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To Elara, a reader was an alchemist. They turned the mundane into something extraordinary, transforming words on a page into entire worlds.
‘Perhaps not,’ Leonardo said. ‘But I know that for the people he loves, Enzo would set the world on fire, if we asked.’
don’t we all (also i smell subtle foreshadowing hmm we’ll see)
‘With honey,’ Enzo’s voice sounded roughly behind her. ‘Two spoons of it.’
me when observant: 😍😍😍
‘It’s you, Enzo. Elara needs you to kill a god. When shadow and light combine, a Star will fall.’
‘ “You will fall in love with the King of Stars, and it will kill you both.” That’s why Ariete is hunting you. Not just because you cannot be killed by a Star. But because—’ ‘The prophecy is about him,’ Elara whispered. ‘And he will do anything to stop it coming true.’
THE FUCK
Fear is just a monster, Elara. And monsters can be slain.
‘Does he now?’ Enzo said tightly. ‘And when did you two become so close?’
‘Spread. Your. Fucking. Wings.’
‘And I don’t see the fuss anyway. Love-making certainly wasn’t anything to write home about.’ ‘Then maybe,’ a deep voice said behind her, ‘you just haven’t found a man who knows how to seduce you properly.’
WTH TEEHEE THIS MADE ME GIGGLE
She raised a thumb to her lips and nonchalantly licked the melted chocolate off.
my girl elara knew how to tease
Two thrones—one made of pure, shimmering silver, the other of gold. Hungry red flames devouring them both. A roaring lion, and finally a blade plunged into a stone heart. Darker than any shadow, darker than any night.
‘I’m almost relieved that they died together. I don’t think one would have carried on living without the other anyway.’
‘I did miss you.’
‘You look like the Light has made love to you.’
‘I can think of many other ways I could distract you from the pain, princess,’ he purred. She raised an eyebrow. ‘What? You think a little blood scares me?’ He smirked. ‘Did you forget that I’m the warrior prince of Helios?’
WILDING
‘That little dream you just had? Only a shade of what I could do with you.’
‘Trust me, El. I’ve not forgotten. Although the next time you have me on my back and between your legs, I’m hoping there will be fewer clothes involved.’
‘Did they fucking touch you?’
MAN THERE IT IS
‘Let this be a lesson,’ he shouted over them all, ‘that this will be the fate that befalls anyone found guilty of the same. Of touching a woman against her will. Let this be a lesson,’
‘Yes, I have something to say. Not one of them was innocent. They fucking touched you, Elara. I saw them—looked into their very souls, before I tied them to posts. They’d all done it before. To women who couldn’t fight back. You weren’t the first and you wouldn’t be the last.’
And here was one person in her corner, someone who had carried out his own retribution—albeit extreme and bloodthirsty—for her.
hot
‘I don’t just want love. I want reverence.’ She looked away. ‘Is that too much to ask?’
‘I think you would be very easy to worship,’ he murmured, his voice so soft she almost melted into it.
‘I do not just tolerate you, Elara. You are my favourite part of the day.’
Enzo’s grip tightened, just a little. ‘For the record,’ he murmured, ‘Elara is much prettier.’
And most men thought with their cocks, didn’t they?
‘You are the most beautiful woman here.’
‘You’re the most beautiful woman anywhere. But that wasn’t enough to say. To tell you that you look beautiful seemed a lazy way to describe how you look.’ His eyes searched hers then he huffed a laugh. ‘So I didn’t want to tell you that you looked beautiful. I wanted to tell you—’ One of his hands raised to lift one of the thin straps of her gown back in place. ‘That you look like a fallen Star.’
A YEARNER IN HERE
‘Because, Elara, I may be a monster, but you make me want to be a saint.’
UGHHH HE SAID IT PEOPLE
‘He’s not worth it.’
i heard ron weasley…
‘You know the most dangerous kind of villain?’ she whispered. ‘A woman with nothing left to lose.’
‘I couldn’t give a fuck if Ariete was Death embodied. Not only did he take Elara from me. He hurt her. Violated her. Bit her.’
‘You know, princess…’ he said weakly, drawing in deep lungfuls of air, ‘if you wanted…to kiss me again…you didn’t have to wait until I was near death to do it.’
‘You have more of me than I care to admit.’
‘You two are about as subtle as Leyon’s life-sized statue out there,’
‘Wasn’t that what you wanted, princess? Reverence?’
‘Elara, if you were in Aphrodea without me during the solstice,’ he raised his hands in exasperation, ‘I would burn the kingdom to the ground.’
‘But let me tell you something,’ he continued, his breath tickling her ear. ‘I’m not going to kiss you right now. Our first kiss was stolen by Torra, so the next one is going to be only ours. The next time you moan for me, you’ll have no charm to blame it upon. So be patient, Elara, and be ready.’
‘Open your mouth, princess,’ he said through a held breath, his rough thumb brushing her lips open. Then he brought his own a hair’s breadth from her and blew the sweet smoke into her mouth. She inhaled it hungrily, tasting a hint of candyfloss on the smoke, the act of intimacy setting flames to her as the sweet vapour dissipated quickly into her bloodstream. The taste reminded her of the clouds in Aphrodea.
‘It does. Keep it on. I’ve always wanted to know what a queen tastes like.’
‘The way his eyes lit up that first time you spoke to him, the barb so ready on your tongue.’ He chuckled at the memory. ‘The way he admitted to me not long after that he had never encountered someone that he felt like he knew instantly, deeply. Someone who could see right through him, when usually it was him doing the seeing. Elara, just answer me this. When the world is stripped bare, what is it you seek? Because I know what Enzo seeks. Who Enzo seeks.’
She was in love with him. And not only that, when he had kissed her in the clouds, she had felt a lightning bolt of power that she could not deny. It had felt familiar. A quiet recognition. As though after all this searching, her soul had said, ‘Oh, there you are.’
Isra nodded. ‘The siren’s song doesn’t work on those already in love. That’s the truth, Elara. Enzo is in love with you.’
‘That I would have taken the crumbs you fed me. Taken you in sips, even when I wanted to drown, if it meant I could be near you.’
‘Instead of a queen, I’ll make you a goddess. Then I can worship you the way I’m supposed to.’
‘Elara,’ he breathed. ‘You’ve made me a better man, you know that? I was blinded for so long by the Light, that I never saw the beauty in the shadows. You opened my eyes. You made me see.’
‘You overestimate my compassion, Elara, and underestimate how deeply mine you are. I would let the whole world burn if it kept you warm.’
‘So you’d set the world on fire for me,’ she mused. ‘Well, I would turn the world to darkness for you. If you were taken from me, not a single light would shine until you were back home,’ she added quietly, needing him to understand. He held her tightly in response.
‘Elara,’ he said gently, cupping her cheek. She drank in every detail of him against the light, so scared that she may never see him again. ‘Do you think something as fragile as fate would keep me from you?’ He brushed his lips against hers. ‘I defy the Stars.’
‘I’ll take the duskglass,’ Enzo said. Elara hesitated, as Celine’s warning rang through her. Then she pulled out the knives, handing him the blade as dark as night. Her hand flexed around Sofia’s dagger.
OH ELARA U STUPID MF
