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

by Amber V. Nicole

Apparently, her maker, Kabitch—sorry, my pen slipped—Kaden had a plan far grander than any of us suspected, and none of us knew it wasn’t him at the helm.

Nismera clasped her hands, cocking her head toward Elianna. “What was spelled for me once more?” Elianna looked as if she wished to be anywhere but here as she folded her hands. “Umm, come get me,” Elianna cleared her throat, looking around the room, “bitch.”

How ironic was I? The boy who was so afraid of monsters in the dark that I became the very thing I feared. “Of course,” I said again with a cold smile

Love to us was deadly, powerful, and, above all, something we would rip to pieces to keep. “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.”

think we are both used to doing everything alone, even taking care of ourselves. So help feels strange. You know I’ll be here when you’re healthy and strong and also when you’re sick and need me to pick up the slack, all right?”

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

I’d never be trusting when it came to him or his safety, never sweet or kind if I thought he was in danger. I wanted to be daggers and steel and something the realms could fucking choke on.

“No, I killed them all. I only saved Miska.” That vein on his forehead throbbed as his brows drew together. “That was a large city, Dianna.”

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.”

Even stuck in my head, I at least knew my body was safe with him. I didn’t sleep in this state, not like I had before. But Isaiah gave me his bed, said the words that made me lay down, and he slept on the floor. I stared at the ceiling and wondered why he did it until sunlight filled the room and the day repeated. He never tried to touch me. It was quite the opposite, as if he were afraid to, and I didn’t mind one bit. It was strange to feel peace when I could feel nothing at all.

“Dianna, I care about you tremendously, and I mean this with no disrespect, but stop coddling me like a child. I am not frail or fragile. You cannot hurt or break me, not when you feed from me and not when you fuck me. I need you to stop treating me like I am made of glass. I have fought monsters that could swallow this prison whole with my arm hanging on by tendons. You can’t hurt me. I only hurt when you hurt. Your burdens are mine, such as your pain is. That’s what you said. Did you not?”

His smile was downright satisfied. “There’s my red-eyed girl.”

readying it to pierce the very hearts who ripped mine out. But he and the realms were about to find out just how much of a hateful bitch I could be.

“You’ve been asleep for four days, and the first thing you do when you wake is flirt with me?”

part of me was afraid he would learn one secret too many about me and look at me differently. That

The ceiling groaned as wood split. With a crash, Samkiel and Dianna fell from above. Water sloshed from the tub, and the beams beneath the floor cracked with the weight and force of the fall. Samkiel held tight to the edges of the bathtub, and Dianna’s wide smile faded as she lowered herself under her king, her cheeks staining pink with a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“Why must you only crave the bad words?” I shrugged. “They come in handy far more than others.”

“The most powerful being in the entire realm is not the World Ender, but the one who protects the World Ender. The one who brought him back from the dead,” the oracle purred.

His brows pinched together in empathy. “Oh, akrai. Do you wish for me to go kill her twice?” A snort left my lips even as my eyes filled with unshed tears. “You’re cute when you’re homicidal.”

“There are princes in the Otherworld, seven to be exact. Each carries a totem from their mother, Icnima. She birthed monsters as the fables go. The murrak is one of seven ancient creatures still in existence, a gift to her son, Umemri.”

“You know what I think?” he asked. “I think there are a lot of people, beings, who see you, see your power, and fear it. They are used to being abused by such power, and meeting or even hearing of you frightens them. But that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. You are not evil and never have been. There is no question in my mind, body, or soul.”

had been looking for a way to reverse what my brother did and free her.

but it’s Mera, Kaden, not another monster.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m being serious. I hoped you wouldn’t hate it or think it was stupid. This is the part where I would ask Logan for his advice, and he would tell me if I was doing it right. He has far more experience with dates than I.”

Great, now I was on a bug’s hit list.

“No!” I felt tears prickle my eyes, the darkness swallowing me whole. “Do you know what it feels like to have your soul cleaved in two? To have it ripped from you? That’s what it felt like when you died in my arms. Pure, blinding pain that I don’t think this world or the next has a word for. So don’t stand there scolding me like a fucking child. You are not my father. I killed him to get to you, and I still wasn’t in time. I would burn the world for you, Samkiel, and I would happily hand over my soul so that you may live. I would do it all again if it meant you existed.”

“Your lies and secrets will tear us apart far quicker than any force in this world or the next, Dianna.”

“Your funeral, buddy,” he tossed over his shoulder, and my lips pressed into a thin line, knowing his funeral was a hundred and twelve days from now. He would die in an attempted robbery.

Samkiel was all she had left in this world, even if she did not speak the words aloud.

Gabriella had been her heart. Samkiel was her soul.

The world needs him, even if he doesn’t need me.”

“You two are the most stubborn creatures I have ever encountered in this universe or the next.”

“Why would you stay?” She glanced down at her food. “You only saved me to help him, and if he’s gone, what if I’m of no use to you?”

Killium was an elemental, and the power he bore beneath his skin to shape and wield the elements was unparalleled. Put him and Azrael together, and we could supply all the realms ten times over. It was just a shame their ideals did not match. Killium built weapons for peace, Azrael for the highest bidder.

My absence would only cause those demons she so desperately guarded against to come roaring back, but I needed time to think and plan.

“So removing your actual soul is alright, but this? Marriage? Is it too much for you?”

“Then hurt me.” Samkiel’s eyes softened, and he stepped closer, his body almost flush with mine. “But don’t leave me.”

“The light will end us all, and you will burn with it, just as Ro’Vikiin did,”

“You found me.” “You find me, I find you,” I panted back, handing him his sword. It collapsed into his ring as soon as it touched his hand. “That’s how we work.”

A deep, dark part of me reveled in the fact I had finally done something to break us. My fears were no longer present because they came true. The truth was he was too good for me, and I was more comfortable leaving. It was safer. I could protect my heart, my soul. The problem was, neither of them was mine any longer. They were his and had been for some time now. He had picked up the pieces, bit by jagged, broken bit, and

I can give you the house, but only you can make it our home.”

you think that one of the best perks of immortality is that you can wear heels for hours and your feet never hurt.”

“On Onuna, a bride would usually have someone give her away. Typically, it was her father, but Gabby and I always agreed that when she got married, I would walk her, you know? And I don’t have anyone.” The words were so hard to say. “You have been closer than a friend to me for a while now. 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?”

Fear! Fear! Fear! The Queen of Rashearim.

“By my blood, I am made. In sickness and in health, I am by your side. Sworn to you and no others, I am forever yours. My heart remains yours for eternity and after. Forever awaits, and from today onward, you and I will be one in heart, body, and mind. These words, this oath, are engraved on my soul.”

Ennis. Vincent had said he was the brother to a powerful sister. Only she wasn’t just powerful. No, given the crown she wore, she was a queen. No one so much as whispered as they entered.

“The Queen of Trugarum. Her name is Milani.”

He took the brunt of my magic. He didn’t react to the burn, but his touch grounded me. It was such a simple gesture, a kind one, and kindness was something I did not expect from Kaden. Maybe he was right. I knew nothing of him and Isaiah.

I was a killing machine, one made of fire and sharp edges. A weapon was what they all said, and a weapon was what I felt like.

Samkiel watched me carefully, and I didn’t turn away this time because she was right. I had done just that. An odd sense of home pulled me back to her damned palace even though I hated it, hated him. I assumed it was because I thought Samkiel was dead and I had no place to go, but if what Dianna said was true, then I was fucked.