Sworn to the Shadow God (Aspect and Anchor #2)

by Ruby Dixon

Oh shit. I’ve read about this in books—and watched enough anime—to know what this is. I’ve fallen through a portal into another dimension. Part of me is a little panicked, but then that fades. This. Is. AWESOME.

"I hate to break it to you, but this is a stick."

That might just be the fangirl in me that fell in love with Prince Zuko instead of Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I've got a thing for the bad guy.

“I don’t like you.” He lifts his fingers and crosses them. “I’m not haunted by you every moment that I’m here.”

“Tonight’s our wedding night.”

“Don’t you know that I will claim you in blood if I must? That I will claim you with tears on your face? Old or young? Don’t you yet know that you will always be mine and nothing else matters?”

“Is it wrong to want to touch my husband?”

“And then we’ll figure out how to get you home first,” I say, resolute. “Because I love you and I’m not going to leave you alone here.”

“I don’t love you, Max. I haven’t loved you since the moment I first saw you.”

She isn’t here. She’s what he fought for. She’s what he endured another humiliating Anticipation for. She’s what he broke the rules for. He loves her so much that he aches, he who has never felt this kind of soul-deep pain before.

He’s never met anyone like her. She looks at him as if he can do anything, and when he disappoints her, she asks him to do better. She’s not afraid of him. Never afraid. She smiles at him, and talks with him about silly, stupid things…and he loves it. With Max at his side, he knows he will change. How can he not? She will want him to be a benevolent, just god. No one has ever wanted that for him. They have always wanted Death to break the rules so they would not dirty their hands. Even his own brother, Kalos, has used him. But not Max. Max gets angry on his behalf when others try to use him. He…loves her. He can’t wait to spend all eternity with her. He can’t wait to be better…because of her. Because he needs her smiles like he needs air. He needs her love and her approval. There is no one like his Max. He’ll destroy worlds for her. But this is Max. She’d rather he heal than destroy…and that makes it all the sweeter.