Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

Why couldn’t we have just stayed in that field of poppies? I would spend the rest of my days making her flower crowns

wanted to be a queen. My queen. Not Kitt’s. Not Ilya’s. Mine.

Omgggg

In that moment, that single movement, I see our father. It’s as though he is the one standing before this court, and Kitt is nothing more than his shadow.

This king is not the same one I left a fortnight ago. This king is collected and calm and conscious of every move he makes.

I don’t give a damn about what this court thinks of me. And my reputation sure as hell can’t get any worse.

“So much as breathe on her again,” I snarl, “and I’ll ensure it’s the last time you ever do.”

it will be me, an Ordinary, that ends your Elite life.”

My future queen has just made her first decree.

“Speaking of ass, how’s the view back there, Gray?” “Nauseating,” she bites out. I whip open the door and step inside. “You know I can see your left foot twitch, yes?”

I can’t see the shape of her in this pressing darkness, so I’ll simply have to settle with feeling every inch of it.

“I… I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.” I feel each vigorous shake of her head. “I was ready to die. I was ready for you to be the last thing I saw and now—”

have never let that happen. I promised to fix this, and I will.”

“Kai, this is no longer a matter of life or death. This is…” When her breath catches, I know it is the ring she runs trembling fingers over. “This is until death do us part.”

she was meant to be the death of me, not the life of another. It was her I was meant to adore in this world and crawl to in the one after.

Omg

“Everything I thought I knew about my life was a lie.

expected to live it alongside someone I thought wanted me dead?”

“I should be dead by now. Every person in this Plague-forsaken kingdom wants to see me dead, not on a throne.”

“I thought Kitt was spiraling. I thought he was grieving and angry.” A shaky breath. “I thought he’d order you to drive a sword through my chest the moment I set foot in that throne room.”

“I thought he would too,” I murmur. “And I was prepared to severely disappoint him.”

“I don’t know if I’ll survive this.”

“I don’t need you to fight my battles.” “Oh, darling,” I murmur, “I know you don’t. But if I am to be your Enforcer, then you better get used to it.”

“I am no one’s queen.”

“Is that so?” My fingers find her cheek before trailing down the smooth slope of her nose. “Then you have no idea how much power you hold over me.”

Omggggggggg

“So be my weakness, then.”

“I’m too selfish to let you go so easily.” “Then pretend.” My thumb drags lazily over her bottom lip. “Does that mean I have to drag you into a closet every time I want to touch you?”

I refuse to let this be her fate, and yet, fear twines around me, tightening my chest even as I tease her. Because if she truly becomes Kitt’s, I will spend the rest of my life mourning her.

So I distract. Deflect. Desire her more than ever in case this is the last time I get to.

“You’re not supposed to touch me at all.”

you could command me to,” I drawl. “Then I’d simply be following an order.”

the longer I mull over the mortifying moment, the funnier I find it.

In fact, my entire life is in shambles and all I can do is stare at the jagged pieces in my palm and laugh.

I don’t dare look in a mirror because what stares back is a mosaic of every mistake, every tragedy traced into my skin, and the...

Powerless. Fatherless. Adena-less. These were the things I was already struggling to survive. And yet, it’s the ring on my ...

Of all the places I imagined sitting, a throne was the last of them. A dungeon, yes. At the edge of a blade, certainly.

Because Ordinaries don’t rule. They cower.

I am the very object of weakness. I am loathed by all of Ilya. And if I am to be put on a pedestal, even to save their kingdom, they will gladly push me off.

do recall you informing me how you’d crawled out of garbage the day we first met.”

To think I’d likened it to garbage makes me sick to my stomach.

Now, it likely lies empty. Cold without her warmth and dull without her brightness.

Kitt. That was all he was to me during those Trials. A prince, yes, and a replica of his father in face alone. But also, my friend. A friend I betrayed. And one I thought would surely kill me for that, and so much more.

now he is so much more. First a friend, then a foe, and now my future.

why is it you don’t hate me like the rest of Ilya?”

“The rest of Ilya doesn’t know you.” “And you do?” I ask, a little too quickly. “Better than most. You learn a lot about someone when you’re their maid.”

I love Ellie

Sinking into that cushioned seat feels like slipping into the past. A past where my only concerns were surviving the Trials ahead and the Ordinary blood in my veins. A simpler time, before I joined the Resistance and drove a sword through the corrupt king’s chest.

this is how I’m rewarded for it. With a crown on my head and a kingdom at my throat.

I’d rather not reminisce on the feel of blood clinging to my hair so terribly that I begged Kai to cut it off. Because I still pale at the sight of it, feel it drenching my murderous palms, fear when I’ll see it gushing from the next person I love.

I’m sure she aches to ask my reasonings. And if she had, I would have told her. I would have admitted why I cling to the crooked ends of my hair.

Now I will never again get that privilege. So I hold on to her in the ends of my own hair.

“Lonely,” I murmur. “Terrifying.”

Claimed me. Those are words I certainly never thought would be associated with Kitt. His brother, on the other hand… I know exactly what it feels like to be claimed by the Enforcer. And I’ve embraced it.