The Wrath of the Fallen (Gods & Monsters, #4)

by Amber V. Nicole

I may wield Oblivion, but it seemed Dianna controlled it. It responded readily when she was in danger, and it had since the first time she was taken from me. Now, it retreated, easing like a compliant beast beneath her touch.

He was the son of the fallen primordial, King Ormjir, who started the War of Wars. Ormjir created and controlled the Ig’Morruthens. The first beast he made became his general.

It was such a silly thing to dream of someone who didn’t know the depths to which they owned you. A silly thing indeed.

“Did I burn you?” I whispered. Samkiel didn’t even open his eyes. He just wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and said, “Burn me alive if you must. I’d gladly die by your kiss.”

“Kneel for me as I have for you.” “For eternity if you wish it.”

It was a give-and-take of submission coated in pure, unadulterated love. He allowed me to have my power back at the cost of his, and I’d kill anyone for him, burn legions, and decimate armies if he wished it. I’d find his stolen crown and place it back on his head in its rightful place, and then I would make his enemies weep before I slaughtered them. There were no limits to what I would do or give up for him. I’d be the monster they feared, and I’d relish in it.

It looked as if two wild animals had broken in and wrecked the place. Perhaps we were when it came to the desire that lived like a breathing flame between us.

Both of us were in a never-ending cycle, never to live truly, never to die. We were watchers. I watched time, how it ate and corroded, turned bones to dust and empires to ruins, and he collected, always for eternity, until eternity ended.

I also realized how possessive I was. He was mine. I barely wanted people to even look at him too long, much less hear about past conquests that resulted in an entire airborne arsenal.

“Shall I tell you that if the ancients asked me of love, I’d merely have to whisper your name?”

The world can burn, and the realms can fall to destruction. If there is ever a choice between the two, I need you to know that neither the crown nor the throne means anything to me. None of it would matter without you. It’s always you. You are my priority. I may be a god, but you are the altar at which I worship.”

Now this magnificent and deadly beast circled my soul and nestled close, seeking safety and comfort, begging for protection from the demons that had risen to yank her back into the abyss with them.

“Protective, are we?” Eryx smiled, canines gleaming. “For your benefit, I assure you.”

Dianna looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “You do remember who I am, right? She had a hand in my husband’s death, a very large, manipulative hand. There is no outcome where anyone involved gets to breathe in my presence.”

He looked as if I were insane and nodded. “I am but a weak man for you, akrai.” “Good to know,” I said with a smile,

The woman who had given her life to a stranger in the desert to save her sister, who had her heart ripped out for the world, who sold her soul so I’d live. She was not a monster. She was a dream, and I’d be a nightmare for her.

Queen against queen, each bloodthirsty and brutal, but wanting very different things. If my time here had done anything, it had clarified who I was. A forgotten queen, and I had returned ready to claim my realms at Samkiel’s side.