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June 5 - June 5, 2025
It seemed impossible to imagine that anyone could love someone as fully as he loved me, that other people existed out there—still kept from the completion that came with knowing their mate.
I’d never get used to having a God on his knees for me.
“You are always my Goddess, min asteren. I worship at your altar with every breath—every moment of my existence,” he said, blue eyes blazing with intent. “Not only because you are my mate and the Fates determined we were made for one another, but because I love you. The person you have become is a sight to behold, and I am privileged to stand at your side as you embark on your journey.”
“Play the long game if you want to win. Cunning over wrath.”
“Gods know I am not strong enough to do it myself, but I won’t get in the way when the time comes. There can be no peace with Mab on the throne. I want there to be peace again, no matter the cost.”
“Because if you do not know, no one will suspect you when she turns up dead. I look forward to playing the game with you, Princess.”
I wanted to riot. I wanted blood and death and vengeance. “Revenge comes to those who wait. Let her have this night,” Soren said, leaning in to whisper in my ear. My body went solid, the feeling of eyes on my spine—watching the contact. “She has no idea it will be her last, does she?” There was a smirk in his voice, a challenge for me to get past my own anger. I smiled, my lips spreading wider than they had in weeks. Laughter tumbled free, staring at the male who may have been under Mab’s command, but worked to undermine her all the same.
He’d sacrificed himself—given his own body and pain—to protect me from the same. No matter the consequence of that, the least I could do was forgive him for doing everything in his power to protect me. I’d deal with those who deserved my ire later,
But fear didn’t equal respect, and Estrella was slowly winning the latter by doing nothing other than being herself.
“They don’t want to fuck her,” I said, leaning my head toward my stepmother. She glared up at me, dark eyes glinting. We both knew I would never allow Estrella to dance with males if that was their aim for the evening. “They just want to be near her. To let her shine her light on them for a little while.”
“She is everything you will never be,” I said simply. Almost kindly. “She is life itself.”
Hope for a new world. The one Estrella would create if they only helped her. If they took their power back.
With a dance, she painted herself as a savior—offering freedom from centuries of systemic oppression. She made them love her, and unknowingly, took the first step in building her army.
“She’s doing this because of me,” I said, my voice dropping low as the fight slipped out of my body. I’d challenged her status quo too openly, and she couldn’t punish me publicly—not without strengthening my bond with the llaidhe. “She’s doing this because it makes her feel powerful to hold mates over our heads. She’s using you as a scapegoat because she wants to break you, and she knows that you will carry the weight of her crimes if she tells you to. No one here blames you,” Caldris said, using his free hand to tuck my hair behind my ear as I settled in his grip.
“The tree feeds on sex to help it rise from the ashes after the Tithe. The others’ desire will feed into me because of the magic it’s given me for the night. Desire that I will use to fuck you until morning. The tree will feed from you—your pleasure,”
He’d dominated the most monstrous part of me, and she’d let him.
“Let them see the paradise I get to sink inside at night. Never again will they question why I would destroy worlds for you,” he said, leaning forward to lick a single line through me.
“We shall see how long you survive when you are the victim and not the abuser,” I growled, leaning back finally.
On and on, our game went until her body was a mass of slashes and cuts. Blood poured upon the bed, leaving her half-alive and begging for death. I wanted to vomit when I looked at what I’d done—at who I’d become. But the monster within me purred in delight, satisfied with the gift we would give to our mate.
I wanted the last thing she saw to be my face, an avenging fury as her own knife slid up and into her heart. I did exactly that, watching as she turned her stare down to where the hilt of the knife protruded from her chest. Her face was shocked, her mouth parted. We never thought about that moment when it all ended until it was too late.
“You’re as much a monster as me,” she mumbled, the words barely audible. “For him, I will be.” I held her gaze as her final breath left her, her eyes going glazed as I dropped her knife beside the bed and stood from the edge. The feeling that rushed through me wasn’t as victorious as I’d thought it would be.
I turned toward the statues lining the halls, the Gods and Goddesses who had already lost their lives to Mab’s reign. My shadows crept through the hall, reaching behind each and every one of those statues and busts. I bit my tongue as I pulled them forward, the sound of stone smashing upon the floor echoing up the hall. They cracked, pieces breaking off and ruining Mab’s testament to her conquest. I destroyed her trophies of war, the heads she kept as reminders of exactly what she was capable of. Voices came from the mouth of the hallway; the sound of the destruction having alerted the guards
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Estrella excelled at the impossible.
“Your body is mine now, Malachi. You were my enemy in life, but you will fight for me in your death.” I wouldn’t keep his soul from moving to the Void, leaving where he wandered from here up to him to decide.
He knew better than any that some tortures didn’t require physical pain. Some torments came in forced obedience.
“Soon enough, the court royals will go home. They’ll carry those whispers with them. You stand no chance of defeating her now. Not when she has Caldris bonded to her, but you can give them something to talk about. You can give them a show they will never forget, so that when you rise, they will follow.”
“Better I act too soon for your tastes than I remain complacent after centuries of tyranny. She killed your mate. She cost you your husband. She took your child. When will you say enough, mother?” Caldris asked, settling his hand around my waist as if he needed the comfort. “I would sooner die than remain a slave any longer.”
“I’m going to save him,” I whispered, the vulnerable words feeling torn from my soul. I didn’t know how or when I’d remove Mab’s serpent from where it wrapped around his heart. Only that I would. “And who will save you?” Twyla asked, shaking her head. “The same person who always has,” I answered, glancing down at the golden marks on my skin as my nerves threatened to tear me in two. “I’m going to save myself.”
Light in the darkness. Hope.
“You should not play games with that which you cannot control, and you definitely should not toy with the Fates,” I said softly, ignoring the frenzied whispers of all who lingered in the throne room.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice dropping into the quiet of a whisper. I grinned as her cheeks flushed with humiliation. “I should think it was obvious. I want all of you to suffer for your part in your people’s suffering.”
“She’s channeling too much, too fast. Magic has a price, and she is spiraling. If she keeps using like this, there will be nothing left. Her magic needs to be nurtured. It needs to be trained and fed and taught to obey her,” Imelda explained, rummaging through the small pack she’d kept at her side. “If she can’t find a way to leash it, it will consume her. She’ll become nothing more than a vessel for it, and there’s no telling what it will do.”
“At least tell me your name,” I said, feeling the power slip from me. He pressed our hands together, taking what was his back as I settled, slowly releasing the heat. That loss of power drained me, leaving me feeling weak in comparison. “The day for you to know who I am will come soon enough,” he said, pushing to his feet as the haze began to fade. “It was nice to have a few moments where you do not hate me first.”
“This is the Court of Shadows, my star. The magic here demands I prove myself worthy of claiming you for eternity,” he said, releasing my hands and taking a step back. “Here, we are predator and prey.”
But even knowing what waited for me, I couldn’t bring myself to fear Caldris. It wasn’t terror that made my heart pound in my chest. It was excitement. Gods be damned, I couldn’t wait for the moment he caught me. Couldn’t wait to be united with him—even if I was terrified of what that meant. Of the implications for our future. Would I still be me? Would he still be him? Or would we simply be us?
“To see the way they looked at you. They finally saw you, Princess. They saw everything that you could be in the war with Mab. I’ll never regret that. Even if they sent me to The Mother’s embrace for it.”
I’d go with her. Anywhere. Even to Tartarus.
