A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows, #3)

by Holly Renee

She was on the brink of death, but we would slowly nurse her back to life. It was a cycle that had to continue until I was completely ready to claim the power she held. The power I would gain from killing my mate.

She had given me her magic without taking a moment to think of what the consequences would be.

She was our hope, but we were her destruction.

They thought I was their savior, but I would be no such thing. I would be their destruction.

“The Blood kingdom is my home.” I turned to look at her once more with my fingers digging into the wood of the door. “And the Blood prince is my mate. If you are to fear anything, it should be me. You should fear what I am willing to do to get it all back.”

Without her fate his rule can’t begin.

“Get your hands off my mate.” Evren’s voice boomed through the garden, a demand to not be mistaken, as he stormed through the double doors with a blood-soaked sword in his hand.

A jolt of electricity shot through me, and I dug my fingers into the fabric until my heart hammered against my chest. I took a deep breath. One I had been suffocating without, and even as my adrenaline and magic still raged through me, I felt myself calm with him near.

The priest began speaking, but I couldn’t look away from Evren. His words became a blur, and I barely managed to speak the words he asked of me. But Evren was steady and sure. He was the rock against which I crashed, and he held me firm in his gaze as he lifted a simple gold band in his fingers and slipped it over my own. He handed another to me, and I repeated the act on him with trembling fingers and a full heart. “You are bound in this world and the one beyond.” The priest spoke

He looked so powerful standing behind me, like a god, and I would kneel before him for the rest of my life. I would worship him unlike any god I had ever been told of before, and even then, I wasn’t sure it would be enough.

“I have searched for you through a thousand lifetimes, princess, and I will search for you through a thousand more.”