To Kill a Kingdom (Hundred Kingdoms, #1)

by Alexandra Christo

A creature that has eluded me for so long and then, finally, appeared. Let me be privy to a face few men live to speak about. My monster found me and I’m going to find her right back.

Every action will betray. Every choice will slaughter. Despite what my mother says, I seem to be the exact kind of monster she wanted.

“Are you ever going to kiss me?” Slowly, Elian says, “That’s not a favor.” His hand moves from beside mine, and I feel a sudden absence. And then it’s on my cheek, cupping my face, thumb stroking my lip. It feels like the worst thing I’ve ever done and the best thing I could ever do

How strange that instead of taking his heart, I’m hoping he takes mine.

“Ask me again,” he says. His forehead presses against mine, breath ragged on my lips. I close my eyes and breathe him in.

“Just do it already,” I say. And he does.

I think of the taste of her kiss, with the stories of stars roofing us. An entire galaxy watched while her body curved into mine. As she asked me to kiss her and it was all I could do to keep myself steady.

Any human who takes a siren’s heart will be immune to the power of their song. Only Elian didn’t need to take my heart; I gave it to him.

“Your heart,” I say, and I kiss him. It’s nothing like the soft and tentative tryst we shared under the stars. It’s wild and burning, something newly territorial in it. His lips crash fiercely onto mine, hot and soft, and when I feel his tongue slip against mine, every animal part of me comes alive.

We claim each other, right here on the edge of war. Elian drags his hands through my hair and I clutch him, pushing and pulling him closer against me. Even no distance feels like too much. His hand tightens on my jaw and we’re a tangle of fingers and teeth

“You don’t have that kind of power,” she says. “Oh, but you’re wrong.” I give her a smile to start wars. Or maybe to end them. “You see, it wasn’t the prince who freed the eye from its chamber, Mother. It was me.” When she screams, the mountain shakes. I’m her worst nightmare come true.

Elian crouches beside me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders, enveloping me in his warmth. We sit like that for an eternity until, finally, the Sea Queen fades away.