She wants me to slay her enemies. She wants to have the greatest realm, and she wants to take any realm who dares challenge her. And maybe—just maybe—that was her plan all those centuries ago before Ravar took her throne from her.
He saved these people from centuries of war.
Too bad he fucking abused them day in and day out in the process.
My features remain impassive as I stare up at my humble—manic—queen. Everyone’s gazes are so heavily on me, I can feel them crawling across my skin. Still, I remain emotionless. Hell is a game to be played.
I knew that from the start.
“It would be my honor to serve you, my queen,” I say evenly with the lowest, most dutiful bow. Her big eyes and even bigger smile are the last things I see before closing my eyes to it all.
This is how it started for Roman. He bowed to his brother and then suffered for thousands of years after.
I refuse to let that happen.
I’ll bow to her as she wants. But I’ll never serve her blood thirst.
Twelve
War Is Hell
To my surprise,I’m taken back to my hole-in-the-wall of a cell. I’m not complaining, but would it kill them to add a little potpourri or a valance to spruce this closet up a bit?
Roman pauses, his broad shoulders filling the span of the door frame. My brow lowers in confusion, and it’s then that I realize he isn’t staying.
“Creatchin is planning something. She wants the High Hell in the war chamber immediately.”
Shit.
I’ve never been so unhappy to be right.
I nod to him so slowly; it feels like I’m already watching the four of us kill off realms and realms of innocent people.
He too nods, much the same.
“I’ll—I’ll come back for you as soon as I can.” His shadowed face looks this way and that at the small space I stand in. “For the first thousand years, this was my room,” he whispers like a confession.
My heart dips down low. He doesn’t look at me.
“I won’t leave you in this fucking room.” He lingers there for several seconds, seemingly refusing to step away and leave me behind.
What he’s reliving isn’t what I’ll be living.
I won’t allow that to happen to me, and I won’t allow anything bad to ever happen to this beautiful man ever again. I’m in front of him in less than two steps, and he finally peers down at me. I feel his attention more than I see it in the darkness. I feel the heat of his body brushing ever so lightly against mine.
And I definitely feel his fingers slip through mine as he holds my hand in the darkness like a forbidden secret only the two of us will ever know. The space between us doesn’t exist. His fiery scent, his warmth, his strength, it’s all around me.
It consumes me until I’m leaning into him so close that my lips hover just beneath his. His head dips low, and his breath washes over me.
Then on a soft vow he says, “I’ll never leave you, beautiful. Never.”
And then he’s gone. The clicking of a lock in the cold, dark room is the next thing I notice.
I’m alone. Once again.
* * *
The time that passes in my little bird cage isn’t long. It feels like a slow eternity, but Roman is true to his word.
