Beyond the Aching Door (The Fatebound Duology, #1)

by Victoria Mier

After all, he had told that story so frequently, so meaningfully, always beckoning Raegan close as if there was some secret hidden within it that she hadn’t figured out yet.

“Of course, I would not drown you,” the kelpie added in such a matter-of-fact tone that it startled her. “I dare say the King would not be pleased. We have a covenant, after all. Merry meet, Raegan Maeve Overhill, and merry part.”

It was no scream. It was a howl, a horrible sound, long and low and full of rage and despair all at once. It sounded like retribution. It was not human, and it rang through the space as if the stone hallways would always carry a memory of

It seemed too improbable: that she had always been looking for him and now, finally, here he was.

When his gaze met hers, the song swelled, and Raegan found herself looking into an ocean’s worth of grief—the King’s sorrow and torment so jagged and raw that she thought she could cut herself upon its sharp edges.

am yours,” the King murmured, each syllable dripping with gravity and something not unlike devotion, “and I will happily burn in the fires of your rage. You need only command me.”

“What an odd thing it must be,” the witch continued, “to have something like him belong to you.”