by Meg Xuemei X
Max swept away another wave of beasts that surged toward us.
I didn’t know how long we’d been fighting, but it seemed this mêlée would never end.
I fought not to blink as sweat streamed into my eyes, stinging me.
The battle raged on, blades crashing against fangs and claws and scales, and soon our clothes were torn. Sebastian and Octavia had slashes from the beasts all over their bodies. Ash moved to their side at my urging, covering them both while Max guarded me.
With his wings expelling the monsters and his blade driving into them at blinding speed, Max hadn’t let any monster get to me—except for one that clamped his jaws down on my thigh while he pulled his angelblade from a giant that had layers of thick scales.
Pissed off, Max impaled the monster that held my leg in his jaws and kicked the corpse away, which collided with another giant monster.
“Are you hurt, doll?” Max asked urgently.
The bite from the beast had hurt like a bitch. He’d tried to tear off a chunk of my flesh, yet I had no wound. And my skin wasn’t bleeding. That was kind of a nice surprise. But now that I recalled, the only time I’d bled was when I was punctured by an angelblade.
Did that mean no ordinary weapon or creature could harm me?
“I’m fine,” I called back.
“They’re endless,” Sebastian said in dismay. “We can’t last forever.”
He was right. No matter how well we fought and how powerful our weapons were, we couldn’t fend off an unceasing army of creatures of teeth and claws.
They kept advancing toward us, leaping over or trampling on the corpses of their kind to reach us, wave after wave. The stench of blood in the forest only excited them more and kicked them into frenzy. The beasts and monsters had no fear. They wouldn’t stop until we were hot in their bellies.
“We need to get the fuck out of here,” Max shouted, his hard wings pushing away a few monsters as he flew up, his blade swinging at the savage mutants. At the same time, he was seeking a way out.
“They’re everywhere,” he declared, cleaving a few more beasts and landing beside me again.
“Fight toward the south,” Ash shouted.
So, we pushed toward the south, inch by inch. As soon as one mutant fell, another replaced it, and this carnage made me sick to my stomach.
A flash of vague genetic memory played in front of my eyelids. The wolf girl—my mother—had once pushed off an entire fallen angel army with a wave of red lightning. Maybe I could do the same. I had her magic, too.
I summoned my power, but only a spark of red lightning flashing on my fingertips. I tossed the electric sparks at a spider-like monster that hissed and spewed acid at me. I thought my lightning was weak, but the spider went into spasms when the spark of red lightning hit its thick skull.
Max sent me a look of approval as he covered me to let me practice. I grinned at him in appreciation. The best training happened on the battlefield, despite him and Ash planning to bring me to the Upper Realm to let my druid mate train me.
You can do this, I told myself. I had to get this magic working, so my companions and I could get out of this hell of a jungle.
I’d burned a demon to death with my touch. All I needed was to believe in myself, even though I wasn’t acquainted with my long-dormant power.
I threw up my hands, and this time the trickle of magic turned to a stream, my red lightning slamming into a horde of the beasts and knocking out rows of them.
The mutants dropped in heaps.
Sebastian widened his eyes at my red lightning.
Octavia shouted in encouragement. “Praise the Queen of the Flame!”
I roared, feeling like a badass, and tossed a bigger red wave toward the south, sending monsters flying to either side. As they parted, an escape route was revealed in front of us.
“Go!” Max shouted.
With his wings and blade guarding me, I tossed another wave at the monsters far ahead as I scrambled along the cleared path. With this pent-up lust scorching within me, my magic had been boiling to get out.
Sebastian and Octavia raced after me, with Ash bringing up the rear. Octavia wasn’t fast enough, so Sebastian threw her onto his shoulder and bolted beside me. Killian trotted on my other side, a small beast between his jaws.
He wouldn’t give up his dinner.
Ash blasted a gust of ice and wind—his fae elemental magic—toward the monsters pursuing us from all sides.
“I heard a waterfall ahead,” Max called.
“Go southeast!” Ash answered.
Sebastian looked confused. “I don’t hear anything except the beasts’ angry howls.”
The sound of water rose above the enraged, hungry baying of the monster army.
Our group dashed forward as one. The waterfall could be as dangerous as this nightmarish forest, but at least there would be a change of scenery—the carnage was turning my stomach.
But it was either kill or be eaten.
Then we all saw the waterfall hanging in the air, fifty yards away from the end of the forest, half-veiling a vast cave behind it.
“Go. Go!” Max yelled at Ash, and they instantly shifted position.
Ash leapt toward the waterfall while Max guarded our rear, his wings spread wide, beating toward the approaching monsters menacingly.
Ash alighted on the other side of the waterfall in a crouch, right at the entrance of the cave. He gave Max a curt nod, and Max grabbed Octavia from Sebastian’s shoulder without any warning and tossed her through the curtain of the waterfall. Before she could finish uttering a surprised yelp and a whimper, Ash had caught her like she weighed nothing and put her down on a rock behind him.
“Go, Killian,” I called.
My tiger leapt with his dinner between his teeth and landed perfectly beside the fae warrior.
Sebastian glared at Max. “I refuse to be tossed.” He turned to me. “Calamity, do you need a hand?”
I showed him a grin. “I jumped higher and farther than you even when I was a kid.”
He shook his head at me, but his ego wasn’t really bruised. “Go, then.”
He would argue with me if I didn’t go next. I leaped and touched down in front of Ash in a crouch. He pulled me up, crushing me against his chest before he let me go. Even now, in the midst of danger, the mating fever still thrummed between us.
Sebastian jumped, the powerful water slamming into him and knocking him down toward the bottom of the deep pool.
“Sebastian!” both Octavia and I screamed.
I was about to go after him, but Ash grabbed me. Then Max flew over, snatched Sebastian as he dropped like a brick, and carried him safely across.
The monsters arrived, wave after wave, facing the waterfall.
“Lead Sebastian and Octavia to the cave, Max,” Ash shouted. “Ayanna and I will use magic to halt the beasts.”
Max made his wings vanish and charged into the cave, his angelblade thrust before him. Sebastian and Octavia followed him closely, panting hard, eyes wide. Ash and I withdrew into the cave together and positioned ourselves at the entrance.
The monsters leapt through the waterfall. My wave of red lightning blasted ahead, and at the same time, Ash’s icy deluge hit the monsters.
My lightning shocked the first two monsters and sent them plunging to the bottom of the pool, and Ash’s elemental wind tossed the remaining beasts farther back.
Yet the beasts kept arriving, throwing themselves at the waterfall in an effort to come at us.
“We can’t do this forever. My magic is draining,” I told Ash in dismay. “We need to find a way to block the entrance.”
I tossed a new wave of red lightning toward the army, and Ash blasted out his icy wind. Then, at the entrance, his wind and my lightning weaved together, covering the cave’s mouth like a crimson-and-silver net.
I widened my eyes. “What’s that?”
“A ward,” Ash said in awe. “Our combined magic formed a ward. Now, just watch.”
A giant monster with fangs larger than a dagger leaped over the curtain of water and slammed into the net. Just as I was about to thrust Dreamkiss into his open jaws, the monster’s red eyes blinked, as if shocked, then he flew back and plunged toward the bottom of the pool.
Another beast rammed into the net and suffered the same fate.
“The ward will hold, Blossom,” Ash said.
“I don’t even know how we formed a ward,” I said, grinning at him. We’d be safe for a little longer, and I was exhausted.
Ash interlaced his fingers with mine. “You’re my fated mate, so our magics have decided for themselves and mated before we consummated the mating bond.”
Liquid fire leapt in me, spreading and licking every inch of my skin, and lust coursed in my veins.
It’s time to mate, the mating call purred in my head.
“That was unexpected,” Max murmured behind us.
Max took my other hand, and we ventured into the cave, ignoring the monster army’s snarling and howling on the other side of the waterfall.
CHAPTER 17
_____________
It wasn’t really an abandoned cave in the wilderness.
Someone had taken care of this place and made it clean and tidy. There wasn’t even a hint of spiderweb in any corner.
The ground was paved with cobblestones. The ceilings reached a hundred feet high. We strolled farther into the cave, Max’s blade drawn, Ash and I ready to toss our magic at any nasty surprises.
Killian occupied a corner, chewing his kill, glowering now and then to keep anyone from getting close to his dinner.
“There’s food on the table,” Sebastian called ahead.
While Ash and I had been setting the ward at the cave’s mouth, Sebastian and Octavia had made themselves useful by scouting and exploring the cave.
“This place was prepared for Queen Calamity’s arrival,” Octavia said. “There’s a note here. This must be one of the Nightingale’s outposts. I wasn’t aware of this area, because I was supposed to bring Queen Calamity to the Prophet via the opposite route.”
The angelblade flashed in Max’s large, powerful hand. He wasn’t going to trust anyone or their hospitality. He let go of my hand and stepped through an archway. Ash and I followed.
In front of us was an open space with a stone table and several chairs around it. On the table were baskets of bread, fruits, and dried meat. Beside the baskets were three pitchers of water and several glasses.
The food was simple, yet it was a luxury for a slave like me.
I licked my cracked lips. My stomach groaned.
“They might be poisoned,” Max said, standing at the table to examine the food.
“They aren’t poisoned. They’re prepared for the Queen of the Flame,” Octavia said, waving the note in her hand.
Max extended a hand for the note, but the courtesan shook her head and waited for me, despite his scary glare. She wouldn’t even let Sebastian have a look.
I reached the table.
Octavia handed me the note, her eyes bright with amazement. “Queen Calamity. Lady Prophet knew you were coming.”
I had asked her to just call me Calamity, but she wouldn’t do it, as if she was afraid that if she stopped calling me those fancy titles, the prophecy would fall apart.
I unfolded the note, and Ash and Max read over my shoulders. Sebastian tried to lean in to read as well, but Ash and Max blocked him by taking all the space.
Greetings to the Queen of the Flame, the note said simply, signed with the initial R.
Ash frowned. “Who is R?”
“Lady Raven, the Prophet,” Octavia said, still excited, despite her exhaustion and injury.
“Let’s eat,” Sebastian said, more interested in food than any spiritual leader, and grabbed a loaf from a basket.
Octavia glared at him for a second before letting out a resigned sigh. She liked to do things in the proper order. She believed I, as the queen, should have the first bite in a formal setting.
Max finished examining the bread, cut a slice, put it on a plate along with some fruit and dried meat, and handed the plate to me.
“The food was prepared two days ago,” he said.
As a slave, I had never had fresh food. The bread we had was always leftover from at least a month ago.
“They’re fresh to me,” I said, perching on a seat between Max and Ash as I thanked Max for the serving. The two males always put my needs before theirs in every situation.
They took their roles as my providers and protectors seriously.
I waited until Max and Ash had food piled on their plates, too, then put a chunk of bread in my mouth to sate my hunger. Sebastian hadn’t waited for anyone, though he grabbed a string of cherries and put them on Octavia’s plate.
“Let’s check out the cave further after we’re done eating,” Ash said and poured a glass of water for me. “Ayanna needs her energy first.”
The males’ pampering warmed my fluttering heart. I fought the tears that threatened to form in my eyes. When I was a branded slave, I’d never thought one day I could taste freedom and someone other than my brother would want to take care of me.
And Ash was right. I needed to eat before I could summon any energy to heal my brother and Octavia.
“How did the Prophet know that Princess Ayanna was coming?” Ash asked, a dark light flickering in his ice-blue eyes. He had a suspicious nature like Sebastian. Only my brother wouldn’t question Octavia, his new favorite person.
“Lady Raven is the Prophet!” Octavia said. “The Gods favor her and gift her with visions. She prophesized the Queen of the Flame’s coming long before the queen was born. That’s why I was entrusted with the important task of bringing Queen Calamity to the Prophet for a blessing, so she can be the Queen of the Underworld and replace the archdemon usurper. If we had taken that route, we would have reached the secret city of Nightingale and be safe now.” She gave us a hesitate glance. “I still think we should bring Queen Calamity to Lady Raven first.”
“That’s out of the question,” Max said, not bothering to say more.
“We’ll be at the portal in a few days,” Ash added. “We’re not risking our mate to satisfy your Prophet’s whim.”
He’d finished his share of food. He’d basically devoured it without chewing. I knew he was restless, since he didn’t like everyone sitting around with no one guarding us.
“I’ll go check the rest of the cave,” he said in a clipped tone and stood up.
He called Killian, and the tiger licked his paws, rose to his feet, and followed Ash. The tiger had finished with his dinner. Now and then, he turned his head and snarled at the entrance of the cave. The beasts’ unceasing bellows outside the cave bothered him as well.
After I ate my fill of bread, fruit, and meat, my stomach finally settled instead of feeling a gnawing pain. But then scorching lust dominated me again, urging me to climb onto Max’s lap and grind my ass against his huge erection.
My face flamed with embarrassment, and I stole a glance at him, only to find his hot golden gaze locked on mine, caressing my every curve.
I squeezed my thighs together to ease the ache of my tender flesh in between.
Sebastian stared at us, his face red, too. “So, it’s coming back, the fever?”
Max chuckled without humor. “It’s never left, not even in the battlefield when we slaughtered the monsters.”
Sebastian waved a hand. “Then this cave presents the perfect place to solve that thorny issue. I spotted a few rooms that way, and one room has a door.”
I glared at him. “Shut up, Bas.”
“At least we aren’t in the open,” Sebastian said. “I’m not happy with the solution, either. But your mating fever has been driving everyone nuts.”
I left the table and stormed away. I didn’t want everyone to keep talking about how horny I was. It wasn’t something that I could control. And I needed to find a room where all of us could rest and where I co
uld heal my brother and Octavia.
I also needed to inspect Max and Ash and make sure they weren’t injured. As I pictured myself examining the gorgeous males, my blood raced giddily in my veins, and heat wrapped all around me.
The cave turned out to have three private rooms and a small kitchen area as well. I called my brother and Octavia into one of the open rooms that had three beds.
Whoever had prepared this spot for my companions and me was thorough. Other than food, there were clean outfits and some necessities in every room.
I wasn’t an expert in healing, but I got the job done. After I sealed Sebastian and Octavia’s wounds, I let them rest and exited the room with Max.
Max led me into the room with a door.
Inside, a large bed with clean sheets rested close to the polished, rocky wall. Near the bed was a round table with a bottle of wine and three tall glasses on it. I stared at the dark red liquid inside the wine bottle. Was it part of the Prophet’s hospitality as well?
Had she foreseen how I would spend the night in this room with both Max and Ash? I should feel grateful for her consideration, but this whole setting bordered on creepiness. Who liked to be featured in a psychic’s visions, especially when it involved intimacy?
Max, however, didn’t have a problem with the gifts.
“Wine?” he said with a grin. “Just what we need.”
I bet he, Ash, and Elijah were all part of the privileged class in the Upper Realm. They didn’t have the slave mentality and scars like Sebastian, Octavia, and I had. Did that mean there would be a huge gap between us, since we came from different backgrounds?
I had been a princess, but I’d been stolen and lived as a branded slave for two decades. That was the only life I’d known, though I rebelled against being a slave with my every fiber.
Max closed the door gently behind us.
It was just Max and me now, in this room, alone.
My heart fluttered, and my breath hitched at what would happen next.
Our eyes met. His heated gaze roved my every inch, my every curve, caressing without touch.
Wildfire licked up my torso, heating every inch of my skin. I’d combust if I didn’t strip bare now.