Fate of the Sun King (Artefacts of Ouranos, #3)

by Nisha J. Tuli

Pain throbs behind my left eye, reminding me of the time an angry lover twisted my balls in his grip after finding me buried between his sister’s thighs. I told him jealousy wasn’t a good look, and unsurprisingly, that only made things worse.

gabriel is my fruity lucien and i love it. I have been missing him so bad

Tyr blinks, and I like to think it’s because he’s acknowledging me. I hope it is. I miss him and everything we almost were.

IS THIS HIS LOVER OMG

I’ve suspected the truth for a while, but for some reason, it’s hard to say out loud. I’ve never in all my years heard of it happening. And what are the odds that this woman my father stole, tortured, and tossed into Nostraza is my mate?

“It’s my fault you’re so angry all the time. That there’s a prince in that house who looks at you like you’re his entire world, and all you know how to do is push him away. It’s my fault that my baby sister is broken.”

“The blood of your enemies, Lor. Ask me, and I’ll slay anyone for you. Burn the world to ash if you desire.”

Could I forge the same alliance with The Woodlands intended by my grandparents? I wonder who carries the title of their Primary and make a mental note to ask. Cedar and Elswyth have no heirs, so is it someone else?

Tristan

“You’re my fucking mate, and you are mine.”

“Lor! When are you going to get it through your head that I am totally, completely fucking in love with you!” She attempts to retreat, but I take another step until she’s backed against the window. “You’re all I think about. I’ve never felt like this about anyone, and I’d do anything for you. You’ve become my air and my blood and my only reason to exist. I love you, Lor. I love you so much it makes my heart feel ready to burst.”

“I told you that I didn’t want anyone else. I meant it then, and I mean it now. Yesterday, when you thanked me for rescuing you, what I really wanted to say was that I would have torn apart the entire fucking world to find you, and how could you ever think that I wouldn’t come for you?”

“Then eyes on me, Heart Queen. Because I’m going to fucking ruin you.”

“I love you, Lor,” I say as our magic hovers around us like curls of smoke. “I love you. From now until the Evanescence takes us, I will love you. Even then, I’ll follow you to the ends of time.”

“Lor. I’ve spent my life on the edge of happiness. I’ve had happy moments, and I have happy memories, but everything was tainted by my father and the pain he caused my mother. By everything that happened in the war and everything that’s happened since. But I can say with the most undeniable certainty that the moment when you said you loved me was the first time I’ve ever known what it’s like to be free.”

The prince wants something from you, but it is not your power. I think about my grandparents. Two Primaries who tried to bond and tore apart the world. But… that way lies only heartbreak, Your Majesty. That way lies only ruin.

“You are at the end of the First Age of Ouranos,” they answered as they swept out their arms. “But when one door closes, another one opens. And the Second Age is about to begin.”

Heart Queen, the Staff replies. You’ve finally come to see me and brought the Primary, I see.

When I felt you leave the borders of The Woodlands, I thought you had been lost. But I felt him across the miles and hoped you would return someday.

“You don’t know all of my darkest secrets,” he says. “Sometimes I’m afraid if you do, you’ll change your mind about me.”

“I love you,” he says. “My heart. My mate. I fucking love you.”

Silently promising one another that in the layers of uncertain darkness, we are each other’s light.

“It’s my promise to you,” he says. “To keep you safe. To love and protect you for as long as there’s breath in my body.”

“Wear this, if you choose, as a reminder that whatever demons we face, I will follow you until the very end. Into the fires of the Underworld if I must.”

“From now until the Evanescence takes us, Lor.” “I’ll love you longer than that,” I say as he rocks into me. “Until the world turns to ash.”

“Do you still love him?” Atlas asks, approaching me now. “After all this time, does your light burn for him the way it once did? Do you still pine for a king who is nothing more than bones and skin? A hollow shell of a man? Do you think he remembers how he feels?”

“You will tell them where the girl is,” Tyr says, his voice soft but steady. “And you will find her and bring her here.”