Novels by basseyagatha22

Asher’s POVThe iron doors ground open, and the heat of the subterranean pit rolled over us in a suffocating wave.Kaelen didn’t loosen his grip on my arm as the guards hauled the heavy iron-wood barriers wide. We stepped out onto the high stone dais. It was the exact same balcony where Kaelen and Vaelin had sat sipping wine on the night they bought me, watching me bleed in the dirt.Four carved chairs sat near the stone railing. Vaelin was already occupying the far seat. He didn’t say a word as we entered. He didn’t even turn his head. He just stared down into the empty pit, his jaw locked tight.Kaelen pulled out one of the center chairs and guided me down by the waist, leaving me trapped between him and his brother.Below us, the rusted iron gates ground open.Guards marched into the soot-stained pit, dragging a long line of chained, bruised captives into the sickly green light of the braziers. The master chain rattled loudly against the stone. My heart broke as I watched them stum

Asher’s POVThe stone walls of the upper corridors felt like they were closing in on my throat.I needed air. I bypassed the guarded arches and took the winding servant stairs down toward the lower arena, my boots moving on autopilot while my mind spun in a hundred dangerous directions.Vaelin’s furious, starving eyes were still burned into the back of my eyelids. I had found the crack in the Commander’s armor. I knew exactly how to break him now. But every move I made brought me closer to men who could destroy me if I miscalculated.I pushed through the iron gate and stepped out into the center of the fighting pit.The afternoon sun beat down on my neck, its glare hot and blinding.The massive expanse of sand was quiet today, but the memory of the blood and the roaring crowd still echoed in my ears. I walked slowly across the dirt, my eyes drifting toward the dark, iron-barred cave carved deep into the rock wall at the far end of the arena.Thick, icy white smoke drifted out from th

Asher’s POVThe royal suite felt like a velvet coffin.Kaelen had stormed off to find whatever the hell he needed, leaving me alone with the quiet. But the quiet didn't last. Even through the doors, I could hear the muted buzz of the upper servant corridors. The whole damn palace was already whispering about the Northern bride. A fated mate for the princes. A girl who would erase me the second she crossed the drawbridge.Kaelen had told me to lock the door. I should have listened, but sitting there waiting for him felt like being locked in another cage.I needed to get out of that room. I grabbed my cloak and slipped into the hall.As I walked, a sudden, searing heat spiked across my chest. The gold brand. It flared hard, pulsing in a slow rhythm that dragged my boots forward. It was pulling me back toward Xorax’s study. Toward that blue crystal.I followed the ache down the eastern colonnade, grinding my teeth against the heat. But as I rounded the corner of the secondary armory, a s

Asher’s POVThe announcement of a royal bride shouldn't have disturbed me.I was here for revenge and to burn this court to the ground. So what the fuck was this sudden, twisting knot in my gut? Why did it feel like a cold blade sliding right under my ribs?No. I shut my eyes for a second, forcing the weakness down. I didn’t care who they married. I didn't care.BANG.The sound snapped me back to reality.Kaelen’s fist had slammed onto the table. The silver fork in his grip bent backward, warped by the force of his hand. His knuckles were bone-white, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle ticked near his ear. He slowly shifted his gaze from his untouched plate to the trembling steward at the end of the room."What fated bride?" Kaelen’s voice was dead calm, which only made the violent spike of his aura ten times worse.Malakor opened his mouth, but the crushing pressure in the room strangled his vocal cords. He just stood there, sweating through his gray velvet.Vaelin turn

Asher’s POVThe brass key felt like a burning coal in my palm.I slipped through the door of Kaelen’s suite just as the first gray light of dawn cracked over the mountain ridge. The room was exactly as I had left it. The hearth was a pile of dead ash. Kaelen was still sprawled across the white furs, breathing deep and slow.I walked on bare feet to my discarded wool cloak, shoved the key deep into the inner lining, and stripped off my dark tunic.Every movement was a reminder of the vault. My thighs trembled. My lower back ached with a deep, bruised soreness that Xorax had deliberately carved into me. I felt filthy. I felt stretched and marked, carrying a king’s seed and a suffocating silence.I crawled onto the edge of the mattress and slid under the pelts.Kaelen shifted immediately. He didn't even open his eyes. His arm swept over my waist, dragging my back flush against his chest. He buried his face in my hair, letting out a long, contented sigh that ruffled the strands at my neck

Asher’s POVI moved quiet through the dark, counting every breath. The obsidian ring sat in my pocket. I had to get closer to that desk. I had to know what the King was keeping locked away from everyone else.I pushed the iron door open.He was already waiting.King Alpha Xorax leaned against the edge of the basalt desk, bathed in the pale blue glow of a floating magical sphere. He wore nothing but dark leather trousers, hair loose over his shoulders, eyes locking onto me the second I crossed the threshold. “You came,” Xorax said, low voice carrying across the stone. “I wondered how long you would stay down there pretending you didn’t want this.”I stopped ten paces away, chin up even though every instinct told me to turn around. “I don’t want gifts from you, Xorax. And I don’t want whatever this is.”A slow smirk touched the corner of his mouth. He took a deep breath. The smirk didn’t fade. If anything it sharpened, hungry instead of cold.“You say that,” Xorax murmured, “yet you st