Kingdom of Villains

by Ella Fields

“Some call you the wildling”—he lifted a broad shoulder—“but most call you Fia the feral, for not a day passes without a leaf in your hair, dirt on your cheek, or brambles stuck to your skirts.” Well, that last one wasn’t exactly new or wrong.

I peered back at the darkness, then followed him. “You mean to suggest that this place is alive?” “It’s seen too much to be without a soul.”

He was every fear I’d ever had and every wish I’d never known I’d longed for. A soul as dark as night and a heart of cloudless mornings, this contradiction of a male had me tethered tightly to him long before he’d made it irreversible.

“You might survive, but he’ll see me as a threat, or worse,” she swallowed, gripping my hand so tight that the bones in my fingers protested, “a treat. I don’t want to be a treat, Fia. I haven’t finished the book I’ve been reading, and the last time I saw my mother, I called her a fucking idiot.”

I wasn’t certain of anything anymore, but although I struggled to come to terms with all he’d hidden from me, I was also undeniably glad. Out of all the creatures in this land, his soul had chosen mine. He’d stolen everything I’d known to give me everything I never knew I needed.