Page 2 of Queen of Vengeance

He addressed the stunned mob from his new form and position in the air… as a cloud of smoke. “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is wonderful to make your acquaintance.”

Jax couldn’t help but laugh to himself, a rich, silent chuckle that bubbled up from deep within. All of his fans hung onto every word he uttered. He felt like a god in werewolf skin. “I’m humbled by this excitement.”

Yet, within the quiet corners of his mind, he knew the truth of his nature: he didn’t possess a single humbled bone in his body. The words felt almost foreign on his tongue, a necessary masquerade. To Jax, their admiration was no more than his due, a natural response to his undeniable brilliance. In that moment, as he soaked in their unwavering gaze, he saw not a group of individuals but a mirror reflecting his own greatness, an affirmation of what he had always known to be true about himself.

He watched the crowds of wealthy men and women still searching for him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw an abandoned temple and transported himself there.

The Port Powder was his closest ally when his adoring fans got too crazy.

Jax checked through a broken slit in the stone wall as his fervent fan club dispersed. He breathed a laugh as he turned around.

His eyes darted around the quiet room, and his face fell.

It was so peaceful here.

The expensive, colorful tiles on the ground were once used to form the crest for Theskin, but this place has long since been forgotten.

The building had fallen into disrepair, and the roof was all but gone, allowing the setting Solare to send beams of light through.

The warmth of the room felt like his mother’s embrace.

Jax cracked a smile, which was not something he usually did genuinely.

He walked up to a bowl sitting in the middle of an altar to the sun goddess, Solara.

Overgrown vines and flowers decorated the rim, and water filled the base, the water still enough that Jax could see his reflection in it.

I know someone who would love a place like this.

His smile faded, and his green eyes flickered away from the scene as if he no longer was worthy of looking at it.

“Why am I still thinking about her?” he mumbled to himself, for no one around could understand—no one who knew.

Amber eyes flickered into his mind—pink blushing cheeks against alabaster skin. Honey-colored curls dripping around a heart-shaped face.

Jax thought that her image would disappear with time after all these years. He was wrong.

The image of her only burned further into his mind.

She tortured him somehow. Even the distance wasn’t enough to keep her out of his mind.

“I don’t deserve to be tortured! I only did what I had to do!”

He clutched his shoulder tightly as it began to burn. It was a discomfort he had become accustomed to. He wasn’t sure if it was she who was torturing him or his actions that haunted him. All he knew was that he thought about her more often now than he ever did before.

He pulled his shirt down to look at the sigil on his shoulder.

It burned bright red but was usually black. The outside rim of the sigil was a loop of thorns, and the middle was the symbol of his goddess, Lunaira.

Jax couldn’t help but wonder if her sigil burned at her as well.

“Lea…”

LEA

The sharp, earthy scent of Dragon’s tongue and Crystellias filled my nose. These pungent herbs were unmistakable, their fragrance a constant presence in my parents’ shop.

As I inhaled deeply, memories flooded back—I was home. The familiar sights of the village of Dask unfolded around me, a place that lived in my dreams every time I closed my eyes. The village itself was modest, with nothing particularly striking to boast, yet it exuded a warmth that defied explanation.

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