Page 111 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

FORTY-TWO

VINCENT

I stood in the massive refinery, a large building off the west wing of Nismera’s palace. At times, I admired her reasoning. She had everything she could possibly need in one place. I shuffled on my feet and stared out the window, watching the sun lower. It had been another failed hunt for Dianna and her fate, and I had barely made it back in time.

It was a study in frustration, following breadcrumbs that led nowhere. I was surprised she had not told her brothers what she had me doing, but I didn’t care too much. I would do what she asked like I always had. There was no choice in the matter. I blew out a slow breath, sorry I’d missed lunch. Dammit.

“Need to be somewhere?” she purred behind me.

Her hand ran along my shoulder plate, but I stayed still beneath her touch. “No, my liege. It’s just smoldering in here.”

It was only half a lie. It was blistering hot in here, her workers working away at whatever device she was building, but it was true I had plans. Camilla and I had lunch every day at the same time atop the fortress. It was the only time either of us knew peace, and I enjoyed it. She laughed the other day over a stupid remark I’d made, sending my blood boiling. It was so easy with her. It always had been. I had visited her on the remains of Rashearim for the same reasons. When I was with her, I could just relax and be anything but myself, just existing in her presence. She asked nothing of me but that.

I was in way over my head when it came to her. I knew it now, and I’d known it hundreds of years ago, yet I couldn’t help myself even if I wanted to. She was like a magnet, drawing me in, and I was helpless to resist her pull.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be here long.” Nismera dropped her hand, offering me a coy smile. It did nothing for me, and it hadn’t in a very long time. I remembered those days back on Rashearim, and how I’d hung on every word she spoke, every move she made. I thought I loved her then, and she loved me, but like a flower unattended, that love wilted. I saw the signs too late, promising myself to her in an unbreakable bond, and now I was stuck. Until death.

Sometimes, I wished she’d struck out in anger toward me, wished she would free me from her servitude, but it never came. So, I did what she said and lied, manipulated, and hurt because I had no choice. Her will was my will.

My thigh still burned from the memory of when she stuck me, binding my will to hers. No longer was I just a celestial under her guard, but as she put it, her pet. I couldn’t break a command of hers even if I dared. She had tricked me then, claiming love, and I believed it so fiercely. I wanted love like any breathing fool. A part of me still craved it. But now all I thought of was how sick and twisted it was, how it could bring the greatest to their knees, and I hated it.

My heart thudded as I remembered how she had taken me away from Rashearim for what I thought was a night of passion, only it soon turned into a living nightmare. She rode me until I was blind with bliss, then stabbed me as a hundred witches descended on us. I still dreamed of the chanting and the burn of that binding spell. In my nightmares, I remember begging her to make it stop, but she didn’t listen. She never did. I hated it, hated her.

Machines screeched to a halt, yanking me from the memory. I shook my head, thinking of the one witch who only ever touched me with care. She was my salvation, my peace.

Quill approached, shuffling his feet. He was covered head to toe in grease as he knelt before Nismera. “It is done, my liege.”

Nismera squealed, clapping her hands. “Excellent, Quill. Let me see my new toy.”

“Yes, yes.” Quill turned, motioning to his staff, and they pushed a cart toward us. On top sat what appeared to be a piece of armor wrapped in cloth.

“What is it?” I asked.

Nismera stepped forward and yanked the cloth off of it, revealing a shiny steel gauntlet. She picked it up, turning toward me.

“It’s for you, pet.”

“Me?”

She nodded hopefully. “Hold out your arm.”

I swallowed the bit of apprehension I felt and did as she commanded, just as I always did. She slid the gauntlet into place, and my skin tingled as raw power ripped up my arm.

I grunted as the sensation became nearly unbearable before it eased. “What was that?”

Her smile made me afraid to know more as she clapped her hands together. “I received word that a certain prisoner reached Flagerun.”

“The prison in the mountains?”

She nodded. “Yes, the fate is there. He was captured in Jade City before it fell. With the way she has been tirelessly looking for him, I’m assuming he is her new lover. I need him dead, and you’re the one I trust the most to get the job done.”

I shook my head. “You have the Kings of Yejedin, Kaden, and Isaiah. They are much stronger.”

She placed a hand under my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. “You dismantled and destroyed my greatest enemy. Not them. You can do this, and I made the perfect weapon to help.”

“It can kill a fate?” I asked, flexing my fingers in the gauntlet.

“It can kill anything.” Nismera stood on her tiptoes, placing a kiss on my lips, but I felt nothing, no spark of lust or pleasure, just her lips on mine. She pulled away, and I nodded, forcing a smile to match hers.

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