by Emma Dean
Her heart clenched at those words. “I love them, of course I’m going to try to save them.”
There it was.
A second bullet thudded into the dirty slush.
“People die. It’s what they do.” Azrael’s smile widened like he knew.
Tears pricked her eyes and Mika glanced at her boys, wondering how she was going to live after they grew old and died.
“That’s all people are, Mika. They’re nothing but dust.”
You act as though we don’t live right alongside death, living and breathing with the dust of our ancestors in our lungs.
Mika closed her eyes and the tears spilled down her cheeks.
“That path was never meant for you.”
Why did she believe him? Why did she know deep down that Azrael was telling her the truth?
Emily had said there were multiple paths, and multiple futures. Too many potential apocalypses thanks to the convergence of power at this particular time.
Everyone thought she was the answer to preventing it, and maybe she was. But maybe…
Maybe it wasn’t in the way everyone assumed.
She could practically feel as various different paths disintegrated and turned into two.
“What happens if I join you?”
Azrael’s smile should have terrified her.
He stepped forward and lifted her chin gently, such a sharp contrast to the way he’d yanked her up and off the ground. His lips were so close she could practically feel them against hers when he spoke. “What is it you want?”
She wanted to save them. Mika was terrified she might have to watch them die protecting her, like Malachi almost did. How were they all going to get through what came next?
Losing them wasn’t an option.
Mika leaned into his touch, her head spinning as she felt the power rolling off of him. This wasn’t just some god. This was Death.
“I should be asking you that,” she whispered, feeling dizzy from all the blood lost.
Mika stumbled and suddenly she was in his arms and Azrael grinned down at her. “What do I want?”
She nodded.
“I don’t think anyone’s asked me that.” Azrael trailed his tattooed fingers over her face and then set her on her feet. “At least, not until recently.”
Her head felt like it was going to pop. Stopping time put pressure on her entire existence and she felt like she was going to explode or disintegrate.
“Lucifer had his chance to rule hell. He had his chance to fix humanity, and after all this time there has been no improvement.” Azrael sounded disgusted. “Could I really do worse?”
Mika didn’t know what to say to that. “And those I love?”
“Death is always merciful,” he murmured, reaching out to grip her chin. Azrael inspected her eyes and the blood all over her face. “What would you want me to do with them?”
Her heart pounded.
Was she really considering this?
Anything to save them.
“War would destroy what you’re trying to save, Azrael.” Mika rested her hands on his arms and fought against the pain of what his power was doing to her body and soul. “It’s wrong.”
“War doesn’t determine who is right, Mika. It only determines who is left.”
She collapsed under the weight of his power and he let her fall to her knees.
“I don’t think you understand, darling. This game has been going for thousands of years. You are nothing more than a pawn to them. At my side, you’d be the queen.”
Mika pressed her hand to one of her still bleeding wounds. “And what does that make you, the king?”
Azrael spread his tattooed hands wide, his smile was sharp as knives. “Of course.”
“The queen was always the most powerful piece.” Mika looked into his strange eyes. They glowed with a silvery white fire instead of Lucifer’s brimstone blue.
“That’s right, my love.”
She checked her hand and saw it was covered in blood, dripping with it. “Promise me the ones I love will be safe and protected – that my family can live until they die of natural causes.”
His chuckle sent a shiver down her spine. “That could be arranged. All you have to do is swear yourself to me. Be my dark queen, Mika.”
Her stomach dropped at those words.
A tattooed hand reached for her, waiting for her answer.
Dark queen.
Those words rippled through her life like some kind of strange déjà vu.
Emily had warned her about Selene, about how she’d been the dark god Mika had died fighting in some other time and place and reality.
What if choosing to join Azrael saved earth from an apocalypse, but she became exactly what she’d been trying to prevent.
Mika stared into Azrael’s eyes and the power she saw there…it was a reflection of her own – seemingly endless and dark. It could take life or give it, mold death into whatever she wanted until she controlled everyone and everything.
Blood magic had no limits. With the right amount from the right person she could accomplish anything. She could tear this world apart and make a new one.
Wasn’t that what she was trying to do anyway? Mika wanted to change the world for the better, but with the power Azrael offered she could make it happen for the entire paranormal world, not just her clan.
The Angel of Death was endlessly patient as he waited for her to choose – as the entire universe held its breath waiting for her to decide.
Mika placed her cleanest hand in his, but still she hesitated.
The world around her seemed to expand and contract at the same time as a million small and large choices converged into this single moment.
What guarantee did she have that he would listen to her, even if she was his queen?
Well, if that became a problem, she could simply take his gift and rule in his place. Then she could be sure that her family would be safe.
“Why?” she asked. “Why didn’t you ask me sooner, before people died?”
He crouched down and his thumb brushed her cheek gently. “I tried. Your brother was supposed to bring you back to me.”
Mika shook her head. She felt so confused.
Was any of this real?
“The Morrigan?”
“She doesn’t want me to take you.” Azrael pressed his forehead against hers. “Her daughters have always been so beautiful. They loved me and she hates me for it. But you’re the first with the strength and power to stand by my side.”
“Not Aine?”
His answering snarl made her shiver, and Mika wasn’t sure what she was even trying to accomplish here. Was this really even a solution?
“Aine is powerful,” Azrael admitted. “But she is a goddess of summer. She doesn’t have the darkness you do.”
Mika could feel it inside her too, always trying to escape. Even before the Morrigan had gifted her more power and strength, it had been there every time she shattered bone.
Leaning into him, she trembled. Mika pressed her lips to his, hand on the ground to stabilize herself.
His kiss was hungry. It was passionate. Mika knew he was probably lying to her, but he really did want her as his dark queen.
Then she bit down hard, using her new canines to pierce into his skin.
Blood filled her mouth.
His groan of pleasure pulsed through her and Mika pushed the last of her power through her hand and into the dirt where she’d been bleeding this whole time.
It activated the rest of the wards she’d drawn in her blood, rippling through the entire island until it burst from the ground to cover everything that was hers, including enough ocean to protect the undine.
Azrael snarled then, realizing what she’d done.
He pushed away from her, but she could feel the wards attacking him, ripping into everything he was thanks to his blood in her mouth.
Mika collapsed on the ground, almost completely powerless. “Don’t let me kill you just yet, d
ark king.” For some reason that made her laugh.
Azrael backed away with such fury on his face she’d be fucking terrified if she wasn’t so goddamn tired. “You need me.”
“Maybe, but I’m not willing to risk what I have. Your offer was…tempting, but I couldn’t live with myself if I got them killed.” She stared up at him from the ground, watching as his entire being vibrated as if he was being electrocuted, as if his molecules and atoms couldn’t be held together while he violated her wards.
“We could have changed the world,” he told her, and Mika felt sick when she saw the real heartbreak in his eyes.
She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. “I know.”
A scream made her eyes fly open and Mika felt her heart stop when she saw him gripping Audrey by the neck. The other witch couldn’t stand the pressure of time and her screaming was endless – the pain never-ending.
“I’m taking her.” Azrael looked down at the witch in his hand and smirked. “And when you come to your senses, I’ll release her.”
“No.” Mika tried to get up, but there was so little blood in her body her arms gave out. “Please, no.”
“Take some time to reconsider, darling, or I might just have to kill her.” Azrael grinned down at Mika and time snapped back into place.
She gasped when it hit all at once, blacking out for a second.
“Mika!”
“Audrey.” She tried to move, but it felt as if her entire body was paralyzed.
Fresh blood poured into her mouth then and Mika pushed them off, choking on the heat that spilled down her throat. Tears wouldn’t stop falling and she rolled to her hands and knees, gasping and gagging on the taste. After what she’d taken from Azrael, it was almost disgusting.
“Mika, what the fuck happened?” Ethan helped her up and she couldn’t stop crying.
She couldn’t figure out what the fuck was actually happening.
What was even real anymore?
“Where is she?”
“We can’t find her,” Malachi gritted out. “But the perimeter is secured.”
How long had she been out?
“We fought most of them back thanks to your blood beasts,” Corbin told her. “Are you okay?”
Lucien gripped her face, golden eyes blazing as he shook her. “Look at me Mika.”
She shook, feeling the remnants of Azrael’s power – it was in her veins and bones and all she could think about was how she’d been so wrong about his entire motive. Had Lucifer known? Had the Morrigan?
Was anyone telling her the truth?
“Tell me what happened!” Lucien snarled
“Azrael took Audrey.”
He took her.
“And I’m going to kill him for it.”
Preorder the next book in Mika’s series
The Wicked Will Rise
Want Free Stories?
If you subscribe to my newsletter you can get these shorts free on Bookfunnel!
A Bandit’s Prequel
(Short steamy reverse harem shifter story.)
If you’re subbed you also get the chapters of the first book before release!
Royal Guard of Draga
(Novella prequel for a Game of Thrones in space slow burn story that turns into a reverse harem, this is also steamy and just the beginning.)
Other Books
Paranormal Romance*
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
Wolf Bite
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
Chaos of Foxes Boxset
This is Bandit Territory Series
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Queen of the Bandits
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
A Wicked Raven
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Wicked Little Things
The Wicked Will Rise
The Infernal Royals Series
The Devil’s Huntress
The Throne of Shadows Series
Fae Wars: Desolation
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
A Cup of Christmas Magic
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books UK Links
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
Wolf Bite
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
This is Bandit Territory Series
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Queen of the Bandits
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Wicked Little Things
The Wicked Will Rise
The Infernal Royals Series
The Devil’s Huntress
The Throne of Shadows Series
Fae Wars: Desolation
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
A Cup of Christmas Magic
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books CA Links
Paranormal Romance*
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
Wolf Bite
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
This is Bandit Territory Series
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Queen of the Bandits
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Wicked Little Things
/>
The Wicked Will Rise
The Infernal Royals Series
The Devil’s Huntress
The Throne of Shadows Series
Fae Wars: Desolation
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
A Cup of Christmas Magic
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books AU Links
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
Wolf Bite
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
This is Bandit Territory Series
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Queen of the Bandits