “After you say the word, I’ll have something for you.”

  I didn’t want the Dragon shifter to know, but I would help her even without the vow. It wasn’t peachy being stuck on Pandemonium as a slave.

  “You understand that if my mate and I don’t get off Pandemonium, the vow will be nullified.”

  “Of course.”

  “If you don’t do your best to help us, or if your solution for us is useless, then the vow will be invalid.”

  “Certainly.”

  “The place you want me to go is somewhere I can reach under reasonable conditions.”

  “Yes.”

  “If the person of interest has perished, I won’t follow him or her to the grave, and I won’t be faulted. Your package will be marked as delivered, and I won’t be held liab
le for any more obligation.”

  “It will be so.”

  What else?

  “Do you want to spend the whole day here with me, Archangel Gabriel, while your mate is vulnerable?”

  I gave her a wary look. Somehow, I didn’t feel good about this, but I couldn’t find a pitfall. Plus, being away from Fiammetta was driving me out of my mind, though I hadn’t felt any threat through our bond.

  And, I wanted to help the Furies.

  “I, Archangel Gabriel, vow to deliver the Fury’s message first after my mate and I and our team cross the portal safely.”

  A snap crackled in the air.

  Then, a gold band, the width of three fingers, clasped on my left wrist.

  “What the fuck?” I growled, immediately trying to break off the bracelet.

  “You won’t be able to take it off until you deliver my message,” the Fury said. “The moment you vowed, it came into effect, bound by magic. The gold bracelet is a magical item. My curse is intricate, as is the message. It’s tuned to your intention. When you’re ready to seek my intended party, the runes on the band will materialize and give you detailed instructions. When you locate my rescuer, the band will be released from your wrist, and you’ll be free.”

  “You should have listed all these intrigues before you got me on board,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m sorry, but I didn’t want any complications.”

  She didn’t look sorry at all.

  “Now tell me how to solve the portal problem.”

  “Before I tell you anything, I’ll have to warn you.”

  I stared at her warily.

  She edged further from me, out of the reach of my wingspan, and looked sheepish.

  “There’s a little technical issue.” She bit her lip, then decided to blurt it out. “With the magical band on you, you can’t sleep with the Wickedest Witch.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I roared.

  “Shush, please keep it quiet. Your mate is negotiating with Akem. Don’t turn his eyes on us.”

  “I need to get back to her!”

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “Explain yourself. Why can’t I have intimacy with my mate?”

  “It’s all tied to my curse.” She sighed. “Only true loves can release me from it. So, when you took the vow, part of the curse fell upon you as well. You’ll have to prove your true love to your mate before you can be with her again. And if you truly love her, you’ll succeed in delivering the message for me, and I’ll have a chance to break my curse. This is how it works: you can have intercourse with her only after you fulfill your obligation to me.”