Three Trials (The Dark Side, #2)

by Kristy Cunning

“That’s twice you’ve called me comoara trădătoare. What does it mean?” I ask him. He holds my gaze for so long that I think he’s not going to answer. Just as he closes his eyes, I hear the words that are almost whispered. “Treacherous treasure.”

“I know I’ll regret not taking this first for myself if I do talk myself out of it,” he whispers against my skin before he jerks my legs open wider and his head dips between my thighs.

“Who’s your favorite now?” he drawls as he turns and starts backing away, a knowing grin on his face. “Definitely you,” I say with one hundred percent honesty.

“Goodnight,” someone whispers close to my ear.

“Everyone gather around me,” I shout, then glance down at my ruby red slippers as they appear. Everyone does as I say, putting their hands on/through me as just only my feet turn whole and start clicking together. “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like—” “Are you fucking kidding me?” Jude barks in interruption, causing my eyes to peel open as I grimace. “Worth a shot,” I tell them, furious with all the false hope movies have given me over these past few years.

“Give me a few days to be thankful I’m alive, to be thankful I somehow managed to see you all home safely, and give my heart a break, before you remind me how very little you care.”

“For fuck’s sake, so what if she cheated? She spent an hour trying to paint the damn things just because you bought her the fucking polish. Give her a compliment already,” Kai says, confusing me, until I realize he’s angrily directing that toward Ezekiel.

“It’s clear I was designed just for the four of you. Whether or not I’m a Trojan Horse is beyond my knowledge. But even if I am such, I’ll destroy whoever wants to use me against you. My loyalties are sealed and undivided. The four of you are my only charge. If Lamar had been truly trying to hurt you, I would have burned his heart in his chest without blinking an eye. And I happen to like Lamar.”

“I’m saying she’s The Apocalypse. Her name is Apocalypse. She puts the in front of it when she wants to remind everyone she’s the only one who can truly level the world. As I said, she’s rather vain that way,”