Alexia Praks's Blog

Annabel Maribel: Entering Brooskworth Academy - Excerpt

I thought I'd post an excerpt of my new Reverse Harem Academy Series. Annabel Maribel: Entering Brooksworth Academy. This book is quite different from what I usually write in that it's dark and deals with some raw stuff like bullying, violence, suicide, revenge, and death. I want to include some sort of psychological suspense/thriller with supernatural/superpower into the series, as I personally enjoy that sort of manga and anime. But of course, since it's dark and I'm new in writing this sub-genre, meaning I might be really sucked at writing it, I hope it won't put you guys off from reading it since I've enjoyed plotting and writing it so far. ^_^Annabel Maribel: Entering Brooksworth Academy is up for Pre-order on Amazon. The release date is August 11th. It will be in Kindle Unlimited on the release day.Pre-order Annabel MaribelWithout further ado, here's the Blurb and Chapter One of Annabel Maribel.BlurbA girl with telekinetic ability is hunting down the culprits behind her identical twin sister’s death, and she needs help from three gorgeous boys.What I’m about to do will hurt a lot of people.If you saw your loved ones suffering, would you just stand there, look the other way, and pretend like nothing is happening? I know you wouldn’t and neither would I. But in this case that’s exactly what happened. They pretended they didn’t see. They pretended nothing was happening. It got worse and now it’s too late. A life was lost, and still, no one cares. But I’m about to change that. I’ll make them see. I’ll make them sorry.My name is Maribel St. James, and I’m going to hunt down the culprits who tortured my identical twin sister and make them pay. In the new term, I’m going to be attending Brooksworth Academy, a prep school for rich kids, and I’m going to be my sister, the new Annabel St. James.Here at this cutthroat, perfect school where the system is like none other, I not only encounter Ao, Jayce, and Nolan—three very different boys from different backgrounds who have connections with Annabel—but a mysterious group whose sole purpose is to bring misery and death to their targets. One of those was Annabel, and now me, because in their eyes, I am her, and they will stop at nothing to have me dead.But I’m not about to be scared off that easily. After all, as I’ve just discovered myself, I’m not a normal girl. I’m an Esper with telekinetic ability, and when I get pissed, shit hits the fan.So a warning to the perpetrators: watch out because you won’t see me coming. Annabel Maribel is an academy vigilante series with a slow burn reverse harem romance.CHAPTER 1ANNABEL’S DIARYI can’t do it anymore. I have no other choice. This is the only way. Mom and Dad, I love you. Maribel, I’m sorry I let you down. Please forgive me for what I’ve done. You’re my sister and my best, best friend. I love you. Remember, this isn’t goodbye.Annabel* * *MARIBELI freaked out like crazy as Dad drove us out of the airport toward Interstate 93. It was my and my identical twin sister Annabel’s birthday, and Dad and I were already late. I didn’t want to upset Annabel, knowing how paranoid she’d be. It was just Annabel, always so worried about other people’s welfare, afraid they’d get into some sort of mishap. And that was why I loved her to bits. She was always so caring.Of course, I blamed Dad for our delay. It was his fault for booking the flights so late. We knew it was the busiest time of the year during Christmas, and Dad being Dad, naturally he hadn’t bothered to book the tickets until a week before the important date. I had known I should’ve been the one arranging this trip since he was so busy with work. Dad, however, had insisted he’d be the one to take care of it.It was a miracle that seats were available at all, and getting on the flight was bothersome, too. I had always disliked traveling when there were so many people rushing everywhere frantically, as though the world was about to end. And if I remember rightly, so did Annabel.I took out my smartphone and quickly texted Annabel to tell her we were going to be late and that we were fine, so no need for her to worry her pretty head over us.After the message was sent, I returned my attention to Dad. He gave me a side glance and then chuckled. “We’ll make it on time.”“I hope so,” I said under my breath, folding my arms across my chest. I winced, gritting my teeth. My rib was still sore.The pain had started yesterday and out of the blue, like usual. Maybe I have been practicing my Taekwondo too hard? But I haven’t been doing more than what I had been doing for the past three years, which was practicing the martial art only three times a week. Before that I had always had pain coming and going at odd times and on odd parts of my body.“Did you hurt yourself again?” Dad asked.I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t want to bother him with my problems. I was old enough to look after myself. After all, I was about to turn sixteen.When I noticed that he was still waiting for my answer, I said, “If so I don’t remember doing it.”“You really should see a doctor.”I shook my head in the negative. I had been to see Dr. Emily Bennett five times already in the past three months about the odd pain. She had checked thoroughly for any bruises or marks that might have suggested the cause of the pain, such as from accidents I didn’t know about. After a few appointments like this, she began to suspect something wasn’t right and looked at me differently. She had told me there was nothing wrong with me, and if this were to happen again, she’d refer me to a specialist.I knew what type of specialist she’d refer me to—ones who dealt with nutcases—a psychiatrist.Secretly, I knew she was thinking I was mentally unstable, faking it to seek attention. The reasons? My parents were divorced. I was separated from my identical twin sister, Annabel, whom I loved dearly. I used to get bullied at school. Actually, both Annabel and I had been prone to bullies. Probably because of the glasses and braces. It had stopped after I took up Taekwondo and taught those bullies a thing or two.Oh, the traumas of my childhood. It all added up, didn’t it?Well, I thought her assumption was bullshit. Why would I want to seek attention? If it wasn’t real I wouldn’t be asking for help.After she had a short meeting with Dad, informing him of my fragile condition—that there had never been anything wrong with me and that I had been doing it to seek his attention all along—I was pissed. At the same time, however, I felt awful and embarrassed.I didn’t want my own dad to think I was a nutcase every time he looked at me.After the session ended, I had decided I’d endure the pain and keep it to myself.To change the subject, I said, “Maybe you could speed up a bit so that at least we can get there on time? I’m turning sixteen in ten minutes.” Dad chuckled again.I glanced at him and saw him grinning from ear to ear. He was in a fine mood. Perhaps he was looking forward to seeing Mom again? After all, it had been a full year since the last time they had met. “Can’t wait to see your sister, eh?” he asked.“Can’t wait to see Mom again, eh?” I retorted, teasing him.His smile suddenly vanished and a dark frown appeared on his face. I felt guilty and regretted making that comment. I knew he still loved Mom, even though she was now in love with another man, Malcolm Wrights.Oh, I guess he was all right, Mom’s new partner. He was damn rich and very good-looking.Yeah, it was definitely true where the good looks were concerned. He was even more handsome than Dad. Maybe that was why Mom went for him?Or maybe it was because of his charm? I wasn’t sure. And to be honest, I had never liked him much. I’d never understood how Mom and Annabel could stand him. He took care of his appearance too much, to the point that he looked fake, like Ken the doll. He was also very strict. Nothing was out of place at their house in Bluelake Valley, so Annabel had told me. His job, a design consultant of something or other, took him away from Bluelake Valley to other parts of the world most of the time.“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” I murmured quickly, hoping sincerely he didn’t take it to heart.Dad glanced my way. “That’s all right, honey.”I sighed, feeling awfully guilty.I looked over my shoulder toward the back seat where all our presents were. I gazed long and hard at the boxes wrapped in bright red and green papers of Santa and Christmas trees. I smiled as I thought about the Taekwondo uniform I had bought especially for Annabel. I was sure once she had the uniform, she had no excuses for not taking up Taekwondo.“What are you smiling about?” Dad asked.“The uniform,” I replied, turning back to look out the window.Surrounding us, the land and mountains were covered in snow. It was almost like a fairy tale—like in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when the children entered Narnia.When I had gotten off the plane this morning, I had been quite shocked at how cold New Hampshire was. Then I thought I quite liked having a white Christmas.Just then snowflakes started to descend again, and I watched in fascination.I loved snow. Since we were children, Annabel and I would go out and play our “secret hunt” game for hours on the huge property at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Then we’d rush back into the house and enjoy a lovely hot cocoa Grandma made for us.I opened the window and stuck my bare hand out, feeling the tiny snowflakes, cold and wet, against my skin.“Is she keen to learn Taekwondo?” Dad asked.I turned my hand over this way and that, exposing all the surface of my skin for the tiny snowflakes to kiss. When it got rather cold, I withdrew.“Yeah.” I paused as I pulled the sleeves of the jersey to cover my icy fingers. “At least I think so.”As the car rounded the corner and passed the big sign that said Welcome to Milton, I knew we were nearly at my grandparents’ house. I felt my stomach flutter in anticipation. Soon, I’d be reunited with my twin sister, and we’d have a whole week together. It was so exciting.I relaxed back against the seat and closed my eyes.I missed Annabel so much. We were the best of best friends. When Mom and Dad had filed for divorce five years ago, we were naturally heartbroken. When we had found out we weren’t allowed to live together with Mom, which I had no idea why, we were both devastated and ran away—to prove a point. Mom and Dad had been very upset about it all. Everyone else thought we were being immature.But how do you expect a couple of eleven-year-old girls to be mature?The image of Annabel once again appeared in my mind’s eye. I could see her like I always saw myself every day when I looked in the mirror. We were so alike with ash-blond hair and blue-gray eyes. Most people got us confused and thought we were one person. We had used to play tricks at home and at school, switching our identity and no one was the wiser. Except for Dad. He had always known which of us was which.Though we were very similar, we were also very different. Everyone knew Annabel was the pretty one. She had that gentleness about her that I didn’t have. Her smile brightened most dull days whereas mine would have dulled the sunniest day. Most guys were also attracted to her, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she already had a string of boyfriends she didn’t tell me about.Suddenly out of nowhere, I saw a flash of dark pink material floating in midair before my eyes. Then just like that it was gone. I thought it was my imagination. Then it came in an instant.My neck felt tight as though there was something around it. I brought my hands up to my throat, feeling it but there was nothing there. I couldn’t breathe properly and started choking violently. I felt as though someone was strangling me.“Maribel, what’s wrong?”Dad was shouting at me, but I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t speak. The pain was unbearable. I was suffocating so badly I saw the world spinning around me.“Maribel!” I heard Dad’s voice again, tight with concern. Then I felt my body contracting, like I was having some type of seizure. All the while the pain I felt around my neck intensified. I felt like I was dying.Dad slammed his foot on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching stop on the side of the road. He undid the seat belt and leaned toward me.“What’s wrong?” he kept asking me in a panicky voice, his large, warm hands touching my face. He tried to pull my hands away from my throat. “Maribel, what’s wrong?”I could only shake my head as tears squeezed out of my shut eyes. I couldn’t stand it and struggled to open the door.I staggered out of the car into the cold winter outside. My knees were like jelly, and I collapsed onto the side of the road, gasping for breath as I felt my windpipe being squeezed tighter.Dad rushed out and came to kneel beside me, my head in his hands. “Breathe, Maribel, breathe!” he said to me.But I could only shake my head, my hands frantically pulling at the collar of my jersey, and my legs kicking violently. I struggled a few more seconds, and then just like that, I stopped breathing. Then I blacked out.In total darkness, I felt something leaving my body. Then I opened my eyes.I saw Dad’s concerned face looming over me and behind him were dark storm clouds. I felt snowflakes landing on my face. They were cool and wet. I blinked. “Maribel, are you all right? What happened?” I heard Dad’s voice in the distance. But I wasn’t paying him any attention. I was too busy looking at the sky. There was something in the sky, something familiar. Something I loved so much was up there, floating away.“Annabel.” I whispered the name softly between my lips.“Maribel!”I felt Dad shaking me. I wasn’t responding. I was still staring up at the sky, blinking as tears brewed in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. “Maribel!” he shouted, shaking me harder.Finally, I turned my gaze to him. He looked so worried. Poor Dad.“Tell me what’s wrong.”That was when I came back to reality. I felt my heart racing as I just realized that I was still alive and what had just happened was very strange.Why? How?“What’s wrong?” Dad asked again.How could I answer him when I didn’t have a clue what the heck was wrong with me myself?I sat up and realized something. As if by a miracle the pain around my neck had disappeared. Even the soreness about my rib was gone. But along with it there was something else within me that had left as well. I felt like I had just lost something important. I felt like I had lost a part of me.“I don’t know,” I said, tears streaming down my cheeks of their own accord.Dad hugged me tight, his fingers stroking my hair. “Please don’t do that again.” He looked deep into my eyes as he cupped my face. “You scared me. I was worried sick.”I just nodded because I couldn’t speak. I felt I had lost my voice.When he was sure that I was fine, he helped me into the car.“I’m taking you to see Dr. Bennett when we get back,” he said as he started the engine. “It’s getting worse every time.”I shook my head. “I’m okay, Dad,” I found myself saying, my voice dry like dust.“No. We’re seeing Dr. Bennett. If she can’t help us I’m sure she can recommend a specialist.”My heart sank. I tightened my arms about myself. Specialist? Surely he meant a psychiatrist. I didn’t want to go see a psychiatrist. What? Was I a nutcase now? Was my condition that bad?* * *I will post chapter 2 as another teaser closer to the release date. Please sign up to my Mailing List to get notification HERE. For now, please pre-order Annabel Maribel with the hyper link below. ^_^Pre-order Annbel Maribel

New Release: A Kingdom of Roses and Magic

Hello, my loveliesI'm happy to announce that Seven Devils Book 2: A Kingdom of Roses and Magic is released today (April 21st). It is available now on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited.A Kingdom of Roses and Magic AmazonThe Seven Devils Series on Google Play and Apple BooksI have a few people asking me if the Seven Devils Series will be available on other ebook stores, particularly Googe Play. As of now, the series will only be on Amazon with Kindle Unlimited. I will probably put the books on both Google Play and Apple Books once I've finished writing all five to six books in the series. Yes, it will be a long series, with a new book coming out around every three to four months. I'm hoping to finish the series by mid-2020.Below is the list of titles I have so far for the Seven Devils Series:Book 1: Seven Devils and a RoseBook 2: A Kingdom of Roses and MagicBook 3: A Court of Roses and Stardust (July or August)Book 4: A Palace of Twilight (October or November)That's all for now and happy reading. Please check out A Kingdom of Roses and Magic on Amazon and read for free with Kindle Unlimited.Check out A Kingdom of Roses and Magic

Excerpt 1: A Kingdom of Roses and Magic

Get A Copy of A Kingdom of Roses and MagicThe Great Apocalypse2000 Years AgoThe Forbidden Forest Kingdom, Aurora RealmEri Hoshi, the Great White Sage of Yamato, watched as eight Great Ones, all fair beauties of the aurora realm, filed up the stepping stones toward the platform above. Her eyes—bloodshot and red from the lack of sleep for these past months—shifted to the one leading, Yuki Hoshi of Yamato, her eldest daughter whom she had created from the dust particles of snow using her magic.Yuki’s long, dark hair fluttered elegantly in the gentle breeze as she regally led the other seven Great Ones to their sacrifice.Behind Yuki was Akari, Eri’s second daughter, whom the sage forged from the dust particles of an inferno of fire. Like Yuki, the blonde-haired, newly-wedded beauty Akari walked up the stone stairs regally, knowing very well that soon she—along with the other seven Great Ones—would be no more, their physical bodies would be disintegrated once they released their qi cores from within their beings.As she followed her older sister, Akari thought of Maximus, her husband of three days, the man she loved with all her heart, the man she was willing to sacrifice her life for.This was for him and his world.Right at this moment, she knew that he was somewhere in the north at the edge of what was left of the Aurora Realm, doing his utter best with his dark power to form a shield to protect this world from its own destruction.Akari felt Yuki’s hand clasped over hers and held it tightly for a moment. She glanced at her sister and noted tears brimming in Yuki’s dark brown eyes. Instantly, her own blue eyes started brewing and her slender body quivered with the overwhelming emotions that suddenly hit her.She was never going to see her wonderful sisters again. Nor their endearing mother Eri. And of course, her beloved husband Maximus and their dog Isaac.She sucked in a shaky breath to prevent herself from collapsing right there in front of all the other Great Ones and the White Sages.“It’s all right,” a gentle, soft, ethereal voice echoed in Akari’s thoughts. “It’s all right, Akari. I’ll make sure to protect you. I’ll protect you all. I promise.”Akari sucked in another deep breath as she nodded.“I know you will, my love,” she said quietly and softly under her breath to their youngest sister, a qi core their mother had forged from the particles of stardust.Beside her, the bright multi-color orb gave out a warm aura, easing Akari’s overwhelming emotion of fear, and calmed her down.Stardust was an unofficial name the sisters had given to their youngest, because that was all she was, an orb of glowing stardust. Despite what she was, Stardust was the strongest of the nine greats ones. In fact, she was The Great One, holding the most powerful pure qi with infinite abilities and possibilities. Though she had not evolved and gained herself a physical body, Stardust could understand and communicate with all the Great Ones and their mother Eri via telepathy with her qi alone.Yuki said, “Come here, my love.”The orb moved in the air and hovered near Yuki. The warm energy radiating from Stardust, as usual, eased Yuki’s fear and uncertainty.She said, “Please protect their souls.”Stardust’s voice echoed in Yuki’s thoughts, “I will protect everyone’s soul. Don’t worry, Yuki. I will ensure that yours will return to your husband’s side. I know he means a lot to you.”Yuki chuckled sadly, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Yes, he means a lot to me. Please, do that. Do whatever it takes to return my soul to Philip’s side.”“Hmm. I will.” Stardust’s voice echoed, full of conviction and certainty, which pleased Yuki.Sometimes Yuki wished she couldn’t feel fear or uncertainty, like their youngest sister Stardust. Then again, once you’ve evolved and acquired a physical body, those sorts of emotions came along with it.Fear. Anger. Shame. Pity. Envy. Sadness. Courage. Joy. Trust. Love.Love.Yes, she loved her husband. So much so that she was willing to sacrifice herself to protect him and his world. Only, she wished that she had more time, both to spend with him and to break that blasted spell that bitch Queen Hilde had put on him to control him.God, if only she had found out sooner, then he wouldn’t have blindly turned into a raging narcissistic man who was only obsessed with one thing, her.But it was too late now. There was no time for her to figure out how to release that Obsession Spell, because the realm was on the verge of being annihilated and her full attention and power was needed here.Her thoughts drifted to the seven demon lords, her friends who had aided her through thick and thin since they had saved her that fateful night not long ago, when Queen Hilde had ordered a hunter to murder her in the depths of the woods near the border of the McFarland Kingdom.If the lords hadn’t happened to chance upon her, she was sure she would have been very dead. And Philip, who had already started courting her and brought her to his kingdom then, would be none the wiser, believing that she had left the palace of her own free will.Every time she had problems with Philip or Queen Hilde, she had turned to the seven lords, and they, without asking for anything in return, had gladly helped her.Yuki turned her attention to Stardust.God, how she wished that Stardust, too, had formed a physical body. She wanted the sister to experience the wonderful feeling of being in love.She knew that the seven demon lords were attracted to Stardust. It was hard not to notice, since every time Stardust tagged along during her visit to the seven demon lords, with Stardust hiding her core within Yuki’s own heart, the lords all acted smitten with her and vied for her attentions and affections.If only they knew that the girl they were attracted to was Stardust, not Yuki. But alas, it was too late now, as Stardust herself was about to perform one of the greatest challenges of all, the gathering of eight pure qi cores to create a never-before made highest tier magic barrier that would not only protect what was left of this world from destruction, but form an ecosystem that would sustain life for hundreds and thousands of years to come. A performance that warranted the end of Stardust’s own existence.Yuki’s heart went out to her youngest sister.Stardust,The Great Onewith the strongest pure qi.Yuki reached her hand out and lightly stroke Stardust.The sister glowed even brighter, like a small sun, which told Yuki that she was pleased with the affection. If Stardust had a physical body, she would be grinning and blushing, no doubt.Once all the Great Ones took up their positions and formed a circle in the eight directions, Lord Aslan McTavish, the king of the Forbidden Forest, one of the most powerful beast shifters of the Aurora Realm, climbed the steps.On the platform, he turned his attention to his beloved Bella, an alluringly stunning silver-haired beauty, his young wife. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.Her face buried against his chest, Bella murmured, “It’s all right, my love. It’s all right.”“No matter where you are after this, Bella,” he said softly. “I’ll find you. I will bring you back to me.”When he released her from his embrace, Bella stood on tip-toe and gave him a kiss on the growling mouth of a beast-mask that sat ever so perfectly on his face.“I love you,” she said softly.“I love you, too,” Aslan replied.Watching them, Akari wished that Maximus was here, too, at least to say their last goodbyes, once again.Yuki, too, wished that Philip was here with her. Yet, she knew that it was impossible, as he was currently being detained and restrained by the white sages to keep him from going blind with rage and leading a revolt against all this farce,as he believed it to be.Eri said, “It’s time, Lord Aslan.”Aslan nodded and stepped back from Bella. Then he headed toward the center of the stone platform, which had been carved with magical spells of ancient signs, symbols, and scripts. Surrounding them, too, was a stonehenge, a circle of standing stones carved with magic spells.Stardust—in her glowing orb—came to Lord Aslan and rested on his awaiting hands.As Eri and the rest of the white sages watched in anticipation and anxiety, the eight Great Ones spread out their arms, and instantly their pure qi of dust particles released from within their beings. The energy then was directed toward Stardust and she started absorbing the power. The more she gained, the brighter and stronger she became.Suddenly, a voice shouted, “Yuki! Stop it! Don’t do it! Stop this stupid nonsense now.”It was Philip.Standing there, her physical body becoming weaker by the second as she continued to release her qi, Yuki wanted to laugh in both joy and sadness. So, he’d managed to escape the high tier prison cell after all, to stop her from performing this madness of a sacrifice.She knew he was still pissed off, and in a rage, thinking that this was some sort of a conspiracy created by the seven demon lords to gain world dominance.She didn’t respond to him, of course. She couldn’t afford to. Performing this very important task required her full attention, after all.Hence, she continued to release her qi, and as Philip made a big scene, rushing up the stairs intending to tear her away from her position, Yuki release the last bit of what was left of her power.At that moment, as the white sages obstructed Philip’s path, the Great Ones released their cores into the air, eight glowing orbs hovering in midair, bursting with brightness. Instantly, their physical bodies collapsed onto the stone floor like lifeless dolls.Philip swung his hands and bashed one white sage in the chest, sending him flying back and colliding against the stonehenge at the back. He used his leg to kick another on the stomach, sending that one flying back and hitting against another stone.Freed, he rushed up the stairs onto the platform and then to Yuki. There, he gathered her lifeless body into his arms.Above him, Yuki’s core—along with the others—floated toward Stardust.Once Stardust absorbed all the cores, the physical bodies of the eight great ones began to disintegrate, their body parts breaking into small fragments of particles.Philip stared wide-eyed in shock at the sight. Voice shaking, he released his dark qi and commanded, “Dark Sage Protective Barrier.”Instantly, the hue of a dark shield formed around him and Yuki, thus protecting her body from the disintegration process.In the middle of the circle, Aslan—with Stardust in his hands—ascended to the sky so high that no one could catch sight of him with the naked eye. Hovering there in the stratosphere and using his magical, powerful sight, he could see the vastness of what was left of their world, with the edge of the realm crumbling, and the decaying Aurora qi core—the magic nucleus that powered their world and gave them life—breaking, shattering, and exploding beneath them.To the north he saw Prince Maximus Kavanagh, a black wolf-beast shifter and heir to the Kingdom of Lyria. He was in his wolf-beast form as he released his dark qi and shot the energy up to the sky. Behind him, thousands of his soldiers, clad in armor, supported him, releasing their own red, orange, or yellow qi toward him, feeding theirs into his.To the north-east was the demon lord Geoffrey Lancaster, the East, Noah Wakefield, the South-East, Felix Worthington, the South, Caleb Harrington, the South-West, Victor Rutherford, the West, Ethan Sherwood, and the North-West Aaron Lancaster. All seven powerful lords were in their demon forms, their bodies bursting with dark, sinister power as they released their qi into the sky. Behind them in each location were thousands of their soldiers, releasing their own qi—red, orange, or yellow—as support, feeding the qi to their masters.In the center of what was left of their dying world, Aslan released his own dark qi and combined it with Stardust’s pure ones. From the distance, a great bright light formed and burst, spreading far and wide across the land with a loud echoing hum. The force was so strong that every individual being within the land felt the power of the qi.High above the sky, the pure qi met and instantly connected with the eight dark ones belonging to the seven demon lords and Prince Maximus in the respective eight directions across the edges of the land. The connection formed a bond, with bright bursts of electrifying sparks, like lightning exploding across the sky, and the aurora barrier suddenly materialized, as if out of thin air, spreading far and wide; the colorful radiance danced and sparkled like stars.Beyond the newly made magic shield, the already crumbled land turned to dust and gas, becoming a part of the cosmos once again.Inside the barrier, what was left of life was saved, and the surviving, displaced civilians—of many different natures and manners—gazed at the sight of the colorful aurora barrier in awe, as a newfound hope rose within their spirits.Across the lands, the citizens—who had gathered in the cities, towns, villages, and even in their own homes with families and friends to pray and spend what was left of their ending time with their loved one—now cheered, with tears of hope and joy.This was not the end yet. Their world was saved. They had survived the Great Apocalypse.They all watched, wide-eye and in awe of the beautiful, new Aurora Barrier as specks of magic dust particles sprinkled like rain, some landing on their faces and bodies.During all this, Stardust continued to release her qi in the form of dust particles to strengthen the barrier until there was nothing left of her, until her light diminished and she was no more, with her qi core completely consumed.Empty handed, Aslan descended to the ground once again, and Eri walked up to him. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, her voice shaky and with tears in her eyes, “You’ve done well, Lord Aslan.”Aslan nodded and touched the sage’s shoulder gently in return. He knew it was as hard for her as it was hard for him. She had just lost her three daughters, after all, and he, his wife.“You’re all mad!” Philip shouted, which drew both Aslan’s and Eri’s attention to him.“What have you done to my Yuki?” His eyes widened as he nodded his head, as if convincing himself. “That’s right, it’s those bastards’ fault. They talked her into this. Those demon lords of Acaedien.”Eri said, “She’s gone, Philip. Yuki is no more. And it isn’t the demon lords’ fault. If anything, they figured a way to save our world. While you blindly went into a rage and threw a tantrum like a spoiled brat, the seven demon lords and Prince Maximus risked their own lives and hundreds and thousands of their soldiers’ lives to protect what is left of our world from annihilation.”“Lies!” he snared, shaking his heads. “All lies!” He hugged Yuki’s body tightly against him, as if afraid she’d be stolen from him again. “I’ll bring her back. No matter how difficult or how long it takes, I’ll bring her back, and I’ll swear here and now that I will never rest until I destroy those bastards for starting all this.”With that, he stood, and with Yuki’s dead body in his arms, he headed toward the exit, mumbling to himself like a madman.Eri shook her head as she watched him go. “He is too far gone. That Obsession Spell on him is too strong.”Aslan asked, “You know he has such a spell on him?”She nodded. “Cast by one with a very dark power, one that I do not wish to cross paths with.”Aslan nodded in understanding. “Then it’s best to leave him be.”Eri nodded. “For now,” she said.* * *Get A Copy of A Kingdom of Roses and Magic

Free Book: Entangled with You Free on iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, and Smashwords

Hey, guys. I feel like I haven't updated this blog post for a while. Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year to those who don't receive my newsletters. Wix mail is like that. It doesn't show me the email addresses of those who don't open my emails when I send them, which would be the reason why some don't receive my news and update. So I'm going to post a little bit about that here.First off, Entangled with You is FREE on iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, and Smashwords. Unfortunately, I've taken the book down from Amazon. It will be back up and free as well in April there. So if you are Amazon readers, please stay tuned for updates. Also, note that Entangled with You is James and Mia's story. This book was previously published as Chained to You vol. 1, 2, and 3.The second book of the Dark Billionaires Club, Seduced by You, is a sequel to James and Mia's story, which was previously published as Chained to You Vol. 4, 5, and 6. These books have been extensively re-edited to make the story flow better. Even if you've already read the Chained to You serial, I would recommend getting the free Entangled with You book. I mean, it's free, after all, so why not?DOWNLOAD ENTANGLED WITH YOU(Please note, this link will take you to Books to Read website where it has a list of ebook stores. Simply click on the one that you usually shop. If you've been there before, it will automatically take you to your favorite ebook store anyway)BUY SEDUCED BY YOUThe third book of Dark Billionaires Club, Chained by Love, which is William and Savannah's story, is coming out on March 27th. Chained by Love will contain both Chained by Love vol. 1 and 2. Chained by Love vol. 2 will be coming out on the same day.PRE-ORDER CHAINED BY LOVE (VOL. 1 AND 2)PRE-ORDER CHAINED BY LOVE VOL. 2MORE BOOKS IN 2019I'm currently working on The Billionaire's Passion, which is The Billionaire's Love book 2, Sam and Chandra's love story. This one is planned to be released on May 22nd. I will be posting up the excerpt. So please stay tuned for that.Pre-Order The Billionaire's Passion (The Billionaire's Love Book 2)Below are the covers for 2019 books. They are mostly up for pre-order on iBooks, so please feel free to pre-order them if you are iBooks readers.Entangled by Fate(Dark Billionaires Club Book 4)Matt and Andy's intense love story.This one is a steamy MM romance.Enthralled by You(Dark Billionaires Club Book 5)Scott and Yuki love storyA Demon's BrideThe Nine Kingdom: Demon King, Book 2)Demon King Drake and Lady Cecelia love story is coming soon in June.Haru to Aiden(The Brothers Book 1)Aiden and Haru's love story. This is a steamy MM stepbrother romance. Lots of angst and smut scenes. Please note, this is not the official cover. The real deal of a cover is coming soon. ;)Their Feline Shifters SeriesI want to write something light, fluffy, and fun, with a dash of Slice of Life to it. So this is it. Their Feline Shifters is a series of light novels about Feline Shifters who cannot shift into their human forms until they've been loved by their fated ones. The first three books will be about a triplets kittens who are ambushed by a pack of stray dogs at a rubbish dump in New York City. They got separated and each is saved by humans.Book 1: Please Love Me is about Luna, the middle sister, who is saved by three hot men. This one is a reverse harem romance.Book 2: Please Kiss Me is about Lucy, an albino and is the youngest of the three siblings. She goes around begging for someone to save their oldest brother, who is severely injured from the dog's attack. Instead of finding someone to help her brother, she is taken in by four hot billionaires brothers. This is a reverse harem romance.Book 3: Please Hold Me is about Luke, the oldest brother of the triplets. He's dark and feisty. Severely injured, he is saved by three young, gay men who are looking for love. They take him to their shitty, rundown apartment, and Luke is more than shocked when he finds himself shifted into his human form. He just can't believe that his fated mates were men. This is an MM harem romance.Okay, nearly done. Last but not least, I just wanted to update about the Falling for Sakura trilogy. If you haven't already noticed, I've taken all three books down from all the ebook stores. The books are currently undergoing re-editing. Once the books and the new covers are done, YES, A SERIES OF BRAND NEW COVERS, I will be making a re-release under a new series name, which is called The Princeton Brothers. I'm hoping to re-release the books in June, with the first two books free, and hopefully, will have the fourth book out by October. In 2020, more Princeton Brothers books will be coming out.Here are the new series name and titles:The Princeton Brothers SeriesBook 1: Falling for Sakura (Sakura with Sebastian and Darcy) - FREE - JuneBook 2: A Seductive Proposal (Sakura with Sebastian and Darcy) - FREE - JuneBook 3: A Seductive Love (Sakura with Sebastian and Darcy) - JuneBook 4: Sakura, My Love (Sakura with Sebastian and Darcy) - OctoberBook 5: Say I do (Nicolas with Akira) - coming in 2020Book 6: Love Under the Summer Sky (Hayden) - coming in 2020All right, that's all for now, guys. Once again, Happy Chinese New Year.

Book Update: Seven Devils and a Rose Release on Amazon and Fantasy Romance New Website

It’s only a couple of more days until Seven Devils and a Rose is released on Amazon, Jan 24th. If you haven't already, consider checking it out, guys.If you like a reverse harem fantasy romance with:Fantastical realmA different sort of magic and power with the use of QiMagical and paranormal creaturesHot alpha heroes with dark qi that can cause a shit load of destructionsA cute heroine who sometimes does kickass things without realizing it and has a rare pure qi that not only attracts those with dark qi and makes them go mindlessly berserk, but disaster beasts and those who hunger for powerAnd an alternative fairytale retelling, then Seven Devils and a Rose for you.Get Seven Devils and a Rose from AmazonRecently, a lot of my author friends have used Dollify to show off their characters and I thought I’d do the same. LOL! So here’s the female characters from Seven Devils and a Rose. I personally think they’re cute. ^_^I want to also announce that I’ve recently launched a new website for my fantasy romance books only. Here's the link: alexiacpraks-fanasyromance.com. So if you’re one of my fantasy romance readers, please consider signing up to my fantasy romance mailing list, where I’ll be receiving news and updates about my fantasy romance books. Sign up to Fantasy Romance Mailing HERE.That's all about me and my writing for this week. Now, on to book recommendation.This week, I have Helen Scott’s Fire, which will be released on Jan 25th. Consider checking this book out, guys.

Book Update: Chained by Love, The Billionaire’s Passion, A Demon's Wrath, and Haru to Aiden

In this week’s newsletter, I want to touch base with everyone on where I’m at with my writing plan for this year of 2019. I’ve spent a bit of time making plans on what books I should concentrate on. I know I’m so guilty of leaving some books hanging in there, like book 2 of the Billionaire’s Love, Chained by Love, A Demon’s Bride, and Haru to Aiden. Finishing those off will be my priority this year. I’m just hoping like hell there won’t be too many unexpected things cropping up again that’d intervene with my writing time, like what happened last year and the year before that. LOL! I guess life happens.This month I’m writing Chained by Love Vol. 2, William and Savannah’s story. I’m hoping to get the book finished within the next couple of weeks. For now, I’m planning to release Chained by Love Vol. 2 is early March and the full-length novel on Amazon only, which will contain both volume 1 and 2, in late March.In February, I will concentrate on writing The Billionaire’s Love 2 (Sam and Chandra's story), which will now be titled The Billionaire’s Passion. I’ve just recently finished with the book cover. I hope you guys like it. ^_^ I plan to release The Billionaire’s Passion in late April.In March, I will concentrate on A Demon’s Bride and the planned release date for that is late June. In April, I will concentrate on writing Haru to Aiden, my BL romance. I plan to release that one in July.Of course, while I concentrate on writing those books, I will also be writing my fantasy romance, The Beast and I, as well as my reverse harem fantasy romance, Seven Devils series, on the side. I plan to release book 2 of both series in either June or July. These two are very dependent on my writing time frame as fantasy usually takes me longer to write, what with the world building and the magic and the action scenes etc. LOL! It's fun writing those but they do take a lot of my time.Now, on to the second thing. I would also like to tell you guys that I’m about to separate my contemporary romance from my fantasy romance as I do know that the sub-genres are completely different. With the contemporary romance books (The Billionaires' Brides, The Dark Billionaires Club, The Princeton Brothers, and of course, Haru to Aiden), the author name will still be under Alexia Praks and the website will also still be alexiapraks.com. With the fantasy ones (Seven Devils and a Rose, The Beast and I, and The Nine Kingdoms series), will now be written under Alexia C. Praks. I’m currently working on the new website. Once it’s done, I’ll invite those who would like to receive my fantasy romance newsletter to sign up to my fantasy romance mailing list. Since the fantasy romance will have its own home, it'll have its own exclusive mailing list, too. ^_^That's all about me and my writing for this week. Now, on to book recommendation.Book RecommendationThis week, I have USA Today Bestselling Author LJ Swallow’s Fringe Realms: Mage. The book is popular at the moment and is sitting at #1 in the YA Time Travel category on Amazon.Here's a bit about the book:Is Eleanor a player who's trapped in a game world, or is she a character created to live inside the game? Ready Player One meets Westworld in this new sci-fi fantasy series with reverse harem and light gaming elements.Check this awesome book out, guys.

Chained to You Serial Changes

Hey, everyone.So I’ve just been spending a bit of time this couple of weeks, in between getting Seven Devils and a Rose ready for publication, doing a massive re-edit of the Chained to You serial. I’ve decided to turn the six volumes into two books and titled them Dark Billionaires Club Book 1: Entangled with You (Chained to You Vol. 1 - 3) and Dark Billionaires Club Book 2: Seduced by You (Chained to You Vol. 4 - 6). I also have Entangled with You Box Set, which is basically both books in one.Below are the new book covers. I hope you guys will love them. The paperback version will be coming soon. I’m doing this because I realize that some countries don’t allow books with sexy covers to be shipped there. I hope these new covers are a little less sexy than the previous ones. ^_^ The newly re-edited books will be on Amazon only, in Kindle Unlimited. For one week starting from Jan 12th, Entangled with You Box Set will be available for 99c. So don’t forget to go and get your hand on the box set on Jan 12th or a few days after that. Click HEREto go and get your copy of Entangled with You Box Set.* * *Books and Authors RecommendationsFor this week, I have Yumoyori Wilson with her book Wish For Me and Tara West with her Desperate for Her Wolves, Hungry for Her Wolves Book Three. Check them out, guys.

Seven Devils and a Rose Excerpt - Seven Devils POV 2

I thought I'd post another Seven Devils and a Rose Excerpt from the Seven Devils' POV. This one carries on from the prevous I posted last week. If you haven't read last week's Seven Devils' POV, then go HERE to read that one.Pre-Order Seven Devils and a Rose* * *Alone, Aaron sighed in relief. Luckily for him, the other demon lords were busy and, therefore, didn’t have a moment to spare to relentlessly interrogate and grill him further as to why he wanted to keep the adorable Alfie to himself. Of course, the youngest demon lord had no plans of sharing the boy and the secret gifts he had been receiving with the others. After all, the time he spent with Alfie was precious and the gifts were wonderful, which he admitted went straight to his heart and, yes, his stomach.A moment later, Aaron headed out the door of the boardroom, came out into a grand foyer, and then entered the elevator. After the sensor detected his dark qi, thus confirming his identity, a row of buttons for different floors appeared on the sidewall. He pushed the ground floor button, and within a split second, he arrived and the door dinged open.Whistling a happy tune, he strolled out into the foyer. There, two maids who worked in the area curtsied low in respect when they saw him. “My lord,” they said in unison.“Ladies,” Aaron said, waving for them to rise.Once he was out of their sight, the maids rose and giggled in delight.“He spoke to us today,” one said.The other nodded. “As usual, he’s handsome and absolutely delightful.”Outside was lovely, and Aaron knew in his gut that he was going to have a great afternoon spending his time with his best buddy Alfie.Not wanting to waste any more time, the lord hurried down the path of the exotically beautiful garden and headed toward the east wing. When he arrived some five minutes later, he headed straight toward the back, where a majestic courtyard was located. Within a short distance, he saw a slender figure sitting under a pergola, reading a book. With short, dark hair and wearing very loose clothing consisting of a brown jacket and dark pants, the human youth was, without a doubt, delightful to watch, in Aaron’s twinkling eyes.With a bright grin on his face, the lord headed toward the being who was currently waiting for him to turn up for their promised meeting.The moment Aaron stepped foot inside the pergola, a pretty face rose to greet him, followed by a bright smile that nearly knocked the wind out of him.“Aaron!” Alfie, the girl from Earth who just happened to have been transported into the Aurora Realm and was currently dressed as a boy, said in delight. “Look! I can read this now. Isn’t it awesome?” She showed him the children’s book in glee. “In only five days. Can you believe it? In only five days, I memorized all of Aurora’s alphabet and can now read books like this. And it’s all thanks to you.”Aaron chuckled, more than a little proud of his student. Of course, he’d be very pleased if Alfie were to give him a great big hug.Awesome, eh?Alfie used the word awesome, and he thought that he should use it, too. Thus, he said, “That’s awesome, Alfie.” He couldn’t help himself and tousled her hair.Hmm… Alfie has such soft hair. Thus, Aaron continued to stroke those delicate strands, enjoying himself rather tremendously.Alfie clasped her hands together and grinned delightfully. She said, “Right, before we get started, let’s have lunch.” She touched the beautifully designed wooden lunchboxes on the table. “Look at what I’ve cooked today.”That caught Aaron’s interest. He stopped the hair stroking and swiftly moved over to sit on the stone bench opposite Alfie. He eagerly peeked at what delicious offering the little darling had made for him today. Of course, lunch made by Alfie, which was part of a deal he had proposed in exchange for teaching her the realm’s main written language, was always something that he looked forward to.Inside the lunchbox, which Alfie referred to as a bento box, was an assortment of goodies. Aaron recognized the white rice, since he’d had it before during his visitation to the Wulin and Yamato Kingdoms. Rice was their staple diet, after all. He must admit that it was quite delicious, with its softness and sweetness gently melting in his mouth when he ate it.Noticing Aaron’s interest, Alfie said, “This one here is prawn tempura. That’s tamagoyaki, or egg roll.” She pointed to the golden-brown, crispy prawn and the bright-yellow roll sitting elegantly on the side of the box respectively. “That’s stir-fried pork with some vegetables in teriyaki sauce. And that’s karaage, or deep-fried chicken drumstick, Japanese style.”Aaron’s mouth started watering at just seeing the beautiful sight of the fare. He said, “Let’s dig in. I’m starving.”“Yes, let’s,” Alfie said, opening the other bento box that was meant for her.Aaron shifted the one for him toward his side of the table and then picked up his chopsticks. He grinned with delight as he started eating, moving the chopsticks in his hand like a pro.He was just savoring the sweet taste of the pork teriyaki when a voice said, “So this is why you don’t want any of us to disturb Alfie, eh?”Aaron tensed for a moment, food still in his mouth. It was Geoffrey’s voice behind him, and he suddenly realized that he had been duped. Geoffrey had lied that he was busy with the nation’s work to let Aaron’s guard down. Bloody hell!Once he managed to swallow, he turned, and to his shocked surprise saw not only Geoffrey was there, but Felix and Caleb as well.Fuck!Damn if the trio didn’t look more than a little annoyed at the sight of Alfie and him together, enjoying a rather pleasant oriental lunch.Alfie, who was sitting opposite him, rushed out of her seat and came to stand before Lord Geoffrey, Felix, and Caleb. She proceeded to salute and said in greeting, “My lords.”Geoffrey chuckled and fondly ruffled her hair while Aaron popped another piece of teriyaki pork into his mouth, all the while glaring at the three lords in annoyance for interrupting his peaceful time with his best buddy. Of course, his annoyance turned into rage when he saw Felix grab Alfie by the arm and proceed to hug the girl tight, like a fucking lover. The bastard even went so far as to rub his damned nose against his buddy’s irresistible flushing red cheek.“How are you doing, little elf?” Felix asked. “Haven’t seen you for days. Did you miss me, darling?” He winked at her, too, and Alfie became all flustered.Once he finished swallowing that delicious morsel, Aaron said coldly, “Now that you’ve seen Alfie, leave. Alfie and I have a lot to do. As you can see, I’m teaching him our written language.”Caleb came toward the table and looked at the bento box. “What are these?”Alfie said, “They’re our lunch, my lord. I’ve been making Lord Aaron’s lunches in return for him teaching me how to read and write.”Caleb and Felix flashed a sharp stare at Aaron. The meaning was clear. They had figured out Aaron had gone sneaking behind their backs and getting Alfie’s time and attention all to himself. And they were undoubtedly going to make him pay by making him go through hell tomorrow morning during their battle practice. Fuck!Felix said, “Really?” He turned to Alfie. “Why didn’t you ask me to teach you?”Aaron couldn’t help himself and said, “As if you’re any good at doing such a thing. All you’re good at is ordering your soldiers about like a maniac.” Which wasn’t far off the mark.Geoffrey, who seemed interested in the food, came toward the table and took a good look at the fare. He said, “May I try some, Alfie?”Alfie nodded furiously. “Of course, my lord.”Once Geoffrey made himself comfortable on the stone bench, he said, “Unfortunately, I’m no good with chopsticks.”Alfie said in a hurry, “No worries, my lord.” She shifted out of Felix’s arm, who frowned darkly, and moved to sit beside Geoffrey, who smiled in delight. There, she picked up the chopsticks and asked, “What would you like to try, my lord?”Geoffrey pointed to the egg roll. “This one.”Alfie expertly and delicately picked up a piece of a perfectly rolled tamagoyaki and brought it up to Geoffrey’s awaiting mouth. “Ahh…” She urged Geoffrey’s lips to part.With a wicked smirk on his face, Geoffrey opened his mouth as requested, and Alfie fed him. The lord chewed, tasting the softness and sweetness of the egg roll. “Hmm…” he expressed, a grin playing about his lips. “It’s sweet and soft,” he said, his voice deep and seductive.Alfie grinned, looking both embarrassed and pleased at the same time, which annoyed the hell out of not only Aaron, but Felix and Caleb as well. Of course, Aaron was pissed that he hadn’t thought about pretending not to know how to use chopsticks, as Geoffrey had done.Alfie said, “I’ve put honey in the egg roll, my lord, as I personally like it sweet. But of course, you can have tamagoyaki salty if you like it that way.”Geoffrey shook his blond head in the negative. “No, I like mine sweet, and especially with honey in it. The more the better. Honey is one of my favorite food items.”Geoffrey’s words had a double meaning, which none of the other three lords missed. Needless to say, the trio saw red.Felix was about to interrupt and pull innocent Alfie away from the cunning Geoffrey when Alfie said, “Then I’ll remember to do that if I were to make tamagoyaki for you in the future, my lord.”“Tamagoyaki, eh?” Geoffrey asked. “A new word I have not heard before.”Alfie said, “It’s egg roll in my father’s native language, my lord. This bento box food is from there.”“I see.” Geoffrey nodded his head again. “It’s delicious, Alfie. I must introduce you to our kitchen staff so that you can teach them a few recipes. But of course, the tamagoyaki you’ll have to personally make for me, with a lot of honey.”“Really?” Alfie asked. “But I’m not a chef or anything.”Caleb, who couldn’t stand the earnest discussion between the two, said loudly, interrupting them, “That looks nice.”Alfie’s attention was duly drawn to the demand of Caleb. “This one?” she asked, pointing to the prawn tempura. At Caleb’s nod, she hastily picked up the crispy piece with the chopsticks and said, “Ahh…”Caleb gladly opened his mouth, and Alfie fed him.The moment the morsel was in his mouth, the lord widened his eyes in pleasant surprise. It was light, crispy, and juicy, with the meat of the prawn melting in his mouth. It was fucking delicious, and he wanted more.He was about to ask for another when Felix came up and said, “Alfie, feed me that fried chicken.”Alfie said, “You can eat that with your hand, my lord. No need to use chopsticks with that one.”Geoffrey and Aaron cracked up laughing.Felix wasn’t giving up. He said, “Then pick it up with your hand and feed it to me. I have no desire to dirty my hands.”Alfie sighed. “You’re a demanding one, aren’t you, my lord?”Felix knew Alfie was annoyed with him, hence the emphasis on the words my lord. But of course, the demon lord didn’t give a damn about that. All he wanted was for Alfie to feed him food, preferably with those delicate hands. Alfie reluctantly picked up the drumstick and brought it to Felix’s eagerly awaiting mouth. Felix proceed to wrap his large hand around her slender wrist and then devoured the morsel with pleasure, his lips touching and sucking on her fingers and thumb in the process.Alfie gasped at the intimate contact and blushed severely.Aaron noticed and snapped loudly, “Oi! That’s enough. You’re wasting Alfie’s studying time.”Once Felix finally finished devouring the offered meat like a starving demon, Alfie hastily withdrew, head down, eyes downcast, and cheeks hot with embarrassment.Grinning from ear to ear and very pleased with himself, Felix said, “Still hungry.”Aaron rolled his eyes. “You all have an army of staff to cook and serve you divine meals fit for a king. Why the hell are you all here stealing Alfie’s food?”Geoffrey chuckled. “You’ve made a good point there.” He turned to Alfie. “Then again, Alfie’s food is very appealing. Isn’t that why you’re making him cook you lunch, Aaron?”Damn that bastard brother of his! As usual, he was bloody good at flipping the tables. Geoffrey got him right there, and Aaron didn’t know how to reply to that statement.Geoffrey said, “I would love to taste your cooking, Alfie. What would you like in return for making me some lunch?”Alfie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really, my lord? I can ask for a favor if I cook you lunch?”“Hmm.” The lord nodded.“Then—”“How about cooking me lunch, too, Alfie?” Felix interrupted, as if he knew what Alfie was going to ask for.Caleb said, concerned, “This is too much for one boy. Alfie will have no time to do his own things.”Geoffrey agreed. “Then how about once a week—say, on a Sunday—you can cook us lunch? In return, each of us will do you a favor, whatever that may be.”Alfie was pleased at the idea. “That sounds awesome, my lord. Then I’ll cook everyone lunch on Sundays.”Aaron said, before any more time was wasted, “Now that’s settled. Why don’t you three leave? Alfie and I are about to start the lesson.”But of course, the three lords refused to heed Aaron’s words and even went further as to request a picnic lunch from the main kitchen. Hence, lavish food items were brought out and arranged neatly on the round table under the pergola. In the end, four out of the five members enjoyed their meal tremendously that afternoon.When Geoffrey, Felix, and Caleb finally left an hour and a half later, Aaron sighed in relief, exhausted. Of course, he had spent most of the time protecting Alfie from those overly zealous comrades of his.“I thought they’d never leave,” he said.Alfie chuckled. “But it was fun, right? With so many of us around and chatting away about everything under the sun. It reminded me of home.”Aaron noted the sudden change in the expression on Alfie’s face and asked, “Do you miss it? Your home?”Alfie nodded. “Hm.”Aaron grabbed Alfie’s hands and said, “I’ll do my best to make you happy so that you won’t miss home.”Alfie chuckled. “Thank you, my Lord Aaron.”Aaron chuckled and said, “No problem.”Hence, their language lesson commenced.* * *Pre-Order Seven Devils and a Rose

Seven Devils and a Rose POV - Excerpt

Hey, Guys. This is an excerpt of Seven Devils and a Rose, my upcoming new release Rever Harem Fantasy Romance. The book will be released on Amazon on Jan 24th. This excerpt is the POV of the Seven Devils.Get Seven Devils and a RoseSeven Devils and a Rose Excerpt7 Devils POVAcaedien KingdomToday was yet another beautiful summer day for the citizens of Acaedien. In the city, picturesque buildings lined the intertwining streets that stretched as far as the eye could see. Here in this prosperous, growing, and well-protected metropolis, the citizens—of many different manners and natures—ranging from human to elves, beast-people, dwarfs, goblins, orcs, and many more—went about their daily routines, taking care of their business.Sitting atop the hill overlooking the capital was a majestic castle, six stories-high and built from creamy-white Oamaru stone. The grandiose palace had countless quarters, which were further divided into departments where some five thousand staff worked and resided.At this very moment, at the hour of eleven in the morning, seven demon lords were having a conference in a boardroom up on the seventh floor, a level non-existent to the outside world. After all, this secret level was shielded with an immensely high-tier protective barrier, which not only made the entire floor invisible to the naked eye, but only those with authorization—the seven lords—and those with passes, could gain access to. The boardroom was grand and designed with rich color, soft furnishings, and chandeliers, with stately paintings and indoor ornaments made of silver and gold. One side of the room was designed in an open-plan style, stretching out onto the veranda where it had a stately view of the city and mountains beyond.As it was at the moment, bright sunlight streamed into the room where five lords sat around a table, while two more appeared on the magic screen to the left.Sitting at the head, and facing a lovely view of the city, was Lord Geoffrey Lancaster, a demon lord considered the head of the kingdom and a father figure to the Acaedien citizens. As one of the seven lords who ruled Acaedien, the very old and the very young loved him, the mature respected him, the male youth looked up to him, while the female youth both looked up to him and drooled over him. After all, Lord Geoffrey was a wickedly gorgeous man with long, pale blond hair that he tied at the back with a gold hair ornament. His emerald-green eyes, like the gem itself, were beautiful and mesmerizing, while his aquiline nose and sensual lips added to his stunning look, which made it hard for any female’s heart not to flutter at the sight of him, even more so because he wore that intriguing mask with strange signs, symbols, and scripts. Always in white or pale garments, Lord Geoffrey looked like an angel who had descended from the heavens to guide and protect them. And of course, that was exactly what the lord was doing, guiding and protecting the kingdom of Acaedien, along with his comrades and underlings.Sitting to the left of Lord Geoffrey was Lord Noah Wakefield, a demon lord professor and currently the kingdom’s head magic researcher. With light brown hair stylishly cut, hazel eyes, a Roman nose, firm lips, strong jawline, and a pair of specs sitting atop his mask, he was the epitome of a hot, yet stern, professor in a young woman’s sexual fantasy. Always in white or pale garments, like Lord Geoffrey, Lord Noah, too, looked like an archangel who had descended from above to guide the citizens in the research and development fields, thus improving on almost every aspect of everyone’s lives.To the right side of the table sat Lord Felix Worthington, Caleb Harrington, and Aaron Lancaster. All three warriors, as usual, were dressed in dark garments.Lord Caleb Harrington, dubbed The Dark Lord by the citizens of Acaedien because of his dark hair, steel-gray eyes, and stoic and hard-to-approach attitude was alluringly gorgeous. As opposed to Lord Geoffrey and Noah, whom the citizens believed descended from the heavens, Lord Caleb was believed to have risen from the depths of hell itself, and was here to fight evil doers and protect the innocent, which was exactly Lord Caleb’s job description.Like Lord Caleb, who had been awarded a title, Lord Felix, too, obtained one by the citizens of Acaedien. This gregarious lord was known by most as The King of Hell because of his colossally powerful dark qi. According to rumors, he was as powerful as Lord Aslan, the King of the Forbidden Forest, and could destroy an entire city with a flick of his hand if the mood struck him, which was why it was an unspoken rule that Lord’s Felix’s anger should not be tested, despite his easy-going attitude and charming smile. After all, it had happened a mere few months ago, when something precious had been taken from him, thus awakening the rage of this mighty demon lord; and a whole city, in turn, was annihilated.With dark brown hair, unique mauve eyes, an aquiline nose, sensual lips, and an intriguing mask on his face, Lord Felix was a sinfully handsome man. To the female citizens of Acaedien, he was the personification of an out-of-my-league lord; his dark, sensual demeanor featured in their sexual fantasy.Where Lord Felix exuded the aura of dark, intense sexual appeal, Lord Aaron Lancaster, on the other hand, emanated a boyish charm. This came with soft features, a slender frame, and average height. Sitting at five-foot and seven inches, he was the shortest of the seven lords, which of course didn’t bother him since his unique physic enabled him to be the fastest and deadliest in the battlefield. With pale blond hair stylishly cut, twinkling emerald-green eyes, a straight nose, and lips that seemed to always smile, females—both young and old—adored him.At the moment, all five lords were listening attentively to Lord Ethan Sherwood and Victor Rutherford, who were appearing in the magic screen attached to the wall on the left side of the room. These two lords were currently in a lavish airship flying at a leisurely pace, heading toward the kingdom, back from their diplomatic journey to the Wulin Kingdom.On the screen sitting to the left side was Lord Ethan, who had golden blond hair, blue eyes, and a strong jawline. Today, he wore a blue garment—his favorite color—which enhanced and complemented his eyes and tanned skin. Wickedly striking, he was dubbed the Golden Prince of the Acaedien Kingdom. Next to him was his best friend Lord Victor, dubbed the Silver Prince of Acaedien because of his pale, charming appearance of silver hair, which was stylishly cut, and silver eyes that looked as though they could see right through your soul, which they could because of the lord’s unique magical dark qi.“That’s all the information we’ve gathered,” Victor said, his voice deep yet soft to the ear. “It’s understood that there seems to be an abnormality going on with the Aurora barrier, not only in Acaedien, but that of the Forbidden Forest, Wulin, Yamato, Lyria, and many other smaller kingdoms as well.”Ethan said, “I’ve been in contact with Aslan, he’s putting his best people to the task in researching the phenomenon.”Folding his arms across his chest, Aaron said, “I hope this isn’t a sign of shit happening again, like it did two thousand years ago.”Geoffrey glanced at his younger brother, his handsome face grim. Of course, they all knew that Aaron was referring to the apocalypse that had nearly destroyed their world.Noah said, “At this point, though without much evidence, I can confidently say that it’s very unlikely. This feels more like someone naughty is experimenting with the barrier.”Felix folded his arms across his massive chest and asked, “What are you implying, Noah?”“That someone powerful is tampering with the barrier?” Caleb cocked his head to one side.“Why would anyone do that?” Aaron stated. “The barrier has been stabilizing our world for two thousand years now. Without it, we’re all in deep shit. Why would anyone risk another world disaster by tinkering with the barrier?”Geoffrey said, “There are all sorts of powerful beings out there, and not all of them have the Aurora Realm’s best interests at heart.”“That is true,” Victor said from the screen. “Speaking of which, congratulations on succeeding with The Bandits Suppression Campaign.”Ethan said, “According to the report, Prince Philip was involved again? What the fuck is wrong with that bastard? He seems to be stirring shit up every so often.”Felix shrugged his board shoulders. “He’s probably still pissed off with us for what we did.”Caleb sighed. “That was two thousand years ago. It’s not like she wanted to stay with him, for God’s sake.”“He’s a narcissistic bastard,” Noah said. “Who’d want to stay with a narcissistic bastard?”Geoffrey said, looking at Felix, “It can’t be helped with what’s already been done. Personally, I’d like to think he’s pissed with you, who destroyed his entire city a few months back, Felix.”Felix shrugged his shoulders again. “Hey, he fucked with us first. What a petty man, going as low as to steal...” The lord had a dark expression on his face. “I just gave him a warning. And besides, it was a crap, impoverished city. His people were starving and dying and Phillip didn’t give a fuck. I ordered my men to evacuate the residents before I unleased my rampage. Furthermore, we were kind enough to offer them our kingdom as home.”Geoffrey said, “Which they happily accepted and increased the population of our nation. Did I tell you that it added quite a bit of a work load onto my staff?”Victor said, “It’s great that Felix’s untamed rage and his inability to think about the long-term consequences of his rash actions actually helped those poor citizens of McFarland, but I still think it’s unreasonable to destroy a whole city just because of a necklace.”“It was hernecklace,” Felix said. “It’s all that we have left of her. It was a part of her and when she was gone, with Philip taking her body with him, I... Yuki was important to us and I just can’t...”The moment that name was said aloud, all seven lords tensed and a dark atmosphere descended the room.Felix said, “Sorry. I just kind of...” Everyone understood that when it came to this woman named Yuki Hoshi—dubbed Beautiful Snow or known simply as Snow because of her strangely alluring beauty of dark hair, pale complexion, and blood red lips—all seven lords would be affected. Felix being the most sensitive because he had always been the closest to her. After all, they were like yin and yang, with Felix retaining so much dark qi while Yuki so much pure qi.“Yuki, eh?” Geoffrey said. “I’ve not spoken her name for so long.” He sounded nostalgic. “And yet, I still think of her constantly.”Aaron said, “And you still sound like a love-sick pup, even though it has been two thousand years, and you’re one of the masters of a kingdom.”Geoffrey chuckled. “It can’t be help. Yuki was... just Yuki. It can’t be denied that she was special, not only to us, but to everyone who survived the apocalypse. Thanks to her and all of the Great Ones, our realm was saved from an imminent end.”All seven lords agreed with that.Fact was, they all had loved Yuki Hoshi of the Kingdom Yamato once, not simply as someone who was dear to them, but as a woman they were willing to give their hearts, souls, and lives to. But of course, Yuki’s own heart was taken by that narcissistic Prince Philip McFarland, of the McFarland Kingdom. Before any of them could confess their love for her, she was announced engaged to the bastard. Then again, none of the seven lords had been confident in the fact that she’d ever return their love, due to numerous reasons. Aside from the fact that the seven lords had never gotten along until two thousand years ago, their physical appearances back then were anything but something to be admired. Well, they were demon lords, after all, and the mere sight of their tanned, bulky bodies, two prominent horns protruding from their foreheads, sharp fangs, and demonic tails sticking out of their backsides was enough to send most running in the opposite direction. Comparing them to what appeared to be the handsome, charming Prince Philip McFarland had been like comparing a pile of dirt with a polished diamond. Despite that they’d had their hearts broken, the seven lords continued to treat Yuki with love and care. Of course, after her marriage to Philip, she had always come running back to them when she couldn’t bear the man’s overwhelming, arrogant behavior, and it’d be either Felix or Caleb who’d volunteer to beat the crap out of the prince to keep him in line.When Yuki had sacrificed herself for the greater good, Philip had blamed the seven lords for using her as a pawn to gain world dominance, which was, of course, bullshit. Without the seven demon lords’ dark qi, along with King Aslan McTavish of the Forbidden Forest and Prince Maximus Kavanagh of Lyria, combined with the pure qi from the nine Great Ones, Yuki being one of them, who had volunteered to sacrifice themselves, Aurora Realm would have disappeared into nothing but dust and gas, floating in the cosmos. But of course, Philip had refused to believe that their world was ending, despite the fact that the realm was breaking, collapsing, and exploding, killing hundreds and thousands of creatures right before their eyes. Now, what remained of the Aurora Realm was only one-fourth of its original size.Ethan said from the screen, “Okay, let’s stop talking about ancient topics and that bastard Philip.”The other six lords nodded in agreement. After all, discussions about Prince Philip always left a bad taste in their mouths.Victor asked, “How’re Aria and Brenna doing?”Of course, he and Ethan had read the report about them being captured during The Bandits Suppression Campaign.Noah said, “They seem fine. They’ve been attending their therapy, as suggested, since arriving a week ago. Aria is strong mentally so there’s no sign of trauma, though Brenna is young and has never gone through something like that before. She’s still a little shocked from the experience.” He sighed, and rubbed his temple. “It’s my fault, I asked her to join the team on the mission because I wanted her to gather the Black Widow herbs.”Aaron said, “But she seems fine to me, especially when she’s with Alfie.”Noah raised his head and look at Aaron. “Alfie? Oh, the boy with pure qi Felix and Caleb found in the woods? I have yet to meet him.”From the screen, Victor asked, “Who’s Alfie? That name is not in the report.”Everyone turned to Aaron, who was responsible for that particular task. Well, more specifically, he was responsible for dictating which part of the campaign was considered important and needed to be reported.Aaron said logically, “Hey, I directed my staff to report the most important episodes, didn’t I?”Caleb said, his hands folded across his chest, “And the fact that Philip tried to get his hands on Alfie, who has pure qi, isn’t important?”Ethan said, with a deep sigh, “We’re back to bastard Philip, again, I see.”Felix said, “The bastard did seem to work very hard on it, going so far as to risk his own life going head on against Caleb and me, which I must admit is rather unusual for him. He’s generally the first to bolt the moment he sees trouble. Why would he want Alfie, who has such a weak qi, that much? It’s rather suspicious to me.”“Oh?” Noah pushed his glasses up the bridge of masked-nose. “Could he be up to something?” He clasped his hands together suddenly. “Right, that means I must meet this boy Alfie immediately. I need to study him and his qi. Hmmm... I must ask him many questions, too.” He sounded excited at the prospect of a new subject he could lose himself in. Thus, he hastily stood up. “I believe this is it for me, gentlemen. I have work to do.” He was about to head over to the door when Aaron got out of his seat and rushed to block the man.“You’re going to see Alfie, aren’t you?” Aaron asked. At Noah nodding his head, the younger demon lord said, “You can’t meet him yet. He’s busy recovering.”Noah cocked his head to one side. “So?”“What do you mean, so?” Aaron muttered. “Like I said, the boy is still recovering from the trauma of the shit that has happened to him during the Bandit Suppression Campaign and doesn’t need anyone bothering him right now.”Geoffrey couldn’t help himself at witnessing his younger brother’s unusual behavior and started chuckling. He said, “First you omitted Alfie’s name and his involvement in The Bandits Suppression Campaign’s report, and now, you’re preventing Noah from meeting Alfie. Is something up, Aaron?” He cocked his head to one side. “Although, come to think of it, I haven’t seen Alfie since we arrived. I might personally go and visit him this afternoon to see how he’s settling into his new environment.”Aaron fired a glare at his brother. “I told you, he’s still recovering and he’s busy studying our language, so don’t bother him.”Of course, Felix and Caleb, who were looking at Aaron’s strange behavior, became suspicious as well. They, too, hadn’t seen Alfie since they returned to the palace a week ago, due to work. Training their soldiers, protecting the kingdom, and dealing with the nation’s affairs as part of the seven rulers of Acaedien were their top priority, after all. Thus, visiting a boy with pure qi they had fatefully encountered and ensnared in the woods would have to wait until they had a moment to spare.Felix said, “Let’s end the meeting here.” After all, he personally had wanted to see Alfie since yesterday morning. If they could end the meeting early, he’d have a few stolen moments to demand a few owed kisses from the youth. Technically speaking, Alfie did owe him seven kisses, including today.Oh, yes, Felix had been keeping count. Furthermore, he had thought about adding an interest rate. A seven-days missed kisses would procure an extra kiss as interest sounded like music to his ears. He had decided that he’d declare that newly added clause to their contract when next he saw the boy.Geoffrey said, “Then, that’s all for today, gentlemen.” He waved his right hand and the crystal sitting in the middle of the table, which documented their meeting, blacked out, indicating it had terminated the recording. He then looked up to the screen and said, “See you two soon, then.”Ethan and Victor nodded. Both said, “Bye, now,” and then the screen turned blank.At this point, Aaron was already at the door and was trying to escape when Felix asked, “By the way, Aaron, Alfie is still staying with the girls, right? You haven’t dragged him to live in your quarters just because you self-proclaimed that he’s your best buddy, have you?”Aaron chuckled nervously. He said, “Of course not. Why would I do such a thing? They wanted him in their quarters, after all, and Alfie agreed.”“That’s good to hear, then,” Caleb said. “Because who knows what you’d be up to if Alfie were to live with you in your quarters? Especially since the boy has pure qi.”Aaron turned around and snapped in outrage, “How rude. I like Alfie because he’s Alfie, not because he has pure qi. I have no underlying agenda whatsoever. The boy is cute and there’s just that something about him that draws me to him. It’s fate, I tell you, that we met.” He narrowed his eyes and continued, “Aside from that, you all should just return to your duties now. I understand that you have got a shitload to do before the national conference in Wulin next month, so there. Shoo.” He waved his hand for them to leave.Felix said, “I can spare a couple of moments to visit Alfie. It’s no problem.”Geoffrey said with a sigh, “Unfortunately, I can’t, and Aaron is right. I have a lot to do before the conference. Now if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” With that, he gracefully headed out the door in a swirl of white.Caleb said, “Me, too.” Then he was gone, following Geoffrey out the door in a whirl of black.Noah said, “Meeting Alfie will have to wait then. I have a shitload of reports to finish before the national conference, after all. I’m sure the other leaders would want to know the latest findings regarding the Aurora barrier.” With that, he exited the room, his beloved magic tablet—loaded with endless important data and information—clutched against his chest. Felix said, “Well, I suppose I can visit Alfie tomorrow morning.” With the extra kisses piling up on his mind, and a grin on his face, he too, headed out the door in a swirl of black smoke.* * *Seven Devils and a Rose will be released on Amazon on Jan 24th.Get Seven Devils and a Rose

Book Release - The Beast and I

Hey, guys. I’m excited to announce that The Beast and I, Vol. 1: The Man Behind the Beast is out next Friday the 23rd of November on Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.Pre-order The Beast and I, Vol. 1: The Man Behind the BeastThe blurb and excerpt are below.Dark. Magical. Powerful. Beastly.Aslan McTavish is the Magical Beast King who rules the Forbidden Forest, one of the nine kingdoms in the Aurora Realm.My name is Lilly, and I have lived in the basement of a manor all my life with my beloved mother, working away like a pair of slaves for the people who live in comfort upstairs. After my mother’s death, I am told that I am to be sacrificed to the magical beast who rules the Forbidden Forest, in return for the village’s protection, wealth, and prosperity.Refusing to resign myself to my fate, I plan to escape, only to be caught again by none other than the beast himself, whose demonic mask and beautiful green eyes both frighten and fascinate me.Now that there is no way out, I beg the beast to spare my life. When he easily agrees, I am pleased, but that is short-lived when he tells me, “I will not kill you, my sweet, but I will have your beautiful body to my every command. I will have your nectar whenever I desire.” It seems that now I am to be his cuddling companion.Thus, begins the story of the Beast and I.The Beast and Iis an alternative retelling of the beloved fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, set in the Aurora Realm, where paranormal creatures reside, magical power and technology go hand in hand, and love is a forever thing.* * *The BeastI was falling backward, and I thought I was going to die at that instant, but then I felt a pair of strong, muscular hands around my waist. Behind me, I felt a body enveloping me, embracing me. All around me was darkness, and the night air was cool on my skin as I kept falling into the abyss. To me, it seemed like forever, and I suddenly wondered if perhaps I was falling deep into the underworld where the devil himself resided.Just when I thought this was going to be endless, I suddenly felt the speed slow. It was as if I were floating now, as if I were being levitated in midair. Then I landed softly on the cool grass beneath me. Just as instantly, the warmth of a body and the arms around my waist disappeared, and replacing those were emptiness and cold air.I shivered and wanted the heat back. I wanted to be hugged and bask in the warmth of that muscular body which had felt so welcoming and comforting, like I had been embraced in Mother’s arms during the night.Feeling abandoned, I sat up, my heart starting to race as I darted my gaze from left to right, and then behind me, wondering where I was. Surely, I was in the Forbidden Forest, the home of the magical beast? Surely, I wasn’t in hell where the devil resided?I clutched the flimsy material of my garment about my middle, my body shivering from both the cold and fear.“Hello?” I managed to squeak out into the endless darkness that surrounded me. “Anyone here? Hello?”My own voice echoed back at me, which was followed by a complete and utter silence, which scared the living daylights out of me.I waited as I inhaled and exhaled deeply, my heart pounding fast and furious in my chest, and my body shaking like a leaf in the storm.“Hello?” I raised my voice this time, though it was very shaky. When there was no reply, I assumed no one was around, and I started walking.God, I had no idea which way I was going nor did I know what was in front of me, but I kept going, nonetheless.It wasn’t long before I saw the glittering of lights, like tiny dots of stars, a little distance in front of me. Feeling like there was hope, I started running toward it, and as I got closer, I realized that it was the aurora barrier separating this world from the village.Or was it the village on the other side?I didn’t know and I didn’t care, just as long as I could get myself out of this side and away from the beast that was expecting me.I started running, my bare feet cold on the grass and dirt. Oh, God, yes, I was getting closer. Soon, I’d be saved. Soon, I’d be able to escape, not only from the harsh treatment of the village people and its leader, my blood-relatives, but from the beast as well. Soon, I’d be free.My heart soared with a renewed sense of hope, and for the first time in a very long time, I smiled.In a few more steps, I’d reach the aurora barrier. In a few more steps, I’d reach my new world, my new life.But then…Then the sound of a deeply timbred voice came, echoing all around me. His chuckle of amusement made my body shiver in trepidation, and I found myself collapsing onto my knees right there on the dirty ground, with the barrier mere inches from me.Suddenly, I felt a strong, powerful presence behind me, getting closer. I couldn’t hear his footsteps, but I just knew he was right there, inches from me, watching me with his monster-like eyes.I felt so much fear within me that I was petrified. Oh, God, was he going to eat me now?“Hmm… What have we here? It seems my prize is trying to run away?”His voice echoed around me like some magical force that paralyzed me in my spot. He chuckled in amusement, as if he found my dire situation entertaining. “That won’t do.”Suddenly, I felt the wind swoosh around me. I held my breath as I felt his hand touching the strands of my hair.“Hmm? Silver?”I shut my eyes and prayed for courage. I knew I had to act fast if I didn’t want to be killed. Eaten.When I opened my eyes again, the beast was edging ever closer to me, my hair still in his hand. Then I acted. I leaped up and started running like the devil was chasing after me. Indeed, a beast was chasing after me.Despite the lack of sounds of his footsteps, I felt the movement of his powerful being behind me, and the echoing of his deep voice that seemed to be teasing me. He was chuckling again, his voice getting louder behind me, which told me that he was getting closer.Blindly I ran, my feet fast and light. God, I had no idea where I was going but I knew I had to escape this beast’s claws if I wanted to survive. If I wanted to live.I sprinted past bushes and trees, with only the moon and aurora light above me as guidance. I even did a twist and turn route to confuse him, but this only seemed to amuse him even more.Suddenly I tripped, and found myself tumbling, and then I fell.I. Just. Fell.Down the cliff—I knew I was going to die.How stupid could I get? I was falling down a cliff while trying to escape a beast. Perhaps it was meant to be that I was supposed to die tonight? If it wasn’t due to a beast eating me, then it would be falling down a cliff.As I fell, I screamed until I couldn’t scream anymore, until my voice died by itself. As tears burned in my eyes, I thought that at least now I would get to see Mother up in heaven.And then whop! A manly body caught me, his powerful arms around my small waist as he pulled me against him.God, I could feel the strength of him and his muscular body against me as I stared at this masked man before me.Instead of falling, I was floating up toward the sky, the male embracing me. As we got higher, the light from both the moon and the aurora was brighter, shining on us, on this person in front of me.I could only stare at him, both in fear and fascination. I noted that he had dark hair, and he was wearing a demonic mask that frightened me to my bones. And yet…Yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I decided then that it was his eyes, the color of a leaf I had seen in summer, that fascinated me, that held me mesmerized. Those eyes, they glinted and shone with amusement as they gazed at me.When I realized that I was so high up and that I might fall if he were to let me go, I hastily wrapped my arms around his neck, which only incited another chuckle of amusement from him.His skin beneath my touch was firm, toned, and warm, which suddenly made me feel self-conscious.Was he themagical beast of the Forbidden Forest? I wondered. The one I was supposed to be sacrificed to? But he had human form, and was certainly not ghastly terrifying, with a beastly wolf-body as I had imagined him to be. The villagers must be wrong, then? I mean, he looked just like any normal man. Well, except for that mask. The villagers certainly had that right. The word grotesquedidn’t even begin to describe the thing. Most would surely be terrified at seeing such a bloodcurdling mask of a face.I had to admit also, that he wasn’t just like any normal man. Yes, physically, he was big and very masculine, with strong arms and body, but deep within his being there was this powerful aura, like a sort of magic, that I could sense. I had no idea how I could have felt or known this, but I did.I licked my lower lip, my eyes still fixed on his demonic mask. I finally mustered the courage to speak and asked, “Are you the beast?”His gaze intent on my face, he nodded his head. “Yes, I am. The beast of the Forbidden Forest.”His deep voice made me shiver in an odd way that made my body warm.I swallowed hard at his answer. Then I said, “But you don’t look like a beast. You don’t even have the beastly body you’re supposed to have…like the villagers said.”I thought I heard a chuckle from him, but I could be wrong. I mean, I was rather busy being terrified, especially regarding the beast himself and the height at which we were currently at. We were high up in the sky, after all. If we were to fall? God, I just didn’t want to think about it.I tightened my arms around his shoulders and begged, “Please don’t kill me.”I noted that his eyes were still intent on my face. God, I wanted to know what his expression was. Then again, could I even tell what his expression was if he were to take off his mask? He was a beast, after all, and surely, a beast had no emotion? Let alone expression. But what about that amused tone? The amused laughter I had heard earlier?He released one arm from my waist and I panicked, gasping in fright. I tightened my arms around his neck again so that I wouldn’t fall.Suddenly, he touched my small chin with his free hand and tilted my face toward the light. He seemed to be staring at me for a while, and once again, I wanted to know what his expression was. More importantly, I wanted to know what his thoughts were.Was he now deciding how best to eat me? Was that why he was scrutinizing me so intensely?God, I didn’t want to be killed, and I swallowed hard at the very thought of my death. I pleaded again, my voice shaking in trepidation, “Please don’t kill me; I beg you. Spare my life.”He leaned his face toward me then, and asked, “Do you wish to live?”I nodded furiously. “Yes. Yes, I do wish to live. Will you spare my life?”He leaned his face even closer now and my heart pounded even harder in my chest. Suddenly, I was aware that his thumb was on my lip, pressing hard against it, rubbing it. I blinked, wondering what he was doing. Why was he touching my lips like that?Though it was quite painful with the way he applied pressure on my lips and poked his finger into my mouth, I held back the whimper and groan that was desperate to come out.“Very well,” he said at last, releasing my lips and mouth. “I will spare your life.”His wonderful words sang all around me like the warmth of the sunshine, and I smiled gratefully at him. Happy tears of joy welled in my eyes as I nodded my head. I couldn’t believe it. The beast was letting me go. He wasn’t going to kill me. He wasn’t going to eat me.“Thank you so much, my lord beast,” I said. “I…I don’t know how to thank you.”I was so happy that my mind started wandering off, thinking of my freedom, of the things that I didn’t have to do anymore, but more so of the things that I could do and accomplish. I could travel to another village or town, or even city and kingdom. I could meet new people and find work that didn’t require me to be locked up in a basement. I could do so many things.“However,” he said, which drew my attention to him again. “You are an offer made to me. I am a magical beast, sweetheart.”I blinked. Did the beast just refer to me as “sweetheart”? Only my mother called me that. Only she and no one else, so why was this beast calling me that?He continued, “I will not kill you, my sweet, but I will have your beautiful body at my every command. I will have your nectar whenever I desire.”I blinked again. He will have my body at his every command?What did that mean? Did he wish me to work for him?I didn’t know and I wanted it clarified for me. I licked my lips nervously and asked, “Will you lock me up in the basement?”He seemed amused at my question. “Basement?” he queried. Then he shook his head. “Not basement. Bedchamber, which is very tempting, but I will only do so if you agree to it,” he said.I sighed a breath of relief. “Then I do not agree to it. I do not like basements and I do not like being locked up.”“Very well, then,” he said. “It is unfortunate, but you will not be locked up.”“Will you beat me also?” I couldn’t help asking. “And make me work all day and all night?”“I will not beat you nor will you work, neither day nor night.” He moved his hand and touched my face. “You will do nothing but please me. All you have to do is offer yourself to me when I command you to.”I still didn’t believe him and said, “You really mean that? That I don’t have to work all day and night? That I won’t be locked up?”He simply stared at me and then I heard another chuckle escaping his lips. He must find me very amusing… Or rather, was it my bargaining with him for my freedom?Ignoring his thoughts of me, I was persistent and said, “You cross your heart and swear it on your life for that?”He seemed to be thinking for a moment as he was eyeing me. Or rather, he was staring at my lips. God, but I felt conscious of it.Finally, he nodded. “I swear on my life that I will not do anything you don’t agree to.”Only then did I sigh in relief and smile gratefully. I said, “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”I shut my eyes, thinking how fortunate this had turned out for me. Truly, I had thought that I’d die at this very moment by the hands of the beast, but who would have guessed that I was bargaining for my life, instead?I wouldn’t be locked up like I used to be, nor would I have to work all day and night. All I had to do was to offer myself to this beast when he commanded it…My eyes fluttered opened. Wait.I still didn’t understand what he meant, particularly that last part.I was about to ask when he said, “Will you offer yourself to me now?”I stared at him, my heart pounding in my chest. Why was I being hesitant? Hadn’t I just agreed to him that I would obey him and offer myself to him, moments ago?“You must understand that I have been waiting for a long time for someone like you to come along, sweetheart.” He sounded amused when he continued, “This is the first time in a thousand years that they offered me something this enticing, and dare I say that I can’t control myself much longer.”Lord, but I was even more confused with his words.“Now, darling, I wish to taste your nectar,” he said in a more urgent tone that both warmed my blood and scared me at the same time.His tone implied to me that he was desperate, like I was desperate to be free. And certainly, I knew how that felt.This beast wasn’t going to kill me. He wasn’t going to lock me up. And he wasn’t going to let me work all day and night until I was exhausted and fell sick like my mother, and I was thankful for that.Wanting to show my appreciation and share my gratitude, I nodded my head and said, “Yes, but—”I was cut short from finishing my query as we suddenly started falling. I hastily tightened my arms around his neck as I buried my face against his muscular chest. The strong gust of wind whooshed upward against us as we fell, my hair fluttering about in the air.Suddenly, he moved me in his arms and I was being carried. Then we flew and I found that we flicked in and out of places. I knew it was magic for sure, as we seemed to be skipping time and space itself, with bright lights and stars blazing around us.* * *Pre-Order The Beast and I