by Meg Xuemei X
I’d never seen anyone fight so superbly. I considered myself a good fighter, if given a weapon, but I was barely in his league.
Now only the demon captain remained.
“Rest, lamb,” my knight said softly. “I’ll join you in no time.”
He didn’t need my help, and I was fatigued and in pain from the new wound below my shoulder where the demon’s nasty chainsaw had cut me.
I held my chin high, signaling that I, Marigold, allowed my knight to battle on my behalf. I jogged toward the red-horned demon’s corpse and yanked the spear from his throat. Then I slouched onto a ruptured boulder, my ankle crossed over my knee, and watched my defender ram his sword into the demon captain’s ax.
The sharp rake of metal on metal echoed along the street as fire sparked off their steel.
The duelers moved in a blur, hacking, chopping, and battering at each other with unforgiving force.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the fight, and my knight seemed to relish the attention. Each flourish of his weapon was as elegant as it was deadly, like a fight choreographed to not just win, but impress me—his rapt audience—and to offer me every satisfaction.
He lunged at the demon like the fastest wind, booting the captain in the gut and sending him to crash against the façade of a store that used to sell cheap perfumes. The impact brought down the rest of the wall and half of the ceiling. Concrete, dirt, and wooden beams rained down on the demon captain.
I loved it! It was like watching an action movie unfolding right in front of me.
My knight wanted to punish this demon captain for me prior to killing him.
Before the captain could get to his feet, my knight grabbed him and flung him across the street. The demon’s horns pierced a brick column, and his fall dented the ground.
“Oops, that hurt,” I shouted.
The demon tossed his ax at my knight before I finished my cheer.
A warning tore from my throat, but my man snatched the hilt of the spinning ax out of the air easily. Menace and fury rolling off him, he stalked toward the demon with predatory purpose, ready to cut down his opponent and wrap up this episode.
Suddenly, the demon captain grinned at me. His intentions clicked, and horror grabbed me.
The demon was going to make an exit.
He believed I was some kind of lost legend—there was no way he’d quit this hunt. If he escaped, he’d come back for me.
Worse, if he reported me to more powerful demons, the horde would join him until they had their claws in me. Though I didn’t think I was their lost princess—I wasn’t any fucking princess—it wouldn’t stop those greedy demon bastards from attempting to drag me to Hell.
“Don’t let him get away!” I shrieked and charged toward the demon captain with the spear thrust in front of me.
My knight moved in a blur at the same time.
Our weapons slammed toward the demon, but he shifted to smoke and vanished.
I stared at the empty space where the demon captain had been as cold dread and dismay filled me.
“Worry no more, lamb,” my knight commanded. “With me guarding you, no one will ever harm a single hair on your head.”
He swept his sapphire eyes to the sky, the roofs, and the rest of our surroundings and, finding no more threats, gazed down at me with all the protectiveness and possessiveness in the world.
My chest warmed. My heart fluttered.
I stepped toward him eagerly. I needed to touch him and feel for myself that he was one hundred percent real and he was here.
His sapphire eyes brightened. At first he opened his arms, ready to pull me into his embrace, but then he stiffened. Staggering away from me, he tucked his obsidian wings in tightly.
“No, lamb,” he whispered, his expression pained. “Don’t touch me.”
I halted, feeling like he’d doused me in icy water. I’d thought he wanted me.
He saw the hurt in my eyes, and agony distorted his gorgeous face.
“You were all over me in the dream,” I accused, lashing out as the hurt of rejection sank even deeper into my bones. “Guess you’re just a phony. I was wrong about you. I shouldn’t have sought you out.”
“You sought me out?”
“I came here for you, didn’t I?” I said bitterly.
He blinked in confusion. “How did you know I was here?”
“I didn’t know you were here,” I said. “But I thought of you before I teleported.”
A swirl of dark stars glimmered in his eyes. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
Judging by the scorching desire etched into every line in his face, he wanted me. But then why did he want to confuse me?
I braced a hand on my hip. “I met you only once before and that was in a dream. You never told me who you are, though I asked, and then I was yanked right out of the dream.”
“I’m Héctor,” he said in sorrow and defeat. “I’m the death demigod. No one can touch me and live because my skin is lethal to everyone.”
I widened my eyes in utter shock.
My dream lover was the Demigod of Death, my supposed enemy?
He held my gaze, scrutinizing my every tiny reaction and emotion to his words, and I had the impression that he was waiting for me to run from him.
“I’m sorry, lamb, you can’t touch me.” He sighed in resignation. “We can only be with each other in a dream. If it’s good for you, that’s good enough for me. I’ll protect you day and night. You’ll be the only woman for me in dreams and in life.”
I studied the tensed line on his gorgeous face as he held his breath, expecting me to deny him.
I had defied every rule in the book.
So I was going to defy this one last, inconvenient rule.
If I could touch him in the dream, I could touch him anywhere.
The Ritual of the Blood Runes hadn’t burned me to ash, and the touch of the death demigod wouldn’t reduce me to a cracked clay statue either.
I wouldn’t accept that I could only have him in my dreams, not after I’d met him in the flesh. And no one could choose what dreams they would get on any given night. I needed more than those few lucky moments with him.
“I crave your touch more than anything,” he said, angst brimming in his eyes. “But—”
I shoved my palm against his jaw before he could stop me.
“No, lamb! What have you done?” he cried out in horror, his eyes wide with devastation.
But I didn’t drop dead.
Only a river of pleasure buzzed over my skin. His fresh stubble pricking against the heel of my palm felt delicious.
“Uh, sorry,” I said, grinning at him. “I hit you a bit too hard, but you didn’t give me much of choice.”
He stared at me, dumbfounded.
Reluctantly, I withdrew my hand from his face, but he caught my wrist and brought my palm to his lips.
“You can touch me, lamb,” he said incredulously. My dream guy looked like the Demigod of Joy instead of the Demigod of Death. “You can really touch me.”
I laughed in victory. “I told you, silly.”
I hadn’t told him. I’d just acted.
A sexy, amused smile ghosted his lips. “No one has ever called the death demigod silly. No one dared.”
“I dared,” I said. “I—”
He swept me into his arms with such passionate force that I widened my eyes in giddiness.
“You’re mine, my brave lamb,” he announced.
He dipped his head and slanted his mouth over mine.
Heat radiated like a hot sun from him to me, and liquid flame erupted between my thighs.
With death’s kiss, life blossomed in me.
Half-Blood Academy 2: Magic Secret
Coming in July 2019
P.S. If you enjoy this book, would you consider leaving a brief review on Amazon? <3
REVIEW MAGIC TRIALS HERE.
Author’s Notes
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading Magic Tr
ials. I hope you enjoy the book. I’ll try to write the next books as fast as I can without compromising the quality.
Book 2: Magic Secret – coming in July 2019
Book 3: Magic Fury – coming in August 2019
Book 4: Magic Unchained – coming in October 2019
Meg
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SNEAK PEEK: A COURT OF BLOOD AND VOID
They call me beautiful. They call me a monster. Soon, they’ll call me death.
As a direct descendant of the God of Death, Cassandra Saélihn is considered the most dangerous monster of all time. Her own mother locks her in a cage to protect the world from her. Cass thought this jail would be her world for a lifetime, but then four sexy, formidable warriors—a vampire lord, twin fae princes, and a demigod—find her.
They claim she's not a monster, but a powerful weapon. The Olympian gods have begun to destroy the Earth with a vengeance, and only she can stop and kill them. But Cass has a mind of her own and can't be told what to do, no matter how drawn she is to her four warrior saviors. To their dismay, the four warriors can't tame the wild, cunning, and volatile Cass. But they have a bigger problem—their growing attraction toward her.
To turn the woman they desire into the ultimate weapon and ensure Earth's survival, they'll have to conquer her body and heart, which seems even harder than winning the war against the atrocious gods. But nothing turns these alpha males on more than an impossible dare. And nothing turns Cass on more than being stalked.
Warning: This is a full-length reverse harem fantasy/paranormal romance that features one hell of strong woman and her four powerful supernatural mates. It contains brutal battles, explicit love scenes, raw language, magic, swordfights, Greek gods, dark fae, vampires, shifters, and a lot of assholes.
A lineup of vampires waited before the magnificent entrance of the mansion. A dark-haired beauty who carried herself like a vampire queen stood out the most. She wore an elegant silver gown worth more than a working-class family’s annual income.
I kind of hated rich people.
The vampires bowed at Lorcan as we stepped out of the car. “High Lord.”
The striking beauty stepped toward Lorcan, her gray gaze glued to his face, greedily taking in his every line.
A sudden jealousy stabbed me. I wanted to slap her.
“Welcome home, my lord,” the beauty said, her gaze flicking to me for a nanosecond before returning to Lorcan. Her world had only him.
“Who are you?” I stepped forward, refusing to let anyone dismiss me.
The beauty glared at me with icy hostility. Vampires were the most unfriendly creatures anyway.
“This is Mistress Selena, dulcis,” Lorcan said.
Selena’s eyes widened at Lorcan’s endearment.
“Mistress?” I narrowed my eyes at Lorcan, anger and humiliation sizzling in me. “Like she’s your concubine? Why wasn’t I informed?”
And how dare he take my blood and claim me when he already had a woman at home!
“Selena administers my realm when I’m away,” Lorcan said. “I trust her to care for my land. She’s loyal and excels in all things, but she doesn’t share my bed.”
“Then who shares your bed?” I demanded, black fire twirling in my eyes.
“You, dulcis, only you,” he said, amusement sparkling in his gray eyes at my tone.
“Oh,” I said, feeling my face flaming. I stepped back. One had to know when to fight and when to withdraw.
“Don’t retreat yet,” Lorcan said, pulling me to him, his hand circling my waist. “I haven’t introduced you. These are my most trusted inner circle. You’ll get to know them.” He then turned to Selena and his inner circle vampires. “High Lady Cass Saélihn is my chosen mate. You’ll treat her as such.”
All the vampires’ eyes widened before they covered up their astonishment in the nick of time. Have I mentioned that I have super eyesight and reflexes? I didn’t miss anything, nor did I miss the pure hatred in Selena’s eyes.
Being her High Lord’s mate had made me her number one enemy. As long as she didn’t act on it, I’d let it slide.
“Cass is not only my mate, but the mate to all of my bonded brothers,” Lorcan added, sweeping a hand toward Alaric, Pyrder, and Reysalor, who maintained steely cold expressions.
They knew how to deal with bloodsuckers.
I should have used the same look in front of the vampires rather than my customary sneer, but it was too late to wipe my sneer off now, so I turned it to a smirk.
The vampires remained still and didn’t even blink naturally.
“My mate and my brothers need to settle in,” Lorcan said sternly. “We’ll hold a meeting in an hour.”
“Yes, High Lord.” The vampires bowed again.
A vampire butler led us into the mansion, which was the finest in every way. I looked left and right and up at the ceilings, awed, before I grinned at Lorcan.
“I hope my home is up to your standards,” Lorcan said, his arm never leaving my waist.
“It’s above average,” I said.
“It’s your home now,” he said.
“In that case, I hope the cuisine is up to par too, at least better than the mediocre food in ShadesStar court.”
Lorcan shook his head, a smile ghosting his sensual lips. “Dulcis is hard to impress.”
Then I was in Alaric’s arms.
All the males had long legs, and Alaric was sparing me from sprinting. I enjoyed pressing my breasts against his cut chest anyway, so I let him carry me all the way until we entered a vast suite that had connected five rooms and one large common room.
The sleeping quarters were perfect for us.
The guards stayed outside the door, so only the five of us were in the common room.
“I built this suite to honor the pact a millennium ago,” Lorcan said, his heated eyes on me before he swept a glance at Reys, Alaric, and Pyrder. “Only now, finally, it’s put to its full use.”
“I want the largest room that has a full-window view,” I said before anyone else could stake a claim.
The males chuckled.
“You don’t need your own room, Cass baby,” Pyrder said. “All the rooms are yours. You’ll just pick a different bed to sleep on every night.”
My face flamed as blood heated in me.
“Since we’re all your mates,” Alaric drawled, “you’ll learn to balance us and treat us equally if you don’t want fights to break out among us.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. If it got too hard, I’d just quit!
“No, no,” Alaric said, as if he read my thought. “You’ll never quit on us, sweetheart.”
Before I could stand up for myself and fight back against his dominance, he grabbed me and crushed me to his hard chest. Wasting no time, he dipped his head and slanted his mouth against mine.
His scent of pine, leather, and oil painting wrapped around me, both gentle and harsh. His kiss was raw, hard, and tender. Only the demigod could administer such contradictory kisses.
My mates were so different from one another. Even the twin fae didn’t share many traits, though they had the same features and turquoise eyes. And yet Pyrder’s eyes were a shade darker, and he had a tattoo of a golden panther on his forearm and half of his chest. One day, hopefully soon, I’d get a chance to explore him as well and get a good look at the entire panther.
Alaric’s kiss deepened. His tongue thrust into my mouth, tasting me, and I twirled mine around him, tasting him back. He had lightning in him, compatible with my fire, yet the two elements tended to compete, which caused many sparks between the demigod and me.
I melted into him, forgetting why I’d been fighting him a minute ago.
“It’s not entertainment time.” Reysalor’s deep voice rang beside us. “Let�
�s settle in first. We have serious business.”
If he had his tongue down my throat, he wouldn’t have mentioned this “serious business.” Alaric obviously thought the same. He sucked my tongue playfully and erotically before releasing me, though I didn’t want release since fire was coursing in my bloodstream.
Displeased with the cold, empty air on my lips, I turned to Reys with a glare.
Reys only pulled me to him and kissed my lips hot and hard before letting me go. I instantly forgot my anger and gazed up at him longingly. The scene of me riding him and him giving me oral pleasure reeled back. I hadn’t been as close to Reys as I’d wanted since all my mates had shown up, and Reys was my first best friend.
“You’ll have all of us soon, Cass baby,” Reys said with a wink. “We’re all yours.”
I wondered if I would have them one-on-one or all at the same time, as in that dream I had, but I had no time to ponder that since we had to rush to the vampires’ meeting.
To be honest, I’d rather have taken a nap, or cuddled with one of my males, which would certainly lead to further exploration and fireworks, than attend a meeting. But my new role seemed to require me to take part in all the activities of my alpha males if I didn’t want to be left behind.
Continue to read A Court of Blood and Void
More Books by Meg Xuemei X
THE FIRST WITCH SERIES
The Dragonian’s Witch
The Witch’s Consort
OF SHADOWS AND FIRE
The Burn of the Underworld
The Fall of the Underworld
The Return of the Underworld
THE WAR OF GODS SERIES
A Court of Blood and Void
A Court of Fire and Metal
A Court of Ice and Wind
A Court of Earth and Ether
HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES
Magic Trials
Magic Secret
Magic Fury
Magic Unchained
THE CURSED DRAGON QUEEN & HER MATES
The Fury Queen’s Harem
The Dragon Queen’s Harem