A Court of Earth and Aether: a Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (War of the Gods Book 4)

by Meg Xuemei X

  “You made all this mess with the others,” Zeus said. “You all called for a change and wanted to try it your way. You demanded to use Earth as the testing field, and you made me vow not to interfere. Even as King of Gods, I’m not above our laws and oaths. I can’t and won’t fix whatever pandemonium you have brought. I’ll follow the terms to the bitter end until we leave this planet. Pitifully, you wasted the most valuable new blood in our race. Cassandra Saélihn had such potential. She could have contributed so much and made our kind better and stronger.”

  For the gods, it was all games and nothing else.

  Our lives, the earthlings’ lives, were like dust in their eyes.

  Zeus swept a glance at his son and me, his eyes darkening with sorrow and regret. His queen, however, smiled and reveled at Alaric’s grief. I wanted to maul her face, split her blood-red lips, and drain her before I sliced her throat to avenge my mate’s mother and appease his rage.

  I could do nothing but watch their theatrics as they all thought that the game had come to an end since I was done, defeated, impaled, limp, bleeding, and broken in my mates’ arms.

  “Look!” Athena shouted at Earth’s citizens below the bridge. “Your goddess is dead!”

  I’d become an icon and symbol of freedom and strength to the earthlings. Yet I fell in front of them today, stabbed by the Olympian virgin goddess.

  Soon, my mates would follow me.

  Who was going to protect our citizens, the women, the children, and all the innocent?

  Who was going to defend Earth?

  The gods applauded and cheered at Athena’s announcement of victory. They’d risen to the top of the food chain once again.

  The army wept. The people wept for me.

  “Earthlings, now kneel and beg, or you’ll all die!” Athena howled, raising her spear, and thunderbolts rolled across the sky, shaking the whole Earth.

  The bitch was lying. The unforgiving goddess wanted to break my people before slaughtering them while they still kneeled.

  Stop her. Stop the gods. I tried to send my thoughts to my mates through our frail mating bond. Leave me. Go help our people.

  “Never leave you!” Lorcan said, cooing to me while trying to find a way to save me along with my other mates.

  Beneath the bridge, the warriors at the front roared in fury, and then the whole army’s angry and courageous bellows spread across the Earth, ripping the air.

  “We’ll not kneel. Nor will we beg!” a shout rang out, echoed by many.

  “Never surrender!” the army shouted as one.

  “Fight for Cass! Fight for our one and only goddess! Fight!”

  “Fight!”

  “Freedom or death! To our last breath!”

  They would fight until no one stood.

  Battle resumed and raged on the bridge and on the land of Earth.

  Every citizen had come out, filling the streets, carrying every weapon they had, and they fought.

  Once they’d cowered from the gods and their goons, but now they stood up to defend the last of humanity, despite the Olympian goddess’s pronouncement that their goddess, their protector, was dead.

  They turned their grief for me, for the last piece of their burning land, into red rage.

  And they fought.

  As my sight faded, the God of Blacksmiths appeared on the bridge and charged Ares with his hammer.

  “You killed her, you fucker!” Hephaestus shouted. “You screwed my ex-wife, and now you’ve killed my only friend and made my girl cry her eyes out!”

  Who was his girl? My pip Amber?

  For the first time, the smith god was also fighting.

  Agony filled my being, and darkness swept over to claim me, yet my mates refused to leave me despite the raging battle around us.

  They cared for nothing in the whole world except for me.

  CHAPTER 21

  I was dead.

  How ironic and contradictory that a death goddess had just died!

  Yet I didn’t feel like death had claimed me.

  It was more like I claimed it.

  My consciousness surfaced from the dark, murky water; cold clarity coursed through me like a cool summer rain.

  I, Cassandra Saélihn, could control two doors—one life and the other death.

  I wasn’t the passenger. I was the fucking pilot.

  All I needed to do was merge the doors, so there was neither life nor death for me, and then walk through the fused door to return to my mates.

  That was the ultimate death game Hades had taught me in Hell’s Diamond Room, but he actually had no fucking idea what he was talking about, or else he wouldn’t be so beside himself as he continued to engage in his age-old quarrel with Zeus.

  As a death goddess, I had to embrace Death first.

  This knowledge, this ability to escape death, owning and mastering death, was in my blood all along. It was my birthright.

  Ice wrapped in heat.

  Darkness cocooned in light.

  I was darkness. I was also light, bonded to my mates.

  I’d never seen anything so clearly.

  Life before death.

  The Blade of Five Elements was a metaphor and the means for me to go through the transformation. And with the blood of the God of War on that blade and then buried in me, it served as the catalyst, activating everything I was meant to be.

  The blade was never the weapon, but I was.

  I was the fucking living blade.

  To defeat the gods, I had to die a symbolic death and rise from ashes and blood.

  Now you know, my true daughter. Gaea reappeared, standing over me, yet none could see her except me.

  She had no idea what I knew.

  “Punish them all.” That was my mother’s last wish.

  You could have just told me all of this, grandmother, I said, feigning innocence.

  It can only be revealed at the last minute, or it won’t work. The ancient, back-stabbing bitch tried to justify. Now rise as the first phoenix, daughter. She’d erased any trace of my mother, her own daughter, in her words, just like that. The potent, proud Dragon God’s blood runs true and hot in you.

  My mates still endeavored to pour all they had—their essence, their pure energy, and their devotion and love—into me in a frenzy to revive me, even though they’d realized that my heart had ceased to beat.

  They wouldn’t let me go. The loyal males would never give up on me.

  My pulse quivered first, then my heart restarted.

  My mates froze as joy, grief, and hope filled their beings.

  “She’s returning,” Pyrder whispered. “Mate’s returning.”

  “Cass baby is coming back to us.” Reys’s voice broke on a sob. “She won’t leave us.”

  “Give dulcis more energy!” Lorcan barked. “Give her all we have.”

  I fluttered open my eyes and gazed at the most gorgeous males hovering over me, holding me.

  Pull out the blade, mates. I sent the thought to them.

  “What if it hurts you?” Alaric whispered uncertainly, yet I could feel the violent, erratic beating of his powerful demigod heart as his hope surged. “Sweetheart, we might need to give you more energy first.”

  Trust me, I said in their heads—this came easily for me now. I’ll be able to draw energy from you only when the Blade of Five Elements is out of my body.

  Alaric grabbed the hilt of the blade instantly. He traded a look with my other mates, and they nodded, putting their faith in me. My demigod mate focused on me, with Reys and Pyrder guarding me and Lorcan assisting him, and removed the blade from my chest with great care.

  As a tribrid goddess, I’d need a tremendous amount of energy to recover, especially after I’d walked through the door of death and life, but I wouldn’t consume my mates.

  I drew an iceberg of pure force from my mates only to strengthen our mating bond, weakened by my previous moments of fading and dying.

  Then I asked Earth for help, and it poured its deep m
agic into me without reservation.

  Pure power welled up in me, stopping the bleeding and sealing the wound in my heart and chest.

  “Take all from us, dulcis,” Lorcan said.

  You’ll need to fight the gods and guard me, I said to them, thought to thought, then I turned to regard the gods.

  Battle raged everywhere. Many more lives had been lost. Some of our elite warriors had perished on the bridge while defending me and Earth.

  Grief rained down on me, turning into a churning storm.

  As a top predator, enhanced by a hybrid goddess, I’d further evolved. I was now powerful beyond anyone’s imagination.

  Everyone was my prey and food, except for my mates.

  And right now, I was fucking famished.

  My dark power lashed out, needing to feed. My black flame diverged into dozens of threads, locking into the major gods—first the biggest threats: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis—and I started drinking.

  Nectar!

  The Olympian gods were the best fucking booze.

  Pure, exquisite, potent, and in a variety of flavors.

  Such a delicacy.

  I threw my head back and roared in joy.

  Man, I’d get drunk soon.

  My power rose, rolling, coiling, and boiling in me. The major gods’ incredible energy had awoken my every fucking dormant cell.

  “No, no, no! That’s impossible,” Ares shouted in dismay, noticing my resurgence first.

  “Why can’t the little bitch just die?” Poseidon griped, turning to glare at Apollo. “You said she could die. You said your twin would take care of it!”

  Demeter threw two handfuls of poisoned seeds into the sea god’s eyes. He bent over and howled.

  I threw out a hand, my icy current tossing him aside like trash. Demeter, however, had eyes only for Poseidon. She followed him, lunged, and kicked him in the jaw before kneeing him in the crotch, over and over. She was completely taking advantage of his half-blind condition.

  “Hello, boys.” I fixed my glowing gaze on the powerful gods and purred, in an excellent mood. When they staggered back from me, I levitated into the air and opened my arms in invitation.

  I was all smiling and friendly, with my fangs out.

  But the gods just kept putting space between us, their shocked faces paling, as if I were a plague.

  “That’s rude,” I said. “I actually looked more radiant before your bitch goddess stabbed me.”

  “Fuck! She’s drinking from us, from all of us!” Apollo cried out. “Fuck!”

  Color drained from the major gods, and they weren’t shining as brightly anymore. I hadn’t even touched the minor gods yet, since I was still absorbing the big guys’ energy.

  “You’re fucking smart, Apollo,” I said. “You’re the first one who realized that I’m taking a sip from each of you. No wonder the brute Ares and the rapist Poseidon all wanted to be your buddies. You’re the brain and they’re the muscles.” I waved a hand in appreciation and smacked my lips. “Anyway, your kind tastes so good. It’s amazing. So amazing I have no words.”

  Zeus turned to me, dumbfounded, no longer interested in arguing with Hades in the corner. For the first time, he didn’t seem that glorious, since I had taken a big bite from the king’s godly force.

  “What have you done, Hades?” the King of Gods asked in terror. “What creature have you produced?”

  Hades bellowed with laughter. “My daughter is my ultimate weapon. She makes me so proud. All these eons, you cheated and robbed me of the throne in Mount Olympus! Payback is a bitch, brother. And today, my daughter will be your terminator!”

  Zeus punched Hades in the jaw. “You idiot, you’ve gone too far this time. You’re eradicating our race!”

  “Not our race, just you!” Hades pointed two fingers at the king before he leapt to grab Zeus’s beard.

  Zeus flung his hand up, and his lightning bolts shot toward Hades’s chest. The God of Death crossed his armored arms before his chest, his death light intercepting Zeus’s bolts.

  The two were locked in a battle, yet none of their powers were as impressive as when they were at their peak. As I said, I took a swig from them, and I was still drinking from all the major gods.

  Man, they had bottomless energy.

  Please don’t turn me into a junkie who lives for the next fix after this! I prayed to myself.

  “Cassandra, stop!” Zeus bellowed, trying to break free from me; all the gods were sweating and busy trying to free themselves from my hold as I drained their essence.

  But I was stubborn and greedy. I wouldn’t let my food, my prey, go.

  I liked to hunt.

  I liked to chase.

  I tilted my head to the side and regarded Zeus. “I thought you wouldn’t interfere.”

  “Alaric, tell your mate to stop!” Zeus said.

  “I never tell my mate what to do,” Alaric said, his cold, merciless eyes falling on the Queen of Gods, the bitch who murdered his mother.

  Hera’s face paled like the snow. She staggered, turned, and fled.

  “Go, tigers,” I told my mates. “Go get them.”

  “None of your mates are tigers,” Pyrder grunted.

  But Alaric had flown into the air toward Hera, his flaming sword raised high.

  “All gods combine your powers and focus on Cassandra!” The King of Gods shouted his order, finally taking back the reins. “Take her down!”

  My mates formed a line in front of me, their swords and magic coming together as one.

  The earthlings had seen the turn of events and shouted, “Our goddess is alive! Cass! Cass! Kick the punks’ asses!”

  I let out a sigh as I surveyed the Olympians. “In all the worlds, you had to walk into mine.”

  I wielded all the elements of Earth, Death, Dragon, and the powers of the Olympians that I’d absorbed, and then I shifted.

  Not to a dragon.

  I became the wind, the flames, the light, the rainbow, and the stars.

  My mates called my nicknames in alarm.

  Don’t worry, mates, I said. I’ll shift back to your favorite, sexy form before going to bed. Right now I have a debt to pay, a promise to keep, and a gift to give.

  Jezebel had said that we could take any form.

  I was now everything. I was space. I was time. I was beyond all that as I reached far, far away to the center of the galaxies, where even the mortals’ most advanced telescope couldn’t penetrate.

  My wind and flame and light grew teeth and claws, latching onto the gods and draining their essence with a brutal speed.

  I wouldn’t be able to assimilate that amount of energy, but I knew where it could go.

  I drank deep, giggling in joy and drunkenness, and then I sent the marvelous god energy back to Earth.

  I was destruction, and I was creation. While I tore down one, I built the other.

  The cities toppled by the gods rose again, feeding on the energy I gave.

  Rubble became bricks and buildings stood tall. Streets were cleared of any hint of the gods’ vandalism.

  The flooded regions dried. The burned districts resumed their former splendor.

  Earth kept assimilating the powerful alien energy to heal itself.

  There was only one thing, the thing I wanted to do the most, that I couldn’t do—I couldn’t bring back all the lost souls.

  “Our goddess! Our goddess lives!” my people chanted in tearful, triumphant joy.

  With renewed vigor, the Earth army claimed victory over the crumbled Olympian troops.

  Alaric and the Queen of Gods dueled. She was powerful, but she was no match for my demigod mate, and he had eons of wrath to rain down on her. My mate stabbed his flaming sword into Hera’s left eye.

  Lorcan went for Artemis. She shot arrows at him in rapid succession. He deflected some of them with his blade and burned others with his Earth flame. An arrow pierced his shoulder, but it couldn’t stop him or slow him down.

  He lunged
at her, determined not to let her get away.

  The Goddess of the Hunt had never been hunted, until now. Fear fogged her eyes, and the green in them wasn’t that stunning anymore.

  She parried frantically. He pulled back his blade after a series of combined slashes and hacks, only to have it sail toward her neck. She moved her head backwards to let the flaming blade pass above her face. The virgin goddess spun at high speed. While Lorcan wheeled to catch her, he slowed in tempo and left an obvious opening for her.

  A new dagger appeared in Artemis’s hand as she leapt forward to stab him in the back, but my vampire mate had already thrust his sword backwards, faster than anything, and buried it into her chest.

  Then he turned and watched her drop to her knees.

  Her hands held the hilt of the flaming sword as the blade burned her, utter shock freezing on her once sweet, beautiful face.

  I shifted back to Cass, so I could grin at the virgin goddess like a Cheshire cat.

  I landed on the bridge before Artemis. “Didn’t like how my mate treated you just now, girlfriend? Then you shouldn’t have fucked with his dulcis. By the way, your request for a harem is denied.”

  She splayed out prone on the ground, unable to say a word, yet she wasn’t dead.

  I strode toward the contingent of gods, my mates flanking me. Black flame lit my body, blue flame traveled along my left arm, and red fire twirled on my right palm.

  I batted my lashes at my mates and smiled at them. “I want to take a look at the gods’ city.”

  “Anything you want, baby,” Reys said dotingly.

  “We need to find big diamonds, gems, and the purest gold in the city,” I continued. “It’ll be my dowry to all of you.”

  Lorcan blinked. “Dowry?”

  Alaric and Pyrder chuckled.

  The gods staggered back as a collective at my approach, then they tried to run from me, only to find that they could only walk like aged mortals who probably needed a cane.

  I’d drained all of them a great deal. Even the minor gods had contributed most of their energy to rebuilding Earth.

  Who didn’t love free labor? They destroyed those cities in the first place with their sick games. They’d thought they would stay at the top forever. The suckers never expected a day like this to come.