This Vicious Dream (Kingdom of Death, #1)

by Stacia Stark

It’s not bravery. It’s a very particular kind of cowardice. It’s the refusal to be abandoned, even through death.

And men will always attempt to brutalize the women they cannot control.

I’m all alone.

Because no one can be trusted. If you want to survive, you’ll have to do it alone.

“The dark god knew his siblings were going to strip him of his incredible power. His memories. They were tired of the favoritism his father showed him, and they didn’t approve of his plans for this world. Before they could attack him, he learned of their plan. He poured much of his knowledge, power, and self into three grimoires, casting them out into this world. He knew they would be used, and when they were, that knowledge would call to him.”

“Finally,” she says. “You took your time.” “I’m sorry, was my torture and imprisonment inconvenient for you?”

I’ve endured the leers of men old enough to be my father, their stares like a layer of filth dripping over my skin. And I learned early that the continual pursuit by men my own age had little to do with me, and everything to do with their need to prove themselves. To turn me into a conquest for their friends to admire.