Court of Ice and Ash (The Broken Kingdoms, #2)

by L.J. Andrews

“I do enjoy listening to the both of you say thoughts out loud. Almost as if you’re convincing the fates that brought her to us, as if they care what you think. Elise is his hjӓrta, the song of our prince.”

Legends spoke of old fury that would connect two lovers in such a way their souls seemed to bond like a song’s harmony. Unbreakable.

A man who’d desired me. Made me desire him. A man who’d trusted me and taught me to trust. A man who’d chosen revenge when I’d chosen him.

“He always will,” Tor snarled. “You will either be his rise or his downfall. And neither of you sees it.”

If I had learned anything from the past, it was better to hide a heart than give away the ones you loved most. So, I would run. For her sake.

He once told me his heart beat for me. Mine did the same for him. As I watched him leave the stables, watched him put distance between us, I broke for wanting him. I would do all I could to get the Night Prince to see he could be more. He could rise as the man Etta needed, but I would not keep wounding my heart for a man who would not take it for his own.

Never did I anticipate such an infuriating, foolhardy, beautiful creature to take command of my every decision. I tried to keep a fair distance, tried to keep aloof, and I still cracked at the slightest thought of harm befalling her. She did not have fury, but she might as well have. Elise Lysander cast a spell over me. One I could not break.

“When someone trusts you so much that they reveal their broken, splintered pieces, you cannot unsee them. You help them mend. You share yours.”

“I wish to be anywhere you are, Elise Lysander. I have lost everyone. I watched them be used against me, watched them be tortured. But the thought of losing you is worse than any agony I’ve felt in the past. And I hate myself for it.”

“I am the man who touches you. The only man.”

“You clawed inside me,” Valen whispered, running his knuckles over my slit. “It’s only fair that I stay deep inside you too.” I would not survive this man and his delicious, bawdy tongue.

Before sleep took me, Valen whispered in the dark, “Elise. I choose to live.”

He didn’t care about anyone watching when he pulled me close and kissed me. Not long enough, and the kiss came from a place of fear. A tremble darkened his voice when he whispered against the curve of my ear, “Never doubt for whom my heart beats.”

They would take me, but no mistake, I would die fighting.

“You might care with the best intentions, but I love her,” I shouted at them, finishing the rest over my shoulder as I walked away. “Go to Ravenspire for your reasons. I go for Elise Lysander.” No one followed me. No one tried to soothe me again. I stormed back to her shanty, locked the door. My back scraped over the wood as I slid to the ground. To the eaves I made a silent vow. By the end of tomorrow, I would find Elise. I could not stand any longer than that. By the end of tomorrow, I would be king.

“I have several,” I said evenly. “But most know me as Valen Ferus, the Night Prince.”

A tear fell for the Night Prince. For what might’ve been.

“Do I? I must’ve been mistaken, then. If I had a love as you described, I imagine I would find the strength to keep living until I took it back. Forgive me if I misjudged your conviction.”

Even if it killed me. Even if those were my final words. Valen Ferus would know I was his. I always had been.

“My name is Valen Ferus, the Night Prince of Etta! And you, false king, you are in my seat.”

He covered my hand with his and pressed a kiss to my palm. “You should know, Kvinna, my heart and soul are yours for the taking.”

“Goodbye, Kind Heart,” Calista said. When she lifted her gaze, her eyes grew stormy, like pale clouds covered the irises. “Your battle ends when his begins.” My stomach twisted. “Calista? When whose battle begins?” Valen came to my side, watching the girl curiously. When she spoke again, her voice was hushed, her words changed. “The breaker of night and fear begins his fight when yours ends.”