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September 16 - October 1, 2025
beast made of light was still a beast.
He looked at her as if she hung the stars.
Cedaar reminded me so much of the knights, protecting what he deemed precious.
“You think I’m turning into a monster?” “I do not know what you are turning into, but you have evolved past what you were, and it changed things. You brought a god back from death, Dianna.
death wounds can be permanent. They even remain with the reincarnated ones.”
The old texts spoke of the great darkness that would fall across the land, how it would cut out all light, leaving nothing in its wake. Here it was, only it wasn’t cold or quiet, but a blister against the skin and carrying the pure stench of death. That’s what she was, yet when I placed my hand in hers, I felt warmth there, her touch soft and protective, not hurtful. Maybe that’s what Cedaar saw in her, too.
It was a shame, though, a shame to be so beautiful and ugly at the same time.
“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.”
“Vincent, Kaden has no mate. He was not born of flesh.” “He does now. He made her, crafted her when he found her. They spent a thousand years together. He trained her, made her a killer, and respectfully, my king, a damn good one. She killed Alistair with her bare hands. I was there when she flattened his entire organization. I was there when she came back from Yejedin, covered in the ashes of Tobias. There for it all. She may have been made for Samkiel, but she is Kaden’s blood, his anger, rage, and, above all, power. After what we did to Samkiel, she will not rest. She nearly leveled Onuna
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“Fine. Why are you being so nice to me? I know you’re my guard and all, and I can’t even breathe without you near me, but why?”
“Because I think you feel just as alone here as I do.”
“I will hold your hand when you’re sick and clean up your mess, but I will not brush your teeth for you. So very limited coddling.”
“But, Sami baby, there is nothing weak about you. I 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?”
She held up that small finger, wiggling it at me as she grinned. “Your burdens are my burdens, and we take care of each other, okay?” I clasped her pinky with mine and nodded. “Promise.” “It’s practically law, you know.” She placed a kiss on our joined hands.
I stepped through into the lower levels of the golden palace. The stone and darkened hall was such a harsh contrast to what she portrayed upstairs. I’d known Mera my whole life, and this place was the perfect representation of her. Her fake smile hid horrors and the darkness resting just under her skin.
The sight of him set my blood on fire, and I wanted to lick every square inch of him. Of course, I couldn’t because he was also the nicest person in the fucking cosmos, which meant there he was again, offering help to the elf that stepped out next to him.
Samkiel smiled softly as he spotted me and glanced away. He always saw me, no matter what form I took.
What if I lost you again? My lips didn’t form the words, but the sentence coated my tongue like acid. The fear consumed any bit of trust.
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.
He wanted all of me, and I wanted to give it more than anything, but it was so hard, even after everything, to let every wall fall. I needed to tell him about the tunnel, about what happened, but I was so scared. I could claim I wasn’t, but I was. Nismera scared me more than anything, if I were being honest.
I could not fight death. It held the upper hand, and I always lost.
Samkiel snorted around his food and shook his head. Orym scowled and glared at me. He knew it was a good plan. He just hated to admit it.
I wondered for a second who was more beast, the guy on the wall, me, or Samkiel, when someone talked badly about me.
Do not risk yourself like that again. Please,” Samkiel growled low in his throat. “I won’t…” I paused. “I’ll try not to.” “Well, work on that.”
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.”
If I had my way, I’d take her every damn day, multiple times a day, if I could, and that frightened me. I’d never been so consumed or obsessed with another. Dianna was not just a want but a pure, blinding need.
It didn’t matter what form she wore. I could spot her out of a crowd of millions. It was as if my soul was drawn to her, seeking the connection.
“I don’t know how much clearer I can be when I tell you that you are important to me. So yes, regardless of what’s happening, this is important.”
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?” I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
It was the most erotic thing in the world to see the realm’s most powerful man kneeling between my legs.
As he fucked me, something shifted inside of me, something I was afraid of for so damn long. He wasn’t afraid of me. The last part of my walls crumbled. He saw everything, wanted everything, and by the way he sought to push deeper into me with every thrust, I knew he craved me just as much as I craved him, claws and all.
My bite was not to kill but loving, giving, and gentle. It brought down the final layer separating us. He accepted every part of me, and I reveled in it.
This was more than just sex. This was a claiming.
My heart rammed itself into my throat. That was what she wanted. Oblivion. She thought she could bind it to the spear. Gods, that weapon in Nismera’s hands would end everything.
I thought I loved her then, and she loved me, but like a flower unattended, that love wilted. I saw the signs too late, promising myself to her in an unbreakable bond, and now I was stuck. Until death. Sometimes, I wished she’d struck out in anger toward me, wished she would free me from her servitude, but it never came. So, I did what she said and lied, manipulated, and hurt because I had no choice. Her will was my will.
I think I can get out of most of it if I get Imogen to join, too. That will distract him.” “That’s your plan.” “Gods above, yes. It’s always good to have a master one, buddy. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.”
They were designed to fight beings like me or worse, but where he excelled at fighting, I was born from blood-thirsty rage. It was in my very makeup.
It was true. If it came to him and his safety, I would defy the very heavens themselves to keep him whole. More than anything, I feared that when he looked at me so lovingly, he saw the girl promised to him. She was a celestial being filled with love and hope and goodness, but she had died in a desert far away from her home world. She had been carved up and spit out by the most brutal creature and then reborn into something far more cruel than her predecessor.
“The lack of their mark forms a hollow ache. It is a desire to be completed. Mated pairs usually settle after the mark has sealed, but until then, they tend to mate furiously. It’s natural. Nature demands its completion and seeks to seal their souls.”
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.”
“He finds peace in her, even before he knew what she was to him. It is something he has never found with another. I watched it from above. How that heart he’d encased in ice began to slowly beat once more.”
Fear! Fear! Fear! The Queen of Rashearim.
He looked at me as if I were the most beautiful thing in the world. I hoped he saw the same adoration in my gaze.
This was it. He was it. He was my everything.
I wondered if my anxieties would ever calm when it came to threats to the ones I loved after watching both him and Gabby die.
Those powerful arms had carried me despite every cruel or harsh thing I had done. He lifted me when all I wanted to do was fall. Samkiel smiled at me as if he could read my mind. This was love. This was what it felt like. What it was supposed to feel like. I finally understood why others would go to war for it and clash or rage at its demise. I knew if I lost him and his love, the universe would quake at the mention of my name.
“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.”
“What’s that face?” Samkiel asked, his finger flicking under my chin. “This?” I scrunched my nose. “This is my happy face.”
