A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty (Kingdom of Lies, #2)

by Stacia Stark

“I told you why. Because you’re mine.”

“You can raise all the walls between us that you like. I’ll knock them down one by one. In the end, it will be us, wildcat.”

“I’ve gone my whole life feeling like I’m holding my breath. Like my lungs are burning. Like I’m desperately fighting for each gasp of air. But when you’re around, I can…breathe. And I’m furious at you, because when that ends…when we’re forced apart, I don’t know how I’ll take a full breath without you.”

My heart twisted. One day, these memories would be all I had of him. And I wanted them solidified in my mind for the rest of my life.

I roared, digging at the dirt where Prisca had disappeared. I’d been too far from her. I never should have left her side.

I could barely speak, rage clamping tight around my throat. I would find her. I would find her, and whoever had taken her would die screaming for mercy.

“It may feel as if you will die without her clamped to your side,” Telean said softly, “but that is not the case, Prince. And this is something that you both should learn sooner rather than later.”

pleased.” He’d always been the one to see things in me I couldn’t see myself. The one who’d insisted I live up to my potential.

“I wish we could have one day,” I said, lifting my head. “Just one day to spend together.” Lorian leaned down, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “We’ll have it. We’ll have days and days just like this.”

He’s short-tempered and brutal, but I’ve never seen a man look at a woman the way he looks at you. As if you’re his entire reason for breathing.”

“A little fear is good for you, Pris. Just don’t let that fear steal your happiness.”

She was my mate. And I couldn’t tell her.

Prisca didn’t choose to be born the hybrid heir. She didn’t choose to go to war. She’d had so few choices in her life so far, I refused to take any further choices from her.

And…some part of me, a part I’d never acknowledged before…it needed her to choose me. Of her own free will. Not because the fates had decided we would be best for each other, or because we’d been thrown together by those same fates. But because she looked at me and saw me as a man who was more than just the Bloodthirsty Prince. Because she saw a man who was worth tying herself to for the rest of her life.

But our mating—rare as it was—was a gift. The other half of our soul waiting for us to love. To cherish. I wanted that. With her. And if there was one thing I had, it was patience. I could wait. At least, for a little while.

Something ancient and feral opened one eye inside me. Something that wanted to lay waste to anyone and anything that would take my wildcat from my side.

“Oh, wildcat. Don’t you know by now? I would have found you. No matter what happens, I will always find you.”

It wasn’t triumph in her eyes. No, she looked as if she was already mourning. As if she already missed me. No one had ever looked at me like that before.

“As soon as I have that amulet, I will come for you. I promise.” She took a deep breath. “I’m holding you to that promise.” “I told you, wildcat. I’ll always find you.”

“When I’m with him…I’m a better person. I’m stronger. Braver. Smarter. He makes me face the demons I want to hide from. And he teaches me how to kill those demons myself.”

“Maybe that’s what love is. Finding someone who brings out the best in you.”

“Something in me died the night I lost my parents. And then I met you. You brought me back to life, Prisca.”

once told you that until you faced up to the reality of your life, you would continue to be a victim to it. And my reality is this—I’m in love with you.”

Lorian had never had anyone choose him before—not because of his reputation or his position as fae prince or what he could do for them, but because of who he was.