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

by Amber V. Nicole

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.”

“This is my happy face.” “Ah. Do you wish to know a secret?” I nodded. He leaned down and whispered, “I’d sell the world to see it every day.” I pulled back with a fake gasp. “The entire world?” He nodded. “The entire thing.” “That’s not very heroic of you.” He shrugged with a smirk as he spun me. “I have my moments.”

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

Intense wasn’t the right word. It was more so a pressure that enveloped me like a warm blanket, encompassing me in safety and security as if I had been freezing before, and now he was wrapped around me. He was my missing piece, and he was finally where he belonged, utterly and completely with me.

My face went slack, and I pulled my hand back. “No fucking way. Did you just read my mind?” “Another perk of the magic.”

His eyes searched my face before he nodded slowly. “I feel your sadness, but I did not need the rings to know that.” His thumb passed over my ring. “I did not mean what I said back then. I do trust you more than anyone. I was just hurt. My entire family has lied and kept things from me. I... you… I just wanted you to be different.”

“You didn’t ruin anything. Mark or not, you are all I see, all I want. Destiny be damned, right?”

“We are married now, yes?” Confusion flooded his eyes. “Yes.” “That means I am your queen, yes?” The corners of his mouth lifted in satisfaction. “Yes.” “Therefore, you obey your queen, right?” Heat flared in his eyes, and I was mesmerized as silver flooded his irises. “Yes.”

“And after you thought you couldn’t take anymore, I’d fuck you so hard that the next time you even thought of touching yourself without me, all you’d feel was the aching flesh of where I’d been.”

I thought he had said those words out loud, but his teeth were clenched tight, and I realized he hadn’t said them. He had thought them.

“I love you,” I said, and even to my own ears, they sounded like a vow.

“My akrai. My Dianna. My love.”

“Well, cheese was not on my list of things to get when I was away.” I stroked the short hairs at the base of his neck that warmth in my chest spreading once more. No, it wasn’t, but a home, a ring, and an entire marriage ceremony were.

He turned to look at me, the moonlight caressing his skin and glinting off his hair. Oh gods, this man was beautiful. I wondered if he would ever not take my breath away.

“One who failed,” I added, my eyes beginning to burn. “When?” He cocked his head. “Gabby lived three… no, four times her lifetime and loved every second with you. I had barely crossed over before you ripped me back to the land of the living.”

I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. His words healed some still broken part of me. It was real, just as Gabby was to me, and he saw and respected it. Gods, I didn’t think I could love him more, but here we were.

“It sounds like I am yours, and you are mine.”

“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.”

“But you have me now.” “That I do.” A look of pure contentment crossed his face at my words.

My lip must have curled, and I knew my eyes had gone red because Orym stepped in front of her and held out his hand.

“Veruka hereby swears her loyalty to House Martinez.” “House Martinez?” I looked toward Samkiel.

“With the King and Queen of Rashearim back, maybe there is hope after all.”

The flicker of jealousy left his gaze, and he smiled ruefully. “Spoken like a true queen fighting to protect her people.”

“Sami.” Her voice was a soothing balm that brought my thoughts to a screeching halt. “You dragged me into nothing I did not want. I chose you, Sami, and I will, over and over again. Plus, I knew you were king when I tried to kill you the first time.”

“Not in the least. I’m a smart girl, and I knew what this came with. I’d have you with or without a crown. As long as I have you.”

This woman… she was my everything.

She blinked just once as she looked at him. Her lip quivered, and I knew it had worked. Her eyes darted to mine. “Sa-Samkiel. How? What’s going on?”

His eyes met mine, and my breath caught. It wasn’t just any Ig’Morruthen. It was Cameron. We were both flightless now and spiraling toward the ground, our wings damaged. The air ripped at us, and despite my anger and hate, I curled my damaged wings around him, cocooning us both. We crashed to the ground in a heap of dust and gravel.

His voice was like music to my fucking ears. I hadn’t just lost my leader and my king when I thought he’d died, but also my best fucking friend.

Samkiel finally had his queen, and she was worthy of him in every way. She would have torn the realms apart for him and hadn’t even let death come between them.

It truly was comical watching them. Dianna was one destructive force, and Samkiel was the one who kept her and everything together. They really were two sides of the same coin.

“It won’t help. You’d still want to feed and fuck him, too.” A snort left my lips. “Who doesn’t?”

She raised her hand, cutting off my words, and every part of me surrendered. I didn’t know if it was because her Ig’Morruthen demanded respect or that she was the embodiment of a queen and stood at Samkiel’s side, but I listened.

“Samkiel’s good. He always has been, just like Gabby. They see the good in everyone and everything, and if I say I love them, I have to try to be worthy of them. So, I try every day to live up to the person they see when they look at me. At least a mild attempt. Though the truth is, I am lucky to have known what it means to be loved by them, and I will do anything to protect him.”

“I knew you guys were fucking mates. No one else could handle him, honestly. The man has an ego.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what family is for, and you said I was a part of yours a long time ago. I won’t let you take it back.”

“She will find, like so many others, that taking me, army or not, is no easy task.” She looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes burning and blazing red. “I fear no gods and no kings.”

“Are you sure you’re not part Ig’Morruthen?” I asked against his lips. “The jealousy and territoriality are identical.”

“I like this fantasy I have in my head where you are mine and mine alone, and you have been for centuries.”

Samkiel was a step behind me, just as he always was. He was my soul given form. It was the only way I could put into words how I felt about him. It was as if a part of me lived in him.

“I’m still not used to this,” I said, wiggling my fingers around his. He grinned at me and winked. “It’s okay. I’m a great teacher.” I laughed, the sound echoing off the walls and filling our new home.

A flicker of bright orange flame danced across my hands, and the man from my dreams, the one who sat atop his throne made of bone, stood. His orange eyes glowed brighter, and a wide smile revealed his sharp white teeth.

“Never.” It was my voice, but deeper, raw, and pissed.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YESZZZsssss

My Dianna is strong and brave, but she’s alone and outnumbered. One Ig’Morruthen was already an unfair fight to most of the highly trained, but two? And two of the deadliest. She needed me. “She’s too far away from me,” I said, my voice breaking.

I remembered when I was younger, remembered the exact moment puberty hit. I remembered the sky shaking as my mother ran into my room. My scream had torn my throat as my mind opened, and the secrets of the cosmos had ripped into me. She held me, tears staining my face as the first stage of ascension began.

It felt like fire erupted across my skin, flowed through my veins, and ignited in my soul. The world shook, and another peal of thunder rocked the air. The swirling mass of power in the sky halted and turned as if it had just been waiting. I threw a single arm up, and my power rushed forward, the silver racing so fast night turned into day. It crashed into my fingertips before spreading, surging into me in waves.

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

I wouldn’t remember the festival and the face he made the first time he tried cotton candy, my heart fluttering as I laughed—really laughed—for the first time in ages.