Princes of Paradise: An Academy RH Bully Romance (M.A.G.E. (Magical Academy of Gods and Elementals) Series Book 1) Read online

  Princes of Paradise

  (M.A.G.E. #1)

  Magical Academy of Gods and

  Elementals

  kailin gow

  KAILIN GOW

  Princes of Paradise

  Published by Romance on The Go, an Imprint of

  Sparklesoup.com

  Copyright © 2020 Kailin Gow

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  Second Edition.

  Printed in the United States of America.

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  DEDICATION

  For those who believe doors open when you

  take a leap of faith.

  3

  KAILIN GOW

  Prologue

  The stones glowed brightly, seeming in their

  otherworldly light to mirror the gleaming of the stars. The

  night was black, as black as a squid's ink, but she was not

  afraid. She had the stones – their ancient power calling to her

  as she held them in her hands. She had the book, its pages

  seeming to grow warm upon her fingers as she turned them.

  And she had her love – and she knew that he would keep her

  safe.

  The crimson sunset had vanished into the black

  waters, and now all was still. They stood at the top of the

  volcano, a volcano that had not erupted in many centuries –

  since the old days. Since long before the Erosion had come

  to change the shape of the world.

  But she felt its power. She knew that deep within the

  volcano, the power of flame lay waiting, like a dozing beast,

  waiting for her to harness its strength, to let the force of the

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  fire take over. She knew that she had the power: she would

  connect with the molten lava, with its heat, its beauty. She

  would make its strength her own.

  She was beautiful; she knew it now better than she

  had always known it. The stars and stones alike shone down

  upon her, casting her dark face and flashing eyes in their

  milky pale light. The stones were piled high – green and

  blue, yellow and red, precious gems from all corners of the

  island. She had found them all herself; they had called to her,

  each one, since she was a child. She had felt a connection

  with each tiny gemstone as she held it in the palm of her

  hand, pocketing it for her collection. Now, staring at the

  circle of stones she had made, she knew why. It was for this

  purpose that she had been chosen. It was for this purpose that

  her abilities had been formed.

  She sat cross-legged in the center of the circle, her

  book on her lap. It was the book of the Fire King, the god of

  fire, its ancient tongue intelligible to the Fire's children

  alone. She knew what her destiny was. She would bring back

  the Sacred Fire, its purifying force, its flames. She knew

  what the scientists knew and did not say – that the Erosion

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  KAILIN GOW

  was getting worse, that soon the whole earth would be

  engulfed in water. The ice caps would melt; the tides would

  grow stronger. The people did not know; the Earth did not

  know. But she knew.

  And she knew it was her duty to stop it. The Sacred

  Flame would come, at once creator and destroyer, push back

  the waves and call from its molten depths new lava, new

  earth.

  And she was doing it with her love at her side. She

  gazed at him, her heart beating faster. She knew his beauty;

  his beauty floored her, as if she were seeing it for the first

  time. It was always like the first time. She knew the source

  of his flashing eyes, his powerful animal muscles, his broad

  shoulders. The power of the flames rushed through him. He

  drew his beauty from the source – like her, he called upon

  the volcano and its ancient ways.

  He was the Fire King, and for thousands of years he

  had been searching for his Queen, the goddess from whom

  he had been separated. The goddess who had more power

  even than he to destroy and to rebirth. The true power of the

  twin ways of flame – death and resurrection. And only she

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  could regenerate the earth. Only she could rebuild its lost

  lands. He had searched for her, evermore frantic – knowing

  that he had to find her before it was too late. Before the

  Erosion grew too dangerous. Before the Calypticon. For the

  gods of Water would submerge the earth to suit their own

  ends – if the fire gods did not strike back.

  The girl knew the legends well. After all, she had

  grown up on the island. She had not mingled with the other

  outsiders, the generations of new settlers who peopled the

  island with fast cars and shiny beach homes. No, she was one

  with the Veteri – she sought them out. She knew their hiding

  places. She listened to their stories. And she knew the Fire

  God sought one born of a mortal, who would from her flesh

  reveal her powers. And she would win the love of the Fire

  God. The Fire God who had spent centuries seeking her, who

  had assumed human form, who sought out the one who loved

  him above all else. The one who loved him so much she was

  willing to die for him, and to be reborn. The one who would

  past the test.

  And she was that goddess. She knew that now, her

  heart beating faster with proud certainty. From the moment

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  KAILIN GOW

  she had met him she had known him – seen past his brilliant

  blue eyes and cruel charm to the flame burning within. And

  she had wanted it so badly – for the tales to be true. For the

  legend to be real. To be his goddess. And it had been proven

  true. She had not run from him, from the danger of his

  desires. She had stood by him, borne his passion, burned to

  his touch.

  And now she would summon the Sacred Flame.

  It was time. She would fulfill her destiny. The great

  task of the stones – from these small, hot gems she would

  make the fire.

  But first she had to pass the test. A bonfire had been

  prep
ared for her in the basin of the volcano, drawing its

  strength from the volcano below. She would walk through

  the flames. She would stand in their heat.

  But she would not be burned.

  She would simply be reborn, her goddess form made

  clear.

  “Stop!”

  She whirled around to face him, and her face

  crumpled with compassion. She knew this man – she knew

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  he was the enemy of her love. His ways were not her ways;

  he belonged to the realm of water. That shadowy cool force

  that only dampened her flames. She had loved him, once –

  but she could not think of that now. That was before she had

  learned who he was – that was before she had discovered her

  destiny as Queen of Fire.

  “Don't do it – it's too much a risk I can't save you

  from these. Even my power won't extinguish these flames.

  It's too much a risk.”

  The Fire King scoffed. “Some faith you have in her,

  cousin! Be off with you!”

  “Please – it's too dangerous. You're risking her life.”

  “I have found my love,” the Fire King said. “She has

  found me. She is the Goddess. Let not your petty jealousy

  blind you to that fact. She is mine now.”

  The girl's eyes were wide with sorrow. “I'm sorry,”

  she whispered to the man. “I'm so sorry.”

  But she did not hesitate. She turned and walked

  proudly towards the bonfire, which set the night blazing with

  its light. Flames licked at the hem of her dress; she could feel

  its scalding heat. But she knew it would not burn her. She

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  KAILIN GOW

  knew it would not hurt her.

  She had to prove her faith. She had to prove her love.

  She had to jump in.

  No sooner was she in the midst of the flames than she

  knew something had gone wrong. Her skin was blistering;

  agony beat in her blood. She screamed and could not scream,

  for her mouth was filled with smoke, with fire.

  “Help!” The cry escaped her lips. “Somebody help

  me!”

  But there was nothing they could do. The greatest

  oceans in the world could not have put the fire out. She heard

  them yelling, screaming, calling her name – she saw,

  between the licking of the flames, them running towards her,

  repelled by the magic that guarded the bonfire, thrown upon

  their backs. Her screams choked into nothingness; her pain

  became nothingness too. She heard them screaming her

  name as she died.

  And then the flames were gone, carrying with them

  her body, turned to ash, and the ashes blew forth over the

  silent night. All that was left of her – scattered to the winds.

  “No...” The Fire King was doubled over. He felt her

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  pain. He felt her burn. Tears were stinging at his eyes. “No!”

  “You killed her. You fool – you killed her!”

  “She was the goddess!”

  “She wasn't a goddess – she was a girl. My girl. And

  you killed her!” A punch, a blow. The Fire King did not

  bother fighting back. He let the Water King kick him, bruise

  him, spit upon him; he let his blood run freely into the earth.

  This pain was better, he thought. Anything was better than

  the guilt that was overtaking him.

  The guilt running alongside the fear.

  For he knew now, with terrible certainty – time was

  running out. The woman he loved was not his goddess. She

  was dead – gone from him forever. And if he did not find his

  goddess soon, then the whole world would suffer for it.

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  KAILIN GOW

  Chapter 1

  Mackenzy (Mac)

  Three Years Later

  The flames licked gently at the twigs, the embers

  gleaming red and orange beneath the night sky. The night –

  an endless black punctuated intermittently by stars – had

  taken on an eerie glow. I leaned in to feel the warmth from

  the fire. I couldn't take my eyes from the flames, each one

  bearing upwards towards the stars, flickering and lapping

  and licking, as if each of them was participating – too – in

  the dance. For they were all dancing, not just the fires but the

  girls, their hips shaking in time to the music. Their grass

  skirts elegantly shuffled from one side of their toned,

  graceful bodies to another; the leis they wore sparkled in the

  light of the flames. I had never seen so much color before.

  Green and red, yellow and orange – the flowers seemed to

  be dancing, too.

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  The sight took my breath away. I had seen luaus on

  television, of course – ever since the Erosion they had

  become common all over the new islands of Europe – but

  this was the real thing, a Hawaiian luau, one dating back

  from the old days. Before the Erosion. Before the waters

  came.

  The dancers were the most beautiful girls I had ever

  seen. Dark-eyed, with smooth coffee-colored skin, they all

  seemed to belong to the same world as the flames and the

  flowers – exotic, mysterious. They were not from the

  California Isles – they were not the sort of people I was used

  to, overwhelmed by their smooth chrome gadgets and

  gliding cars. No, life here was simpler than that; I had

  discovered it already. The Cutter Imperial Hotel of Oahu did

  not offer, as the Angel Island branch had done, high-tech

  virtual reality rooms to their guests at dinnertime, in which

  those paying for the most expensive suites could adjust their

  walls to make it look like they were being served fois gras in

  Paris, or pasta in Rome. Instead, they offered the same

  evening entertainment they had done for decades, even

  centuries: an evening luau beneath the full moon. My mother

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  KAILIN GOW

  had been Event Director for seven hotels in five different

  countries – I had long grown cynical when it came to the

  luxuries provided by high-end hotels. I had seen her clean up

  every VIP's mess; I had peered behind the scenes at every

  celebrity-studded affair or the corporate launch party of the

  latest microcomputer prototype. I was jaded when it came to

  the lavish, the over-the-top. But this was different. This

  struck me as none of the other events had struck me – this

  simplicity, this beauty. I felt something stirring within me as

  my eyes fixed on the flames, transfixed by their heated

  splendor. I belonged here, I felt, leaning my face into the

  flames. This place was meant for me.

  I laughed at my thoughts. How silly, I told myself. I

  had only been in Aeros a couple of days; I hadn't even gotten

  the lay of the land yet; I hadn't even started school. And

  Angel Island, California, had been my home for three years

  now – it was there that I had my friends, my old crushes, my

  teachers, my local pizza joint. And yet here I was, staring at

  the dying-down of the danc
e, feeling more at home than I

  had ever been in my life.

  What was this place?

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  Princes of Paradise (M.A.G.E. #1 )

  A new dance was starting up again. This time the

  male dancers sprang forth, their taut muscles rippling in the

  firelight, their bare chests exposing their handsome frames

  to the world. I felt my cheeks blush as I found, to my

  embarrassment, that I could no more easily remove my eyes

  from the ten buff men currently leaping and springing forth

  before me than I could from the flames.

  Luckily, my mother's laugh broke the spell, and I

  turned towards her. She looked younger than I knew her to

  be – one day in Aeros, I thought to myself, and she's already

  settled in. Her rosy cheeks had taken on a russet tint as a

  result of that day's sun; her pearly teeth shone as her mouth

  spread wide into a smile. I craned my neck to see the source

  of my mother's delight.

  My eyes widened with surprise. My mother was

  talking with her boss – a kind of fraternization that would

  certainly have been frowned upon by the far stricter staff of

  the Imperial Hotel Angel Island. But Antonio Cutter, with his

  long black hair and leisurely tan, didn't look the part of a

  stiff-necked employer. His brash good looks and muscular

  frame seemed to belong to a man who spent his days surfing

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  KAILIN GOW

  and swimming, not cooped up fumbling over numbers in an

  office.

  “Mackenzy!” My mother summoned me over,

  waving her hands in time with the music. “Come here!”