From Ashes To Queen: Now I Call The Shots Novels & Stories

A slow, dangerous gravity I couldn’t seem to fight against. I shook my head against the tide of thoughts, trying to drag myself back to the present as Ashleigh Dana called me for yet another round of magical refinement. The trials were only days away, and if I didn’t get myself together, no amount of mate-bond humming or balcony-staring would help me then.

I had no interest in listening to him any longer. “Didn’t you say your arm was gone? It looks perfectly intact to me.” As soon as I finished speaking, his other arm thudded to the ground as well. Amid his agonized screams, parts of his body were torn away piece by piece until he was reduced to nothing, executed in the cruelest way possible. With my vengeance complete, an indescribable sense of satisfaction filled me. Queenie Aasen, who once cared for the world and acted with selfless righteousness, was gone.

Daisy got into the car and closed the door. Caleb leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed. Sweat covered his forehead. Daisy looked out the window. The lights of Verdant Manor grew farther and farther away as thick smoke rose into the night sky. She tightened her grip around the divorce agreement in her hands. This time, she was truly free.

Victoria had never spoken this openly before, never revealed so much of herself. "When she died, I wanted to die too." She touched a chess piece, the black queen, with gentle fingers. "But then revenge became my purpose. Destroying the Prestons gave me a reason to continue. And when that was done, when they were ruined, I had nothing left but an empire built on ashes." "Until you saw my photo," I said softly.

We were not allowed to come near each other for the safety of other people. The wedding was going on, and as soon as it finished, I went upstairs to attend my call. The ceremony was boring as fuck. I was on the balcony when I finished the call, and when I slid the window to leave, my head banged with someone's. She hissed and rubbed her forehead. "Don't you love your fucking eyeballs?" I opened my eyes to glare at the woman who has so much guts to disrespect me, but then I saw the queen in front of me, of course, she has the guts.

Try me with your best weapon, Break me with your strongest blow, Stab me with your sharpest knife, Make me bleed till you heart enraptures. Keep repeating till you leave nothing of me Till I am brought down to ashes. But when you stop, When your hands worn out, When your happiness reaches the seventh cloud. Then will I play my Ace. Then will be my time to rise. To rise from my own ashes. Then will be my time to bring you as down as high you went.

When my ex-boyfriend Harry Thorne went bankrupt, his family forced him into an arranged marriage to save their sinking business. I handed him an abortion record and vanished without a trace. Five years later, we crossed paths again. He tossed a stack of a hundred grand in front of me, telling me to get into his bed on my own accord. I complied. In the heat of his breathless, passionate kisses, I fell under the fleeting illusion that he still loved me. That was till his fingers brushed against the scar on my lower abdomen, and he shoved me to the floor in a fit of rage. “You left me for money, and now you come back wagging your tail, groveling for the exact same thing? How shameless can you b

Her voice, echoing both Nyra’s passion and Selene’s doom, shook the very foundations of the realm. “I am the Queen of Ash and Fire,” she roared , “I am the culmination of every bond, every betrayal, every sacrifice. I am beyond fate, I am destiny’s undoing.” Silence swallowed the courtyard, the very air held its breath. Even the sky held its blue-black stillness, waiting for what would come next. Nyra’s eyes gleamed molten-white on one side, storm-gray on the other. She looked upon the three who had given themselves, Fendrel, Kharon, Seraphiel, and spoke one final promise:

ASHINA’S POV The silence after her words was absolute. It wasn’t the calm kind, the gentle hush of a secret shared. No, this was the silence that followed a slap. It rang. It burned. I stared at the Queen, the woman who had once clasped my hands and whispered blessings before battle, who had praised my spirit in court, who had offered me poisoned sympathy in the same breath as betrayal. “I won’t do it,” I said. My voice cracked slightly. It was not out of weakness, but with the tremour of fury barely restrained. She blinked slowly, as though she hadn’t heard me right.

“You’re the queen, my little moon. I’m just your bodyguard.” “Nooo!” she said stubbornly. “You’re the bestest queen.” My throat tightened. Damn it, how was I supposed to stay angry in the face of that? Ashton crouched beside us. “And what about me?” “You’re the royal mule,” I said before Trisha could answer. He gave me a flat look. “Really?” Trisha giggled. “No, Ashy’s the prince!” Ashton beamed. I glared. Traitor.