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

by Amber V. Nicole

It’s… I had this hope that if I found them, maybe if they saw me and knew I had come for them, it would help break whatever trance they were in. But when I saw him, held him…” I shook my head. The swell of emotions and pure heartbreak were almost crippling. “He didn’t even flinch or respond. What if⁠—”

“We will save him, save all of them, okay? Don’t give up hope.” “How can you be so sure?” I asked the one question that had been gnawing at my gut all night. “Because I am always right.” She flicked my nose with her finger.

You fought, you always do for them, for me.” I turned my head away from her as a tear rolled down my cheek. Her grip was tight on my chin as she forced me to look at her again. “I know how that magnificent brain works, and you’re wrong. You are enough.”

“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.” She ran a hand through the dark curls that swept over my brow, brushing it back from my face. “Okay?” I nodded because what choice did I have? She was determined. I forced a smile. “With you at my side, how could I lose?”

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.

I damn near erupted. She owned me, mind, body, and fucking soul.

Then why isnt there a mark on their fingers?????

Gods, I would die for this woman.

I could spot her out of a crowd of millions. It was as if my soul was drawn to her, seeking the connection. I adjusted myself in my seat, the memory of this morning making me hard.

I always thought Samkiel was beautiful. I mean, who didn’t? It was written in every textbook about him, but dirty, sweaty Samkiel might be my favorite.

“Dianna.” He dropped his arms. “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.”

“We can do this one of two ways. It’s your choice, but you will feed here and now from 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?”

He pulled back and licked his lips, watching me as if all it would take was one word or demand from me, and he’d do it. It was the most erotic thing in the world to see the realm’s most powerful man kneeling between my legs.

Samkiel leaned in, sliding his lips along my neck, his breath a hot wash over my ear as he said, “I want you to bite me while I fuck you. Truly bite me.” The words echoed through my chest, and the Ig’Morruthen in me raised her massive horned head. If she could smile, the bitch would be.

What he said finally touched the last part of us we were afraid to share with him.

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

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.

Bits of stone rained down on us, and I realized maybe we both had been holding back. This was more than just sex. This was a claiming. I was lucky he had dug so much of this tunnel, or they would have heard us throughout the entire prison.

Her touch wasn’t cold and lifeless like Nismera’s but warm with the offer of succor. She was comfort, and she felt like home.

Who would love that? Love you? That’s why it really hurts, isn’t it? That, no matter what cruel thing I did, Samkiel loved me. Your family loved me. But you? We both know they will never forgive you, never love you again. So I don’t think anyone is going to miss you. What do you think?”

“No.” I smiled. “I’m worse, actually.” And then I charged.

But he and the realms were about to find out just how much of a hateful bitch I could be.

His hand hovered over the wound in my abdomen, and worry creased his brow before he lifted and surveyed the area with murderous intent, looking for the one who had hurt me.

“I’ve never had anyone like you before,” he said. “What? Someone as bloodthirsty and attractive?” “That, but no.” He laughed, his breath hot against me. “Someone who just… understands. I don’t have to say anything. You just understand.”

“Absolutely. 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.” Orym’s eyes softened. “She had a sister.” “And she damned near destroyed the world when she lost her. Imagine what she would do for him.”

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.”

“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.

“That’s not your price, Dianna, trust me. I’ve lived with you both and heard the way he speaks about you when you aren’t even around. Gods, the way he looks at you. It’s as if you have hung the stars themselves. He’s tied to you now, Dianna. Trust me when I say that you don’t need the mark.”

“Besides, you were gone all night in a lovely dress, spending time with another who all but tossed herself at you, and then you came back smelling of her. Now, I find you holding hands and whispering with Orym in our bathroom. I am feeling… territorial.”

“Anything you wish, akrai.”

He especially loved bathing or showering with me. Samkiel wanted to do everything with me, and the knowledge healed a fraction of my cold, bruised, damaged heart.

“There she is. There’s my Dianna.” A soft smile graced his lips, proud that he could chase some of the darkness away from me. He held out his hand once more, waiting.

“Dianna, you are perfect the way you are. There is nothing I would ever change about you. Fangs and all.”

“I have seen evil. I have fought evil gods, monsters, and beings for longer than I care to admit, but when I look at you, I see… hope.”

“Hope. Because I know you have the power to change worlds, and you’d do that for the people you love. Love, Dianna. It doesn’t make you weak. It offers strength to anyone who experiences it, but with how intensely and completely you love, it makes you nearly invincible. I saw it in how ferociously you protected your sister and me. I have seen your heart, physically held it, and I have never met an evil being who loves as you do. So no, you’re not evil.”

I could never strip her of the peace she so desperately deserved. Even if I could have her with me, I wouldn’t. But for Samkiel? In a heartbeat. I’d burn worlds, erase empires, and turn stars to ash if I had to.

“I know this will be hard to believe, but I have never planned a date in the history of my long existence.”

“Definitely worse.” I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “But I think you’re perfect.” He smiled smugly. “I know.”

Against all odds and despite what the universe had taken from me, here he was, caring for me. He had pulled me back from the harrowing edge of despair more than once, and here he was again, offering me a slice of peace once more, and gods, I fell all over again.

I could get drunk off his kisses and the different varieties he showered me with. I’d never memorize them all, but I hoped we had eternity for me to try.

No force in this world or the next could pull us apart. I knew that more than ever in that moment.

“Dianna, what are you talking about?” “You died,” I blurted out.

“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.

“Dianna.” His face held nothing but pain and anger. “Your soul, Dianna. You gave up your soul for me. I would never ask such a thing. You have given up so much for others. I would never ask you to shred yet another part of yourself. Never. I want you alive and well and happy, even if I am not.” “I am,” I said. “I am all of those as long as you are with me.”

Do you know why it was easy to tell them? Why it means nothing with them but everything with you?” I waved a hand toward him. “Because of this. Because I don’t care how they look at me or how they judge me, I could live a hundred more years and never care. I was scared, okay? Afraid of what it meant and of what you’d say.”

“That this isn’t real. That maybe by bringing you back, it changed you. I am afraid that you won’t want me anymore. Losing our bond terrifies me because what if that means I’ve lost you? I am selfish and cruel, and gods above, I am evil if I need to be for you. I would do anything for what you gave me, for what you showed me, and even the thought of losing it, losing you, makes me sick with terror. So yeah, I’m sorry I kept it from you, but I couldn’t lose you again!”

“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.

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.”

“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.”