The Dawn of the Cursed Queen (Gods & Monsters, #3)

by Amber V. Nicole

The generals towering over us may buy his act, but I saw the crack in the armor he hid behind so well. Vincent was afraid.

Samkiel was a light. He promised peace and change, and I had helped snuff it out. A part of me hoped I burned in Iassulyn for eternity for it. Another part of me knew Dianna would hunt me, hunt us all like she did for her sister. I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t welcome it.

How ironic was I? The boy who was so afraid of monsters in the dark that I became the very thing I feared.

Being around Dianna was the first time I truly felt anything besides anger or hate or bloodlust. For us?” My eyes held his. “Love is a terrible, cruel thing.”

Fuck,” I gasped. “You’re supposed to be eating breakfast.” Another swipe of his tongue had my body bucking with helpless pleasure. “I am,” he practically purred against my swollen, wet flesh.

Tell me what makes you come harder. When I call you my Dianna…” He flicked his tongue over my pulse before pressing kisses along my jaw to my other ear, his cock slamming so deep my eyes crossed. I ran my tongue over my teeth, finding them smooth and flat. He pulled out almost to the tip before plunging deeply into me again. “Or akrai.”

Don't do that!" I snapped back. "Do what?" he countered. "Act as if you don't know I killed Azrael because he couldn't be saved." "Your father," Reggie corrected as if he'd actually been that to me.

Oh, I say, yeah, babe. So we had a mark. It only formed when you died, and I threatened the universe to get you back. It was there for a while, then disappeared, and fate and I have no idea what that means. Oh, by the way, did I mention you died?"

"One, I'm not building a throne. I'm carving a path of blood and destruction to hide him from the world.

"I assume you haven't told Samkiel this either?" My eyes narrowed. "That I'm dreaming of another man? No, I haven't. It's just another thing I'll have to explain when I tell him I brought him back to life."

She is my everything. The words floated across my mind, a truth that lived deeper than my flesh and bone, one buried in my very atoms.

smiled, knowing that even though we played and joked about her rewarding me, I already had the biggest reward life could have offered me. It was her. It was always her.

If he was the sun, by the old gods, she was the moon. Powerful, dark, and overbearing at times. She never left him, nor he her, as if they danced around each other for eternity.

Perhaps it was truly a funny thing not to realize how broken or damaged you were until someone came along and picked up every single fractured piece and showed you how just being you was enough.

“An Ig’Morruthen that is starved and deprived of their basic needs could cause immeasurable damage. If that happens, if you snap while you are so concerned for him and not yourself, you will damn us all, and his entire resurrection will be pointless. Is that what you wish?”

Samkiel would have helped you, saved you and your people. He would have bent over backward to offer you peace. Unlike the old gods, he is kind and caring.” Her eyes darkened to a brutal crimson as she raised her hand. “Everything I am not.”

Because we are not dealing with Ayla. Ayla died the second Kaden got a hold of her. We are talking about Dianna. We are not dealing with Samkiel’s mate. We are dealing with Kaden’s.”

She may have been made for Samkiel, but she is Kaden’s blood, his anger, rage, and, above all, power.

Regardless, keep quiet. I’ll play along with your little game, but do not fight the guards. They would gladly beat you and leave your bloody body here for the beasts to feed on. If you are him, these realms are going to need you.”

My name is Orym. I’m an ex-commander of Nismera’s Thirty-sixth Legion.”

Ah.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “In my culture, we don’t refer to them as just amata. They are your great love. Is she your great love?” I nodded, staring at the top of the tent. “The greatest.”

They called this magnificent creature a toruk, but in my world, it was a griffin.

It pointed behind me and whispered, “From one, all will rise.”

I paused at the door. “Llewir’s eye is great for healing deep wounds. I am not sure you all have that animal here, but a substitute should suffice. Maybe ask the healer.” I closed his door behind me and could have sworn I heard Vincent whisper a thank you.

“I know. It’s just that I love him, Reggie. Like real stupid, mushy love, and now I am afraid I won’t get to tell him.”

“He is everything to me.” If a giant bird beast could smile, I felt this one would have.

“Just a rare occurrence to witness twice.” She cocked her head again. “The King of Rashearim’s heart seems to beat for you as yours does for him. I hear it even now.”

“Oh, I would level the universe for him, but he told me to be good, so I’ll stick to saving him instead.”

“I have been waiting for you to fuck up. Now you have,” the minotaur said, only his voice was different. He took a step forward, and Jiraiya stepped back. I knew that voice, remembered it as if it followed me everywhere I went in this place. Isaiah.

“Why do you care so much, anyway?” “I don’t like when people touch what belongs to me.”

“Yeah.” He half shrugged, but I caught it. He didn’t seem to stand eight feet tall anymore, his body relaxed. It was like I’d given him the greatest thing in the world—I saw him.

“You keep my head quiet, I suppose. I can just exist around you. If that makes sense. I don’t have to talk or be anything. That’s why.”

“I know you’re one of Nismera’s soldiers.” My brows furrowed. “And how do you know that?” She peeked at me over her shoulder, studying my face. “Your eyes. You don’t look like that unless you’ve been through something traumatic.”

help. I needed to find Dianna, beg for forgiveness, and hope she’d help me long enough to find Xavier. She could kill me after that. I just needed to find him.

“What’s the matter? Has no one heard thunder before?” I asked. His eyes met mine. “It doesn’t rain in Pheliie. Ever.”

A few stayed with us, huddling closer to the fire. Orym and the others continued to cast nervous glances at the sky while a smirk danced across my lips.

“You found me.” Dianna nodded, lowering her arm. “I’ll always find you.”

We weren’t that far from camp, but I didn’t care. If anyone showed up and tried to take him from me, I would rip them to shreds. Gods, I could destroy the whole camp and sleep like a baby as long as I had him.

“I know what and who she is. You do not.” My hand flicked out, and an ablaze weapon formed between him and her. The silver shine glistened in the darkened forest, illuminating us both. “If you are a threat to her, you are a threat to me. I will not repeat myself.”

“To be fair, I am unsure if a god could even kill a fate, but I am persistent and willing to try.”

But in the depths of my sleep, I dreamed of the orange-eyed man that beckoned for me.

“Yes, but I don’t know how to tell you this. I ate Taotl, but my blooddreams haven’t worked since Rashearim. They didn’t return when I got my powers back. I didn’t see this, Samkiel.” “What? Just tell me, Dianna.” “The weapon…” I swallowed. “It’s not a thing. It’s a person. It’s Logan.”

Samkiel was quiet for a second. “Having fun and having a distraction or three are very different things. I have distractions, Logan. Never forget that. I do not have fun.”

“We are going to find a way to fix all of it, and we are going to save them. Together. Even if I have to rip the world to pieces for you, for them, I’ll do it. We will fix this.”

in. It wasn’t until lights-out and a hush fell across the prison that I knew Dianna had lied to me.

Her eyes went dark, but she held my gaze. “Nismera fears The Eye. So ask yourself, what makes a goddess afraid?”

“My feelings for you have been a lot of things, mostly confusing back then, but never hate. Never you.”

“I had a vision. Scattered but there. Nismera’s legion is on its way. They believe Dianna is here, and they are coming in force. You are out of time.”

“It’s okay.” She sighed, and I turned toward her. “I assume Nismera took you for some mission. I know you always have to choose her.” I’d choose you! I wanted to say it, to scream it, but my voice wouldn’t allow it.

I started to tell her it was to slay a fate, but I remembered how she spoke of Roccurem and how she liked him. So, I lied to her once more.