Eclipse of the Crown (Villains & Virtues, #3)

by A.K. Caggiano

That appealing thing was hope, of course, but feelings were to Damien as object permanence was to an infant—confusing, slightly frightening, and likely to inspire tantrums.

“It is as if some sadistic god refuses to allow this until an unknown objective is met,” he grumbled.

“Battalion One, prepare charge. Battalion Two, prepare replace.”

“You may be ugliest concubine, but also bravest.”

Or something like that; who could really remember? It was not as if it were written down in some tome, and he could flip to chapter sixteen to repeat it.

A s he approached the site of The Temple of the Void, Damien assumed one of two things would happen: he would live, or he would die. He was right, of course, as those are just about the only two things that can ever happen to any being, but he was rather more dramatic about the details.

“Xander?” “At your disservice, baroness.”