The Dagger and the Forbidden Heir (The Forbidden Heir Trilogy, #1)

by Emilia Jae

I was such a gods-damn fool.

I could never understand how the queen justified her hatred for healers enough to refuse their care to her own armies.

I needed to stab something. Preferably her or Kai.

My breath caught as I peered inside of the decorative box to see the most stunning dagger I had ever laid my eyes on. The iron blade was black as night, and marked throughout it were swirling designs carved from polished obsidian. The shined hilt crafted with unbelievable detail and stained an emerald green so dark that it resembled the blackness of the blade until reflected in the late morning sun. The last feature I noticed made my heart almost stop in my chest. At the very top of the hilt, there was the head of a wolf carved from white antler.

I smiled up at him. “What would I do without you?” He patted my shoulder lightly. “You’ll never have to know, Lia.”

Recently it’s been almost nightly. I would like to think that she is finally trying to put the past behind us.” “Interesting,” I whispered. That must’ve been why she was in here a few moments ago, but something about all of that didn’t sit right with me.

One of my men must’ve gotten a decent swing in before he went down. Good.

Time froze as I swung midair, and if it wasn't for our impending doom, this would actually be kind of fun.

“Yes!” I cried, shouting into the air, and letting out a rough laugh. “Holy shit,” I whispered to myself.

He grinned, and it made my heart flutter in my chest. What the hell? Oh, I was definitely high.

He gently placed his calloused hand on my knee. “…Because maybe I am starting to realize that just because you are not human, doesn't mean you haven’t suffered at the hands of horrific kinds of fae and humans alike. And that being said, I know that someone who has taken a whip to her back multiple times by someone I'm assuming she trusted, then leads the armies of warriors that don’t respect her, and yet still keeps the secrets of her kingdom to protect the ones she loves…” He paused for a moment. “Is someone I would want on my side.”

“Then mark my words, Elianna, no matter where our journeys take us…if you desire it, that killing blow is yours.”

She tried to race past me, but somehow I was quicker than she was. “Stop.”

“I couldn’t let you die. Even that first night on the ship. I thought about letting you drown, but I couldn’t do it. The thought of you even being injured…I can’t explain it. It feels as if flames ignite within my very veins and light my entire existence on fire. It's not an option I was willing to accept. Nor will I ever.”

“From this moment moving forward, you are no longer my enemy or my prisoner. Members of each side have committed acts of extreme cruelty and horror. That no longer speaks for the entirety of either race. We are going to figure everything out. Together.”

I could taste his need. Feel it with every fiber of my being as it lit up my soul. His demand. His want. For me. He was drowning in it, and I would gladly drown with him.

“Would never dare,” I whispered on her lips, as I pulled her body beneath my own and took her as mine once more.

“And when the moment comes that the enemy weeps, a stranger of kin shall forge the way for the one who was promised.”