Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

I would bleed if only you asked.” “Then I wouldn’t ask,” I retort sternly. “No, you wouldn’t.” He steps out into the hall, tossing his next damning sentence over a shoulder. “As my queen, you would command it.”

“I’ve just never been dead before.” I shrug a shoulder. “It was kind of nice.”

“They don’t need to believe you. They need only to fear you.”

all it cost me was the torture of watching myself nearly kill Paedyn. Witnessing my deepest fear come to life while I tried uselessly to claw my way to her.

Boldly, she casts her own scrutiny over the crowd. Vulnerably, she shows those who hate her the one thing she hates most about herself. And unashamedly, they stare.

no matter how much our feelings grow or confessions spew, we will always remain precisely as we are. I will tease her until my dying breath, spar until I’m buried six feet beneath her feet. I am forever her rival, and I revel in it.

Not quite a Psychic. Not quite an Ordinary, either.

Psychic, indeed. Something else, entirely.

“I am power earned, not gifted. I became one of you. Observant enough to pose as a Psychic, strong enough to survive your Trials. Over and over, I have proved myself worthy of your loyalty. “But I have faced far worse things than my own powerlessness.”

“I once wore this carving with shame, but now it is proof of my survival.

“A king left his mark upon my heart, and now, I will leave mine ...

I’ve never seen something so beautiful, so bold, so blatantly right for me, for this kingdom, this hope of a united Ilya. And I fear I may forever be in awe of her. Looking at Paedyn Gray, I see a reckless sort of...

“I am Ordinary. Elite. A power of my choosing. And I will be your queen—all that I am and fiercely what I am not.”

Pae’s eyes snap to mine, and for a moment, it’s as though we are the only two souls occupying this room. There is that electrifying tether between us, tugging at my heart with every second I’m beheld by her.

Paedyn swallows at the sight of the court kneeling before her.

“That, you”—I gesture to Kai—“were a cocky bastard. And, you”—a nod at Kitt—“were a charming prince.”

“And now?” “You’re even more so,”

So soon I would lose my freedom, my heart, my love.

“We both know that Kai’s heart belongs to you.”

“I won’t be my father.” He walks stiffly toward the steps while I hang on every word. “I—we—are changing Ilya. And long live the queen who has helped make that happen.”

“You can lie to yourself all you like. But don’t do it to your dying mother.”

“So much to learn.”

even she has found a semblance of solace here. With us. This family she never had.

As children, this was our sanctuary—sitting around this table, hiding from the pressures of a court we didn’t understand. Now, it is even more so.

“I have plenty of knives at my disposal to press to your pretty neck.”

her—“if you call me pretty, I hear only the compliment. Not the threat.”

She will not thank what has stolen everything from her.

It is my last day of freedom.

I am to be queen.

“You hear that, A? I like the corset. You win.”

“You’ll be fine, all right? You always are.” “Right.” I glance over at him. “Like the cockroach I am.”

I had nearly forgotten what all this was meant for. At the reminder that he—the king—will be forever tethered to my soul at the end of this flowery path, I feel a bit faint.

Still, I run. From my fear. From my future. From my now.

Thunder rumbles in the distance. Still, I run.

I run—right to that willow tree.

He has always been a prince, always a puppet for power or instrument of Death. But just as constant and formidably fierce, he has been my home.

In my search for comfort, it is him I crawl back to.

passion is a word I only understand when I look into his eyes. He is the freedom I cannot grasp. We a...

“I can’t bear to lose you.” “So have me.” The tips of my fingers trace his knuckles. “One last time.”

“I want a first and forever.”

“Just pretend with me tonight.” I touch my forehead to his, brush his nose with my own. “Pretend we have a forever after this.”

But to you, I give my heart. Myself.”

“I promised that if I had you”—his thumb traces the curve of my lips—“it would only be because you let me.” “So have me.”

“You don’t want me to beg for you first?” he drawls. My fingers catch his chin. “Is that not what you’ve done since the moment we met?”

nothing has ever felt so perfect.

“Tonight will be our forever.”

I nod, because I believe him. I nod, because there is not an inch of myself that I will not give him.

“I love you,” I say again, and pull his face up toward mine. He kisses me, and the world falls quiet. “I love you.”

“You are my forever.” Shadow and Flame. Formidably inevitable. “Forever my undoing.”

She is a vision, something so ethereal in this moment