Page 94 of Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

But this was wrong.

It had to be wrong.

“I’m your God now,” he mumbled, tilting his head from one side to the other, brushing his nose by mine, getting close enough to give me an idea of what he would taste like. “You belong to me.”

My eyes fell shut again. I was on the very fucking edge, and Ineededto fall off.

“You will always belong to me.”

I gasped, gripping into him, feeling the end. I could see it,tasteit.

“You are not a coward,” Trick said, his shadows slowing. “Get what you need, don’t give them an inch.”

His presence disappeared as soon as it had come, the shadow burning my clit flashing away from me just before I tipped over the edge.

I collapsed back into the wall, panting, my heart racing, sweat trickling down my spine, my legs shaking.

I bit back the scream of frustration.

I grabbed my chest, trying to calm my own breathing, letting the rage settle in my bones.

It took a while before I was finally able to think straight. I snarled as I forced myself tostraighten. “Ifucking hate you!”

A chuckle sounded deep within my soul, and I swore, I could see him smile in my mind’s eye. Gods, why thefuckcouldn’t I stop him from doing that?

“Because you don’t want to.”

That voice was so clearly mine, and I hated myself for it.

I harnessed that rage, that frustration, and fixed my appearance before finally stalking across the town square. My steps were a bit wobbly at first, each step causing pain to shoot up my spine, but by the time I got to the steps, the pain drove me more than hindered me.

Next time we were in the same room together, he was getting another rock to the face. Or slap. Orsomething. He wasn’t going to keep controlling me like this.

The knights at the door stopped me just as I reached the top step.

I looked between them, chin held high, shoulders back. “I don’t have a letter this time,” I told them, “but the High King has requested an answer and I am here to give it.”

They exchanged a glance and the right one stepped up. “No letter, no entrance,” he declared just as someone opened the door.

A pair of silver eyes met mine, watching me with a coldness that chilled me to my bones. They reminded me of the steel of a blade, just as unemotional too.

The Prince.

Raymond Gerodia lifted his chin, wearing nothing but the most expensive threads money could buy. He had soft features, a lean frame, and slightlypaler skin than the average person. His silver hair was pushed back, arrogance in every movement. It wasn’t even the type of earned arrogance that Cole or Trick wore, this was the kind that only gold could buy. “Who are you?”

My skin crawled, my gut twisting. “I’m here to see the High King. He should be expecting me.”

He looked down his nose at me, twisting his lip in disgust. “Unafraid to look me in the eyes? That’s quite interesting for a common street rat.”

My cheeks burned in anger, but before I had a chance to think through my response, the weight around my neck made itself more known than it had since the moment I was collared.

“Prick,”I muttered to the High King of the Fallen. “I lower my gaze for no one. Especially those who have not earned my respect.”

“How dare you—”

Raymond held up a hand, quieting his knights. “Careful of your tongue, girl. I can hunt you for the rest of your life.”

I almost laughed at that. “I’ve been hunted by worse and far more terrifying things than a boy with too much money.”

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