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 was my mate, and I failed her. She had chosen me over everything. She had chosen me even though she knew the truth of me delivering her father to Queen Kaida so many years ago. The bond inside me that laced the two of us together felt taut and strained with the ache of the two of us being apart. I had given her every reason not to, but she still chose me.

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

But there wasn’t a force strong enough in this world or the next that could stop me from loving her.

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.”

“Your brother didn’t take from me. I gave. And there’s nowhere on my body you can touch that hasn’t already been claimed by him.”

“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.

When she looked at these scars, I didn’t want her to think of him. I wanted her to think of me and how my love for her was something I had waited a lifetime for. I would have waited a hundred lifetimes to get to her.

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

My eyes drifted closed, and I was almost asleep when his whispered words drifted over me like a prayer. “The stars chose you, Adara Achlys. It was always you.”

He smiled down at her as he held on to her for dear life, and I watched as another man lost himself into a woman, blessed by the stars.