A Deadly Vow (Fate of Vengeance, #1)

by J.D. Ronan

“My face might say otherwise.” He let go of my chin. “But I am not a violent man to those who do not deserve it.” Heat rose as his slow gaze dragged over every inch of my face, almost as if he gained to memorize it. “Still, you have every right to fear me.” I noted every fine detail. The way his features shifted as quickly as his own shadow. It lingered upon the walls behind him while it danced in the gleam, refracting off the crystals. How his eyes burned with a vengeance that made me want to believe him—desperately. “What if I am the one you need to fear?” I whispered. It was a simple question. One I did not expect to say, as I had not had that type of freedom in a long time. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, his eyes smiling with every bit of hatred I had seen before. “I am afraid I already do.”

I did not seek approval from Gods when they had never sought mine.

“If you are lying to me. . .” I smiled. His breath hitched against the feel of my own brushing against him. “I will make you wish you had left me for dead. Just like he did.” There was no crystal shoved in my neck now to prevent me from killing him otherwise. I vowed to remind him as often as I vowed to remind myself from this day forward. My brow arched. “What are you waiting for?” Our gazes collided as I pointed a single finger to the ground. He parted his mouth slightly, his face puzzled. I knew the second he understood what I wanted from him. Any man who wanted power from me would have to beg on his hands and knees for it. The Prince of Solstice dropped to one knee. “Sabine Azterrin, Princess of the Novear Kingdom.” He firmly grasped my left hand. “Will you continue the sorcerer’s bond ritual with me?”

revenge. I craved it so deeply, more than the air I breathed, more than the idea of death.

I want him to pay for everything that he has done, just as you do. I crave the day I get to feel his death, but it will be my hands that kill him. . .not yours.” The Serpent in the Shadows curled his lips into a bright and malicious smile. “If it pleases you so—as long as I get to watch.”

“If you so much as insinuate my wife upon her knees like that again, I will finally demonstrate to you the ways I have killed men who can withstand fire.” Drakkon flinched, as if Keahi had struck him directly across the face. “You will see a side to me you wished you knew to be dead, but I promise you. . .it is very much alive.”

The woman is obviously a threat, but if you like that”—he grinned—“who am I to stop you?”

“Can you feel it?” I lured him in. His dark eyelashes fluttered at the low and soft lull in my voice. “How fucking angry I am?” I trailed my fingertips lazily along the ridge of his shoulder, and heat sparked against my feathered touch. The sharp inflation of his chest as I lowered my lips to his ear filled the greed of my temper. “You are going to need to drink this, because I don’t know what made you think I would ever allow you to talk to me like that,” I darkly chuckled. “I—I’m. . .” Keahi couldn’t finish his sentence; he was breathing too hard. “Have a good night, my shadow,” I said as I removed myself from the room with the rest of the bottle at my side. “Start watching your back.”

I lowered myself down to the corner of his mouth, placing my cracked lips at the edge of where I had left him scarred, kissing his jawline.

“Where were you? I feared you would not come back for me.” “Tied up, perhaps.” He worked his jaw, unable to hold back his smile. “But I will always find my way back to you.”

Keahi kept his eyes trained on me as he lowered his lips, hovering over the side of my neck with a deep restraint, dipping his lips into my blood softly with a full body shudder. “Which one of them caused this wound?” Keahi’s words muffled through time as he spoke out loud. His fingers traced the four puncture sites of my abdomen as he drank from me. “Which. One.” The magic he bore crossed over in waves as I felt our connection through the bond strengthen. It was so powerful I felt it tearing at my soul, restitching itself with his. Keahi swept his thumb across his bottom lip and slowly placed it in his mouth. The dragon’s wings arched up as a pained moan slipped between my teeth. “Which one is it, my little liar? Or I will make sure that no one else in this room survives the night.” The power building within him at the blood offering was spiraling out of control. I sucked in a sharp breath as he lifted away, dizzied by the power rippling from him. My skin burned where his lips had touched me. On second thought. . . He leaned back, running his tongue across his bottom lip, staring at my neck. I might just kill them all.

we would be the realm’s reckoning. We would not only make those who have wronged us pay, but even the Gods themselves.