Song of Sorrows and Fate (The Broken Kingdoms, #9)

by L.J. Andrews

“There’s no use resisting, Little Rose, our bloody games have come to an end at last. There’s no going back.”

“Why did you stay hidden from me?” “It was not by choice.” He stiffened. “You are my thoughts that rise with the sun, and my fears that come with the night.”

Shattered as I was to know she recoiled from me rather than embraced me, she was mine to protect, mine to guide. Mine.

“Do I hide you,” Silas snapped. “Or do we fight to our final tale, Little Rose?”

I spun the knife in my hand, narrowed gaze on Silas. “He isn’t taking any of us. Never again.”

“Do you know what it’s like to watch the light of your soul die over and over? Do you know what it’s like to burn for lifetimes for another who fears you in the end?”

He’d been alone and suffering, and I’d fled from him. I’d ignored him. I’d left him.

“Say the word, Silas,” I whispered, tilting my head, “and I would follow you through the lifetimes.”

“When you meet the Ever King again, a word of advice—if you wish to keep your lives, I wouldn’t make him bleed.”

“A caution follows with this tale,” the seers said, softly, “should the first bond break, you will fail.” “I feel to say these crowns afar,” said Danna, “relive the battles once fought before. A curse of blood, a sea seeking revenge, and a plague of darkness across a land.”

A song of blood keeps life for the one you love. Trust and let it be, in this a tale of land and sea.

When shields fall, a heart will call. Send light to crowns of fate. When enemies stand on this first land, Then ends this battle of hate.

I don’t mind if you speak to shadows, Silas, but let me be the one to hold the candle and walk with you through the darkness.”

“Then don’t be stupid and let words make you doubt those things that make you, you.”

Silas, my phantom, my whisper, he wanted me to decide if my heart ached for him. It didn’t ache for him. It lived for him.

“I rarely feel safe in this world,” I said softly against his mouth. “But the moment I saw you in the dark, the moment you took my hand, it was as though all the fears faded. Even for a moment.”

“Sometimes I do not know what is real, but you have always been my guide in a confusing existence. You are my beacon in the night.” He lifted his head and peered down at me. Silas brushed his thumb over the ridge of my cheek. “I would wait a thousand lifetimes for you.”

“You were my only friend, Calista Ode. You are still that, but you became the beat of my heart. To touch you is my greatest honor. It is the dream that has kept me living.”

“I choose you, Little Rose,” he whispered. “I always have. Fate be damned. I would choose you even if the Norns told me it was the wrong path.”

“I choose you. You’ve always been my Whisper, the song of my heart.”

“A tale of old, returns anew. Brought forth by bonds that bind the few. Love of choice. Devotion of heart. Honor and passion brought the start. In dawn’s soft light, a path is growing. To bring about a gift so cunning. In realms of darkness, the plan is spun. To end a game long ago begun. Find each place for which to rise. As gifts of fate greet darkness on the tides

“More of this?” he rasped. “You need more of your mate, Little Rose?” He shoved my back firmer against the tree, so he could release one of my legs and grip his length. In beautifully cruel strokes he teased my entrance with the crown. “Is this what you need? Need me to fill you until all you feel is me?”

Silas slid the tip inside. He kissed me, sweeter than before, and whispered. “We don’t have much time, so I’m going to need you to come fast. Come hard.”

“Calista,” he moaned, wildly thrusting into me. “Again, do that again. Gods, you feel so perfect wrapped around me.”

When we laced our fingers together, he kissed my knuckles, his eyes locked on mine. “I love you, Little Rose. I always have.” “To the Otherworld, Whisper.”

“You’re my peace, Little Rose. You’re the one who chases away the darkness. Say the word and I’d follow you anywhere.”

“I swear it, Little Rose. Each morning, each night, every beat of my heart is yours. To the Otherworld.” “To the Otherworld, Whisper.”

“What do you want, my love? Want to come on my fingers, my tongue, or do you want all of me? I plan to give you all tell me which goes first.”

“I love you, Elise Ferus. You’ve given me . . . everything. My freedom, my home, my life. But your heart, this family you’ve given me, it is the greatest gift I could ever want.”

“You were worth it all, Nightrender,” I whispered. “Every bad memory, every beautiful one, you were worth it for this life we now live.”

“You are my perfect menace, Saga.” “You are the most beautiful bastard,”

We’d lost much, but we loved fiercely, and we knew by now, there was nothing we would not do to defend those we loved. We were friends. We were family. We were free.