Half-Blood Academy 5: Magic Flame: a Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Read online

  MAGIC FLAME

  Half-Blood Academy # 5

  Meg Xuemei X

  Half-Blood Academy 5: Magic Flame © 2020 by Meg Xuemei X

  Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Cover art by Jay R Villalobos

  Edited by Christina Walker

  Proofread by Jane Beyer

  The novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. Novel intended for adults only.

  Books by Meg Xuemei X

  THE FIRST WITCH SERIES

  The Dragonian’s Witch

  The Witch’s Consort

  OF SHADOWS AND FIRE SERIES

  The Burn of the Underworld

  The Fall 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

  Magic Flame

  THE CURSED DRAGON QUEEN & HER MATES SERIES

  The Fury Queen’s Harem

  The Dragon Queen’s Harem

  The Fae Queen’s Harem

  TRUE MATE SERIES

  Claim the Wolf King

  Claim the Leopard Princess

  THE WICKEDEST WITCH SERIES

  Wicked Witch

  Dark Vampire

  Fallen Angel

  DARK CHEMISTRY SERIES

  The Siren

  The Prince

  The Red Queen

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  Author’s Note

  SNEAK PEEK OF FEVER FAE

  About the Author

  HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY 5: MAGIC FLAME

  We lit the match. Now we can’t stop the mating flame.

  The world hasn’t seen the likes of me.

  My power can unmake the gods and the worlds—but only after I mate with the Demigod of Sea and activate the Living Flame inside me.

  Mate all day and all night long.

  Peachy right?

  If only we weren’t trapped in the Void where no gods, demons, or mortals are safe. The monsters here? They eat immortals like us as if we’re candy. It’s hard to have sexy times when we’re fending off Titans, cannibals, nasty Ares, and that loose cannon Lucifer.

  Plus, if we don’t return home before the apocalypse, Earth will turn to dust. Our only option is to let the heat of the mating fever blaze, war zone or not, and make it burn everything in its wake.

  CHAPTER 1

  __________________

  The valley shook as if doomsday had dropped right in the middle of it. An armada of monsters and beasts peeled off the black mountains’ shadows, galloping in our direction with bloodcurdling shrieks and wails.

  “What the fu—?” Before I finished swearing, Ares and Lucifer sprang past me and my mates, fear bleeding through their cold, vicious eyes. They no longer paid us attention, even though we had just battled each other brutally in the realm of Hell.

  We weren’t the threats anymore. The things with fangs and claws that came after us were far more dangerous.

  I traded an apprehensive look with my mates, who pressed close around me in a protective formation. Their muscles flexed as they tightened their grip on the hilt of their longswords. My warrior mates wouldn’t mind cutting down more foes with the blades that still dripped fresh blood.

  “Legend says the beasts of the Void specialize in eating gods and immortals as if we’re candy,” Zak, the Demigod of Sky, told us grimly. “We’re in the belly of the Valley of Monsters and the Plain of Cannibals, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Fuck! We’ll never catch a break,” Axel hissed.

  I agreed with the Demigod of War. All we wanted was a little break. Just let us sit the fuck down and breathe for a second before the next onslaught arrived in waves.

  But there was no peace for the nice.

  Paxton’s violet eyes flashed with feral, frustrated light. The Demigod of Sea had looked forward to mating with me, and we’d almost done it. Until the war god and the devil brought war to my door in the middle of our heated mating.

  Zak had nearly died defending me. I’d cried into the ground, believing the Void had separated my mates from me forever before they managed to track me down into this godforsaken realm.

  We were finally together, all of us. No way would we let the beasts fill their bellies with our flesh and bones.

  The valley trembled again. The monsters of all shapes and styles bellowed inhuman cries, chilling my bones, as they charged toward us.

  Angel, the hellhound that followed me from Hell, threw his two heads back and howled, his challenge drowned out by the noise of the armada of beasts.

  “Run!” Héctor roared.

  He didn’t need to shout twice.

  We bolted after Ares and Lucifer. My mates rushed in a coordinated circle, keeping me well-protected in the center. My hellhound ran behind us, keeping himself between us and the monsters.

  “The assholes didn’t even have the decency to warn us of the cannibals,” I spat.

  “That’s why Lucifer and Ares are called the biggest assholes in the galaxy,” Paxton growled.

  “Let’s not compare their size now,” Axel said wisely. “We need to outrun them.”

  “Agreed,” Zak said. “While the beasts devour them, we’ll have time to find shelter.”

  “Isn’t that wishful thinking?” I asked, surveying the valley as we ran for our lives.

  A ring of serrated mountains enclosed three sides of the valley. They towered over us, casting menacing shadows on one-third of the region. Unfortunately, we were at the bottom of the valley.

  “We don’t know anything about the Void and its geography,” Axel admitted. “We don’t know if there’s even a shelter nearby. None of us have been here.”

  “I should have picked a better location to land after I hurled Ares and lured Lucifer to this realm,” I said.

  “It’s never your fault,
Lamb,” Héctor said. “I want you to stay positive. You promised me that when we first met.”

  A sweet memory washed over me. When I first met Héctor in the Dreamland, I bitched a lot. Héctor had listened to my whining patiently instead of trying to get into my pants, though he really wanted to do that. His heated sapphire gaze had nearly melted my panties. So I told him I’d stay positive for him to reward his kindness and also to keep myself sane.

  We had come far, all of us. Héctor and I had hit it off right from the beginning, but my other three mates and I had gone through a rough patch until instead of bending me, they bent for me.

  They’d come to Hell for me, knowing I had demon blood in my veins and not minding a bit. Never wanting me to be alone again, they’d leapt into the Void after me, not caring they might be trapped here forever.

  I darted an appreciative glance at Paxton, Zak, and Axel before returning my gaze to Héctor. And then a lump choked my throat.

  He was mortal now. He’d given up his immortality to save Zak, so I wouldn’t lose a mate, so all of us would be together.

  “Gather around,” Axel shouted. “I’ll teleport us to the top of the valley. And we’ll kick the fuckers down to the bottom and feed them to the beasts.”

  That sounded cool.

  We stopped running and grabbed each other’s hands, waiting for a magical wind to sweep by and transport us to the terminal set by the war demigod.

  But nothing happened. The wind didn’t come, our hair didn’t stir, and our feet remained glued to the blades of the grass.

  Axel shouted his command again, his voice laced with irritation and authority.

  We still didn’t teleport.

  Zak sighed, letting go of Axel’s and Paxton’s hands.

  “We’ve lost our demigod gifts,” he said. “The Void stamps out all alien powers. I tried to summon my lightning when I spotted Lucifer and Ares, but my thunderbolts and lightning were gone. Where my power used to be, there’s only a hollow echo.”

  Axel swore. “That’s exactly how I just felt.”

  “If it’s any comfort, our demigod strength and speed still stay with us,” Zak said. “For now.”

  Paxton called for his water element, but no icy current moved out of him. Héctor didn’t even try as he monitored the monsters’ moves.

  Héctor turned to us. “We need to run faster.”

  We resumed the circular formation and broke into a dead run.

  “The Void must have negated Lucifer’s and Ares’s powers, too,” Zak said.

  “Or they wouldn’t have run like chickens.” Axel spat.

  Lucifer and Ares scrambled toward the side of the valley unblocked by the mountains. They kept a certain distance from each other. After I’d put a wedge between them during our last battle, they didn’t seem to stay besties anymore.

  Yet I doubted they would combat each other to death before they dealt with us first.

  “What if something worse waits for us on the other side?” Paxton asked, suspicious as ever.

  “We’ll deal with it then,” Héctor said harshly.

  “Hurry up,” Zak urged.

  We picked up our paces and stopped talking, determined to outrun our immortal enemies. To my glee, we were gaining on them.

  The duo had always relied on their supernatural powers. I’d bet they hadn’t been to the gym a day in their lives. So it wasn’t a shocker that we were catching up with them.

  Lucifer glanced back and saw us, then he sped up, too. He threw his head back as he ran. It was a bad posture. But I could see why he didn’t know better. His vast, red wings had somehow shrunk to half a foot in width and length, yet they refused to vanish, despite his many tries.

  It must be humiliating for him.

  Except for the wings, he remained in his mutant, part-archangel and part-devil form, with a monstrous body, long horns, blade-like claws, and crimson eyes.

  The vain devil was no longer handsome.

  Ares raced a couple paces behind Lucifer, his broadsword held tightly in one hand. Following Lucifer’s example, he looked back as well. His vicious gaze met mine, then slid beyond me. He grinned, and even amid the monsters’ deafening howls, I could hear the war god’s vile, delighted laughter.

  Instantly, cold dread sank to the pit of my stomach. I risked looking back, and came skidding to a halt.

  Héctor had lagged far behind. He no longer had a demigod’s strength or power, and now survived under human limitations. It hadn’t occurred to me that he couldn’t run as fast as we could anymore, and I’d left him behind.

  I watched in terror as the first wave of the monsters reached him in a blink of an eye. I couldn’t—none of us could make it to him in time.

  “Héctor!” I screamed, hot fury and icy fear warring inside me. I dashed toward him, throwing my hands up at the horde, wishing with everything in me that my magic could save my beloved mate from the monsters.

  Only tiny flames twirled in my palms, then winked out.

  “No! No!” I shrieked.

  Héctor faced the sea of enraged, hungry monsters, posing for battle, his sword thrusting into the first beast coming toward him. A tide of the beasts passed by him and hustled toward us, wanting to get to my other mates.

  “Leave me!” Héctor roared. “Just fucking go!” A ring of crimson formed in his sapphire eyes. “Do your fucking job and protect my Lamb!”

  “I won’t leave you!” I snarled, bolting toward him, swinging my demon sword, hoping the fierce display and my resolve could intimidate the monsters and halt their onslaught on Héctor.

  Let me reach him in time, please. Let me reach him!!

  Two strong arms caught me, wrapping around my waist in a vice-like grip and hauling me away from Héctor.

  “No!” I cried. “I won’t leave him! I’ll never leave him!”

  “I’m sorry, Rosebud,” Zak said ruefully, pulling me backward toward the top of the valley with Paxton. Still murmuring a string of apologies, the Demigod of Sky wrapped his large hand around the back of my neck and applied sharp pressure, rendering me half-conscious.

  He knew I’d never abandon Héctor if he didn’t incapacitate me.

  I whimpered and pleaded. I wasn’t left with enough strength to fight my other mates and go to Héctor.

  “Don’t… do this…to me…to him,” I begged, hot tears running down my cheeks as my mates hauled me toward the only open side of the valley.

  Héctor crashed into rows of the horde, all alone, and vanished amid the ferocious behemoths.

  Ares crowed and scampered while he looked over his shoulder at the brutal sight. “It’s a befitting ending for the Demigod of Death—in the insatiate bellies of the beasts of the Void. I never thought I’d see this day come.”

  I struggled to lift a hand, willing that I still had some magic left and burn the god to a crisp.

  Ares guffawed at my failure and anguish.

  I marked him for death.

  My hellhound growled at the god, baring his fangs.

  “You’re dead, Ares,” Axel hissed with white-hot hatred. “I’ll slay you at the first chance.”

  “Try, my bastard son,” Ares snickered. “You should meet your pureblood brothers and learn a thing or two from Deimos and Phobos. The God of Fear and God of Terror are your betters. They’re the sons suitable to accompany me to war.” He no longer spared us a glance as he sprinted to the top of the valley.

  “Héctor…” I struggled in vain as tears wetted my face. “Go…back. He…needs me.”

  “Then we’ll all be dead, Rosebud,” Zak said in a broken voice. “He saved me. I owe him a life debt I can never pay, but our priority is you.”

  “You…run, please.” I fought to get words out. “Let … me die … with him.”

  “It’s beyond our capacity to see you hurt, love,” Paxton said in a thick emotion. “You aren’t thinking right. Rest and don’t think, Buttercup. We’ll carry you to the end. We’ll get you to safety.”

  And then I was
on Zak’s broad shoulder since my feet had refused to move another inch.

  Paxton and Axel guarded my back and raced with Zak. Angel dashed ahead of us.

  I sobbed, trying to lift a hand and stretch it in Héctor’s direction. I called his name unintelligibly, not caring that a string of saliva was dripping from the corner of my mouth while I had a hard time forming words.

  I no longer cared about what was going to happen next. I would have felt less agony if someone jabbed a burning rod into my broken heart. I no longer wanted to live, yet reason and logic demanded I care for and defend my other mates.

  But how could I continue without my beloved Héctor?

  Before we reached the top of the valley, the first wave of the monsters surged toward us, swarming us. Rage beat in me, vanquishing all fear. Some of them might be the ones that had torn my love apart.

  The Void might have nullified my magic, but I still had a sword.

  A rush of adrenaline pumped into me, lending me new strength. “Put me down!” I roared. “I’ll kill them all!”

  There was no use running now that the monsters had outrun us. Zak let me down gently, and my mates immediately established a protective formation around me.

  My knees didn’t buckle, as I thought they would. I snarled like a fiend and charged forward, my demon sword beheading a horned panther-like creature. The need to avenge my beloved burned in my blood, offering me the vigor I required.

  Rage was a terrible thing, and I was riding it.

  Zak, Axel, and Paxton swung their swords at the Void mutants, hacking and slashing, leaving piles of corpses. I screamed as I cleaved a troll’s horn then plunged my blade into its scaled chest.

  Yet an ocean of them kept coming, mounting over their kind’s bodies to charge us.

  My peripheral vision caught a giant tearing a piece of flesh from Axel’s shoulder. Axel roared in pain. He kicked away a mutant tiger and rammed his blade into the giant’s midsection, twisting his sword and slicing up.