The Rivaled Crown (The Veiled Kingdom, #3)

by Holly Renee

I was a threat to everything he stood for. And still, he had chosen me.

Even after the betrayal, after learning my true identity, after every reason I had given him to turn away, he had protected me. He had given me the most dangerous weapon of all. Hope.

“What are you doing here?” I pleaded, raw with disbelief. “I’m here for you, Nyra,” he murmured the only name he had ever known me by. Micah.

Her face haunted me even when I closed my eyes. The pain in my chest was overwhelming, a mix of guilt and anger that made it hard to breathe.

But more than that, it was the void left by her absence that weighed heavily on me, a constant reminder of what I had lost and allowed to be taken away from me.

It was as though I could physically sense her, through the delicate and untested bond ...

“You are not just the daughter of Marmoris, Verena. You are a daughter of Veyrith, the last daughter, and I bound your power to protect you. I bound your magic so it wouldn’t awaken until you found safety in someone who wanted you to have power, but did not wish to use it.”