PROLOGUE
The man I loved tried to kill me. He lured me in and took the pieces that mattered most. For months, I laid with him, laughed with him, and fell in love with him. I gave all of myself to him. And not one moment did I doubt his intentions.
If I had known that falling in love would leave me fighting for my life, I never would have done it. But I didn’t know better, and because of my foolishness, I nearly paid the ultimate price. A mistake that would change my very being, challenge my will to live, and spark a need for revenge that could not be satiated with anything but payment in blood. His blood. And I will stop at nothing until I have it. It isn’t my pride that fans these flames of rage and loathing. No. It is something far more than that. It is the lack of justice that leaves us vulnerable to the whims of men too often rooted in malice.
How many of us have suffered at the hands of men? Beaten, silenced, used. How many of us have had everything taken from us, only to be told to be grateful they did not take more? They take because they don’t think we’ll fight back. We’re not supposed to. And if we do, we’re punished. But no more. If there is no justice to be given by those with the power to do so, then I will take it by force. And so I take my vow of vengeance. The future I thought I’d have forsaken in exchange for retribution.
Whatever the cost, whatever the sacrifice, the cycle ends now. I have risen from the ashes of his destruction an ugly, mangled thing. The old Rhiannon is dead, body and soul. He made sure of that. But forged from that darkness, I have found new purpose. Revenge.
As for Silas, he will regret awakening the monster within me. I used to look at her in the mirror with disdain and tear-filled eyes. Now, I see the power she wields and the fear she will conjure in his heart as he draws his last breath and that final flicker of light vanishes from his eyes. He will know that his own mistakes led to his demise. His last thoughts will be regrets of ever daring to set his sights on me, thinking he could take what was mine and wreck me without consequence. He will beg for mercy at the hands of the woman he thought he had reduced to nothing. He thought he saw power in me before, now he will see what true power is.
I’ve been warned away from this path. Those who love me have pleaded with me to find life in all that remains intact around me. But it’s too late to turn back. Only once he’s destroyed can I think about starting over.
I will hone my rage into a weapon that will not fail me. I may be weak now, but I will fight every day until I’m strong again. Every labored breath and sign of weakness only spurs me to press onward. To reclaim what was stolen from me. I know that my hunger for vengeance will either destroy me or put me back together. But there is no choice and there is only one way to find out. Silas will pay with his life as I have. My retribution may be my ruination, but it is a sacrifice I am prepared to make.
R.S.