The Puppeteer and The Poisoned Pawn (The Pawn and The Puppet #3)

by Brandi Elise Szeker

Aurick Demechnef. Our country’s leader. The man who saved me from the cold. The friend who cared for me after Scarlett died. He plucked me from the snow, gave me a home, a job, a support system that came crumbling down when he first hit me. And it was all a trick. Why?

I want to throw my shoe at his head.

The subtle ACOTAR reference!!!!!!

“Because… I’d never let you burn alone.”

“He’s not breathing,” I utter, voice breaking into tiny pieces. “I can’t hear his heart beating!”

Was not prepared to BAWL at work today. I am so close to looking up spoilers just to see if he ends up coming back or not:(

“I don’t know—how to let him go,” I say again.

I want to kill him. Because although I know this is my fault… It’s his too.

The only people that can make any of this less painful… are dead.

He smirks to himself. “Skylenna is my soul mate.”

“Be the dragon that flies over men, dashna.”

I could have loved you sooner or realized”—air whooshes from my chest—“I’ve loved you my whole life!”

I’m so cold. I’m so cold, and I’ll never get warm again. Because my sun is gone. It’s dead, and it’s not coming back.”

If you can’t survive without the sun, then we’ll build a fire.”

That girl is dead. No longer in existence. No longer able to call the shots. This woman standing in the thirteenth room… has learned to be the dragon that flies over men.

But I no longer feel the helplessness that once held me hostage. Because I am the puppeteer. And this asylum is my stage.

There is nothing in this moment that could shock me.

I already know there is going to be something MASSIVE dropped on us soon after this sentence and I am itching for it.

Skylenna coughs. “It’s a good thing you know me better—than anyone in the world. You always said I was your master puppeteer. Stick to the plan I made in the tree house, Kane. When it’s all over, I’ll remember you.” Kane breaks out into a sprint, filled to the brim with raging emotions that are about to split him apart. When we finally get to the infirmary, Skylenna grips Kane before he sets her on a gurney outside. “Promise me—you won’t let me fall in love with you. I don’t want it to hurt more than it already will.”

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP.

“You can fake your death. Control the outcome so they won’t have a chance to hurt either of you.”

WTFFFFFF

“Oh my god,” Ruth whimpers, covering her mouth. “It’s empty.”

I KNEW there was a reason the coffin stayed closed when they were burying him!!!!!!

“Will you wait for me?” I asked him. “Until I’m old and gray.”

“I have waited half my life to hear you say that,” I breathe out, trapping her face between my hands. “I love you, Skylittle. I’ve loved you every moment since I pulled you from that basement. I’ve loved you as a child, a teenager—but as an adult, I am deeply, madly, agonizingly in love with you.”

THANK YOU FOR BRINGING HIM BACK!!!!! I don't even know if I would've been able to continue the series without him in it. The chapters without him alive were hard enough!!

This woman is my soul mate. My oldest friend.

“You are the reason I chose not to stay in the inner world. You are why I’ve lived through my trauma. You are the love of my life.”

How could I slow down the pace at which I was falling deeply in love with her?

“You’d get separation anxiety if I left your side for too long,” he murmurs, deep and husky.

I have Dessin back. I’ve learned the secrets of our past. And for the first time in my life, I’m ready to fight back.

“Then I’ll wait for you, Skylittle. I’ll always wait for you.”