LOGINKAELITH“The women are here, My Lord,” one of the gruff men says, the hilt of his sword nudging my lower back. I try not to wince at the dull throb. After they deposited an unconscious Ferdinand into a wagon, they lead us into a car, plug our ears and cover our eyes with a thick cloth. We drive for what feels like hours, until my knees and lower back begin to cramp. Every time a pained sob rises in my throat, I force it down. If these people sense my weakness, they can use it against us. Finally, the car stops and we are led out and inside somewhere cooler. Inside a building perhaps.As the blindfold comes off, I find myself truly in the center of a large room sheathed in shadows.Although the thick curtains are down, I manage to see the gleam of the marble tiles we stand on. Diandra steps forward before anyone can lay hands on her, her face carrying a haughty expression.“Who are you? And what do you want from us?” she dares to ask, bearing no remorse for her tone. Before I c
THE JESTER Xena whimpers in pain now as her body tries to double over but the silver restraints burn into her skin to keep her in place. I lower my head so I can see her face. “Are you ready to talk now?”“I don’t know where they—I SWEAR I DO NOT KNOW—GODFUCKINGDAMMIT!”But it’s too late because I pull out the pinky finger at the end of her hand. This one tears out with more effort than the last, a string of vein attached to the hand before I yank it off. I wave it in her face where tears freely freely down.“We can get through this the easy way out or we can continue onto other of my twisted fantasies.” I tuck the finger behind her ear. “Which is it?” Choking sobs of agony bursts out of her as she raises her head. It is filled with tears, sweat, and snot. All of which are a testament to the little game she chose to play. As I grab the middle finger, her eyes widen in horror. “WAIT! I can tell you something I know.” The sickening smile that spreads out on my face cannot be hel
19 — THE JESTERMy gaze sweep across the room and over the bodies scattered across the floor of the throne room. My senses are consumed with the metallic stench of blood. None of which belongs to me. Nor Ares, who just ripped his hand out of a man’s chest, ragged breaths following his actions. He turns to me, dropping the bloody organ. “You want to handle that or do you want me to clean up after you as well?” I sneer. The cocky bastard.“I will deal with this one myself, thank you.” The man whose chest my hand is deeply embedded in hisses in pain as I let my hand squeeze. “Are you ready to say something?” “You know you cannot kill me. If you do, you will never see your women again.” “Trust me,” I step closer, “I know several methods I can get a man to squeal and for a loud mouth like yours, you won’t even last a day.” Ares stops suddenly in his tracks, his hand coming up to rub the center of his chest, the space over his heart. His eyes flies to me with sharpened urgency. “Di
KAELITH “We’re too late,” I tell him as a group of men line in through the door behind Kaelen. That’s when the note of danger finally registers. It is more serious than we think, and Jay—as much as I don’t want to think about him right now—could be in danger.The dangerous men cast a look at us, the malicious intent in their eyes making itself known. The truth is a sickening punch to the gut: They’ve come for us.“Don’t look at them!” Kaelen snaps. “Face me!”He doesn’t wait for them to get to us first. He dashes forward with swift claws and the first man goes down with a gurgle that churns my stomach. Diandra grabs my arm, hauling me back toward the wall. “Stay behind me.”As if I even have a choice. My hands are freaking empty. The one weapon I had, I threw it at Jay in a fit of anger. The only pathetic weapons I have left are my nails and the useless scream building in my throat. Other than that, we are finished.I watch Kaelen fight like someone possessed, unleashing havoc o
THE JESTERMinutes after she leaves, the scent of her—lavender— and the heat of her anger lingers in the air. My legs stay rooted to the spot, unwilling to move lest I miss it. A sadistic part of me would rather stew in her anger than miss any part of her at all. I just…I wish there was a better way to make her understand. Even though the bulk of my plans have been dealt with, there is still a lot more to cover. For example: the neighboring packs who are allies of Ferdinand.The moment they catch wind of the recent development, there will be unrest. I can’t risk bloodshed when she is still in this place and a lot of them recognize her as his Luna. Even the word tastes like something putrid in my thoughts alone. Thanks to that meatloaf of an alpha.A chilling presence walks in. I know at once who it is.“Could you be any more obvious?” I ask, unable to hide my irritation. Kaelen leans on the door, his shadow stretching on the floor toward my feet. “I just saw your damsel. Did
KAELITH Darkness stares back at me from where I lay on the cold sheets in my room, staring at the ceiling. Next to me, Diandra is fast asleep, soft snores from her mouth filling the gap of silence.After we left the men in the throne room, we cooped up in my room while Diandra recounted stories of her time at her pack. The Nightshade pack. As I watch her sleep, she does not look like one who’s been at the throes of death before. Her resilience at how she’s managed to beat the odds despite everything amazes me. It has me wondering:Is the worst over for me? It doesn’t feel like it is. This victory feels too easy. It feels like the moment I decide to bask in my newfound freedom, something or someone will pull the rug out from under me. And there’ll be a greater price to pay for that. I refuse to let myself be carried away. The maids have earlier gone to their quarters. Even though it’s the middle of the night, the palace still feels completely void.Slipping out from under th
LEONIDAS It was the way she floated with grace, setting her chin haughtily like everyone else was below her. Including me. It was the way she set herself so distinct in the crowd, she became impossible to miss. A beauty mark to her top lip, she had a face that was hard to stop looking at. One t
VANESSAAnd so, I failed my mission before it even began. I was right back to square zero. When the music stopped, we each courtesied and he walked off to deal with some more important function. To him, it was probably better than having to deal with me, the woman who still had a dagger strapped
VANESSA This one was probably the popular whore of the royal family who viewed women as trophies.Indeed, every family had a black sheep. And he was theirs.Disgust rolled within me when he had the guts to reach further down and cup one of my ass cheeks, pulling me tightly against him and rolling
VANESSAThey nicknamed him the Great Khal. Maybe it was because he lumbered like a giant bull or because he was as aggressive as one. Whatever the reason, I did not care.“Open the gates!” A man yelled from below the balcony where I stood with a glass of wine in my hand, watching distinguished gues







