Year Four (Kingmakers, #4)

by Sophie Lark

I don’t believe that girls hate pretty girls—they’re drawn to them, more often. But this kind of beauty is terrifying and fundamentally unfair to most people’s eyes.

“You saw the list of rules they sent us for this place.” “Don’t pretend like you intend to follow any of them,” Caleb snorts. “Oh shut the fuck up, you kettle-calling pot.”

This girl is fucking insane, and I’m loving it.

“There’s two kinds of men in the world,” she says. “The kind who want to hurt you . . . and the kind who want to be persuaded by you.”

I’ve spent three years pretending to be Ares—calm, kind, patient. Humble.

the frosting must not cause the cake to collapse.

Keep profit and quality of life in balance.”

Hedeon Gray has been digging for clues about his biological parents. I could tell him everything he wants to know. Instead I have to pretend to be his friend, his confidante, while secretly blocking him from ever discovering the truth—yet another task assigned to me that I loathe.

You can capture a man. Torture him. Maim him. Kill him, even. But when the violence is over, the pain stops. But if you kill the only thing he loves . . . That pain is unending.

That’s what I was taught. The fundamental law of my family: alone we’re weak, together strong.

What the priest is like, so is the church.

I hate being here with everyone else . . . but not like everyone else.”

I can’t be attracted to her. That’s fucking insane. I haven’t been attracted to anyone for a long time. Every time I saw a beautiful girl at Kingmakers, I stuffed that emotion deep down inside me. Lying to my friends is hard enough. I knew I couldn’t possibly keep up the facade in a romantic relationship.

I feel like an animal that wants to bite and claw and fuck. I want to chase her down, throw her against those rocks, and mount her.

The bonds of family can be chains weighing you down.

At the same time, there’s truth in what Ares is saying—when you dig up a grave, you’re sure to find bones.

“The truth isn’t messy,” I tell him. “It’s just the truth.”

I’m not sorry when Hedeon Markov interrupts us, accompanied by his son Kristoff, his daughter Evalina, and her fiancé Donovan Dryagin. The Markovs are one of the only families who supported me during my bloody battle with my rival Remizov. The Markovs’ loyalty will not be forgotten—they will always have a place at my table.

“Don’t ever let anyone accuse you of being humble.”

“Look, I’m not trying to Princess Diaries you. I’m just telling you, I know men . . . and it’s never a bad thing to surprise them.”

We hugged each other. We laughed together. Our world is cold, but it was never a cold house.

“You look like if autumn was a person,”

I can’t stay away from her. The only time I feel peace is with her.

“I want you—not your money or your name.”

“Did you like watching me with those girls?” I murmur. “That didn’t make you jealous?” “No,” he growls, his teeth rasping against the side of my neck. “I fucking loved it. I don’t want you restrained, Nix—I want you wild and free and untamed. I want you to have everything you ever desired, and I want to watch you enjoy it . .

A king has few friends. A dictator has none.

“I’m not Ares. My name is Rafe Petrov. My father is Ivan Petrov. He’s been imprisoned for three and a half years. Tomorrow, I finally bring him home.”

And the only thing I planned for the last twenty years was kill my fucking degenerate father. So if I’m not going to do that . . . I’m going to need a new option.”

“God doesn’t get the credit for this one,” Adrik says, disembarking from the plane. “Not after we did all the fucking work.”

“Remember what I told you, my little fox: nothing could keep me from coming back to you.”

“I want you,” I say to her. “I want your wildness. I want your passion. I want you to love me the way you love the wind and the water and the outdoors. I want you to be untamable, except by me. I want you to be my wife.”

“It will always be empty, whether I return to it or not. Home is the people you love, not a building, not a place. I want to go home with you, Rafe.”

“Our fathers shape us,” Sloane said, zipping her case. “But it’s our husbands who determine what we truly become. And us them. A couple is the sum of both of you together—as strong as you are together. As happy as you are together.”

There are crossroads in life where you can either choose the cold truth you see in front of you, or you can choose to chase the impossible dream. It’s only by believing in that dream, and pursuing it, that you can turn it into a living, breathing reality. You must chase the dream to live the dream. Otherwise, it will only ever be an ephemeral fantasy in your mind.