The Ever Queen (The Ever Seas #2)

by L.J. Andrews

“She needs me to find her; she…she needs me to remind her to breathe.”

This fear takes your thoughts, and I will not tell you not to let it, but I will remind you of who you are. For you are a formidable foe.

Larsson hit me again. A show of a weak man when a bold woman stumped his stupid words. That was all he was, a weak man.

“Your daughter is my beacon. I will never regret taking her, for she is my home. I love her, Queen. There is no part of me that would choose anything over her. Let. Me. Go.”

Then again, the ones with a great deal of time to think were often the most cunning.

“I’ll be back shortly. If I’m not, rise up and be their villain, Livia.”

There was a great deal to be said in fastening loyalty through respect and trust, not fear.

“You have her heart, and that is a priceless treasure I vowed to protect from her first breaths. Now I am forced to trust that the same man who stole my girl from me will care for her in a way that is worthy of her.”

“Tavish is aggravated with me, Songbird. Seems when you are on the brink of death, I lose my mind and slaughter myself.”

I choose you, Livia Ferus. For much longer than my last breath.”

“What did I tell you, love? Fear is powerful. Every mind sees it differently, but it is my honor to walk with you through yours. No matter how illogical you think them to be. Would you not do the same?”

“I may not be skilled at gentility, but I don’t want the violence I feel to keep you from speaking to me about anything. I will always hear you first, then rage later.”

“It has been my desire to see my children experience a love like I have with your mother. But it does not mean I wanted the day to ever come. I knew my heart would break when another man took yours. I felt that ache when I looked at the boy my daughter was befriending.”

Perhaps the Ever King was not a man who knew well how to speak of what his heart felt, but it was mesmerizing how he conveyed it with his touch. In these moments, when Erik Bloodsinger held me, still and calm, I could understand every damn word.

“You carry me through fears, Erik. I’d like to lift you through burdens, that’s all.”

“Serpent.” He cleared his throat. “Songbird.” “You’ve always been mine,” I whispered. “But I think you’ve always been all of ours, even if you didn’t know it. You’re not alone, Erik Bloodsinger. You never really were.”

“I stopped believing in my fear of losing her and began trusting in her strength.

Your battles belong to me, like mine belong to you.”

“Woman,” he shouted back, slicing through the chest of another guard. “Where you go, there I go.”