A Throne From the Ashes (An Heir Comes to Rise, #3)

by C.C. Peñaranda

I may have come from nothing, but I will rise to everything. The greatest triumph will be having you there to bear witness as I do.”

“Nothing could make me turn away from you, Reylan.”

“I never thought I’d come across someone like you, Faythe.”

Reylan’s voice… It felt like home.

“Then there you were, with her eyes, the most precious gift of all. A daughter I didn’t think I deserved.”

“Which of them hurt you?”

You’re someone I think he could talk about for centuries if nobody stopped him,”

“Don’t be afraid of the past that has made you stronger.”

“You defied the odds to exist. You’ll defy them again to survive.”

“To have Faythe: to live like death is a game, love is a prize, and danger is desire.”

“You don’t have to hide from me, Faythe.”

“I’ll get on my knees for you anytime, Zaiana. You know you need only ask.”

“I want your fealty, not your disappointing bedroom favors.” “In the bedroom, I might just yield both.”

It is who you are that carries the hope for this kingdom. I know you will return to us.”

She’s my mate, and I’m letting her go.

“You are not a distraction, Faythe. You are everything.”

“I don’t know what the future holds or where the path may end, but I plan to follow you down whatever perilous, reckless, adventurous road you lead, Faythe Ashfyre.” His lips curled in tender amusement. “I vow to stand by your side. I vow to protect you with my sword and my life. And I vow to bind my fate to yours, if you will have me. I’ve lived enough years in this world to know should you leave it, so too shall my desire to stay here without you.”

“Until the end of days, Reylan Arrowood.” His smile—warm, genuine, and heartbreakingly rare—had become the light in her eternal shadow. “Maybe even longer, Faythe Ashfyre.”

“You are more than I could have wished for in this life, Faythe.

I choose you, Faythe. I will always choose you. And I will always hope, as selfish as it may be, that you will choose me too.”

He was wicked, evil, and brilliant. Her enemy…but her equal.

“You are worth saving,”

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.”

“Because you are my biggest weakness,” he began in barely more than a whisper. Faythe blinked, stunned. “But you are also my greatest strength, Faythe.

“But I’ve come to realize tomorrow isn’t my promise to give. What I can promise…is me. Until the last tomorrow comes. I want you to know every broken piece of me belongs to you.”

“I was going to say I love you…” She took a short pause. Pain swelled in her chest, stealing her breath. “But it’s not enough. Not for what I feel for you.”

“You are my heart, Faythe Ashfyre. When you lose yourself to anger, when you are consumed by passion, when you risk yourself defending… Gods, do I love every impossible, reckless, and fierce part of you.” Faythe released a laugh mixed with a cry. Her eyes blurred, but elation kept her tears from falling. “And I will spend the rest of my days showing you when words fail that you are everything. In this life or the next, I will always find you.”

“I can assure you,”—he kissed her jaw—“nothing matters but you and me.

“I plan to worship every inch of you. Again and again, until you believe it. My love and desire for you knows no limits.”

“You were made for me.”

“You are my Phoenix, Faythe.”

“I realize now that I was wrong. Wrong to ever deny that you were meant to be mine, and I yours.”

“I would have endured it all again.” Reylan kissed where her feelings had spilled over. “For centuries over if it led me to you, Faythe.”

She wanted to live—for him, and for the future they could have.

“My last breath would be yours,” she heard his truth. “To make sure you knew…I will always find you.”

thank you. Because I never knew how lost I was until you found me.”

“Show me how much you hate me.”

“I want it all, Zaiana.”

They collided like the moon and stars: a merger of darkness, triumphant.

“The depraved things I’ve dreamed of doing to you, Zaiana,”

“A damn Goddess.”

“I see you, Faythe. I see you, and I hear you.”

“Always remember…you are my heart.”

“If you harm her—” He took a few calming breaths, his wrath a tangible force in the room. “There is no place you will be able to hide. No distance you can run. I will find you. And when I do, death is not what you will fear from me, though it is what you will beg for.”

“Because in this life or the next, I will always find you.”

I see you, Reylan. I see you, and I hear you, and I’m coming home.