A Promise so Bold and Broken (Compelling Fates Saga, #2)

by Sophia St. Germain

To the ones who keep fighting for a better world for everyone, even when that world seems dark and far away— I hope you find a light to guide you.

She’s been through so much in her young life, and she’s repressed all the resulting emotions for so long… But she can’t anymore, not with all the hurt and disappointment. So she focuses on the easiest one to manage—rage.”

“The world is painful.” Merrick’s gaze drilled into hers. “Yours perhaps more than most. But it’s time for you to stop cowering before it. Make mistakes, and forgive yourself for them. Get hurt, and fight back. You’re a good person. A fucking great person. Stop letting guilt dim your light. I told you once, it’s time to shine…” His hands tightened their grip, and Lessia’s breath caught in her throat. “It’s time to fucking burn, Lessia. If we’re taking on the threats of this world, you’ll need to be willing to burn it down. Love. Lose. Hate. Win. They all come together in the end. Use them to fuel that passion to make this wretched world a little better.”

Good people also do bad things, but it’s how you handle yourself after that matters.

Not when all the memories reminded her of what she’d long suspected… That she wasn’t worthy of that type of love. The love that was as pure as a winter night where no boots had yet to mark the newly fallen snow. But perhaps… Perhaps… there was a different kind of love out there. One that wasn’t untouched snow, but that was strange and wild and uncontrollable. That was tainted and broken and… all the while perfect.

“You are brave and clever and wildly loyal. You have such fight in you—even after everything. And you love so fiercely… so boundlessly. Don’t let your past convince you that you aren’t worthy of it in return.”

She laughed hollowly. The fucking gods. They must have seen the one day she’d been happy despite everything they’d thrown at her. The one fucking day.

“You have given me everything.” Merrick leaned his forehead against her own, his eyes refusing to let hers break away. “Everything, Elessia. If I die tonight, I’ll do so having everything I ever asked for and many things I never thought to.”