Queen of Rot and Pain (The Pale Court, #2)

by Liv Zander

“I would rather have you hate me for eternity than not have you at all.”

“Guilt and sorrow, hope and sin. The madness of their whispers lies within.”

“Most recently, I prepared a grave for her, lowered her into it, and had corpse children fill it with dirt.”

“The scent of ash might be burnt into my skin, but you are forever branded into my heart. Precious and forever treasured, this I vow. I love you. I want nothing more than for you to love me back. That, and…” his hand slipped over my collarbone, down between my breasts, and settled against my belly, “this child.” Confused, I shook my head. “I don’t understand.” “You once asked me how far I would go to see you returned.” The lap of his tongue at the nape of my neck sent an unexpected quiver into my thighs. “Little one, I will set the world ablaze and stand smiling at the center of its flames.”

“I will kill, burn, and cut everyone who dared to bring heartache to my wife. I will do all this and worse to avenge what mortals did to you and me. And I will not stop until the lands are safe once more, and Eilam gifts you the breath of life, giving our child the mother it needs to grow.”

“Suffering the pain of flesh is my duty; protecting you from it is my vow.”

“I am the Queen of Rot and Pain, beautiful and kind, terrible and cruel,” I murmured to myself and Rose, then stared down at Eilam, who still held his hand pressed to a wound already closed. “Now give me my baby.”

“Her breath for mine.” Leaning over, she brought the blade close to Eilam once more, then let the bone clank to the floor. “Or I swear I’ll not just be a speck on your memory, but a lesson on what those strange creatures called women are capable of once they have nothing left to lose.”

“We are all monsters in someone’s story, little one,” he said, then finally gave his nod of approval, “except in our own.”

The fourth one, one of the priests, stared up at me from tear-drowned eyes. “I cannot say, Adelaide, which one of you is worse. You or your husband.”

“The answer to that is simple, mortal.” I leaned over and stabbed into his belly, placing my lips by his ear. “We’re equally terrible.”