“Adelaide.” Cain’s warning lands on deaf ears.Adelaide explodes into a being of energy and magic bathes her in its glow. She slams into the dungeons, rips the bars apart, and does what every good friend will do, in the whisk of an eye she frees her jerking friend and then she’s cradling Safira’s head, tapping the side of her face lightly.“Safira?”Safira groans and Adelaide’s breathing hitches. She looks at the state of her friend’s body, the boils sprouting across her arms and over her skin, and then she turns to me, her face filled with open hatred and fierce loathing.“What have you done to her?!”I chuckle despite the urge to stay silent.“I haven’t done anything to her, Adelaide.” Her eyes lock onto mine again and I let mine reflect the passion I feel for her, the want that still burns heavy within me “Nothing, yet.”Safira screams again and Adelaide’s body shudders. The light surrounding her makes her look mystical like an angel just descended from the heavens.A pretty angel
I cry and I call on every bit of power inside me to manifest. I want it to save me and correct the damage Lyros has done because…… he’s done a lot of it.I look at Safira again and she’s heaving quite heavily. Her body is weak, her eyes are constantly closing, and I don't know what to do.And Rhys… he can’t speak. Not because he doesn’t want to but because he can’t. His tongue has been cut out and the pain that must have caused him. “I’ll do it.”Cain’s body releases that cracking sound again and I can't bring myself to look at him. If I do, I don't know what I'd do.I might just decide to kill all of us and get it done and over with. Doing that would mean ending us all, but it would also put their blood on my hands. Them, my friends. I can’t do that.Lyros meets my eyes and I wipe the tears dropping from them. I know what he wants.He doesn’t want me. He wants the happiness he thinks I will bring him. Lyros isn’t driven by love or the need to be loved.He’s past that now. What he wa
She’s back, and she’s mine.Adelaide hums with energy. Strange and foreign energy, but energy that I cannot deny lures me to it.She glances my way and takes a deep breath.“Step back.”Magic blazes to life around her before I can and she pulls in a slow breath.Golden threads float in the air around her and as she sets her eyes on Safira, the half-caste begins to glow, and a soft exhale leaves her lips.Adelaide works healing magic stronger than the best healer I've ever known. She was a woman who was crazy, and who deprived her young son of happiness so much that he promised he’d get it, no matter what.Adelaide’s magic seems to hum a tune and she moves her hand in one clean motion.I feel something prickle the back of my neck and Safira’s body jerks violently. Metallic green gunk hits the wall opposite her and even as a Lycan king, I can feel the potency of that poison.The change is immediate. Safira’s breathing stabilizes and the skin on her arms regains its shine. Adelaide heal
A life of happiness was never meant for me.The sun beats down on my back as I stare at the stalks of grass swaying in the gentle wind. I am on my knees again.My heart palpitates with pain and anguish as the sun stares back. Hot, burning, almighty in the face of an insignificant speck of dust like me.“Lady Adelaide.”I raise my head to look at the servant approaching me. She has dark hair and she stares at me with sad eyes.“Lord Lyros is back. He’s released you from your punishment.”My eyes widen and hot relief pours through my heart. I bolt off the floor and run across the field toward the manor. The grass tears at the skin on my leg and the sun sends wave after wave of heat chasing after me but I don't care.I have to see him….. I have to apologize.Tears stream down my cheeks because Lyros saved me.He saved me from my abusive father. From my pack that never appreciated me. From men who wanted to rape me. From a mother who would have watched me die if she could.Lyros saved me
Lyros kisses me breathless and then he gets up from the bed. I lie there, sore and aching, and sated in that way that comes from deep intimacy. Lyros is always eager to be with me but for some reason, it’s not the way I imagined it would be. I feel empty inside. There’s a hole I can't fill, a gaping depth I feel is always going to be there, one I will have to banish as soon as possible. The sound of the showers comes on and I stare at the ceiling as Lyros bathes. I feel like a newborn child sometimes. Not because anything about me feels new, no. Sometimes I feel there’s a weight on my chest and it gets tighter with each passing day. It’s hard to live with something like that but I do. I do and it brings me pain and joy at the same time. The world is new to me. My memory is fractured in places. There are gaps that I can't seem to fill out. Sometimes I'm not sure if the voices I hear in my head are real or made up. I know some things the same way I know blood flows through my ve
Morning comes around with Lyros already out of the room and on his way to attend whatever Lycan Kings always have to attend to. He made love to me again, roughly this time and as I turn to prevent the sun hitting my eyes at a blinding angle, my body hurts.My scalp prickles where he dragged my hair too tight. My jaw aches where he slammed into my mouth with no warning, my throat is sore and it feels bruised. Patches of skin on my body prickle where fingerprints have been branded into them, and the area between my legs is sore.It’s a new feeling for me to get used to. But with pleasure comes pain I guess, so there’s no reason for me to complain.A knock comes from the door. “Lady Adelaide.”The maid barely whispers my voice for fear of making the mistake to be here while Lyros is still in the room.I can almost feel her shaking where she stands and despite my sore throat, I manage to croak a response.“I’m in here!”The words come out raspy but she knows that is the signal for the a
Raina stays with me and pores over the map but I can tell she’s not getting anything from it too. The map is so wide we’re kneeling on it and my dress ruffles when I move.The fabric is a lot. Lyros doesn’t allow me to wear pants and even shorter, simpler dresses are forbidden. It’s no problem though, I've always wanted to wear nice clothes. It seems he knows that so he’s acting on it.“How about here? In the Eridite mountains.”I look at the landmark Raina has pointed out and it stares me back in the face. The mountains have been illustrated expertly, and whoever drew the maps is good at their craft, yet something tells me this map could be better. Not just this map but all the other maps I've been shown so far.“The mountains do look nice.” And they do look like a place that would be hard to get to, but I wouldn't hide something there. I don’t know why I'm so sure of that. I just know that I am.I wouldn’t hide something valuable to me in an unknown land or place. How do I get bac
“When will you bring her out of the dream state?”I look at Adelaide’s sleeping form on the bed and frown at Rafie’s question. She is my responsibility now. So why does he care what I do with her or what I don't? She’s mine to use as I like, and so far, I've been messing with her memories.Right now Adelaide is back in the fortress, living the life of my bride, waiting for me to come back and put her mind at ease again. She depends solely on me now and it sends a rush of pleasure to my brain.“I’ll release her when the memories are done settling in. She’s only lived two months of her life as the Lycan King’s bride. She needs one last month for the timeline to be complete.”“And her magic?”Frost crackles in the air and I turn to Rafie with anger lighting me up from the inside.“What about it?Rafie chuckles and stares me down, unflinching. “She is the most powerful person in the four Kingdoms at the moment, Lyros. You saw the visions, her mother is Diane. She is Ashryn’s rightful he