The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

by Carissa Broadbent

greatest love would also be his ruination—nor that either would come in the form of a tiny, helpless human child.

This was the stare of a creature who understood she was confronting death itself, and still chose to spit in its face.

And love, understand, is sharper than any stake.

The man who was afraid of nothing was afraid for me—his human daughter raised in a world designed to kill her.

Fear is just a collection of physical responses.

Maybe I had hoped I would find some missing piece of myself, when I had never felt more painfully incomplete.

“Sorry? Oh no, dove. I don’t make bets I lose.”

“He was there for me when no one else was. He’s the most loyal person I’ve ever met. The most trustworthy.”

Then, “Well, woe is her. So? We all have our shit.” “Yours isn’t her fault.”

“Don’t let them take her,” I begged again. The edges of my vision grew dark. And Raihn leaned very close to me—closer than I ever allowed anyone—as he murmured, solemn as a vow, “I won’t.”

Words were complicated. Questions were difficult.

“And I’m sorry for my behavior before the trial,” he went on. “It was… I was thinking of things that had nothing to do with you. I was having a bad day.”

“Do you want to change this world, little serpent? Then climb your cage until you are so high no one can catch you. Break its bars and make them your weapons. Nothing is sharper. I know because I did it.”

Perhaps the only useful thing my anger could do for me was motivate me.

She slithered right into those lovely, elegant fingers. She did not even see the claws.

To be young and in love is an incredible thing. It teaches one so much.

“That sounded like a dying cat, but what concerns me even more is that you actually faked a laugh at a joke that wasn’t even funny.”

“Don’t be so quick to throw away your humanity, Oraya,” he said. “You might find you miss it once it’s gone.”

“You might destroy me anyway.”

“Are you really not aware that you are always making a face?”

he watched the sun rise and fall over Sivrinaj as if it was the most precious gift in the world.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” he snapped. No. That was a lie. It was a lie the last time someone had said it to me. It was a lie even if Raihn completely believed it was the truth—and if he did, maybe he was more of a fool than I realized. Hell, maybe I was, too.

Kisses over the fresh scar I had asked for. Kisses over the old one I had not.

I knew even as I said it that it was a stupid idea. Raihn gave me a look that said, That’s a stupid idea.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” he growled as black light cracked through the air, his Asteris awoken with fresh power.

There are moments in one’s life that remain permanently distilled in memory. Some wither within minutes, and others are carved forever into our souls.

It was almost embarrassing, how stunning I found him.

“You’re safe, Oraya. I need you to know that.” You’re safe. “I know.” And I meant it. Because from the first time he told me those words, I believed him.

“So don’t you fucking dare stop fighting, princess. It would break my damned heart.”

“I’m glad it was you,” he said, quietly. And I made sure my aim was true as I slid my blade right into his heart.

He wielded a sword the way an artist wielded a paintbrush, each stroke an exercise in grace and beauty.

Perhaps I could only appreciate every brushstroke of death once I was the canvas.

Such a pure love, distilled forever in its innocence. A flower frozen in bloom.”

He was a terrible person in so many ways. And yet I loved him.

“I was ready to let it all go for you,” he murmured. “Do you know that, Oraya? I was ready to let my kingdom fall for you. You should have let me stay dead.”

You will do it because I can’t kill you. I tried. I can’t. A world without you would be a dark, depressing place. And I’ve already inflicted enough pain without committing that fucking injustice, too. So let me save you.”

Anger made things easy. Love made things complicated.

These people wanted to kill me not because I was weak, but because I was powerful.

I hated him. And I loved him.