ANGEL’S STORM MAGIC
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Both his wife and Kai glare down at the man, who clears his throat and raises his hand. “I speak first.” He refuses to look at his wife, so he keeps his eyes on Kai. “If you take Xirena away, then we’re not obliged to support her financially.”
“You’ll be off the hook this very minute,” Kai says. “I’ll take full responsibility for Xirena’s welfare.”
“Including her college fee and boarding costs?” the man asks. His eyes show more white than black.
“Yes. I’ll pay everything for her,” Kai says.
Delighted relief moves across the man’s face. He glances at Kai with a friendlier look.
“No!” The woman shoves her husband aside and he stumbles. “I won’t allow it.”
She wants to keep me for the game. What fun can the hunter have if there is no game in the woods? I know for sure she won’t pay for my college, but at this moment, she’d say anything and do anything to win. When she tears me from Kai, she’ll savor her victory and fix me good.
“Like your permission counts,” I say, turning to Kai. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Lunging, the woman grabs my arm. I’m near her, and Kai happens to be on my other side. I wrench from her grip. She then snatches a pair of chopsticks from the dinette table to smack my head. Before I can counterattack, Kai has leapt before me, shielding me and covering my head with his hands.
I hear the sound of the wood chopsticks crashing against flesh and breaking with sharp snapping sound.
Kai will not hit back, because no matter what, in his mind she’s still my biological mother. He also has a rule to never hit a woman. But I’ll hit back. She gave up the sacred rights of being my mother when she offered baby-me to a demon so she could get away. When I was six, I overheard her telling her demon dream to her coworkers at the recycling center.
I break free from Kai while he’s occupied with protecting me, and my fist rams onto the woman’s gut. She staggers back and doubles over. The broken chopsticks drop from her hands, scattering to the floor. Her husband stands over her, dumbfounded.
“What are you looking at?” she curses between her ragged gasps. “Hit them!”
“You can try!” I say, eyeing a chair near me.
Her husband isn’t going to do anything. He’s never been man enough. “Don’t fight,” he begs. “We’ll be the joke of the town.”
“You’d hit your own mother?” Squatting against the wall, the woman cries, as if someone she loved just died, if she’s ever loved anyone.
I used only half of my strength on her. I didn’t fight her as I fought the school bullies. For some reason, I can’t hit her with full force. And after I punched her, I still shudder on the inside.
But one glance at Kai’s bloody hands, my eyes turn into blades again.
“Heaven will damn you!” she curses among her tears. “No one who hits her own mother will go unpunished! Your conscience was fed to the wild wolf! I should have strangled you the day you were born, you monster! You fiend from hell!” She cries more.
“You’re no mother to me. My real mom passed away eight years ago. She used to make me flower pancakes,” I say.
Kai looks confused. “Your real mother?”
“Bloodline means nothing to me,” I say.
He nods. “Only those who love you are your true family.”
I hold his wrist gently. Both of his hands are wounded, one from the knife cut when he swore his love to me, the other from the chopsticks, which reopened the old wounds from the mirror. “We’re leaving, Kai. If they try to stop us, we’ll hit back. Show no mercy.”
The woman straightens up, but still leans against the wall like an invalid, with an intention to show the world how my blow has maimed her. I almost tell her not to waste her time. She of all people should know how compassionless I am.
“It’s not over!” she hisses. “When my son comes home and finds out what you two did to me, he’ll kill you!”
“Come near Kai and me,” my voice is dead and cold, “I’ll end you.”
Everyone shivers but me. Even Kai appears uneasy. He slips an arm around my stiff shoulder. “Let’s get out of here, love,” he urges.
“Leave, but go butt naked! You take your clothes off. You don’t get to take anything that’s mine!” shouts the woman, but she doesn’t come near me.
“Go to hell,” I tell her.
“You haven’t won, Xirena! The war has just started!” she screams. “You’ll lose everything for that devil boy. The whole town will . . . .”
I slam the heavy door shut.
Kai and I leap down the stairs, three at a time, like a pair of panthers.
I never look back.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TIME FLOWS, LOVE STAYS
Kai and I step into the white night. The only sounds are the sighs of the gentle, cold wind and tree twigs creaking under the weight of the snow. No light emits from the narrow, packed houses along the snow-covered streets. Dressed in a soft, white gown, the usually dirty, desolate town looks like a sleepy beauty.
Kai and I hold hands as we trek toward his brick house over the hill.
“You set me free, Kai. You’ve given me a pair of wings.”
“You broke the chain yourself, my love,” he says. Cold light from the snow reflects in his eyes, but it can’t diminish the warmth within. “You’ll never fear again.”
“Never?” I ask with a blank expression.
“Never,” he confirms with an unyielding look.
“You’re wrong,” I say ruefully. Then over his perplexed and concerned expression, I bend, glancing up at him through my long eyelashes. “Shouldn’t I fear you, you big wolf?” I grab a handful of snow, squeeze it into a hard ball, and toss it at his face.
The snowball makes contact with his fine-boned nose and shatters.
He looks stupefied. I’ve broken into a run.
A wolf’s howl erupts behind me. Kai chases and leaps, pinning me down to the ground. We roll over and over. One second he’s on top of me; the next I’m on him. Snow and mud are all over us.
I work on bending my knees to kick him off, but I’m laughing too hard to achieve that. My plan wouldn’t have succeeded anyway. I’m a dirty street fighter, but he’s a martial arts graduate.
“Xire, my love,” he says with a lazy, indulgent smile, and then he lets me go.
We lie side by side on the snow, gazing deep into each other’s eyes, seeking the hidden treasure we have yet to find.
The affair of the heart is the deadliest. I used to warn myself not to listen to the fool who says, “Follow your heart.” But I can’t help myself anymore. My heart burns for him.
“I love you, Kai,” I say. “No matter how far I go and how high I fly, I’ll always come back to you.”
He gazes at me; the bronze speckles that rim his dark irises ignite like the shooting stars. He rolls me on top of him. My lush, black hair cascades down around him and the snow. He slides his fingers into my half-wet hair, pulls me toward him, and claims my lips with ravenous passion. I’ve never felt more beautiful and alive.
Inside the flame, I return his kiss with equally scorching wildfire. This moment of supreme happiness flows at the speed of light, to the infinite universe where there is no end, where love never fades.
— The End —
INTRODUCE THE DRAGONIAN’S WITCH (THE FIRST WITCH BOOK 1)
A companion book to The Empress of Mysth
He abducts me to find his fated mate, unaware that I am she.
I am Freyja, the First Witch. I was born with a cruel curse: anyone I touch with my bare skin will die an agonizing death. That is, until a formidable, drop-dead gorgeous Dragonian prince invades my forest home.
The prince’s lust burns hot and bright for me, yet he resists, wanting his destined witch more. The oracle promises the witch will be his true queen and bring him the greatest kingdom on Earth. Knowing he’s the only man who can touch me, I crave his scorching caress. But I’ve sworn
never to reveal that I am the witch. Not until he chooses me above her.
When the mating frenzy drives both of us to the brink of insanity, someone has to give, but it won’t be me.
THE DRAGONIAN’S WITCH
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071L2PSJD
More Books by Meg Xuemei X
SHIFTERS’ ONE TRUE MATE
Claim the Wolf King
Claim the Leopard Princess
Complete THE FIRST WITCH duet with an HEA Ending
The Dragonian's Witch: Book 1
The Witch's Consort: Book 2
THE WICKEDEST WITCH
Book 1: Wicked Witvh
Book 2: Dark Vampire
Book 3: Fallen Angel
DARK CHEMISTRY
THE SIREN (DARK CHEMISTRY, #1)
THE PRINCE (DARK CHEMISTRY, # 2)
THE RED QUEEN (DARK CHEMISTRY, #3)
About the Author
Meg Xuemei X is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes steamy paranormal and sci-fi romance. She finds it dreamingly delightful to be around drop-dead gorgeous alpha males who are forever tormented by her feisty heroines, formidable alien angels, wild shifters, haughty fey, dark vampires, and cunning witches.
She's visited the universe of The Empress of Mysth, The First Witch, and Dark Chemistry. Next she'll boldly go to the badland of The Wickedest Witch. At this moment, in her southern California abode, she's packing as many forbidden weapons as she can carry. Her favorite one is a magical whip.
She is always happy to hear from readers and welcome new friends on Facebook.
Email: megxuemei@gmail.com
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