Page 99 of The Crown of a Fallen Queen
A tear weasels its way to my cheek, and I rub it off violently. “Not an important part. Barely a shard. My heart is useless.Broken.”
“And if you marry that Rayne King, you’ll never find out what that shard could have become, had it been allowed to heal.”
“I don’t have a choice. It’s the only way I can protect you,” I explain. “Besides, it’s not such a bad idea. Who knows? Maybe his magic won’t trigger the cupids. Why would it, when it’s not truly mine? I’ll finally have magic again, and if things get a little too dark, I can always fry his brains out. I’ll at least have the option. It isn’t so different than marrying Seth, and you’ll see that when your silly crush on him fizzles out.”
“Diamantay! Don’t do this. It’ll destroy you.” His voice is high and urgent, like he didn’t really believe me before. “Alaric is like Ethan. You can’t marry a man like that.”
The mention of my father brings acid to my mouth. A dark hole inside me pulses, aches,throbs.
“I’ve been fighting all my life, to belong only to myself, to be queen in my own right, tomatter, and for what?”
“For what’s right.”
“Seth is Freya’s heir, Perce.”
“Children shouldn’t be blamed for their parent’s sins.”
I shake my head. “Even if I could find a way out of this, Alaric is too strong, and Seth is his prisoner— He’d hurt him. And you.”
“Then fight! Raise hell! Recruit this creepy Nathan guy to help, if you must. Be Devi Eros!”
“I’m not the Devi you used to know. I faded away, day by day, month by month. I’m tired of running, Perce. I want it done.”
“You’ve given up?”
“It’s no use. My heart is unfixable.” I tear at my fiery locs, wishing I could erase them—erase the woman, the myth, the legend. “The girl you were born to protect isgone.”
He presses his palms to my mangled heart over the diamond-shaped plates. “No, she’s here. She’s righthere.”
“I’m sorry.” I turn my back on him and squeeze my eyes shut. The panicked edge of my voice withers into a decisive drawl. “I need you to stay here quietly until I return, Percival Arthur Batten.”
The words hang in the air—more hurtful and damaging than if I’d sucker-punched him.
“Don’t you d—” His voice wheezes out, cut off mid-sentence.
“It’s only for a little while…” I don’t turn back to see the betrayal on his face, the disappointment, the hurt.
I can see them perfectly in my mind.
Somehow, this night has gone horribly, horribly wrong. I slip out of my room, each painful step leading me to Alaric’s bedroom.
Nathaniel’s offer might’ve been well-intentioned, but he made it before he knew his brother was king, and going to Seth? That would sign his death warrant. He’s stuck in a cage,powerless, so there’s only one option left that keeps us both alive.
But as it turns out, I’m not the only prisoner running loose in this cursed citadel.
A flicker of movement. The softest exhale in the dark.
“That’s”—the voice scrapes through the silence, hoarse and far too familiar—“quite a dress.”
Seth.
My steps falter. I thought I could slip into Alaric’s bed unnoticed and bury my shame in silence and silk sheets, but fate’s got other plans.
The damp air of the citadel crawls along my spine, up my legs and exposed thighs. The metal bodice of my dress bites into my ribs with every breath, and I stand there burning. Unraveling.
Seth is still wearing the same clothes he had on when we arrived, his shirt torn at the front like he fought his way past a few guards. Dirt smudges his jaw, and his dark curls are damp with sweat, stuck to his forehead. He smells of despair and humidity, raw magic and blightroot powder, but he’s still the most attractive man in the worlds.
Relief floods me so hard, I nearly drop to my knees. I drink him in like a starving woman, my eyes tracing every familiar line—his large shoulders, his witty mouth, the shape of his arms. I want to run to him, bury my face in his chest, and disappear in his embrace.
