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

by Carissa Broadbent

The king did not know then that his greatest love would also be his ruination—nor that either would come in the form of a tiny, helpless human child.

Hundreds of years later, historians and scholars would look back upon this moment. This decision that, one day, would topple an empire. What a strange choice, they would whisper. Why would he do this? Why, indeed. After all, vampires know better than anyone how important it is to protect their hearts. And love, understand, is sharper than any stake.

“I will never hurt you,” he said softly. “But I am the only one who will make that promise, and keep it. I will never give you false safety or kind lies. But I will teach you how to wield those teeth of yours.”

The Full Moon Trial. The Waning Trial. The Halfmoon Trial. The Crescent Trial. The New Moon Trial.

That was fucking Asteris.

Ooh. Raihn is special

This, I knew, was Vincent telling me that he loved me. No one had ever said those words to me—at least, not that I could ever remember. But he communicated it a thousand ways over the years, most of them coated in death. I love you. Here’s how you stay alive. Here’s how you make sure that no one can hurt you.

“And you’ll be easy to kill, when the Halfmoon is over.”

He was on his knees, staring up at me. And that—the way he looked at me—was the first thing that felt real. Real, and raw, and… and confusing. Because he looked at me in sheer awe—like I was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. Like I was a fucking goddess.

“Be careful with him. He’s a dangerous person.” “Some would call you a dangerous person.”

“Not with you.”

“I’ve lived through some injustices in the last couple of centuries. Seen some fucking travesties. But one of the biggest, Oraya, is that anyone taught you that you should become anything other than exactly what you are.”

All at once, I understood what this was. What we were doing.

I could cry.

He smelled like the sky—he tasted like falling.

the idea of dying without knowing him completely was torturous.

“We’ll probably die tomorrow,” I said. “Show me something worth living for.”

“I would beg,” he murmured. “For you, I would. You have fucking destroyed me, Oraya. Do you know that?”

“The sun’s going down,” I said. “Don’t you want one last look?” And Raihn didn’t hesitate—didn’t look away from me once—as he answered, “No,” and kissed me.

“It has been a pleasure, princess,”

“You aren’t my prisoner,” he said. “You’re my queen.”