The Replacement (A Culling of Blood and Magic, #1)

by K.M. Rives

I am a monster, and she is the treasure I wish to hoard. Have you ever noticed in fairy tales the monster never gets to keep his treasure? Instead, he is slain by a white knight and forgotten while the hero gains the favor of the maiden. I wouldn’t want to be forgotten by her. I want her to want to be my treasure. One I would cherish every day, body and soul, for the rest of eternity, if she’d allow me to. I can already see she has the makings of a queen, but I would rather let her go than cage her.”

“No, your dick can woo. You, on the other hand, are a prickly pear.”

“I think you will soon come to realize the heart does not care about misplaced hatred. Finding love, especially an epic love, is limitless. It’s not bound by the prejudices we are taught. It removes us from the cage we’ve been shacked in by society and can set us free. Why would I not want that?”

She deserved the world. She deserved everything. He would be the one to give it to her.

“Why not? You are mine, Em. Who gives a bloody fuck what anyone else thinks?” She was his. He was hers. He was right.

“Forever in my heart. Forever in my veins. Forever on my lips.” “Forever,” the word barely whispered through her strangled breaths.

“I was forced to stop fighting what I thought I wanted and embrace what I needed.”