Romance: Angel-The Fire Princess: Vampire Werewolf Shifter Fantasy Romance

by Created by Vivian Nim

  “How much?” The old man chuckled.

  “Free of charge. I get very few customers who are as passionate as she. Let her wear it and love it.” Angel beamed at the man, then looked back to the ring.

  “Thank you so much,” she said, genuinely thrilled.

  “My pleasure, beautiful girl.”

  As Nolan and Angel made their way again through the crowd, there was something different about the way they interacted with one another. A certain tension hung in the air around them, and they found themselves walking a little closer together, and occasionally brushing fingers.

  “Look,” Nolan pointed to where the trees began, and a crowd that had gathered there. “The werewolves have probably come. Let’s go see.” He grabbed her hand, and Angel tried hard not to gasp in response. He tugged her through the mass of people until they both could see the wolves.

  There were three of them, two of them brown, one grey, and they were massive; much larger than regular wolves. The expressions in their eyes were almost that of a person, but when they saw Angel, all three looked immediately at her, and they seemed terrified.

  Angel felt a strange feeling in her stomach. Why were they looking at her like this? Nolan seemed to sense it, too, and started to shift his body so that he was guarding hers.

  “What’s happening?” Angel whispered, but Nolan just shook his head.

  At this, the grey wolf transformed, slowly, it’s body slowly shifting from fur to flesh. Thankfully, the human form was clothed, and the man who stepped forward showing no signs of having once been a wolf at all. Still, in his human form, he was still hulking and massive, tall with rippling muscles. His hair was dark, and his face clean-shaven.

  “You,” he growled, pointing at Angel. She shrunk further behind Nolan, who scowled back at the once-werewolf.

  “What do you want?” The man continued their way, still pointing.

  “What is she doing here?” He ignored Nolan’s question.

  “Tell us your name, wolf!” Nolan demanded, and the man stopped, smiling fiendishly.

  “The name’s Conan. Do you really not understand what’s going on here, Hunter?” He pointed to Angel. “Have you not yet put two and two together? Don’t you know who she is?”

  Nolan remained unwavering, and anything that Conan said had not yet seemed to have struck a chord with him yet. “What are you talking about?” he yelled. Conan’s smile widened, and he sauntered over to them, running his musky fingers through Angel’s blonde hair.

  “Don’t you know who she looks like, Hunter?” At this, something seemed to slowly dawn on Nolan, but he shook it off.

  “You’re just trying to cause trouble, Conan. Go back to your herd and leave the girl alone.” Nolan stepped back, protecting Angel with his body still. Conan simply chuckled.

  “Suit yourself. But you know yourself: if I’m right, that girl is going to cause a world of problems.” With that, Conan turned back to his werewolf companions, shifting quickly and running off with them into the trees.

  Angel slumped against Nolan, her body shaking.

  “What was that about?” she asked, her voice trembling. Nolan put an arm around her and tried to rub her shoulders comfortingly, and he shook his head.

  “I don’t know,” he muttered, but he didn’t seem convincing enough. Angel looked at him more intently.

  “Nolan, what was he talking about?” At this, Nolan became angry.

  “I don’t know, alright? Will you leave it alone? Come on, let’s get out of here.” He tried to grab her, but she shook out of his grip.

  “Stop!” she cried, tears dripping from her eyes. “I want to see my parents.” Nolan rolled his eyes.

  “That’s impossible, I can’t take you back to the human world until Kelandra-”

  “I said I want to see them! Take me to my parents!” Angel’s eyes were streaming with tears at this point, and Nolan’s face softened. He looked to the sky, sighed, and signaled for Ryker’s vehicle.

  “Fine, but we are to be quick. No more than 30 minutes, do you understand?” Nolan searched her face, and after a moment, she simply nodded, so he led her back to the street to wait for Ryker.

  Chapter Six

  “You know, this goes against everything my father taught me not to do, right?” Ryker said, his usual carefree attitude present. “That’s why I’m completely okay with all of this, I hope you know.”

  “Well, Angel doesn’t really care about getting in trouble either, so I guess that’s one thing you both have in common.” Nolan stared bitterly out the window, and Angel huffed.

  “Whatever. I don’t know why you care, Mr. Take the Girl to Fairbanks to Get Eaten by a Werewolf.” She rolled her eyes at him.

  “Excuse me? But taking you out of the Gold Palace wasn’t against the rules. And the werewolves are typically very friendly creatures-”

  “Oh, shut up! You’re just so worried about why I’m here and why Kelandra wanted me to stick around that you didn’t actually think about my safety for one moment-“

  “Guys!” Ryker interrupted, halting the bickering. “Really? It’s come to this? You both need to calm down, I mean it. Now, we’re here, so both of you get your act together, and hurry. I’m only holding down the fort here for about 20 minutes, and then I’m out.” He saluted. “Now get out of here.”

  Ryker stayed parked in front of Angel’s house so they could leave quickly, but as he said, he would only wait for so long before leaving.

  However, before Nolan and Angel even made it to the front porch of her home, she knew something wasn’t right, seeing the front door wide open.

  “Oh no,” she breathed, and Nolan stopped dead in his tracks.

  “It can’t be,” she heard Nolan whisper, but she paid him no mind as she ran through the door.

  “Wait, Angel! It might not be safe!”

  She tripped around inside, screaming for her parents.

  “Mom, Dad!” she cried, fear leaking into her screams.

  “Angel!” Nolan called for her from the front door. “Stop, they could still be here!” Angel had no idea who “they” were, but she didn’t care at the moment.

  Unfortunately, she soon spotted blood trailing down, or up, the stairs, and she followed it, taking the steps two at a time until she found her parents lying on the floor in their room.

  “Mom, Dad!” Angel sputtered, tears now running freely down her face. She dropped next to her father, whose wounds looked too fatal. Sure enough, Angel felt no pulse when she put her fingers to his bloody neck. She crawled to her mother, sobbing, who looked almost as bad, but still appeared to be breathing.

  “Mom, wake up! Please!” She heard footsteps behind her and assumed that Nolan had finally reached her, and he gasped when he reached her.

  “Oh, God,” he whispered. He made no move to comfort Angel, however, he just sat down in the closest chair, trying to keep his breathing even.

  “Mom, please!” Angel pleaded, and her mother’s eyes actually fluttered open.

  “My darling Angel,” she said hoarsely, placing a bloody hand on Angel tear-stained cheek.

  “Mom, what happened?” she sputtered some more, barely able to choke down enough air to breathe. Her mother, however, looked so peaceful and pain-free.

  “Angel, I have something to tell you, but first, come here.” Angel leaned down into her mother’s arms for a weak embrace, and she cried into her hair. “I’m so so sorry, my dear.”

  “What happened?” Angel insisted. Mrs. Berry shook her head.

  “Listen to me, I can’t tell you everything,” she coughed, blood spurting out of her mouth. “We have a secret. Please, Angel, please find it in your heart to forgive your father and I. We did what we had to do to keep you safe, to keep you alive.”

  “I don’t understand-“

  “You won’t right now, my darling, but soon. They’ll come for you, and they’ll explain everything. We’re so, so sorry, Angel,” her mother cried, tears mixing with blood. “We love you so much
, Angel. Please don’t hate us when you find out.” Angel gasped.

  “I could never, ever hate you. I love you, Mom,” Angel cried, holding tightly to her mother’s hand. Kay Berry smiled, then took one last shuttering breath.

  “I love you so much more.”

  Angel gasped for air, drowning in her own tears. Nolan reached for her to comfort her, but she pulled away.

  “Stay away from me!” she cried, and Nolan put his hands up in surrender.

  “Angel, I’m sorry-“

  “No, stop! Leave me alone, Nolan! You took me away from them, and now they’re dead! I could have been here! I could have done something, but you and your stupid queen took me from them!” A red glow began to issue from an unknown source, but Angel didn’t notice.

  “Angel…” Nolan said, reaching for her slowly.

  “Stop!” she screamed, flinging her hand away from him, only then noticing the glow seemed to come from the ring she was wearing. At this, she actually laughed. “It figures, doesn’t it? That my abilities decide to show up right after they die? I could have protected them, but no.” Angel’s face cleared, and instead of looking sad, she simply looked bitter. “This is my fault.”

  “It isn’t, Angel-” Nolan tried to reassure her.

  “Yes it is! This is all my fault!” With that, Angel screamed a guttural cry that rang throughout the entire city. Her hands were suddenly raised above her head, and from her hands shot out fire. Nolan stood by, amazed, unable to do anything except stare.

  Finally, though, once the house started to burn around them, Nolan came to his senses.

  “Stop, Angel, you’re going to burn us alive!” He grabbed for her, but her body was too hot, and he shrunk back, his arms burning. “Angel!”

  However, before Angel knew it, she was lying on the grass outside, her body heaving, and she sat up quickly to see her house burning before her and Kelandra standing next to her.

  “Where’s Nolan?” Angel demanded, but Kelandra just shook her head.

  “I don’t know. I did, however, worry that this would happen. I’m so sorry, Angel,” she said, looking her in the eyes, genuine sorrow etching her features.

  “You knew this would happen?” Angel stared at Kelandra in disbelief, but she ignored her question.

  “I should have posted protection on this house, but I was only thinking of you. This happened because of my ill-thinking.” A single tear trickled down the queen’s cheek, and she looked at Angel, reaching for her hand. “Come. We have much to discuss.”

  Chapter Seven

  After Kelandra transformed into a werewolf at will, she carried Angel back to the Gold Palace at an alarming speed.

  “How did we get back here so fast?” Angel asked, breathless, despite everything else that had happened that day. Kelandra shrugged.

  “As a werewolf, this comes with wolf-like characteristics and fast movements. Most magical people have fast abilities, but Ryker’s ability, for instance, allows him to move faster than the average magical person, due to his focus on speed.” Kelandra’s hand reached for Angel’s. “Come with me. There isn’t much time. It’s possible he’s already on his way.”

  “Who’s on his way?” Angel demanded.

  “Akabar,” Kelandra whispered, her voice trembling.

  “Akabar? Isn’t he the vamp-“

  “Yes,” the queen hissed, shushing Angel. “I’m sorry. We just- we don’t speak of him. It’s forbidden.”

  “But why-“

  “Because he defected.” Kelandra sighed. “He was a high authority, but he wanted to trump my power. I couldn’t let him, and he let that fester in his brain and in his heart until it drove him mad. Akabar drummed up support within the rest of the vampire community, and they all left us. They

  all defected.” She breathed deeply before continuing.

  “Akabar is very powerful. He controls ice and snow, and he was able to defeat us in many of our battles. However, he realized that his biggest threats were from the magical people with fire abilities, so he had them killed. He slowly took them out, every warrior, every mother, even the children. My husband was one of these, and so when my child was born, I knew Akabar would come for her - even if her power wasn’t confirmed yet. He would take no chances.”

  “No…” Angel breathed, realization dawning on her.

  “I took my daughter and fled, and I hid her in the human world until the time when I could send for her, when she was 18, and her abilities would begin to reveal themselves.” Kelandra gave Angel a pointed look at this.

  “You mean me,” Angel whispered, tears running down her face.

  “According to Nolan, you’ve already had a one attack on your life, so I’m guessing they’re already suspicious of your identity.” At that moment, the lights in the palace all went dark. “And now I’m guessing they know that you’re here,” Kelandra whispered, her voice full of dread.

  “He’s coming for me now?” Angel cried, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “Listen to me, Angel, I will not let anything happen to you. He’s going to take you, but I will rescue you, I promise.” The queen took her daughter’s face in her hands. “Angel, you were always meant to fight him, to defeat him, but you aren’t ready. You still have much to learn. Just please remember that you will be saved.” At this, Kelandra hugged Angel tightly to her.

  Angel wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, she had been united with her biological mother, which should thrill her. But she had been lying to her the entire time she was at the Gold Palace, heck, her entire life. And so had her parents. On top of everything, she was about to be taken to the man who had murdered hundreds of fire-wielders before her. Her chances did not look good.

  They heard many footsteps coming from just down the hall, and Angel doubted that they were Kelandra’s soldiers. The queen attempted to shield Angel from the coming wave of enemy vampires.

  As Angel took in their clothes and weapons, she realized these were the same men who had caused her wreck. The man in front halted when they were before her and Kelandra. He grinned.

  “We finally meet, Princess,” he leered, and it took Angel a moment to realize he was talking about her. “Step aside, Kelandra. Our business is not with you.” Before the queen could make any move to transform into her wolf form, another man clubbed her on the side of the head. “There, much better.”

  “Who are you?” Angel trembled, backing away; unable to summon fire in the moment she needed it most. The man smirked.

  “Name’s Felix. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He bowed in a playful manner, his sneer returning. “You’re coming with us, Princess.” The same man who knocked the queen unconscious swung his weapon again, and in a second, all went black.

  XXX

  When Angel opened her eyes, it was as if they were still closed. Wherever she was, it was so dark that she may as well be blindfolded.

  She blinked multiple times to attempt to get used to the darkness. When she finally adjusted, Angel found herself locked behind bars. She tried to push them open, but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “Why don’t you summon fire and break yourself out?” came an overly-sweet sounding voice. Angel looked around frantically to find the source of the voice. “Come on, now. If you can break yourself out of this cell, Princess, I’ll let you walk on out of here. Try it out.” The voice was taunting now, and it scared Angel.

  “Who are you?” she asked, trying to find the fire inside of her. The voice chuckled.

  “Who do you think I am? Come on, fire-wielder, I want to see you try.” This was all just a game to him, Angel realized, and that he was just playing with her. Even if she could summon fire and break out of her cell, he would never let her go.

  “You’re Akabar, aren’t you?” Angel asked, her voice still small in the echoing dungeons.

  “Ah, so you already know who I am from your short time in the magical world. My, how big my name has grown.” The voice chuckled again, and then the man revealed himself, his fa
ce appearing on the other side of the bars. Angel gasped.

  Akabar was tall and thin, and the little amount of skin that he showed was pale. At least, the skin that wasn’t on his face. That bit of flesh was disfigured and looked almost as if it were melting off of his face, causing him to have no real features. The only thing distinct about him were his dark eyes, which looked familiar for some reason…

  “Ah, yes, my scars. They’re alarming, I know. Do you know how rare it is for a vampire to have any other abilities? Being a vampire is enough, you know. Except I was granted with the ability of ice. That should have made me even more powerful, right?” He shook his head, gesturing to his own face. “Wrong. It gave me a fatal weakness.” Angel continued to stare, unable to move, unable to hardly breathe.