Half-Blood Academy 5: Magic Flame: a Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Page 17

  Poseidon sneered at Héctor. “Child, wait another eon and try again.”

  Three Titan minions rushed Héctor.

  “Dumbass Titans,” I called. “The original gods caged you like rabid dogs, and now when you have a chance to flee, you instead defend your jailors and abusers?”

  The Titans gave me a glare. “We’re loyal to King Cronus. If he says you’re an abomination, then you’re an abomination. You’re illegal to exist.”

  “Then you deserved to be locked up like the piece of Titan shit you are,” I said.

  “Guard my daughter, Héctor,” Lilith called. “It’s more efficient that way.”

  Lilith and Héctor flew up. When they landed beside me, their massive wings shoved away a few Titans and sentinels nearby before their blades found their victims.

  “Hello, Belle,” Mom said fondly, her cool hand brushing my damp cheek.

  “Mom,” I said in a strained voice as I put in everything I had to fend off the gods. “I’m busy.”

  “You’re always busy, daughter,” she said, not dropping her smile. And then she asked, “Where’s Lucifer?”

  “Why do you want to know where your ex is?” Dad chimed in. He was still battling Cronus. “If I see him, I’ll rip his heart out.”

  “Believe me, you don’t want his heart, Hyperion,” Mom purred. “But I do want to cut off his head and spike it on the front wall of my tower. He knew Belle was my daughter, yet he still tortured her for months. I take it personally.”

  “I see,” Dad said. “Let me know if you need any assistance, and you’ll have my sword and brain.” Then he bellowed in rage as Cronus slammed a fist to his nose.

  “Focus, you old fool,” Mom scolded him.

  Dad hissed. I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at Mom for calling him old and a fool, or at the false Titan king. If he had hissed at Mom, I needed to redirect the family conflict before it escalated.

  “No one knows where Lucifer is, Mom,” I offered in a hurry. “Maybe you can go search for him?” The last thing I wanted was for the devil to join forces with the gods.

  “Perhaps he got eaten by the beasts.” Paxton suggested hopefully.

  It felt like we were having a family meeting in the middle of the battlefield when Mom and my four mates fought around me to prevent our foes from getting near me. We were still outnumbered.

  “The beasts of the Void won’t have him,” Mom said darkly. “I know he’s somewhere, scheming against me. And I’m not paranoid. My daughter’s illusion of me living in the realm of pure energy and magic must have given him some idea and he’s planning to take it from me.”

  I flinched. “Sorry, Mom. I wasn’t thinking of the long term when I lured him here.”

  “You did what you had to do, my brilliant Belle.” Her voice brimmed with pride as she slashed a huge gash on a Titan’s chest.

  The Titan, who was Cronus’s second in command, stumbled back and looked shocked.

  “Fuck off, Titan, please,” Lilith told him. “I’m having a conversation with my daughter and sons-in-law. Learn your manners, or I’ll remove your head.”

  The Titan shouted an obscenity at Mom and lunged at her, but Héctor buried his sword into his back.

  I eyed my Héctor in appreciation. I was all for stabbing the evil-doers in the back.

  “Thank you, son-in-law.” Mom beamed at him. “It’s good you’re a half-blood again. More useful that way.”

  Héctor ignored her and lunged at a prison guard with a blood-curdling battle cry. He was all about intimidating and eliminating threats.

  Mom frowned while she stabbed another Titan. “Are your mates always this loud?”

  I blushed. I couldn’t help it. “Sometimes they are much louder,” I admitted.

  They always roared when they came inside me.

  My archangel-demon mother stared at my flush. I bet she’d never flushed once in her life.

  “Mom, how can you be sure Lucifer isn’t dead?” I asked to distract her from fixing on the relationship between my mates and me.

  “Lucifer was my bonded mate,” Mom said. “I can’t sever the bond unless he’s dead. And when he’s dead, I’ll know. However, we can’t access each other through the mating bond, unlike you and your mates. Lucifer and I never fully trusted each other.”

  “That was too bad,” I said in sympathy, then corrected myself quickly. “Well, not too bad for you, considering what kind of jackass he is.” I tried not to smile at my own fortune—I landed four hot, loyal, and fun mates.

  “Time to end this melodrama, daughter,” Mom said, sweeping her gaze over the battlefield. “Call the monsters and beasts. Time to practice your power as the true Princess of the Void. You rule in this realm. You bend all creatures’ will to yours.”

  I frowned at her and wiped the beads of sweat on the tip of my nose. “It takes time for me to learn how to summon the monsters. I’m a quick learner, but I ain’t that quick while holding off three original gods who are hellbent on poaching and siphoning my abominated, unholy power. So pardon me, Mom, if I come across as a disappointment to you.”

  While the gods tried to steal my power, I learned all about them through the back door they’d left open. They thought they could take my awesome, covetable power and drain me to an empty shell, but I had a different plan for them.

  Mom arched an eyebrow at me, yet there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.

  “And second,” I continued, “the beasts reside in the valley, which is miles away.”

  Lilith sighed. “When I showed myself in your Dreamscape, I taught you to free your conditioned thinking, which led you to lure Ares and Lucifer into your clever trap. You’ve been backsliding ever since. You aren’t human, Belle. You’re a Titan-archangel child.”

  “I was raised as a human for twenty-two years,” I protested. “I only learned about my heritage a few months ago. I was dragged to the Academy to get some reeducation, then I was burned by the Blade of Runes in the ritual Hall, and then I was iced in my dorm because I didn’t want to get up so early in the morning, then beaten half to death in the training room, all before I knew who I was.”

  I felt tightness, guilt, remorse, and all sorts of emotions from my mates through our mating bond.

  “I wasn’t mad at you guys,” I shouted at them. “I was telling Mom where I came from so she’d understand I wasn’t making an excuse. I don’t want anyone to have high expectations of me since it causes me anxiety.” I addressed Lilith again. “So, Mom, listen. I also survived three kidnapping attempts, then I mated Zak because I needed to feed. And he’s incredibly sexy and tender. Then I went through a rough patch with Paxton. And to spare my beloved mates, I stabbed myself in the heart, and Lucifer and Ares still dragged me to Hell and tortured me to within an inch of my life. I survived because of Loki. Then I was tossed in the pit to fight for my life until my brave, loyal mates found me in Hell and got me out. And I haven’t had a break so far in the Void, either. See how I have to duel three old, immature cocksuckers in the bloody battlefield, three against one. I don’t exactly have time to sit down and learn anything.”

  “You went through all that crap, my heir?” Dad raged. “All your enemies and tormentors will die a slow, horrible, and shitty death!” His mace slashed across Cronus’s leg and scored.

  “No one cares what you went through, demon spawn harlot,” Poseidon snarled.

  “This isn’t for your ears, ass sucker,” I said.

  Mom arched an elegant eyebrow. “I thought the gods were dick suckers. No? Whatever. I don’t even care. They’re gross either way.” She gave me a stern stare for tough love’s sake and placed her cool hand on my shoulders. “Do not analyze, my brave child. Do not over think. Feel every pulse of life in this realm and narrow it down to where we are. You were born a ruler, Princess of the Void. Now command as is your birthright.”

  I took in a deep breath, then I set my mind free. I unshackled my spirit.

  I felt my mates, fiercely loving and loyal to me an
d full of rage toward our enemies. Then Mom and Dad, proud of me.

  I felt the original gods’ essence—vicious, arrogant, greedy, powerful, and lacking justice. I felt the Titans, their half-insane and savage nature. I felt the prison sentinels—some were on my side and some were not.

  Amid the sea of life in Tartarus, I also felt the beasts and monsters that Mom wanted me to summon. They were full of hunger and blind rage and fear.

  They were the test subjects Tartarus mentioned in the red dome.

  I reached for their minds, and they answered my call. I now knew that while we were in the valley, the beasts had never meant to hurt me—they were only drawn to me, though they did want to eat my mates. I had let panic blind my judgment. If I had known how to command them back then, they’d have been my army and followed me into this battle.

  I had a beast army here as well.

  Mom had said every creature would bend to my will.

  I extracted a thread of my Flame and directed it toward the red dome. It traced along the warded lock with sparks and sunk inside. Clicks. Many clicks. The trace of my power unlatched the cell doors and banged open the main entrance to the dome.

  Tartarus snapped his head toward the red dome, then back to me. “Princess, what have you done?”

  “I correct your wrongs and free my beautiful beasts,” I said with an icy threat in my voice. “You’ll never lock them up or experiment on them again.”

  A chorus of howls rocked the dome, then hundreds of monsters, all horns and spikes and fangs and claws, charged out the door, surging toward my enemies.

  My former hellhound fought beside Mom and yowled fiercely in response.

  “Guard my Lamb!” Héctor shouted. He lifted his wings, spreading them to full length to shield me, ready to slay the monsters.

  “The beasts are mine,” I told my mates.

  The sentinels and the Titans turned and fled toward the gate. The ones who chose to stay and fight were soon swarmed by my monsters.

  And that left only the gods for us to take care of.

  “Unleash your true Flame now, daughter!” Mom called.

  While I held off the gods to test the Living Flame, I’d learned how utterly destructive my Flame was. It was meant to undo the worlds and snuff out the stars with gods and every being in them.

  This great power would tempt and change me. Power corrupts, and the original gods were a prime example. I blew out a breath, hesitating.

  “Trust yourself, Belle,” Mom said. “It’s time.”

  “We trust you, love.” Héctor encouraged.

  My mates nodded, forming a protective circle around me.

  I had to end this fight.

  I let myself free fall and unleashed the Living Flame.

  Then I was flying among the stars, competing with the speed of light and running in parallel with time. I was no longer flesh and bones.

  I was more. So much more. I had a galaxy of brilliant stars whirling inside my Flame, seeking comfort and whispering secrets.

  I could destroy, and I could create.

  Right now, I could turn the gods and the Titans, every single one of them, to dust.

  I considered my prey with a detached emotion, but then I thought of my mates.

  Would I make them orphans? Blood ties don’t define family. But I might still show mercy to my enemies for my mates’ sake. Their psychopathic fathers were power-hungry and malicious and callous, but they were still my mates’ fathers.

  I could unmake the gods and the worlds, yet I chose mercy because I could.

  Screams, shouts, and curses hollered around me. Mom laughed viciously and victoriously.

  My body was gone. In its place was a flaming wind twirling like rainbows of star light and fire.

  “Where’s my mate?!” Héctor roared, hacking at the gods’ force field with his sword and wings. “What did you do to my Lamb, fuckers?”

  Zak, Paxton, and Axel joined his onslaught in blind, icy rage.

  “Call your hellion off!” Hades screamed, his once-terrifying death light waving weakly and fading.

  “What is she doing to us?” Poseidon screeched in pain. “She’s diminishing us. She’s the world-eater and gods-eater! No! No! No!”

  “Yes!” Mom threw her head back and laughed, her silver wings out and radiating. “Behold my daughter! Behold the glory of the Princess of the Void!”

  Her maiden warriors lifted their spears into the air and started singing a song of battle and glory. “Our Princess! Our Princess!” they chanted.

  Everyone was bat-shit crazy.

  Zeus wielded his scepter frantically. “Stop! I command you. Stop and all will be forgiven. You have my word—”

  Lightning winked out in his eyes. The thunder rumbled weakly and vanished in my Flame.

  The flaming wind spun around the gods, peeking at the fear in their eyes.

  “I see prey.” The wind carried my voice. “For my mates, I won’t kill you. I’ll give you the same mercy you bestowed on your forebears.”

  The wind of the Flame sent the gods flying through the door to the silver dome, where the Titans had been locked for eons.

  Zeus twisted his scepter around, its ends blocking the door frame. His one hand held the center of the scepter and hung on; his other hand seized one side of the doorframe to pull himself out.

  “Help me, brother!” Hades shrieked from deep inside the dome.

  Poseidon shouted his pleading as well.

  A stream of flame shot toward Zeus, and mighty Zeus twisted his neck, lowered his head to duck the fire, and let out an unkingly yelp.

  “You’re being naughty, Z,” I said and let the flame sunder his scepter.

  “No!” Zeus screamed, and a force pulled him into the dome and dragged him down to its pit.

  Then the rest of the Titans and prison guards who had battled us also flew through the door into the pit of the dome, despite their vehement protests.

  My enemies were defeated, imprisoned for eternity. Exultation filled me, but only for a moment. What would I do now?

  “Cookie?” Axel raised his face, staring at the swirling Flame in alarm, fear lurking in his eyes. He was worried that I’d stay as the Flame forever.

  “Rosebud?” Zak approached the Flame. “Come back!”

  “You do not bark an order at her,” Paxton hissed beside the sky demigod. “You need to learn how to entice and seduce. That’s the way with a woman.”

  Zak stared at him before turning to me and called me urgently, his voice softening. “Rosebud, love? I need you.”

  I considered my mates.

  Being the Living Flame, I was the ultimate power. I had ultimate freedom. I could go anywhere and roam the universe in a blink of an eye.

  I’d flown amid the stars. I had run alongside time.

  If my mates’ offers weren’t fascinating enough, I’d stay what I was.

  CHAPTER 18

  __________________

  “Buttercup, please return to us,” Paxton said in his deep, seductive voice. “I haven’t had enough of you.”

  Not good enough. He was thinking of his own benefit. But then his touch was electrifying, always sending tingles over my skin. I thought of the hot sex we had in prison and how much more he could give me if he had his full hard length inside me. I might try that at one point.

  But now, I remained undecided. Incredible sex shouldn’t be the main factor in a relationship, should it?

  “I want to wake up every morning and see you next to me in bed,” the sea demigod continued to entice.

  But that might not end well. Axel and Héctor would definitely fight for the hot spot beside me. I hoped that Pax would brace for that for his own good. I already heard Axel’s grunt.

  “I’ll send Axel to make coffee and bring donuts for you while we cozy up, basked in sunlight in bed,” Paxton said with a dreamy, goofy smile.

  I almost shouted at him that Axel wouldn’t do it, but Paxton snapped his stare at the war demigod. “Will you serve
our mate, Axel?”

  “As long as Cookie returns to us, I’ll do anything,” Axel said.

  Well, that was a new development among them.

  “But we’ll need to put things in the schedule, as to cleaning, hunting, putting food on the table for our mate, and sexy time,” Axel added, remaining calculating.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Zak added in confidence.

  “Forget about donuts, Cookie,” Axel said, gazing up at the swirling Flame with a dazzling, arousing smile that made my heart flutter and my core ache, even though I didn’t have the physical organs at the moment. “You can have crème brûlée from Paris, your favorite, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As many as you want.”

  I nearly smacked my imagined lips.

  “That’s not a healthy diet,” Paxton said. “We need to consider what is best for Buttercup.”

  “Now you think you’re the expert and chime in every time I talk to Cookie?” Axel snorted. “You might think you’re her new favorite, but it’ll pass, bro. Cookie is a Titan, and much more than a Titan. A human diet and rules don’t work for her.”

  Maybe this wasn’t going to work. They kept arguing, which inexplicably gave me a headache even without my physical body.

  “Stop fighting!” Zak barked at them. “Or she’ll leave us.”

  Paxton and Axel blinked at my Flame that was flying higher and putting more distance from them. They called my name in panic.

  “We’ll invite your friends to have crème brûlée with us,” Zak said. “Everyone can have as much wine as they want. Nat, Yelena, Circe, Jasper, and your new shifter and witch friends from the Other Academy will be very happy to see you again.”

  Zak was my only mate who remembered all of my friends’ names.

  Tears nearly floated to my imagined eyes. And the Flame stopped rising higher. I missed my friends so much. They were probably in their second year now while Hell and the Void had delayed my academic education.

  “Yes, invite all your friends,” Axel said. “You can party all day and all night if you want. I’ll host the party for you as it’s my expertise, and you don’t need to worry about a thing. You don’t even need to go to any of the classes anymore if you don’t like them. You can live anywhere you want. We can even stay in the backwoods Crack if you so choose. Cookie, we’ll give you everything. We’ll pluck the stars for you if that’s what you want.”