More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
At a distance, Prince Bael was beautiful. Almost angelic. His perfect square jaw, sensual mouth, and bouncing red-golden curls gave him the look of a tragic hero in an oil painting. As he got closer, however, that cherubic facade cracked. There was something unnerving and predatory about his cat-like, yellow eyes. Something cruel in his razor-sharp smile that sent shivers down my spine.
There were nine living members of the house of Everlast. Until the fall of this year, it had been ten.
He smirked down at me and bent to whisper in my ear. “You just won me a great deal of money, so I’ll let your violent urges go unpunished. This time.” He reached for my hand and began pulling me toward the glittering tents. “Come.”
“What violent tendencies you have.” He cocked his head at me, the corner of his mouth tipping up. “You’re a little monster.”
something about receiving his undivided attention was overwhelming. He looked at me with so much intensity—sex and violence and disdain—like I was nothing to him, but he still wanted to see how much it would take to break me.
“It was after sundown,” I tried, forcing strength into my voice. “I have your crown. That makes me the queen.” “Yes, it does.” He turned and disappeared into the darkness of the corridor. “And let's see how well the crown serves you with no allies.”
“Because, you need to know I’ll kill anyone who hurts you, little monster.”
“You may as well be a lovely corpse.”
“Do you often dress up your pigs before you slaughter them?” I asked, as Prince Bael placed the crown on my head. It was somehow even heavier than I expected, and my neck immediately began to ache with the weight. He stepped back, no longer smiling as he stared at me. “No, but I always sharpen my sword before a battle.”
Somehow the word “circumvent” sounded an awful lot like “murder.”
Elsewhere was made up of five lesser provinces, as well as the capital city. The bustling merchant city of Inbetwixt, the quiet marshlands of Overcast, the winter island of Nevermore, the dry deserts and mountains in the province of Underneath, and the toxic ruins of Nightshade, now known as Aftermath.
“My family has a longstanding tradition of rejecting our true mates in favor of a marriage to someone with more complementary magic, so our children will have stronger powers.”
“You don’t get it. You’re not one of the players. You’re part of the game.”
There was that word again. Interesting. My eternal curse.
“No, little monster. I come from a long line of villains. If there are any heroes in this story, they share no blood with me.”
“I’ll let you keep your lies for now, little monster. All I care about is that you’re safe.”
“You’re making it far too hard to stay away from you, little monster. It’s driving me fucking insane.”
“It doesn’t matter, though. Do you understand what would happen if I fucked you the way I want to right now? The way I know you want me to? That’s a completed mate bond, which would kill not only you but my entire house.”
