Broken Dove (Fantasyland, #4)

by Kristen Ashley

“I am Valentine Rousseau. Like you, I’m not of this world. I live in New Orleans. And I’m a witch.”

“A dove has great beauty, but is easily broken.” That was nice and all, poetic even, though a wee bit scary, and last, all true.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he whispered, his eyes locked to mine as I drew in breath. “You might get it.” He put his hand to the doorknob and finished, “And not want it.” Then he was gone.

But now I had a second chance. A second chance to make a life all my own. It came in a bizarre way that I would never in my wildest dreams imagine would be real.

“I have known those who life has taught to keep themselves isolated,” he stated quietly. “It is always folly and never ends well. No matter what experiences we have, we must keep ourselves open to having more. Don’t you agree?”

the madam who puts herself on the back of a horse while injured, determined to learn something new to her world. And the woman who takes a hand in greeting while looking steadfastly in your eyes, hers hesitant but unwavering. And last, the woman who would do her best to embrace a new world very foreign to her even when circumstances are not in her favor. I know all of this having officially met you moments ago and watching but for two days. What I want to know is what more there is to know.”

“It’s my experience that a weakness understood is no weakness,” Draven put in at this point, and I looked to him. “If you know you have it, even if you can’t control it, you can make allowances for it. It is those who ignore or don’t understand their weaknesses who are wasted by them.”

There was Derrik, Achilles, Draven, Alek, Hans and Laures. There was also Remi and Gaston.

She looked up, and before he could speak, she snapped, “Bellebryn.” Then, without delay, she stomped through the snow to the sleigh. Knowing he was cursed and not caring in the slightest, when she did, Apollo smiled.

But he’d had a broken dove in his hand, and instead of setting about mending it, from near on the moment he brought her to his world, he’d done nothing but tighten his grip, fracturing her further.

stated, “My dove, the more time I spend with you, the more I learn about you and the more I come to understand there’s much to learn. What I have learned is that you are amusing. You are spirited. You can be charming. You can also be disagreeable. You can further be vexing. You’re annoyingly very good during an argument. But that simply means you’re quick-witted, which is not a bad thing, unless one finds themselves in an argument with you.”

Did I just agree to start a sexual relationship…no, to continue one alongside beginning a relationship-relationship with the Apollo of this world? I think I did. Okay. Right. Shit

I stared at the bodies and blood littering our little sitting room and I did this for a millisecond before Apollo thundered, “When I tell you to run, you bloody do what I say

But in that moment, having her as he wanted, his mind could finally move to other things. And when it did, his lips whispered into the dark, “Why did they not use magic?”

“I tell you now, my poppy, for years, I never thought I would again be happy. Never again.” He tucked me closer and finished on a rough whisper. “So I never imagined I could be happier

“Loretta, Meeta and I were having a wander,” I shared slightly dishonestly (okay, mostly dishonestly). “Indeed,” Apollo replied, his voice rumbling with humor, “I saw you three in the forest.” He leaned into me and finished on a whisper that hopefully only I could hear, “Skulking.” God! Someone kill me.

“You will not know,” she started quietly. “You will never know. I have lived a life in service. That forced on me or that necessary to put food in my belly, clothes on my back. In this world, all have their place. In her world,” she inclined her head to the door, “I sense, they do not. In her world, I am her equal. Thus, in this world, that is how she treats me. Even if I am in service to her, she never makes me feel this is the case. In this world, in my place, such as this is a gift more valuable than a hundred chests of gold. You can never understand this, but I do. And it is a treasure I wish to keep…for always.”

Love like you build with Miss Madeleine is as she is. It is not of this world. Not of her world. It is beyond the worlds. It is beyond anything.

Home was a warm, safe place where you were always welcome. Where there was love and memories of laughter and happy times.

Zahnin said something in their language, and I watched Circe grin then quickly beat it back. “What did he say?” I asked. She again looked to me. “You don’t want to know.” Zahnin also thought I’d been stupid.

“I have vowed to keep you safe, to make it so you never feel fear again, to give you better, and here I stand, with you so close but still holding yourself away, because it was me who failed at giving you all those things.”

“But this one, the first I will give you knowing you return yours with love, will be the one I most treasure for the rest of my life.”

“Some time ago, a man filled with sorrow handed me a bag filled with hope. Those stones were in that bag,” she told me quietly and my eyes dropped back down to the necklace. “He knew, as I knew and now you know, even as he paid for the chance to have it again that love is priceless, love is worth every battle fought, every wound endured. He knew, as you now know, ma colombe, that love is everything.”