by Meg Xuemei X
THE EMPRESS
OF MYSTH
book one
angel’s forbidden lust
MEG XUEMEI X
The Empress of Mysth Copyright © 2016 by Meg Xuemei X
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author. Requests for permission should be sent to [email protected].
Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
First Edition
Meg Xuemei X
Cover art by Lou Harper
Edited by Mia Darien
The novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. Novel intended for adults only. Must be 18 years or older to read.
ABOUT THE EMPRESS OF MYSTH
Forbidden. Sworn Enemy. Wicked Seduction.
Savage angels have turned Earth into their hunting ground. To save all earthborns, the fey princess Rose cedes to the marriage demands of the King of Angels, knowing she won't survive the wedding night. When she comes to Atlantis to find a secret weapon to banish angels from our planet, she awakens the darkest lust in the king's lethal brother.
The most formidable angel comes across the universe and finds her. He will stop at nothing to possess her, even if he must fall.
The High Prince offers Rose an indecent proposal: sleep with him once and he'll keep her safe. Rose will turn his urge against him and destroy the angels' house. While unbridled lust burns the prince, it also torments her.
This sizzling mythological romance series centers on war and lust between an immortal race and fallen angels, before humans walked the earth.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Also by Author
About the Author
Chapter 1
PRINCE SETH
I perched atop the golden tower in Atlantis, the angels’ city. The sun was warm. My wings cast a massive shadow on the cold, metal roof beneath me. I tucked them away, but she’d seen me.
Her gaze lingered a second longer before leveling on the gate to Atlantis’s entrance, pretending she hadn’t noticed me. That was amusing. The Princess of Mysth should know angels were gifted with far-sight and superb hearing, and I was the most powerful among them.
Seven armored Mysthian warriors, who wore identical grim expressions, escorted their princess toward the long bridge. I hadn’t fought a Mysthian; I wondered how good they were on the battlefield. Judging from their gaits and the way they carried their weapons, they seemed well trained and disciplined.
Could their swords cut into the flesh of angels? If so, the Mysthians would have some explaining to do as to where they’d gotten the blades, since earthly weapons couldn’t harm us.
Behind the princess, forming a triangle with her, were two ladies-in-waiting. They were stunning, yet their beauty paled in comparison to their mistress.
The Princess of Mysth had thick, sunset-auburn hair. Lovely curls touched her chin in the wind and waved down beneath her elegant shoulders. Her eyes were the color of moonlight streaming in a glass of whisky; at their very depth was the liquid fire of passion.
Her skin tone was golden, like mine, but two shades paler. That was a bit of a surprise since I hadn’t met anyone who had the same golden skin as I.
Angels were considered physical perfection, but the Mysthian princess’s fineness surpassed us. However, her beauty didn’t cause the slightest flutter in my stomach.
The legend said angels were the coldest species in the universe.
That part was true.
And I, the High Prince of all Angels, was the coldest and most brutal among them. My blood only warmed on the battlefield, when I shed that of my opponents; then my wings sparked black lightning and golden fire as I could feel my heartbeat again.
The princess and her escorts pressed on over the marble bridge.
My eyes sharpened: the lady-in-waiting on the left was a warrior in disguise.
I sneered.
The Princess of Mysth was a lamb among us, no matter what precautions she took. She’d been doomed the moment she’d left the twilight realm and come here to be my brother’s bride.
I yawned, no longer interested in watching the princess’s brave march to her gruesome future. I expanded my wings fully and let the sunbeams shine on them, ready to soar into the air.
A gust of wind blew in my direction before I leapt off the roof. A scent—potent, feminine, and mysterious—hit my nostrils. While I was confused by the scent, it had gotten into my lungs like contagious pollen, streaming in my veins.
My blood heated.
A raw male instinct stirred and sharpened inside me.
My cock instantly hardened, straining against the fabric and distorting the shape of my trousers.
How on earth …?
No female could arouse me. I’d lost enthusiasm for sex millennia ago. Yet, all of a sudden, I’d had an erection because of an unknown scent in the air.
I scanned around, more in annoyance than curiosity as I searched for the source.
I was the only one on top of the tower.
I snapped my head back toward the direction from which the first whiff had come.
There were three females in range: the Mysthian princess and her ladies-in-waiting. The scent must have come from one of them. I narrowed my eyes at the females as the perfume kept riding on the wind and setting my blood on fire.
I rose into the air, turned sharply, and dove toward the Mysthians.
At my approach, the soldiers lined up on the bridge lowered the swords with which they had sought to intimidate the Mysthian princess, forcing her to walk beneath arches of wickedly sharp blades.
The Mysthian warriors formed a ring around their princess, their swords toward me as I swooped up and down, circling above the females.
The Princess of Mysth barely gave me or the king’s soldiers a glance, even as the massive shadow of my wings blocked the sun over her slender form. The angels turned their blades toward the Mysthian guards, ready and eager for blood.
She gestured for her guards to return to their former formation and kept marching on in cold calmness. They fell back as if on a tight leash, and the king’s soldiers withdrew their swords to their sides.
The scent, now undiluted by distance, hit me like bricks to my face.
&nb
sp; I had found its source: the Princess of Mysth, the only female I couldn’t have.
My cock didn’t care about that. It jerked and throbbed, wanting to mate with the female who made it ache.
I roared, stunned, and flew back toward the high tower.
The ceiling of the tower unfolded automatically, recognizing my heat signature.
I shot down through the opening and joined my brother and his court in the throne hall.
Chapter 2
PRINCESS ROSE
The golden skyscraper, where the palace of the angel king nested, stretched high into the sky. Its cold metal gleamed.
Atop the tower, the spring’s sunlight backlit a figure, shielding his face in the shadow. His wings, massive and glossy, arched high before being tucked away.
A male angel, exuding immense menace even from afar, was spying on me.
The trespassers had come through the portal in the sky, and they had conquered most of the planet in two weeks and slaughtered a whole tribe of my people.
All Earth residents had been caught unprepared.
My name is Rose Jekaterina Faylinn, Princess of Mysth, the heir to Emperor Oberon. We’re the oldest race on Earth, the firstborn. Other subspecies call us fey, fairies, and the fairest, among many other names.
We’re the immortal Mysthians.
Each Mysthian has an inborn magic that links to earth elements. Our powers are for growing, healing, and nurturing, but useless in war. None of us possess destructive, dark magic.
So my emperor father agreed to the angel king’s terms and sold me to King Agro to buy peace for himself and his kingdom.
According to the intel of my spies, King Agro was a sadist, especially in bed: there seemed to be no boundaries to the ways he found to hurt his bedmates. His incessant, demanding sexual appetite could tire a whole company of females to the bones for a night. More chillingly, the reputed size of his penis was horrifying to any virgin.
“How could you do this to me, to your only heir, Father?” I’d roared in my father’s court.
“I have no choice,” Emperor Oberon had said wearily.
“There’s always a way. You need to get me out of this deal, Father!”
“I’m sorry, Rose,” he’d said. “I’ve thought of all options, but none will work except that I send you to Atlantis. You were born and raised for a day like this.”
“I was born and raised to be the empress in case you don’t make it to the end!”
“That’s true,” he’d said. “You’ll survive in the angels’ city. You’re the one the seers saw that will lead our people to victory.”
“The seers’ foresights aren’t always accurate,” I’d said. “Am I so threatening to you that you must use this opportunity to get rid of me and throw your only heir to the beasts?”
“I did this for the survival of our race,” he’d said. “You know it as well as I. My army is no match against the hordes of angels. If we go to war, they’ll wipe us out, as they’ve already annihilated seven subspecies. I have to make the hardest choice as the emperor. I have to put the whole kingdom above the interest of one person, even though that one is my only daughter.”
“Please, Father, reconsider,” I’d said urgently. “When the angels send me back to you, I won’t even have a bone left.”
“The decision is final,” the emperor had said. “You’ll find a way to survive and thrive.”
“Thrive?” I’d stared at my father like he was a stranger to me, but he’d avoided looking at my devastated face.
“Mysthians have never been a warrior breed.” My father had looked rueful. “I should have prepared, but I thought—”
“You thought too late. For years, I’ve warned you. I’ve begged you to increase the army, to train the warriors, and to promote gifted generals.”
“That’s not our way of life.”
“Your way of life? Indulging yourself in fine wine, merry music, and your mistress’s bosom?”
“Rose Faylinn, remember you’re the princess and not some vulgar commoner!” My father had turned to me with reddened face. “I can throw you into the isolation cell for disrespect. I’m still the emperor here!”
“Then throw me into the isolation cell or dungeon instead of tossing me to the angels.”
“This argument is tiresome,” the emperor had said.
“After you offer me to the enemies, they’ll still come to take Mysth.”
“They won’t,” my father had said, confident for the first time. “They know we’re the Earth Mother’s favorite children. The angels won’t risk the wrath of goddess, so their king asked for your hand. So our two races can have a strong alliance and enjoy peace.”
“If they respected our ancestors’ claim of being Earth Mother’s favorite children, how could they slaughter a tribe of our people?”
The news of our tribe’s slaughter at the outside edge of the twilight realm had reached the emperor a week before. The tribe had put up a hard fight, but they’d been defenseless against the angels.
Along with the military officers, I’d urged my father to take revenge, and my father responded by delivering me to the murderers.
I’d approached the emperor and knelt at his feet, my face pressing against his leg. “Your Majesty,” I’d pleaded, “please don’t do this to your only child. Take back the order, Father. Tell the angels I was already promised to another.”
“If I do that,” he’d whispered, refusing to look down at my tears, “the angels will come to our door and slay every one of us. They haven’t laid siege to Mysth because they want you. Will you let our race be erased from Earth because you don’t want to be King Agro’s queen?”
Humiliation, anger, and fear had burned through me and exhausted me, but I’d also realized that the emperor was right on this matter.
I had to go to Atlantis, but not to be the bride my father had sent me to be; I’d be the very weapon to uproot the angels from this continent.
I’d risen to my feet and stared at the emperor’s gold crown. When I returned, I’d vowed, I’d rip it off his head.
I’d given the grand throne room, adorned by diamonds and emeralds, one last glance. Our realm had the most fertile, beautiful land on Earth, and the Mysthian royal house was known for its riches beyond imagination. My father had sacrificed me for what was in front of him, but he wouldn’t have it for long.
Even if I wouldn’t take it all from him, the angels, who coveted Mysth’s richness more than me, would take it if I failed to destroy them.
Through marriage to me, the angel king would finally have Mysth legitimately after he assassinated the emperor. As soon as I became the empress, King Agro—my husband by then—would be the consort Emperor of Mysth. After he removed me, he’d be the regent emperor, not just of Mysth, but of the whole Earth.
Because Mysth was the only unconquered realm on Earth.
“Sending you away is the hardest decision, Daughter.” My father had heaved a sigh, watching me surrender to his will.
I’d turned to leave, and Emperor Oberon had said sourly after me, “I hope the prophecy will be fulfilled.”
My heart had skipped a beat.
There had been this prophecy among my people when the angels had turned Earth into a hunting ground. It declared that the Earth had rejected the angels’ dominance and Earth Mother hid her greatest elemental magic inside the last descendant of the Mysthian royal bloodline, her favorite child.
I seemed to fit the profile.
Every Mysthian wishfully believed the hidden power in me would drive the angels away from Earth, but there was this catch: the dark, offensive magic would only come out in a crisis that was too great for the bearer.
My emperor father had been jealous that the Earth Mother had chosen me instead of him.
I’d wheeled toward the emperor with such a force that he’d drawn back. “If you also think that the great earth magic is in me,” I laughed viciously, “you’ll be deeply disappointed. Right now, I’m facing
the greatest crisis in my life, and where is the magic? If I have it, I’ll level this throne room before I charge out to burn every angel to ashes!”
“You’ll leave for Atlantis tomorrow, Daughter,” the emperor had said in a hard tone.
I hadn’t looked back, but I had left one last piece of advice for him. “Raise the warriors. Train every Mysthian. Whether I fail or succeed, the angels will come and the war shall find you.”
~
I arrived at Atlantis with my hand-picked team of nine.
The angels seemed surprised that I hadn’t brought an army. I was being realistic.
Without the final weapon I came to seek in Atlantis, my warriors would all be slain, no matter how many troops I had with me.
Bringing only a few warriors would send a different message to the king. I must let the angels believe I’d come to hand Mysth over to them. In the mean time, I would work on turning myself into a lethal weapon against them.
I wanted my enemies to assume my team and I posed no threats, and thus the king would place fewer guards.
I needed the leverage and freedom to roam in Atlantis.
My gaze left the angel spy atop the tower while I entertained the thought of tearing out his golden feathers and letting the wind pick up the trash.
I refocused on the task of putting one foot in front of the other and marching in a proud, calm manner as my instinct screamed for me to run from the slaughterhouse of the angels’ city.
Dark doubts kept whirling in my mind: I’d been tailored to be the Empress of Mysth all my life. I’d secretly trained with the best weapon-masters since I’d been a child, but could I really crush the mighty angels?
I bit my lip. I’d been pushed back to the corner. If I failed, the Mysthians would be wiped off of the Earth, and Mysth, the twilight realm, would be an empty echo and a wasteland.
I stepped on to the golden bridge that led to the king’s palace. There was no turning back now. Armored angel warriors lined each side of the wide bridge, raising their long swords from their sides—the blades that had bled my people.