The Throne of Broken Gods (Gods & Monsters, #2)

by Amber V. Nicole

“If Roccurem is wrong, and I am truly out of time, if this doesn’t work, I want you to know that I am nothing like your father, Samkiel. I refuse to live without you. There will be no peace in this realm or the next. I will burn this universe down to embers for you. I will leave nothing untouched, taking apart anyone that’s ever hurt you piece by piece. So when you hear the screams from however far away you are from me. When you feel the very stars shake from the rage you aren’t here to pull me back from, when you hear them beg and plead for mercy, I need you to remember that it’s because you and your stupid, annoying persevering ways got to me. I want you to remember that you got under my skin when I hated you. I want you to remember that you made me happy and made me feel when no one else could. I want you to remember that you saved me in every way possible and never once gave up on me. So when the very fabric of the universe burns, I want you to remember that I love you.”

A seal. The Mark of Dhihsin.

As quickly as it burned, as it showed, it disappeared. Samkiel took a breath, his eyes fluttering open before closing once more, but a rhythmic heartbeat echoed through the tunnel, quickly synching with my own.

“Resurrection has a cost. I assume you paid yours.” I glanced at my bare, smooth finger, trying to forget what that mark had felt and looked like. “I guess.”

HUH????

“I fear no gods and no kings.”

Resurrection has a cost. Dread filled my being, and I wondered as sleep claimed me if I had paid with more than just the mark.