The Hunted Heir (The Veiled Kingdom, #2)

by Holly Renee

“That’s it,” I moaned as she moved her hips against mine. “Fuck me.”

“The gods made you for me. Carved you from the stars themselves until I could no longer bear to gaze up at the sky without longing for you.”

“Whatever comes.”

“Whatever comes, you are mine.”

I needed her to feel it, to know that she truly belonged to me.

“Come for me, love.”

I was terrified that she regretted what we’d done—that she regretted me. “What’s going through that head of yours?”

“My mom.” She let out a small laugh. “That’s weird, right?” “It’s not weird at all,”

people. A magic shared and molded like those trees.” “Like our magic?”

I wondered if we were both fearful of discovering the truth behind why my magic seemed to surge when she was near, why she could finally wield hers when she was by my side.

“I wasn’t lying to you about...

“I had never felt a single stirring of po...

“...

couldn’t feel it in the woods, not until ...

"I’ve never felt magic like I did when you confronted my father.” I licked my lips and tried to find the right words. “That’s a kind of power that kings kill for, Verena. A kind of power they’d keep caged to make sure they never lose hold of it.” She blinked, apprehension creeping into her eyes. “Verena, that is the kind of power of a queen.”

“I don’t want to be queen.” “Then you won’t,” I answered simply. “But you can never let your father know of your power.”

“There’s no telling what he’d do with it.” “He’d wreck the world.”

“But with my soul, I the worship,” I finished the line for her.

“In Enveilorian,” I answered, my gaze fixed on her face. “It’s a vow.” The words hung in the air. “A bond between two souls in marriage.”

“I’ve seen weddings at the palace. I’ve never heard it before.”

“It’s reserved fo...

"You never told me who she was," he replied coolly, his eyes still fixed on the horizon. "I would have charged much more if I had known."

"You don't give the orders here, Princess," he spat. "We have our orders from the king to return you to the palace, and that's what we'll do." “Do not touch him!” Verena's eyes burned with a fire like I had never seen before.

Verena was my mate. And I couldn’t protect her.

“Let him go, and I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll do whatever my father wants.”

“Verena, no.”

My voice caught in my throat as the ship began to pull away from the dock, and Verena’s pleading eyes were the last thing I saw before she disappeared from sight.

Dacre would never forgive me for what I had done.

Dacre was my mate. I knew it the moment he said the words to me in that room.

He had given everything up for me, was willing to leave this world behind for me, and now he was gone. He was gone, I was back at the palace, and I could no longer feel him.

I longed for the safety of that room. It had been only him and me, Dacre and Verena, and I yearned for a world where that could have been our truth. Longed to leave everyone and everything but him behind.

I closed my eyes and dreamed of his face. I yearned for the way he looked when he had called me his. I was Princess Verena, heir to the Marmoris Kingdom, but more than anything, I was his.

“They say the power came from her, Your Majesty. Not the rebel.”

“The princess doesn’t possess magic.” My father’s voice was low and dangerous.

But even with all the pain his father had caused, I refused to betray the rebellion. No matter what torture he inflicted upon me, I would not turn on Dacre. I would not give him Wren.

"You are the heir to this kingdom, and although you may have been powerless most of your life, you are not stupid.”

"Do not lie to me,” he seethed. “I am your king." My king, not my father.

"Get prepared. The heir will need healing by the time we’re through here.”