by Unknown
All who enter shall perish. Except the chosen son and daughter.
Another riddle, and there was no light shed on it. The light had gone out of Earth when the angels trespassed through our universe.
“Find the Sky Power,” North repeated softly.
Was he going to realize that what he’d requested was ridiculous, let alone impossible? “Do you even know what the Sky Power is?”
“I’ll find the final clue from the oracle and get back to you,” he said. “As I said, the oracle is full of riddles and undecipherable inscriptions.”
“That’s encouraging to know,” I said sarcastically.
“Even if you can’t find it, we’ll go as planned. I’ll retrieve you a week before the wedding. And we go to war with the angels, to whatever end.”
That was what I wanted to hear. I placed a hand on his arm and promised softly, “To whatever end.” I watched the light in his glowing eyes brighten like fire in deep night.
“I need to go now,” I said hoarsely and wondered if Femi and Philomena had charmed Prince Seth so completely that he’d forgotten I ever existed.
But it was best that he hadn’t noticed my absence, I thought dryly.
The building suddenly trembled as if a blunt force had smashed into it from all sides. The windows rattled. The perfume bottles hit the floor above.
North and I traded an alarmed look.
“I thought this was a safe hideout,” I said.
“I thought you weren’t followed,” he said.
“Your lookout confirmed there was no tail,” I said.
Lexa and a Dragonian warrior, who had taken up their places by the door while North and I conversed, ducked out of the cellar, their blades raised before them.
“Get down to the tunnel, Empress.” North moved toward the desk and pressed under it. “We’ll exit at Babylon’s border. A vehicle will be waiting for us there.”
A hidden door leading to the underground opened beneath the half-window.
“But my guard—” I said.
The scent of pine, finest wine, leather and sweat hit my nostrils.
Before I could issue a warning to North, the High Prince of Angels uncloaked himself.
“She’s going nowhere with you, Dragonian,” Prince Seth hissed. His long sword flashed in his hand.
PRINCESS ROSE
The perfume shop trembled as if a brutal force slammed into it from all sides. North and I stared at the rattling window.
Clang. Splash. Pong.
Dozens of bottles must have dropped to the floor above.
North hurried to the desk and hit a button under it. “Get down to the tunnel, Empress,” he said. “We’ll exit at Babylon’s border. A vehicle will be waiting for us there.”
A hidden door leading to the underground opened beneath the half-window.
The scent of pine, aged wine, leather, and sweat drifted toward me.
Before I could issue a warning to North, Prince Seth had uncloaked himself.
“She’s going nowhere with you, Dragonian,” the High Prince said, his long sword swinging in his hand.
He had tracked me down.
Now I knew that even if I fled to the end of the Earth, he would still find me.
North drew a blade that could cut into the flesh of an angel. The Dragonian rebels had been scavenging weapons from those rogue angels who were scattered in the Earth cities outside Atlantis.
I’d seen North fight. He was a great warrior, but he wasn’t at the level of the Prince of Angels, not even close. Seth would kill him before he even made a move.
Even if I joined North to fight the prince—
I moved, cutting in between them. “Seth, I can explain,” I said, sweat dripping down my temples.
“Explain after he’s dead!” the prince said.
“Then run your blade through me,” I said.
“You’d defend him with your own life?” The words spat through the prince’s clenched teeth.
I’d never seen him so enraged, except for when he’d spotted the assassins who had tried to harm me.
My heart pounded in fear, yet I didn’t back down. “Seth, calm down,” I said. “North and I were just talking!”
The angel narrowed his eyes. “First name basis with a Dragonian?”
“I called you Seth as well!” I said. “And you’re an angel.”
Fury accelerated in the angel. “You compare me to him?”
“I just want you to cool off so I can explain things!” I shouted and pulled out a chakram from my sleeve.
Seth gave my chakram a passing glance and snorted.
He didn’t think I stood a chance at besting him with it, but he’d never seen me use it before. It wasn’t a regular weapon. It was a magic one made just for me.
But would I use it on Seth?
“Get out of my way, Rose,” the angel warned.
“Get down to the tunnel, Empress,” North also shouted. “I’ll seal it after you.”
Seth and North would duel. I didn’t need to worry about Seth, but North would be a bloody corpse and I’d lose the Dragonian as my ally.
All of my efforts would be for nothing, if North died today: the future war against the angel horde would be lost here.
So the choice was made for me: I had to fight Seth off with North.
The prince saw it in my eyes. Cold mercilessness frosted his. I’d never seen him becoming a glacier in a heartbeat before and I couldn’t help but shiver.
Even if I begged and offered myself unreservedly, slept with him right then and there, it wouldn’t change a thing. It wouldn’t save my neck.
Now I completely understood why the High Prince of All Angels was so feared.
Princess, you must leave now, Lexa called me telepathically. We’re fighting a company of angel sentinels. We can’t hold for long. Go!
I’d blocked out the noises from outside the perfume shop when the prince had materialized, and now the sound of fighting flooded back in and magnified in the room.
Steel against steel.
Blades stabbing into flesh and bone.
Shouts and curses and screams.
I looked at Seth, then North. The blood drained from my face.
I was done. North was done. The alliance was over.
“You’ll go with me now, Princess,” Seth said, looking at the Dragonian leader over my head with a vicious snarl. “I’ll come for you later, Dragonian!”
Before Seth could reach me and before North could move to combat the Prince of Angels, the door to the cellar toppled down.
Three angels charged in, their blades dripping blood. So they’d broken through the defenses Lexa and North’s team put up.
The sentinels wore helmets with the symbol of three black skulls, which was Victoria’s house insignia. They looked taken aback at seeing their high prince facing down the Dragonian leader with me between them.
It wasn’t difficult for them to put the two and two together.
So now it was four angels against North and me.
They bowed to their high prince first. Their ringleader, a black-winged angel, pointed at me. “The Princess of Mysth is a traitor! We’re bringing her back to Atlantis with the Dragonian’s head.”
As he moved toward me, Prince Seth swung his sword and blocked him. “I’ll handle the princess.”
“With no disrespect, Your Highness,” the pack leader said, “but I have a direct order from the king and the general. My task is to deliver that rat, to toss her at General Victoria’s feet and watch her beg for mercy.”
“Then go get your prize,” Prince Seth said coldly.
Icy air travelled from my head to my toes.
“Go, Rose!” North yelled, about to lunge in front of me.
I would stand to fight with my ally. Besides, his sacrifice wouldn’t spare me from today’s fate.
Victoria’s pack swaggered toward me and North. At the same time, Prince Seth moved.
All set in motion at once.
&nbs
p; In a blur, the prince buried his sword in the leading angel’s chest.
My chakram spun in the air, found its target, and took the neck of the next angel. It was no ordinary earthling weapon; it was made in the twilight realm by the purest magic since ancient time. It had been made for me before I’d been born.
The chakram, tainted with blood on its edge now, flew back toward me, and I caught it in the air.
North lunged at the last angel and crossed blades with him.
The last angel widened his eyes, parrying against North, while focusing on his prince. “Your Highness, you—you—”
“How dare you follow me?” Seth asked in a clam, lethal voice. “Did Victoria send you to track me?”
“We dared not trace you, Your Highness,” the angel said. “We’d been following the Mysthian princess. We’ve suspected her for a while.”
“Indeed,” Seth said, a killing light in his eyes.
A panicked look crossed the angel soldier’s face. He shoved North off with a forceful strike and sprang toward the exit.
We couldn’t afford to let him get away. I sent out my chakram again, but the angel blocked it with his broad blade. Before North and I were on him again, the angel fell on his face, wings draping limply behind him on the stairs, a dagger buried in his temple.
Prince Seth stepped forward to retrieve his dagger and wiped the blood on the dead angel’s uniform, his cold, hard eyes glued to the Dragonian leader.
“Seth,” I called, intending to break the tension.
His gaze flickered to me, his expression unreadable, then it returned to North as black lightning sparked on the blue tips of his golden wings.
The High Prince of Angels was like a sky god, beautiful and terrifying.
“If you aren’t going to kill me, Prince Seth,” I said, my mouth so dry it was hard to speak, “then let him go. Please.” And looking into his icy, gorgeous face, I decided to tell him the truth. I didn’t know if this would work, but he had once told me that the best strategy with him was to be candid and straightforward. “North is the leader of the Dragonian rebels,” I added, “and he is my ally. I’ve been scheming with him to bring a joint army to fight your brother and his horde.”
North looked at me as if I’d completely lost my mind, but Seth’s face showed I had piqued his interest, which at least broke part of his glacier makeup.
“You’re the head of my security,” I kept going, “and I’m your responsibility. You’re also bound to your word to keep me safe, and against all odds, you’ve kept me safe.”
He didn’t comment, but he was listening.
“You warned me to stop any foolishness I was planning,” I offered.
He frowned. “I said that. But did you listen?”
A small relief washed over me, at least he was responding.
“You also mocked me, saying that whatever my silly moves were, I wouldn’t succeed,” I said.
“I’ve been right,” he snarled. “Look at the mess you’re in.”
“I’m not afraid of the mess,” I said boldly. “Things will get messier. If you don’t believe that I can be a threat to your mighty angels, why don’t you let me try this once and get it out of my system? You have something you want and need to get out of your system, too, and I’ve never judged you.” I locked onto his dark gaze. Somehow my brutal openness had lessened his sizzling anger. “Give me a chance to fight the king’s army. You have no love for him, either. Please, Seth. I won’t ask you to spare my life, but I’m asking this one chance to fight fair and square.”
“You’ve never fought fair and square,” Seth grunted, “especially when you go up against me.” His gaze shifted to North, instantly becoming the edge of a blade. “Don’t expect me to help you get rid of the angels outside of your shop as well. Let me see your face again, Dragonian, you’re dead.”
“Same to you,” North grated, sending the High Prince of Angels a look of absolute hatred before charging out of the cellar to aid what was left of his team in fighting the remaining angels.
“I have to go help Lexa,” I said, ready to follow North out, but the prince grabbed my waist.
“Your guard will be fine,” he said. “You’re leaving with me.”
He raised a hand and a jet of black lightning smashed onto the half-window above the ground, blowing off the whole wall.
Lexa, I called telepathically.
Princess! I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you. Lexa answered. We’re battling the last two angel sentinels. The Dragonian leader and his reinforcements have joined us. Two dozen Dragonian fell.
Leave now, I said. Let the Dragonian fight the rest of the angels.
I’m coming for you, she said.
Don’t. You’re now returning to Mysth.
I can’t leave you alone in the angels’ city, she said. I vowed—
I could sense her retreating from the tangle of the battle outside.
I’m not alone, I said. I’m leaving for safety. Do not ever return to Atlantis: your death there would not aid me one jot. That is my strict order! See you at home.
The prince grabbed me and crushed me to his hard chest. As he flew me through the empty space where the wall and window had been, I saw Lexa charging into the cellar, her blade dripping blood.
“Princess!” she cried, shocked to see Seth taking me into the sky.
PRINCE SETH
I had her.
She was in my arms, safe and clinging.
When I thought I might have already lost her, panic had gathered in my throat like a cluster of ice spikes. Then the realization hit me: I was no longer the unfeeling angel.
The fey princess had brought deep, negative emotions out of me. Some of the feelings confused and dismayed me.
I hadn’t expected my lust for her would drive me this far down the road.
I needed to solve this thorny issue. I needed to fuck her as soon as possible. Once I got it out of my system, I would go back to being my normal, invincible self.
At the moment, I was comforted and content that she was in my arms, soft, warm, and alive.
Her scent of night sky and jasmine caressed me. It sang a secret song and whispered that she was worth it all.
I’ll be the judge of that. I grunted and held her tighter against my chest, not caring that she was gasping for air. I had no intention of loosening my grip.
My only regret was that I hadn’t bled the Dragonian rebel to cut Rose’s connection to him. But I could always go back there, find him, and finish him off. I’d strike him down just for how he had looked at her. That male lusted after her. No male should have eyed my lamb.
She wouldn’t even have to know when I went to kill the Dragonian.
The princess had thrown me off balance when she’d been brutally honest with me. She’d revealed her alliance with the Dragonian rebels. Just as I’d suspected, she’d schemed against my kind, but I hadn’t thought it would be on such a grand scale, that she’d been assembling a joint army with the Dragonian.
The angels would cut them all like paper.
We had fought armies the numbers of the stars. We had fought a formidable race more powerful than us.
No beings in the universe had ever crushed the angels.
The princess’s confession had soothed my temper. She then demanded I give her a fair chance to fight my species, as if she was only asking for a peach pie. I hadn’t known if I should have been angrier or amused. But strangely she had gotten through to me.
Part of me was curious to know how much she could achieve and how far she would go. Of course, I had everything under control. I wouldn’t let her go too far, would ensure she was never in danger of losing even a pinkie.
Even a fool could wage a war, but winning it needed more than an army and steel will. What did a nineteen-year-old girl who had lived a sheltered, golden life in the magic realm know about war? It would never be as glorious as she thought. It was beyond gloomy, especially so if the war lasted. She hadn’t even seen a broken body b
efore this day when I had cut Victoria’s angels before her.
Despite her short-sightedness, she’d been open with me for the first time. And because of her first sign of trust, I had rewarded her and let the Dragonian rebel leader live for the day. But I wouldn’t let her get in touch with him again. I had to protect her from all adversaries, including herself.
“Prince,” Rose whispered, shivering in my arms. “Don’t you think we fly a bit too high?”
“I thought you’d appreciate extreme sports,” I said harshly, “considering what you pulled off today. And it isn’t ‘we fly’: I’m doing the labor and you’re just hitching a joy ride.”
She didn’t protest again but clasped her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs tightly around my waist, with the determination to hold on for dear life if I ever decided to drop her.
I liked that she clung to me like this, so I didn’t assure her that I would never let her fall.
PRINCESS ROSE
The rush of air past our bodies as we hurtled up through the sky knocked the breath from my lungs.
A good scream would have released the tension of my fright, but that would give away Seth’s and my presence to the public of Babylon, and his cloaking would be for nothing. So I bit my lip and stifled the sound.
His speed, faster than a shooting arrow, was too great for me to have any comfort. Yet he kept soaring, regardless of the air turning cooler and thinner.
Fear had me in its grip and panic rose to my throat.
It hadn’t at all helped that I buried my face against his broad, hard chest. My hands clasped tightly around his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist like a clam to prevent him from dropping me, intentionally or not.
I’d seen his rage. I’d seen how effortlessly and emotionlessly he’d disposed his fellow angels.
But after flying with the angel for a while and realizing that he wasn’t going to throw me off to plunge down through the sky—at least if I didn’t provoke him again—I relaxed. As I loosened up, I started appreciating his warm chest, which felt like a safe haven in the high sky. I warned myself that this feeling of security and warmth was but an illusion. I had no business feeling cozy with the prince of my enemies.