Novel & Cerita From Ashes To Queen: Now I Call The Shots

The Order had found us. But I wasn’t the same girl they chased weeks ago. They’d seen me when I was half-awake. Half-broken. Let them see what happens when the Phoenix rises fully. Let them come. This time, I would burn what was left. And I wouldn’t stop until there was nothing left to chase but ash. We ran for what felt like miles, the passage beneath our feet sloping unevenly with every dozen steps. I could hear the echo of our footfalls bouncing ahead into unknown darkness. The smell of mildew, rot, and something older, something sour, coated my tongue.

I had no answer. She let me go. Her gaze shifted to the urn in my arms. "You won't take this when it's offered? Then I am taking it from you. "You will not see your father's ashes again." She reached. The blood in my arms went cold. The control I had been holding cracked. "Please… please don't. It wasn't me. I'll do anything, anything you want. Just don't." I was about to fall to my knees again. I would have. The pride and dignity I'd had walking in here had been gone for hours.

And who was the other half stuck with? “Who’s the other idiot?” she asked, her voice tight, like it might snap. Roman’s mouth quirked, not quite grinning. “That’d be me.” It landed like a fist to her gut. She stared at him—this smooth-talking climber who’d kissed Dorian’s boots while she’d scraped by on cheap noodles and cheaper dreams. Fury flared, hot and ugly, but before she could tell him to choke on it, a black Rolls-Royce purred up the path, sleek as sin. The window rolled down, and there she was—Vivienne Ashford, Dorian’s widow, Sienna’s stepmother, blonde hair piled up like royalty, wrapped in fur despite the wet.

Susanna had thoughtfully added audio for full effect. "I've been back for six months. With just a flick of my finger, he's fallen into the palm of my hand. He prepared a blue fireworks show for me tonight. Since I don't like blue, let me give it to you for your anniversary celebration so that it won't go to waste." The crowd erupted in shock. Sophie's face turned pale as panic surged through her. "That bitch Luna! How dare she expose our chat records?"

Hermione had remained quiet all this time, she merely observed the reactions of the council, but the suggestion to take her life made her furious. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table. “I’m a cat shifter! So what? I’m now mated to one of you and, whether you like it or not, I am now a part of this park. You can yell all you want. I certainly do not care, but know this, if I fall into the hands of the said vengeful witches are all goners, so you had the best plan to protect me and, Lycans", she finished, looking unabashed.

They look at each other and I furrow my brows. "You're sure he won't banish us or some shit if he finds you here?" Berry asks and I look at him. "No. No he won't because then I sure as hell am not going back to him." I tell them before laying back. "Okay." "That's crazy man. You are the next Queen." Berry says and I can tell that he is baked. "Ehh." We just chill from there on. Berry had rolled more joints and by now, we've probably smoked 15 of them.

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned sharply in an attempt to get away from Asher, from his burning wrath. But surprisingly, Asher didn't get offended like earlier; it was as if her words were like ice to his burning flame. He scoffed instead and rested his back on the chair's backrest. I could tell Akira was surprised as well, as she stopped running after three steps, and as she turned towards her brother, whom she expected to be angry, Asher's voice came, "In your wildest dream," he spat, confidence dripping in his tone. "Let me tell you, even if the vampire queen goes naked in front of me right now, she wouldn't arouse me." He asserted, his cheekbones high with confidence.

Cole added quietly, “After this, I won’t ask you to do anything again. Not if you don’t want to.” The room fell into a heavy silence. Everyone remembered that night three years ago. The rain, the shouting, the broken glass. The way Asher stood soaked at the gates and said with that dead-cold expression: ‘Fuck the throne.’ And he walked away. Nothing, no power, no title, no empire, could tie him down. Now, all eyes were on him. Asher leaned back, his gaze distant, unreadable. His jaw flexed once, a sign only Riley and Hayden recognized as internal conflict. The silence stretched until finally-...