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

by Amber V. Nicole

“You know I will protect you no matter what, right?” I said, lowering my glass. I didn’t look at him, but I felt his eyes on me. His hand clasped my shoulder tightly. “I know, you always have.” “War is coming, Isaiah. We need to be prepared.”

“What am I supposed to do without you?” I whispered to the wind.

I think you’re the same raging bitch,” Vincent spat, his celestial adyin glowing a bright blue. “No.” I smiled. “I’m worse, actually.” And then I charged.

His cry was sharp, but not as sharp as when I twisted the sword around and rammed it through his heart.

I killed Vincent, and with his last dying breath, I thought I heard him whisper Camilla’s name.

Her edges were ripped, jagged, torn, and bloody, but she built herself back up the best she could. She enclosed herself in unbreakable and impenetrable walls that would take decades to breach. I hoped that when he looked at me and saw this new version of that girl, he would recognize that parts of her still existed. I hoped he cared enough to want me, and he could see that every bit of good I had salvaged from that girl was now his. These were hopes I clung to.

Dianna’s power stems from a part of her she gained from a complete loss of control. It is angry and dark and the definition of wrath. She could burn the very stars from the heavens if she wished. Her power is old, very old, and so is her anger. At times, it is evil.”

Because of love. Only her sister reached that celestial part of her, and now he does. He is order. She is chaos. One cannot exist without the other, and if she were to lose that, war would be the least of our problems.”

The others are gone.” She choked on a disembodied sob that seemed to echo within the room. “Everything will be gone. All is lost. From one, all will rise.”

Even when I closed my eyes at night, she was all I dreamed of. An attachment was an understatement. I had been looking for a way to reverse what my brother did and free her. There had to be a way.

So yes, that was our first date. I count it since it was the first time I had fun. I never had fun growing up on Rashearim, but then I met you, and well… you’re fun.”

Your soul. The cost of saving me was your soul,” Samkiel said, and I flinched. His jaw clenched, and his hands fisted. The pure, blistering anger in his eyes nearly obscured the soul-deep sorrow.

Try harder because I will not have half of you. I will not love only half of you. Sharing your body with me is not enough,” he said, and I swore my heart broke. “It may have been to others in your past, but it’s not enough for me.”

You wore a dress of ivory and satin that spilled to the floor, and your hair was pulled back, part of it draping over your shoulders. Then you laughed, and I thought you were the most beautiful woman in the entire world.”

“Because I may have been watching you, but you were watching Dianna.”

I turned and froze, every muscle in my body seizing. It wasn’t in fear of the hundreds of flying bugs that probably infested this city, but because Samkiel, World Ender, Destruction Incarnate, and the legendary God King throughout all twelve realms, was kneeling before me. His hand was raised, and he held a shimmering silver ring that held a rhombus-cut, clear jewel.

Samkiel offering me his whole godsdamn heart terrified me because I knew I’d eventually fuck up again. I’d break him, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

I’ll hurt you.” My voice came out as small and damned as I felt. “Then hurt me.” Samkiel’s eyes softened, and he stepped closer, his body almost flush with mine. “But don’t leave me.”

Samkiel did not just give me a ring. He offered me protection, too.

You’re the closest thing I have to a father figure in that I-kidnapped-you-from-another-realm type way. You have been here guiding me, even on my worst days. So, Roccurem, would you walk me down the aisle?”

Through it all, the fates’ warning was seared into my brain. The words they were screaming echoed through time and space. Fear! Fear! Fear! The Queen of Rashearim.

“I love you, Samkiel, and I don’t need a soul to feel that.”

My akrai. My Dianna. My love.”

An overwhelming sense of pride filled me. I’d marked him. “Mine.”

Dianna. Gabby gave it to you, to herself. It’s real to me.” He lifted his hand, tucking back a long stray curl from the side of my face. “And I want it too. It carries a pretty strong legacy. A woman who defied all odds of survival and risked her life to keep that which she loved safe.”

“A casmirah. I have only ever read about them. They are rare, mythological creatures that only fly through the sky to herald a new ruler. One flew for my father, and now one flies…” His words trailed off, his eyes darting from me to my hand, and we both stared at my ring. “Oh.”

That crown.” He kept his eyes straight ahead, speaking around his glass. “It was my father’s.” Unir’s crown. Holy gods above and below. My mouth grew dry as she started down the stairs, taking them one by one until she reached the bottom. Every single being in her presence went to their knees, including Kaden and I, because the crown she wore told everyone exactly what and who she was now. King of the Gods.

Fight, Vincent. Fight for something you want for once. Otherwise, let her kill you. Because this? This is not living. Not for you and not for me.”

Don’t.” His eyes darted to mine, and I knew this was a mistake. “Don’t leave me. I’ve hurt and pushed everyone away, everyone that meant anything. You are all I have now.”

Blood dripped from the edges, the scent nearly overwhelming. Veruka and Orym’s heads lay atop it, their eyes drawn back and mouths agape as if they’d died screaming.

This blade will fix everything, Dianna. No more blind hatred or broken heart.” I looked closer at the dagger, and my breath hitched. It wasn’t just some glowing artifact to scratch his ego. No, that blade was drenched in magic. Magic made to… “Are you fucking kidding me?” Kaden shook his head. “I can make it all go away. You won’t remember anything. I can make you love me again.”

“I once told you that love has power, and the purest, truest of it can defy great odds. It is something I have witnessed before, and I will witness it again. If it gives power, take it. Harness it. This,” he pointed up, “is your power in the sky, no one else’s. To save her, simply call it home.”

I did not make Oblivion. I was Oblivion.

Reggie smiled at me, and it was the first real one I had seen from him in a long time. “Bring your queen home.”

A portal. I took a shaky breath when I noticed that Isaiah and Kaden were gone, nothing left of them but ashes floating on the wind.

I wrapped my arms around myself because I finally understood the stories and the legends. Samkiel never needed the Oblivion blade to be feared. It was clear now why so many bowed, why they chanted, why they followed. Looking around the desolate wasteland that he had created, I finally understood the true nature of his destructive power and why they called him World Ender.

My lips curled in disgust. “I did not get it. I am it. Oblivion is not something anyone can take from me.”

What is that?” Kaden hissed. “You stole our amata mark, so I did the next best thing. She is my wife, my only, and she will never again be yours. Never.

I’ll always protect you, akrai. No matter the consequences,” he whispered against my forehead. “Even if I break the sky.”

Soul?” Death tsked. “The fractured thing it is. It’s a jagged, crushed thing, the remnants buried within him.” My back straightened, and Death caught it. My mind whirled. I had not seen that outcome either. “Her soul is in Samkiel?” “What is left of it. Two beings in one. It seems Samkiel was strong enough to bear

Athos did not hesitate. “We are The Eye.”

Gods, so many gods. “We are the last rebellion against Nismera the Conqueror. What we need to know now is how many more of you are alive?”

Your vicious, feral nature makes up for your small frame.”

“Unir.” “You know me?”

The dead have much to discuss with you, Daughter-in-law.” His hands engulfed my skull as darkness filled my mind, and I screamed.