Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Your Queen has arrived. And as you can see, she bites.”
…
Haide
I blink, head tilting slightly.
Did he just…
I look out at the room full of gifted—no the realm full of gifted. Hundreds upon hundreds watching from outside the castle walls.
Why are they all staring at me like I’m supposed to curtsy or blow a kiss or some shit? Like this isn’t the same realm that literally throws people onto my island like trash. I mean, most are, but still.
And King Legend is up here, all smug and self-important, declaring me their Queen like some fool with a death wish.
Honestly, it’s a terrible way to flirt if that’s what he’s going for.
You wanna talk about biting, Demon King? Fine.
I lunge.
The crowd gasps like one massive, useless organism as my hand fists the front of his shirt and I sink my teeth into his neck.
Not a love bite. Not a nip. But a full-on, mouth-open, flesh-tearing mouthful.
His skin gives way like sin, and the second his blood hits my tongue, I freeze.
Oh.
Oh, fuck.
It tastes like smoke and ruin and something so stupidly addictive I forget where I am for a second. My head reels. My spine hums.
Something behind my ribs clicks. Not a sound exactly. More like a pulse, like a wire deep in my chest was yanked taut. My breath snags, my blood flares, and not just with heat, but with something old, coiled, waiting.
Something not mine.
It crawls up my spine and hums in my brain.
I blink, dazed for half a second.
Huh.
Maybe I was a vampire in a past life.
A sexy, murderous one.
“You—” Legend chokes out a laugh, blood trickling down his throat, his hand pressed lightly to the spot where my teeth just marked him. “You actually bit me.”
“Don’t say I don’t commit,” I mutter, still tasting him on my tongue. He tastes annoyingly good. Everything about him is annoying. And hot. And now he’s leaking on my shirt, which I stole off a corpse, so this feels very full-circle.
But I’m not done.
Before he can say something else stupid and smug, I draw my dagger in one smooth motion and press the tip right against his heart.
The hall erupts.
Chairs scrape, someone screams, and Sinner leaps from his throne as Knight’s entire body goes taut, his shadows twitching like they’re ready to pounce.
And Legend?
Legend laughs.
Manically, like this is the best day of his life.
I press the dagger a little harder, not enough to break skin, but enough to show I could. “Call me Queen again, and I’ll crown myself with your spine.”
“Gods, you’re fucking perfect,” he breathes.
Something coils low in my gut. It feels suspiciously like pleasure from his pathetic little praise.
Gross.
I swallow past it, glaring up at him.
A new voice slices through the madness like a sword through fog.
“For fuck’s sake, Legend. What did you do?” London, the entire reason that I ever left my island in the first place, steps out in all her white hair and black aura glory.
“London,” Legend says brightly, like this is a tea party and not a blood-stained mess.
London eyes the blade still at his chest. “You planning to let her stab you and complete another step in the bond, or are we pretending this is foreplay?”
Behind me, Knight growls, low and protective.
But Legend growls back louder.
London and I sigh.
Feral. The lot of them.
Wait. My head snaps her way, eyes narrowing. “What bond?”
With another sigh, she turns to Legend. “Are you going to tell her, or should I?”
Legend’s mouth curves upward. I’m getting real sick and tired of not being able to punch it.
He stands even taller as he looks out at his people, the humor in his voice making me murdery. “Oh, did I forget to mention?” he says. “She’s not just my chosen queen. My bond thrums in her veins. Haide of exile is my fated mate.”
I stare at him.
Then at the blood on my blade.
Then back at his dumb, perfect mouth.
Cool.
I guess I’m killing him after all.
Chapter Six
Legend
She fucking launches.
Her body wraps around mine like a murderous vine and laughter spills from my throat as my fingers knead their way up the back of her neck. I tear her off just in time for the room around us to dissolve into a splatter of colors when one of my brothers rips open a portal.
Smart. Probably not a good idea for the people of Rathe to witness one of their future Queens gut their king alive. The portal spits us onto ancient cobblestones, and I hit the ground hard.
The Royal Court spreads before us in towering stone archways draped in ivy, and gardens that have witnessed centuries of bloodshed disguised as politics and family drama.
“Let go,” she snarls, but her grip tightens instead of releasing.
I roll us over, pinning her beneath me on the warmed stones. “Make me, mate.”
Her eyes flash with something deadly, but I feel the way her pulse jumps at the name. “Stop calling me that.”