Glow of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #2)

by Penn Cole

Show me you can be trusted to protect my interests as well as your own.”

“If a kiss is the reward, my Queen, I’ll get on my knees for you whenever you want.”

It was his aura that gave him away—the one sign only I had strong enough magic to detect. Its presence grew dark, unbearably heavy, seeming to drag me with it as it shrank toward him and coiled within.

Mate

“When you said you wanted to serve me, a foot massage isn’t quite what I had in mind,” I joked, my voice turning hoarse. His face angled toward my leg, his lips nearly brushing my ankle. “Tell me then, my Queen, how would you like me to serve you?” Both palms dragged down my legs, resting low on my thighs and nudging them apart with the faintest pressure. “Shall I get back down on my knees until I earn another kiss?”

“It takes a lot of work to make me look this presentable.” “No, it doesn’t.” He crossed the room and batted my hands away, deftly untangling the clip and setting it aside. “You forget the conditions I’ve seen you in. I know how easily your beauty shines through.”

I’ve forgotten that I’m a mouse in a pit of hungry vipers.” “A mouse?” He leaned in, strands of my hair swaying in the gust of his ragged breaths. “We may be vipers, but you’re no mouse. You’re a fucking dragon.” My chest pressed into his as it

“You were eavesdropping on us,” I gasped, my eyes going wide. “You had no right—” “I don’t care,” he thundered back. “It’s my job to know the true motives of the people closest to you. I will keep you safe, and I

“Not even if you despise me. Not even if I am nothing to you. Because my calling comes from a higher authority than even you can claim, Your Majesty. As she guarded my heart, I will guard over yours. Even if it kills me.”

Every moment with Luther felt like a tug-of-war against fate. Every look, every touch felt weighted with an ominous heft, like each one held some deeper, unseen consequence that went far beyond the two of us. It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying, and for once, I was sick of fighting it. Sick of fighting him.

“He said he’s never seen anyone handle themselves so well with our family before. He said you were born to be Queen.”

Just keep moving. Onward, until the very last breath.

At the end of it, he squeezed my shoulder. “Tonight’s going to go great. And you won’t even need the Challenging, because you’ll kill them all with your dancing instead.”

“It’s just skin. You’ve seen me in much less, remember?” His glittering eyes shot to mine. “Impossible to forget.”

“Who did this to you?” I breathed, feeling as if flames might spew from my fangs like a gryvern. “It doesn’t matter. They can’t hurt me anymore, and I won’t let them hurt anyone else.” “Tell me,” I snarled. “Why are you protecting them?” “It’s not them I’m protecting.” I glared up at him, but his face was resolute, his jaw a block of steel. I’d come to know this look by now. “I told you, I’m done with people keeping secrets for my benefit.” “And I told you, I’ll do what I must to protect you, even if you hate me for it.”

“What happened?” he growled. “Is she hurt? Get your hands off her—let me see her.”

“Go,” he urged again, softer. “You have enough on your shoulders. Let me carry this one burden for you tonight.”

“You’re a Corbois, Diem,” he murmured into my ear. “Embrace your phoenix. Rise from the ashes, and burn bright once more.”

“You are my Queen, and I am your sword. Point me at your enemies, and watch them fall. Lead this world, Diem, and I will follow you—into war, into death, into the tundra of hell itself.” He took my palm and set it against his chest, just above the patch of unscarred skin that lay beneath his jacket. “You are the fate my heart was spared for. As long as it beats, you will never fight alone.”

“What would happen,” I breathed, “if we gave into this thing between us?” “I don’t know,” he said roughly. “But that question consumes my every thought.”

“Every person in this room wants something from you,” he said after a heavy pause. “They look at you, and they see the things they want to take. I know, because I lived it. From the moment I became heir, everyone wanted to be either my friend or my lover. When you took the Crown, I swore to be different—to serve your goals, not mine. I told myself that even if you had no one else, you would at least have me. I never wanted to become just another person who wanted to steal a piece of you for themselves.” He let out a shuddering sigh. “And I have failed. Completely, irreversibly failed. I don’t just want a piece of you—I want them all.” His thumb raked across my lower lip. “I want every breath, every laugh, every tear. Every taste of your mouth, every inch of your skin. I want to kneel at your feet, soaked in the blood of your enemies, then worship your body until you scream my name.” His hands slid to my hips and tugged me closer. “Yes, Diem, I want to serve you—in every way a man can.”

“I want to burn alive in that fire in your eyes. I want it to melt me down and forge me into the weapon you need me to be. I want to stand by your side for the rest of my life, and I don’t need you to marry me and make me a fucking king to do it.”

morri

Because Eleanor had been a loyal friend to me—maybe the only one I’d ever had, other than Henri—and because I was tired of hiding my soul away and pretending to be unbreakable, I let the armor fall, and I let her see all the anguish and doubt that was rending my heart in two.

Por que eu acho que ela vai ser traida?

It’s a reminder that no challenge can destroy the parts of us that truly matter. We’re not reborn in the flames. We’re revealed.”

“This man you’re engaged to—if you love him, then fight for him. But if you’re only holding on to him because you’re afraid of losing who you are...” She took my hands in hers. “Nothing can take that away from you, Diem. No Crown, no man. Not even the Kindred themselves.”

fists. Taran looked at me, then at Luther, then shrugged. “Go on then, tell us who to kill.” He held out palms, and two hissing orbs of shadow hovered over his hands. “Is it Aemonn? Please say it’s Aemonn.”

He skidded to a stop, looking back at me, then at the spot where Vance had gone. Conflict simmered in his gaze. “Don’t,” I warned, but my words were ripped away as my fiancé shot me an apologetic look and disappeared into the forest.

MAS É UM FILHO DA PUTA!

“The House Receptions are going well,” Eleanor said brightly. “You haven’t had to give your I’m-going-to-be-a-fair-and-righteous-Queen-whether-you-like-it-or-not speech in at least a week.”

Eu gosto dela apesar de que ela pode trair a Diem

“Now I have Corbois blood in my veins, and you have Bellator blood in yours. Let us be family in every sense of the word.” She held her chin high, even as her lip quivered. “Family,” she agreed. “You are my sister Eleanor, now and for the rest of my days.” I gazed down at our combined hands with a doleful smile. “However few they may be.”

Depois disso, é uma personagem que é capaz dela matar

“Eleanor, stay with Lily. Keep her away from my father.” Eleanor gave a swift nod. “Alixe, you’re with Teller. Keep him out of sight as much as you can until the Challenging.” “Understood,” Alixe said. Luther looked at me for a long, torturous moment, then turned to Taran. He sheathed his sword, clapped his palm on his cousin’s shoulder, and leveled him with an unforgiving stare. “Do not let her out of your sight. Not even for a second.” “I won’t,” Taran vowed. “She’s safe with me.” Luther didn’t move, holding his gaze in silent challenge. “Taran,” he said quietly. Taran placed his own hand on Luther’s shoulder and gave it a firm shake. “I know, cousin. With my life.”

“You both mean well,” she said, “and you both want to protect me. But have either of you asked if I want to be protected?” I started to bite back a response, then stopped myself. Lily’s innate sweetness made it easy to see her as a child, innocent and defenseless against the unforgiving reality of the world, but that was far from the truth. She was clever and incredibly perceptive.

“He’ll wait for you, you know. It’s going to destroy him, but he’ll do it. He’ll sit back, and he’ll watch you marry that mortal. He’ll defend you to the entire realm while you put a crown on that jerk’s head and let him parade around calling himself King for however many decades he has left. And when he dies, Luther’s going to hold you while you mourn. Even if it takes you centuries to move on. And Kindred forbid, if you have children with that man, Luther will be there for them too, as the best uncle they’ve ever had. And when their mortal father is gone, Luther will step up and love them as if they were his own.”

“Aemonn and Iléana are very close,” Alixe explained with a sympathetic wince. “It was always a source of tension with Luther that the two of them were such good friends.” I balked, instantly rethinking every conversation Aemonn and I had shared. “But... at the cousin’s dinner—” “Aemonn invited her, did he tell you that?” Taran muttered. “He assigned the chairs so Luther had to sit beside her. They were working together to drive you two apart.”

EU SABIAAAAAA

He let out a long exhale, the tension relaxing from his posture. “I’m sick of keeping things from you. I want you to know everything. Every secret I have is yours.” I struggled to hold his gaze as I thought of the Guardians and the role I’d played in helping them. “I’ve kept things from you, too. Things that might make you look at me differently.” Luther crooked a finger under my chin and gently nudged it up until my eyes returned to his. “There’s nothing you could reveal that would change how I feel about you.” My heart thundered. “No more secrets, then. After the Challenging, we come clean about everything. Brutal honesty.” “Brutal honesty,” he agreed.

My eyes flew open. “Luther, you could have died.” “A small price.” “Your life is not a small price,” I hissed. “Not to me.” His gaze seared into mine with equal passion. “I would have walked into the flaming heart of the sun itself,” he shot back. “If you are suffering, nothing will keep me from coming to your aid. Least of all something as trivial as death.” I clenched my teeth. “Don’t you ever r—”

He let out a resigned sigh. “It’s not what I would choose for her. Even in the best of outcomes, Lily’s heart will be broken. But perhaps...” He paused, his gaze heavy on mine. “Perhaps, for the right person, we endure the pain, because the torture of never having them at all is the more unbearable fate.” My breathing went shallow. “Luther,” I whispered.

“I will Challenge her.” The crowd gasped. A young girl screamed in protest. I would have joined them in their shock, had I not been recoiling in pain at the sharp flare of magic against my wrist. The sign of a bonded bargain breaking. “On behalf of House Corbois, I, Luther Corbois, wish to Challenge the Queen.”

wtfffff

“He betrayed me,” I breathed. “Luther wanted revenge on his father. He’s using me to get it.” I didn’t quite believe the words, even as they came out of my own mouth. I glanced down at my wrist, still aching with the phantom pain of the bonded bargain snapping apart. “My agreement with Remis is broken. His magic is gone.”

“You have me, Luther,” I vowed. “All of me.” I leaned back to let him see the full depth of that truth in my eyes. No more masks, no more armor—just brutal, bleeding honesty. My heart had been battered by grief and self-doubt, more mistakes than I could count, and regrets that might haunt me forever. It was an imperfect, wounded thing, covered in flaws, but it was strong. And it beat for him—the man who had walked beside me in the hopeless dark and burned for me in the fiery light. I took his hand and set it over the scar on my collarbone, then laid my palm on the jagged line that slashed his cheek. I leaned in until my lips brushed his. “I am yours, Luther Corbois. Scars and all.”

“Remember who you are, Diem Bellator.” He clasped the medallion at my neck. “But remember you are a phoenix, too. We do not fear the flames, for the hotter we burn, the higher we fly.” He gave me a final, smoldering kiss, then whispered against my lips. “Burn, my Queen. Glow so bright, the darkness trembles.”

When my eyes met his, I expected to see relief, or amusement, or perhaps a smug I-told-you-so. What I saw was so much more. Luther gazed at me like I was the embodiment of hope fulfilled. Like I was the answer to every question he had ever asked, the harmony to every song he’d ever sung. He looked at me like I was the sun and the moon and the stars, all the light in the world, shining a path for him out of the lonely dark. He had believed in me from the very start. Not only because of my magic, but because of my heart—who I was, my courage and my compassion, and my willingness to fight.

“Citizens of Lumnos,” I announced, “I am no longer Unchallenged. My reign begins today.” In the distance, the cry of an approaching gryvern, newly freed of her order to stay away, pierced through the air. My smile finally cracked at the sound of Sorae’s triumphant roar. “Kneel before your Queen,” I commanded. And, one by one, they did.

“But you came to the lodge that night to kill me,” I protested. “No—I came to swear fealty to you. I had my sword out to offer it in your service. Then I saw you standing there half-naked and spitting fire, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I became...” He smiled guiltily. “...distracted.”