The Fae Queen’s Harem: A Reverse Harem Paranormal and Fantasy Romance (The Cursed Dragon Queen and Her Mates Book 3)

by Meg Xuemei X

  The wind stirred, foretelling the coming peril, sending the odor of decay and foulness our way. The evil lurked beneath the soil. My grandparents had warned me that the portal to the demon realm was somewhere in the Breath of the Wild.

  The tip of a banner appeared on the horizon, then many banners emerged from the hills. Beneath the banners was an army in white armor, their longswords glistening under the overcast sky.

  Our eyes widened. Another army would be very inconvenient for us.

  “What the fuck?” Blaze called in alarm, ready to shift to his dragon form.

  “It’s the light Fae army, our allies,” Elvey said with a grin. “It’s my style to have some escorts.”

  “You also arranged that in secret?” I asked, half pleased, half scolding. For sure, I would need to have a word with him. As his wife, I did not like being kept in the dark again and again. But since he was new to this relationship, he might not know that matehood was all about sharing.

  I also needed to have a word with my dragon mates.

  We were going to have a long therapy session when all of this was over.

  “Finrod broke the veil between the light Fae and dark Fae realms for this war,” Elvey said, as if he thought all I concerned about was the technical issues. “His army poured into this wilderness yesterday, waiting for our arrival. The demon army will come, and our light Fae brothers will remove the obstacles for us.”

  “Is that so, cousin?” a voice purred, then a squad of light Fae royal guards dropped from the roof of the temple.

  I’d been so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed the invisible glamour Finrod had cast over himself and his warriors.

  Elvey and Finrod clasped forearms in greeting, and all the warriors behind their king bowed at Elvey. “Prince.”

  “He’s king now, the dark Fae king,” Finrod laughed. “The guy got married. The three dragon kings are also married to the same beautiful woman, the queen to Sihde and Danaenyth of Dragon Realm and six human cities. I envy each one of them, yet Daisy won’t allow me to join her harem.”

  I rolled my eyes, and Finrod nodded at my dragon consort kings, who returned the light Fae king’s greeting with friendly nods of acknowledgement.

  “Your Majesties.” The elite light Fae guards bowed again to all of us.

  Elvey had mentioned that court etiquettes for a light Fae was important. He hadn’t been exaggerating.

  “Shall we go in?” I said, arching an eyebrow.

  It was best we got in the temple and stabbed the black heart with my mates’ secret recipe before my evil aunt turned up to disrupt us.

  A stench of the foulest magic wafted toward us. A plume of grimy smoke twirled in the air. Tianna materialized on top of the stairs with her elite sentries. Then, at the base of the stone staircase, the earth opened, and horned demons poured out like a large horde of locusts.

  That was the portal to the demon realm.

  The first wave of the demons rushed up the stairs toward us to fight for their demon king. The rest of the demon army turned and crashed onto the light Fae army approaching at lightning speed.

  The cries of the battle horns pierced the air, echoing in the bleak plain and ruins.

  Steel crossed each other and impaled flesh and bones without mercy.

  Red and black blood spilled everywhere.

  Arrows shot from the light Fae army into the sky toward a square of the flying demons.

  The light Fae warriors had great prowess and skills, and the demons were well-trained and fearless. Some banners dropped, being trodden by the boots, as many Fae warriors fell. Then the ones after their fallen brethren picked up the banners, wielded their swords, and thrust into the enemies.

  They stepped on the demonic corpses and met the next waves of assault.

  It was the most brutal battle I’d ever seen, and the sky seemed tainted with red and black.

  My blood sang with thrill. My heart pounded with battle frenzy.

  I wondered how my dragon and human army fared on the other side of the battlefield, but there was no time for updates and worries.

  “Tear them to pieces!” Tianna screamed, her face contorting in pure hatred and black rage.

  My four mates had humiliated her as no other ever had. Together, they’d deceived the greatest deceiver.

  Elvey sent his blue light into the darkness of the temple, and we bolted into the lair, my mates flanking me, two in front and two behind. I didn’t protest as I shielded us with my White Light.

  The pungent odor of rotten flesh, rusty blood, and evil magic plumbed in the air. Rai and a few light Fae gagged. Rai had a more sensitive nose than his brothers.

  Blaze cursed as he glanced at the blood-tainted walls around us. He moved closer to me, as if wanting to shield me from the sight. But I’d seen all the first time I’d been here.

  “Evil pulses beneath,” Finrod said, cold rage in his righteous voice.

  And again, my instinct roared at me to run from this place with my mates and never to return, but I ran headfirst with them into the depth of Tianna’s torture temple.

  Three flying demons caught up with us, Tianna riding on top of the center one.

  Blaze, Rai, and Iokul were about to shift to dragons.

  “Let us handle them,” Finrod said. “You go do your thing and make it quick.”

  Elvey must have briefed him. He seemed to be able to talk to his cousin telepathically as well. That was one of the reasons that Finrod hadn’t rushed into the temple to free his betrothed but had waited for us to arrive. It had taken sheer will and great discipline for the light Fae king to do that.

  “Light Fae King Finrod, how delightful it is to see you,” Tianna giggled. “You’re going to die here today, and I’ll harvest your soul just like I’m using and draining your lovely Nerida. She’s been here for centuries, trapped in a coffin, and you had no idea I took her.”

  Finrod roared and threw up his hand, an ivory light tearing through the air and blasting toward Tianna and her demons. Her demon ride tumbled down at the force, but Tianna landed without a scratch. She tossed a wind of smoke at Finrod, but it bounced off the White Light shield I’d cast on all my companions.

  A large group of demons moved in and charged us.

  The light Fae warriors met them with blades.

  “Go!” Finrod said. “Free my future queen!”

  Elvey led us down the last stairs and into the vast underground chamber.

  As we ran, Elvey let his magic roll, and it disarmed the ward around the black crystal vessel that contained the living black heart.

  The air crackled like a slashing whip, and the ward dropped.

  Iokul threw his ice current out and tossed away the lid.

  My dragon mates stared at the dark heart pulsing inside, their eyes widening in horror as they traced the hundreds of stretching veins from the heart to the beings encased in the standing glass coffins lined against the walls.

  “Holy shit!” Blaze said. “That bitch did all this to them?”

  “She’s using their souls as batteries to power her up through the heart,” Elvey said.

  “Let’s cut the black heart and destroy it now,” Iokul snarled, his ice spears floating in the air, ready to impale the heart. “The usurper revealed that when we kill the black heart, we can kill her. Let’s end the depraved bitch once and for all!”

  An inhuman, demonic laugh rose from behind us.

  Tianna levitated at the entrance, smoke and purple light twirling around her with the festering scent of death. They sailed toward us like thousands of arrows. I threw up my hands, and at the same time, all my mates tossed their magic at her—lightning, fire, ice, and blue light. But our magic all crashed at the onslaught of her enhanced purple light.

  Her power was the most potent when she was near the black heart.

  The foul force sent us flying away from the black heart and pinned us against the glass coffins where the prisoners writhed inside.

  The smoke hovered over us
, hissing, ready to invade us.

  Cold fear iced over my blood. If the smoke got into us, it’d be the end of us all.

  We’d come so close. We’d gained the secret to kill Tianna, but in the depths of her lair, she was unbelievably powerful and unmatchable, with her prevailing dark Fae and demonic magic.

  I’d underestimated her.

  I sent another shot of White Light to shield my mates and me in desperation, but Tianna’s purple light grew even stronger at my resistance. It kept tearing open my walls.

  Cold sweat formed under my armpits. I was nearly spent while Tianna simply recharged her power.

  Elvey, Rai, Blaze, and Iokul struggled to break free of the dark power to reach me. They called my name in fear and panic.

  “I’m okay,” I croaked, trying to comfort them with a lie.

  Ivory light rippled toward Tianna from her back, breaking her concentration. At the same time, Finrod flung his dagger at her.

  Two demons lunged at Finrod from behind. Before I had a chance to shout a warning, Finrod thrust his longsword backward without looking, his blade burying into the demon’s chest. Another Fae warrior appeared and stalked the other demon.

  Tianna turned from us and threw her purple light at Finrod with demonic hisses. It smashed into Finrod’s ivory light and broke the Fae king’s magic.

  Finrod collapsed to the ground, the purple light trapping him in its net, and smoke hovering above him.

  Tianna laughed, her voice dripping with hatred and disdain. “You’re mine now, King Finrod. I never thought I could have you. It’s your ultimate mistake to break the veil between our realms and come to aid my stupid niece and her four whores. Now you’ll join your beloved Nerida as my food.”

  Finrod screamed as the smoke entered through his eyes.

  His warriors roared and came to aid, but the smoke invaded them all, possessing them.

  But Finrod’s interruption had bought us the time we needed.

  We’d all shaken off the bind of Tianna’s dark magic. In an instant, my four mates had reached me. Iokul’s ice spears materialized in the air and sliced our palms at the same time. Every second lost would be life and death.

  The five of us held hands in a ring, our blood merging, our bond stronger than ever.

  Nothing and no one could break us apart again.

  My mates poured their powers into me. The powers brimmed with their absolute devotion and unconditional, undying love.

  A new magic bled into my veins. It collected, cherished, mated, and mutated. It surged up my spine and whirled inside my body like a tornado.

  I could no longer hold it back. It craved for battle. It desired the glory of destruction.

  A ring of White Light formed, circling us. Elvey’s blue light joined it, then Blaze’s fire, Rai’s lightning, and Iokul’s icy stream.

  The combined magic was the most glorious and terrifying thing I’d ever seen.

  The ring straightened, turning to a spear of light and fire, sailing through the air.

  “No! No! No! You’re cheating, whores!” Tianna screamed. “This is not happening. I forbid it!”

  Her cat-green eyes turned completely black, the stench of her fear filling the chamber.

  Her smoke and purple light, so thick it was malleable, rolled toward us like tidal waves, but the ring of my White Light that had infused with my mates’ powers crashed into her foul magic.

  The spear forged by our powers pierced the dark force like a knife cutting through butter with sizzling heat.

  Lightning flashed across the chamber while thunder roared outside. A firestorm raged with the lightning. Ice frosted the ceilings.

  Our ultimate weapon flew toward the pounding black heart. The spear severed all the veins connecting to the heart, cutting off its supply of energy from those souls.

  A dense, dark mass moved out of the heart to counter our spear, but the spear of light and fire and lightning didn’t withdraw. It lifted high then plunged into the center of the heart.

  The shockwave threw Tianna back and pinned her to the ceiling.

  She writhed and screamed along with the black heart.

  The horrific sound pumped blood in my ears, hurting my eardrums. I wanted to throw my hands up to cover my ears to stop the horrible shrieks. My mates also clenched their teeth, but we didn’t break our link.

  As she struggled, Tianna somehow managed to toss her weakened dark magic at us, but our ring of fire and light slammed it back.

  The temple quaked as the black heart fought to eject the spear of light and fire, but our powers held on. The spear lifted again and plunged back into the very depth of the black heart.

  The glass coffins shattered into pieces. The occupants dropped to the ground, writhing, and crawling on the floor.

  A terrible tearing sound filled the air. It was as if the earth had opened.

  Our spear of light and fire and lightning cleaved the black heart in half. The heart vomited more of its dark mass, its stench gagging me. I turned my face to the side and heaved to vomit, but my mates grabbed me, not letting me go.

  We held onto our connection, our combined magic infusing into our spear.

  We were one. And no one and no force would ever separate us.

  As the spear sank to the bottom of the black heart, carrying the full force of our power and wrath, brilliant light erupted, brightening the entire chamber. Tianna covered her eyes with her hands and shrieked.

  My White Light pushed toward Finrod and his infected Fae warriors, purging the smoke in them. The light Fae king dropped to one knee, gasping as he resurfaced from the black abyss, and raised his head to stare at us. Awe and delight sparked in his star-blue eyes that were so much like Elvey’s.

  The black heart gave a last blood-curdling screech, and those who had fallen from the glass coffins whimpered, too weak to cover their ears to protect themselves from the hellish shrieks.

  Silence fell on the chamber after the horrific scream, then the black heart spewed black lava. Along with it, souls, in the forms of glowing orbs, drifted out of the abyss of the open black heart.

  Tens of thousands of them filled the space like a horde of fireflies.

  They flew toward me, halting outside my shield as they recognized my mates and me as the ones who freed them. I could feel their gratitude singing in the air.

  “Go,” I shouted. “You’re free. Go in peace.”

  They were free, but I doubted if they would ever truly find peace after what they had endured. I prayed that they would.

  The glowing souls flew toward the ceiling, piercing through it, vanishing in the wind of light.

  Tianna freed herself and fled toward the stairs while we were distracted by the army of souls.

  In a flash, Elvey reached her. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, his lips twisting up into a cold, cruel smile.

  She thrashed against him, her cursing and screaming stuck in her throat. She tried to throw her foul magic at him in a final attempt, but Elvey pinned her right there.

  “Hello, Tianna,” he purred. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

  I wanted to tear her throat out, but I’d let my mate have his sweet revenge first.

  “We beat you, utterly and absolutely,” Elvey continued. “Like the ugly fool you are. And now you die.”

  “Please, don’t,” Tianna begged. “I have something you want. I have another secret that concerns you—”

  “I don’t care, you miserable bitch,” Elvey said mercilessly. “I’ve wanted to kill you for every second of the day for centuries. Thanks to my beloved mate who made it happen.” His free hand thrust toward her chest to yank out her heart.

  A shadow shifting between shape and shapeless cut in between Elvey and Tianna.

  What the fuck?

  It was my old scary pal Phantom from Pandemonium. Had he also gone through the portal to our world with the army of my monsters? And what was he doing here?

  It was bad news he was here!

  “
No!” Phantom said.

  Elvey snapped his head at the true creature of nightmare.

  “We had a deal, demigod,” Phantom said.

  Elvey gave him a long look, then he smiled. “The scavenger of the living and the dead, her foul body and soul are yours.”

  Phantom’s shadow form rippled, and the nightmare smiled.

  Chills sliced up my spine.

  “The evil and darkness of the two entities inside her will be the most delicious breakfast,” Phantom said, pondering. “I think they can be dinner, too. I usually skip lunch.”

  Tianna screamed in terror. I had never seen her so scared. Her face distorted into a grotesque shape, the bones rearranging. A screech caught in her throat just as another being tore through her. The demon king inside her emerged and shed the former dark Fae queen’s skin like the Fae vessel was nothing but dirty clothes.

  That was her end of the bargain with a powerful demon.

  The demon king took advantage of everyone’s shock and shoved Elvey away, tearing a gap in the air before my mate sent blue light to go after him, before my other mates and I sent my reinforced magic.

  The demon king could open a portal anywhere in his true form.

  He laughed. It sounded coarse, inhuman, and full of evil. Like a dark flash, the horned nine-foot-tall demon king dashed into the shimmering black portal.

  Before the shimmer closed up, a shapeless shadow shot through the crack.

  Elvey grinned vindictively. “Have fun, my friend.”

  My demigod mate had made friends with Phantom.

  27

  Most of Tianna’s former captives were at the brink of death. But they were free now. My White Light had severed their links to the black heart.

  That one bitch could cause so much hurt and damage still enraged me.

  More light Fae warriors poured into the chamber, shock and rage bleeding through their expressions at the horrific sight of the misery of Tianna’s victims.

  Finrod knelt before a glass coffin, holding Princess Nerida, his betrothed, tears streaming silently down his cheeks. She opened her mouth, trying to say his name but shut it.