Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

For those fearless enough to follow their heart

For those fearless enough to follow their heart

“Every brutal act is born of love.”

Death is the only constant in my life, like an old friend who hones every one of my dark secrets into a weapon.

My queen. Not Kitt’s. Not Ilya’s. Mine.

It is cruel, not being able to call him mine after everything we’ve endured.

The absence of light is the absence of knowledge.

“If you look like hell,” he whispers with a sly grin, “then I’m fortunate to be going there.”

She has achieved what few dared to do, bringing Mareena Azer’s crown back to its rightful home.

“Cocky bastard,” she whispers. “Pretty Pae.”

My eyes fall shut when soft words begin spilling from her mouth. I’m quickly lost in the story, in the hypnotic voice that strings it together. The rocking ship lulls me into that fleeting sense of peace while her fingers comb through my hair, tickle my skin.

I picture this version of us, far in a future that will never come to pass. A happy ending in which I lie on Paedyn’s lap, listening to her read until the day I fade into a distant memory.

“Vicious little thing.”

Edric spends the eve of his wife’s death in silence. He does not speak, or cry, or mourn in the ways a soul should. Instead, his heart only hardens without the softness of Iris’s countenance.

“It seems you’ll make a fine queen.” The diamond on my finger grows heavy. “It’s as though you were born for this.”

I watch what is left of Kai drip into the water. And for the first time in weeks, I’m not repulsed by blood—in fact, I wish to cling to his.

“Paedyn, I love you. Like nothing else before, I love you. And I’ve been waiting to tell you since I realized your eyes are my favorite color and your freckles the only constellation worth looking at. I could lie—say that you’ve stolen my every thought and heartbeat like the thief you are, but all of me was already yours. Pae, you are my inevitable.”

I stare at the queen. She stares up at one. Blood claims blood. And when I look at Iris Moyra, the late and beloved queen of Ilya, I see a shade of her coursing through my veins. And blood never forgets. The parchment flutters to the bed as I press a steadying hand to my thumping heart.

Adam Gray was meant to help eradicate the remaining Ordinaries, albeit unknowingly. But the Healer’s life was swiftly ended after he stumbled upon a secret meant solely for kings.