The Darke King- A Dark Fantasy from The Broken Immortals Series (Book 1)

By Jessica White

A warlock king on a mission to defeat an ancient enemy, supernatural beings who can't seem to straighten out their love lives, and the secrets that bond them all...

Mistreated all his life and forced to climb the ranks under a ruthless dictator, the warlock Daniel Darke believes a brighter tomorrow lies beyond his world. So when he's visited by a beautiful woman in a vision, he follows her through a portal to a supernatural land.

Despite being one of Earth's most dreaded warlocks, when Daniel arrives in the City by the Sea, he is welcomed as a trusted friend and protector. But as soon as he comes face to face with his mate, at last, memories of other lifetimes come rushing back to him as his powers begin to multiply.

With all the memories and visions of things to come laid out before him like the pages of a book, the Darke King readies for the return of an ancient enemy. However, it is a man from Rosemary’s past that he needs to be on alert for.

The Darke King is the captivating first book in The Broken Immortals romantic fantasy series. If you like star-crossed couples, fights for supremacy, and unraveling mysteries, then you’ll love Jessica White’s magical tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jessica White
• Release date: Mar 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005691820

Jessica White

Author Jessica White - Unveiling Dark Fantasies and Steamy Romance in Small Towns? Welcome to the enchanting world of Jessica White, where the world comes alive with dark immortals, small-town secrets, and sizzling romance. As a passionate storyteller, Jessica weaves tales that transport you to realms unknown, blending dark fantasy, steamy romance, and heart-pounding suspense.? Series Highlights:•The Broken Immortals: Journey into a realm where immortality comes with a price, and forbidden desires ignite a war between light and darkness.•Stories from the Realm: Explore mystical landscapes and unearth the secrets that bind magical beings in this captivating series.•Love Stories from a Small Town: Immerse yourself in the charm of small-town romance, where love blossoms amidst close-knit communities.?‍? About the Author: Jessica, a former Registered Nurse turned masterful storyteller, hails from the breathtaking landscapes of West Virginia. Her graduate degree in Business Administration adds a strategic touch to her narrative prowess. Beyond crafting tales, Jessica is captivated by metaphysical wonders, the beauty of nature, irresistible buttercream icing, and the magic of Harry Potter (still waiting for that letter!).? Stay Updated: Curious about Jessica's upcoming releases? Explore Jessica's world beyond the pages. Follow her journey on https://linktr.ee/authorjwhite and sign up for exclusive email alerts. Be the first to dive into new worlds and discover fresh tales of love, mystery, and fantasy.? Connect with Jessica: Have questions or just want to share your thoughts? Reach out to Jessica at [e-mail].

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The Downfall of Daniel Darke

The tingle in his sweaty palms should have been a warning to the young Commander as he passed through the throne room threshold. But when the Emperor calls for you, there is no refusing his command. Did you believe there was any secret I wouldn’t know about, Daniel?

While he stood before his Master, Daniel’s black hair fell over his eyes as he closed them and tried to silence his mind. But there was little use. The sneer curling on the decrepit old sorcerer’s face revealed he had learned of Daniel’s treachery. I can gaze through your mind, young witch.

With his rotting, wrinkled fingers bending to summon him, the old man motioned for his guards to bring the prisoner forward. The falling sensation in his hands and feet warned Daniel his mother had entered the room, and he lifted his eyes to find her hands bound as she kneeled before the ancient one.

From beneath the shadow of his gray hood, the tyrant glared at his protégé. What shall I do with a traitorous witch? The old wizard raised his brow as a smile crossed his evil lips, and his finger tapped at his forehead. I know.

A glint of the knife he took from his belt sent a shiver of icy pain through Daniel’s chest. The old monster snatched the wide-eyed woman by her hair and sliced through her neck without hesitation.

Her delicate white dress was soon drenched in crimson as blood poured down over her body and the spark of life left her dark eyes. The entire world collapsed on Daniel’s shoulders and crushed the once cruel man into nothing.

Her lifeless body slammed to the cold floor, and her life force splashed across the room and sprayed over the young man’s face.

The wicked giggle wiggled its way into the cloud of Daniel’s devastation, and his eyes rose to meet the old man’s. Did you actually believe I wouldn’t find her? Stupid, arrogant fool. Well, you were wrong, and now you will suffer for your egoism. Young one, you will bow to me and declare your undying allegiance, or you will endure the same fate as this garbage at my feet.

I’ll fucking destroy you. Shiny black boots beat against the slick marble floor until the Emperor raised his hand and froze Daniel in place with his invisible grip.

The halted clicks and chokes of amusement gurgled in the villain’s nose. With a flick of his wrist, he flung Daniel to the other side of the room and sprung down from his throne. Pushing his cloak off his shoulders as he rushed to his apprentice, the sovereign held out his hand and stole the breath from Daniel’s lungs.

Without even enough air to curse his murderer, Daniel clenched his teeth and stared him in the eyes until he crashed to the floor, with the laughs of his Master echoing around the sterile room.

The ageless monster circled him and clasped his hands behind his back as he laid out his plan. Now, I will reign down an era of torture upon you like this world has never seen before. By the time I am through, nothing will remain. You will disappear, and no one will remember you ever existed. You were nothing when you came to me, and you will leave me as nothing.

Trembling hands pushed against the cold floor as Daniel came to stand in defiance of the Emperor’s desire to listen to him grovel. You can kill me. I don’t care anymore, but I won’t die on my knees.

The thin, wrinkly cheek under his eyes lifted as a smirk came to the old man’s lips while he imagined all the pain he would inflict on the boy. As you wish.

While the leader supreme decided on his next move, a whiff of something beautiful swept across Daniel’s face, and his heart raced with a shot of life. A glowing form stepped from behind the monster and glided toward the doomed witch.

Scarlet hair fell over her shoulder, and her icy blue eyes pierced through her brilliantly illuminated aura. Pausing as she came to Daniel’s side, the light drifted away, revealing her angelic face. With her fingers wove together in front of her chest, she pleaded with him to come to her. Please save us, Daniel.

Slightly protruding ears thumped with the pulsing blood through his veins as he reached out for her, only to slip through the illusion. When the last faint notes of her sweet voice left his mind, goosebumps rose on his arms, and his eyes snapped up to the wicked one. I’m coming, my love.

With a new purpose filling the young man’s heart, Daniel felt a spark of ancient magic rising within him.

As the side of his mouth curled and his hair lifted from his shoulders, he looked over at the old witch before him. Out of the palms of his hands, a blue glow rushed over his body, inch by inch.

The hundred wicked whispers in his ears took control, and his arm flinched from his side and drifted upwards. The Emperor tried to break through the inferno encompassing Daniel’s body. Still, not even the old warlock could stop the unworldly ancient creatures favoring the younger man at that moment.

When his finger came to his lips, a blackness crossed Daniel’s eyes as he wagged his head, and the evil command fell from his tongue. Shh.

The fiery spirits flowed from Daniel’s mouth and engulfed the old wizard in their scalding embrace. He stood over the burning flesh and bone pile until it smoldered down to ashes and spat on the sad remains as his pointy teeth peeked through his smile. I’m the Master of the Flames, and I don’t bow to any fucking body.

When he shook off the beast inside him, he turned to look at his mother and blinked around at his destruction. The dream-like recollection of the past few moments passed before his eyes, and he raised his palms to his face as the long-forgotten feeling of amusement huffed from his belly. What the fuck is happening to me?

Though she was the only person who ever gave him a second thought, he couldn’t shed a tear for the woman who gave birth to him. The rarely used emotion of guilt gnawed at his throat and made him swallow down the regret of every wrong he’d ever done.

He crouched down, slid his hands beneath her body, and tugged her into his chest with a grit of his teeth. Not a soul dared question the man as the awestruck soldiers parted, and he carried his mother out the fortress gates.

He entered the dead forest and dodged the brittle thorny branches slapping and ripping at him. When the old remnants of life thinned into a clearing, he laid his mother on the rocky ground and kneeled beside her.

His fingers grazed her icy hand, and he swallowed down all his regret. You were a wonderful mother. I wish I had been a better son. His hand closed around hers, and he pressed his lips to her palm before placing it across her chest. Goodbye, Mother.

When the prickly tickle rose from his skin and the tiny bumps spread through his body, Daniel brought his palms before his eyes. The blue flame ignited as the soft crunches of feet against the lifeless forest floor came to his ears.

With a shudder through his whole body, he glanced to his right to see the vision’s fingers drag through the charred bushes on her way to him.

The once black stems sprouted new buds, and the ugly darkness that once covered them was lush with green life again.

Like lightning flashing in the midnight sky, her light rushed his nerves when her fingertips grazed his arm, and the blackness retook his eyes. The hushed voices in his mind gave their directives, and as Daniel looked over his mother, he put his finger to his mouth. Shh.

A brilliant flash of light swept across the woods. When it cleared, the only thing remaining was the man dressed in black and the reignited army of demons dwelling inside him.

CHAPTER TWO

The Realm

On his hands and knees, high-pitched wheezes squeezed from Daniel’s body, and the tiny muscles between his ribs clenched his chest while his dirty lungs worked to catch his breath again.

When the whispers receded into his throat, the crunchy snaps of the dried grass breaking caught his attention, and he found tiny, bare feet in the corner of his eye. Every step she took left a trail of fresh green grass and cooled the Firestarter’s spirit.

His eyes rose to meet the red-haired woman, and she bent her fingers as her head tilted away. Come home. We’re waiting for you. The sweet, soft fragrance she left behind in her wake made him close his eyes and rub the space over his heart where it lived now.

The little smoldering pebbles were all that remained on the forest floor, and they dug into his palms as he lifted himself from the ground. Like a puppet on a string, his wobbly legs stumbled after her. Wait. I know you. Don’t I?

Everything she touched as she passed through the sad woods sprung back to life until it gradually faded into a lush and vibrant forest.

The only world Daniel ever knew was extinct, and when the colors of the wild things came to his eyes, they burned them with their intensity. Wiping his watery eyes with his sleeve, he almost lost track of the specter as she gave birth to everything beautiful with her healing hands.

Little chirps and buzzes of the long-ago birds and insects crawling around in the trees vibrated his ears, and the soft grass bent beneath his feet. Is this real?

The clean air that now fed his body sent a sharp bolt of electricity through his chest that followed the blood pumping into his veins until every cell pulsed with energy. You’re doing this, aren’t you?

The smog-filled sky hadn’t allowed the sun to grace the Earth for at least a century, and the golden light now touched his pale face for the first time in his life, making his entire body shiver. A tickle started in his nostrils, and a sneeze shot from his nose, so powerful it took his vision for a moment.

Dark brown eyes closed to the warmth of the bright orb above, and goosebumps sprung up all over. His messy hair blew in the fresh breeze swirling around him and tickled his ears.

What’s your name? When he opened his eyes, the scorched remains of the woods surrounded him again, and he shook his head while he turned and searched for her. No. No, don’t leave me behind. Please.

As he brought his hands to his face, his heart raced that he could still smell the relics of the clean world on his skin. The vibration in his ears gradually gave way to the whispers again, and when the blackness overcame him, he called out the words they murmured to him. Gabh liom ó thuaidh.

The language not spoken in centuries spilled off his tongue, and a glowing portal appeared before Daniel. Like water in a pool dancing in the air as it bent the light, it warped the space around it and moved. The gateway rippled, and Daniel’s whole body hummed as it stretched out to him.

A tingle in his fingertips drew his hand closer to the glowing threshold while it wiggled its way toward him. When the forces collided, it swallowed Daniel whole, and the opening instantly sealed shut behind him.

The hateful voices that circled him in their hot arms were a whirlwind of whooshes and screams that crushed him and sucked his breath from his lungs until his own heartbeat and darkness were the only thing left.

On the other side of space and time, the ancient gate guardians built up around him piece by piece as the entire world came back into order. His trembling knees gave way, and he reached out to the statue to ground him. The cold stone underneath his palm sent a shock through his nerves and a vision through his mind. I know this place.

Black boots scuffed across the cobblestone path, and the mists of the waterfalls splashed across his face. He lifted his eyes to find the little homes built into the cliffs, and just over the hillside sat the blue sea. The warm setting sun peeked over the water, casting long shadows against the ground until it eventually disappeared over the horizon in a pink and orange spectacle.

It was a dream he couldn’t place, and Daniel wiggled his fingers until one shot out to his right. This way. You’re this way. Every step he took felt right and more familiar until he came to the great hall.

From the long stone staircase came a man in green and gold long robes with long black hair and a braided headpiece encircling his forehead. Welcome, my son. I am Nicholas, Lord of the North Woods. I’m glad you chose us.

Daniel tipped his head to the ancient sorcerer. Thank you, sir, but where exactly am I? I, I believe I’ve been here before, but I can’t seem to remember.

Blue eyes Daniel recognized from his visions darted around the lands as a warm smile came to the old man’s face. This is the Realm, child. You are home.

The fresh scent of crisp Autumn air blew through the open windows while Daniel walked beside Nicholas, and his eyes examined the murals and statues lining the main building’s halls. Why did you bring me here? How did you know where to find me?

While he motioned to the distant hall past the library with his hand, an amused smirk curled up on the old warlock’s mouth. I didn’t bring you here. Even the wisest among us cannot travel through time as you have. That you did all by yourself.

A sinking sensation rose from his gut as he scanned each room and hall they came to. Where’s the woman? The one with red hair. The one who showed me the way here. I think she’s in trouble.

Before a rounded wooden door, Nicholas stopped and sighed through his nose. She will be along in time. A skinny finger rose between them, and his pointy black brow arched. "Now, while you’re