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December 26 - December 27, 2023
“But I so enjoy the sound of it, Inmate. I don’t think I’ll be doing that. And it isn’t a human that I want you to act like.”
Using my reflection to anchor myself, I burrow into the center of my soul, feeling for the magic I know is locked deep within me. Where I’ve kept it trapped for so many long years. It feels like the jagged edges of two staircases hammered together. Like a puzzle where someone tried to fit a square peg into a round hole before it got stuck.
It’s addictive. The way she hates me. The way she burns with that fire that glows so white hot, I ache whenever she looks at me. Like she’s always just on the edge of erupting and blowing my entire life to pieces. Not that I’ve ever been attracted to reserved or docile women, but she isn’t just wild, she’s practically feral, and I can’t stop fucking thinking about her.
Of course, she was beautiful. She didn’t need this male to validate that.
He made it sound like he was doing her a favor by noticing.
“I’m the Woodlands King, Wolf,” he said, his voice rumbling and rich. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Serce.”
“I don’t know what that bastard did to you, but I’m going to help you get your crown, Heart Queen, and I’m going to make him pay. For all of it.”
There’s a disconcerting sense that I’ve found something I’ve lost. Like I’ve come home.
“Good girl,” he says and then gives me a surprised look, as though he hadn’t meant to say that. The words feel foreign and yet familiar in a way I can’t quite place.
My actual name and I’ve never loved the sound of it more than I do at this moment. That simple, nothing name that was given to me to keep me as anonymous and unremarkable as possible. Somehow, he makes it sound like it’s a name forged in fire and created for a queen.
“Who are you?” I ask, looking up at him, completely overwhelmed. “I am your worst nightmare, Inmate. But right now, I’m going to make you come so hard, you’re not going to care.”
“I think I’ll have him killed.” Nadir takes a casual sip of his drink, and I choke on mine. “Why?” “I don’t like the way he was looking at you. He was watching your ass as you walked away.” I blow out a breath, puffing a lock of hair out of my eyes. “Is this what you’re going to be like now?” “This is how I always was. I’m just not hiding it anymore.”
“You’re going to ruin me, too, Inmate,” he says softly, making me realize I just said at least part of that out loud. “Lucky for you, we’ll go down in the blaze together.”
It’s a direct contrast to the Sun Palace, but there is also something monumental about this place. Something profound in the absence of light. With a strange lurch in my stomach, I look at the Fae standing next to me, so perfectly bred to fit into this room, with that dark hair and those swirling eyes. I get the strangest sense I’m looking into a future yet to happen.
We stop in front of it, and I’m again struck by the most profound sense of destiny. Like every moment of the past twenty-four years have schemed and plotted to bring me to this place.
No. I do not think it is. The prince wants something from you, but it is not your power. I inhale a deep breath, feeling a strange shift behind my heart. But…that way lies only heartbreak, Your Majesty. That way lies only ruin.
The royal family wears black. Nadir’s companions wear black. But I am not his conquest. I am not his to claim. I’m not part of their royal line. I have my own family. And I am my own fucking castle.
“You’re supposed to be the baby sister.” “We both know the order of our birth has never had anything to do with the roles we play, Tris.”
Holding in my sigh of dejection, I vow to give her the space she needs. I’ve waited this long for her to come into my life, and I’ll wait for her forever if that’s what it takes.
