Prologue
Daemon
One week following the death of Queen Adelina…
“Fuck you,” Daemon seethed as he stormed into his father’s office, the door ricocheting off the wall from the force. “I’m not marrying Davina. And I’ll fucking abdicate right now if you try and push the issue.”
“Son, I suggest you calm yourself and have a seat.” His father’s voice was eerily calm, and he kept shifting his gaze to the room's far corner.
When Daemon turned, Davina was leaning against the wall with her ankles crossed, her hands clasped innocently in front of her, and a menacing grin on her face.
“What the hell isshedoing here?” Daemon asked through gritted teeth. His shadows thrashed beneath his skin and began to pool at his fingertips.
Davina pushed off the wall, her head tilted coyly to the side as the corners of her mouth pulled downward, a look of faux hurt slowly spreading across her face. “Ouch. That’s not a very nice way to speak about your future wife and queen.”
Daemon snarled and loosened the grip he had on his magic. “I’m not fucking marrying you, and over my dead body will you ever be queen of any part of this realm.”
Her frown morphed into a sinister smile that sent a chill down his spine. It was the same smile she’d given Auraelia when she said, ‘I am dying to play with you’ after she’d orchestrated the poisoning of Queen Adelina.
He straightened his spine and hardened his gaze as she slowly made her way across the floor.
“That can be arranged.”
As soon as the last syllable crossed her lips, her wrist flicked to the side, and ice surged in his veins. His magic stilled under his skin, a feeling so cold it burned radiating through his limbs until finally, it squeezed around his heart, slowing the thunderous beat to nearly nothing.
The sensation had him clawing at his chest and gasping for breath as the frigid sensation took over his lungs. His knees buckled beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor as a vice-like grip squeezed against his skull.
Daemon groaned through gritted teeth against the onslaught.
Pain shattered his world; his entire being felt like it was being crushed.
Once Davina was in front of him, she squatted down to his level and lifted his chin so that he could see her face. Eyes that once resembled Auraelia’s were now a deep blood red, and her lips were stretched into a feline smile.
“Let’s get one thing straight,my love. I can squash you like a grape and walk away with a smile. You don’t have to like me—hell, I don’t care for you much either—but youwillshow me respect. Or the next time you cross me, I won’t be taking it out onyou.”
Even with the venom in her words, her tone was sickly sweet.
Davina stood and stalked toward the door, pausing briefly to look over her shoulder at where Daemon was still on the floor on his hands and knees. “See you soon,my love.”
The door clicked shut behind her, and whatever hold her magic had on him dissipated. He took great gulping breaths into his lungs as he crumpled to the floor and rolled onto his back.
Minutes passed before he was able to form a coherent thought. His mind raced over the effect her magic had on him.
“That’s who you decided would make a good queen of our kingdom?” Daemon pushed up from the floor and onto his feet, then walked toward the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned and let his gaze rake over the man who sat behind the large mahogany desk.
This wasn’t the man who had raised him. It wasn’t the man who had taught him what it was to be a man and how to be a good king.
This man did nothing but bring a foul taste to his mouth.
Daemon scoffed and shook his head. “You better hope Auraelia can take her down, because if not? Not only did you just sign thousands of death certificates for our own citizens, but you’ve just damned the whole of Ixora.”
Daemon opened the door and walked away, not even caring enough to pull it closed behind him.
Chapter One
Auraelia
Two months later…
