Prologue
A slash of a blade.A burst of blood. A death sentence signed.
“With this oath, your soul will be forever mine,” the devil croons to the prince.
“But why?” he whispers over the sound of his hammering heart.
The devil chuckles, low and sensual. “How do I know you’ll never betray me?”
Because this is my destiny. This is who I was born to be. This is what I was created for.
The prince doesn’t object. He takes the blade, and the devil drinks her fill.
Part One
Chapter 1
MAE
I had never knownthe weight of true regret. Not until that night.
Sure, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. A poor shoe choice on a rainy day or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But I had no idea regret was heavy enough to crush you into a version of yourself that you no longer recognized.
That it could push down on your chest, forcing the air from your lungs until you’re hunched over and gasping. That it could sit on your shoulders and make every step forward nearly impossible. That it was heavy enough to manifest into something corporeal, capable of standing in front of you and mocking you with the truth. That it could sayYou chose the wrong person. And it cost you everything.
The starry sky shimmers through the translucent barrier that keeps the house hidden. I’ve been staring through it, willing the moon to move, to descend behind the trees and make room for the dawn. Like every night, it stares back at me.
Whenever I can’t sleep, I sit on the cabin’s porch, waiting for my skin to cool, for my heart to stop racing, for the memory of my dreams to slip away.
They don’t go easily. They never do.
The moment sleep takes me, visions of my wedding fill every cornerof my mind. Delicate ivory lace soaked in crimson. Marik’s cruel grin and his cold, slender fingers as he reaches for the crown. Holly writhing on the floor as his flames consume her. William, and the acrid smell of burning flesh.
If those don’t wake me first, Cora firing a bolt of lightning at my chest usually does the trick. Or a cambion sinking its teeth into my ankle, or Elle’s neck, ripped open and gushing blood the color of the night.
I used to wake to Asmo shaking me, whispering hushedIt’s okays as he held me in the dark. It’s the only time I’ve let him touch me since I married his brother.
Since the day I lost my kingdom.
The wind whips past and I pull the blanket tighter around me, the worn deck boards groaning beneath me as I shift in my chair, as if they, too, are exhausted.
The front door opens. “Can’t sleep?”
The question is a courtesy. Everyone knows I can’t. They’ve all heard my screams whenever I try. Now, they’re all too familiar with the creak of the floors as I shuffle from my bed, of the soft click of the front door behind me, of the rhythmic back-and-forth of the rocking chair in the dead of night.
“Me either.” Ivan settles into the chair beside me, dressed in his usual all-black outfit reserved for his nightly trips into town. He rubs the white stubble lining his jaw as he leans back.
“Learn anything new?” I ask.
Every night, as soon as the moon rises, Ivan steps through the barrier that protects our sliver of safety from the outside world, and portals into town to grab the daily paper. Tonight, like every other night, he will spend hours analyzing each line, hoping to learn anything about Marik’s next move.
So far, there’s been nothing. It appears like everything within the kingdom is normal. Farming numbers, local events happening, updates on the weather…Even the gossip columns that Cally loved have been noticeably boring.
All the newspapers have been glaringly silent about the events of thewedding. Given the number of witnesses present, I find it nearly impossible there wouldn’t be a single mention of what happened.
Cally, for one, would never be quiet about this. No, my best friend would be raising hell in the streets every day, screaming about what Marik and Cora did. My stomach clenches as I think about the only logical reasons there are for her silence. Between a cell or a grave, I’m not sure which option is better.
Yet another thing that haunts my dreams.
