Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Sinner stalks off, anger rolling off him in waves and I sink farther to the floor.
I might have been gone a long time, but even I know what happens next isn’t anything good. Even so, I can’t bring myself to care about tomorrow, because I have to focus on the single thought that’s holding me together tonight.
These spilled secrets and the consequences of keeping them have been absolute shit for me, yes, but it’s no picnic for the Dark Royals of Rathe either.
It’s a small victory, if you can even call it that, but it’s all I have.
So, I’ll take it, hold it close, and hope that tomorrow, I’ll find another reason to live … or the quickest way to die.
Whichever comes first.
Two
Knight
Hate runs through your blood hotter than any other emotion. It was inevitable that where she and I were concerned, it would never come easily. Nothing meant for me was ever going to come easy. I’d have to rip it from its home and squeeze the life from it. Make it beg. Crawl. Yearn for me. She was no fucking different, so I don’t know why I’m surprised that she is who she is.
“You gonna finish that, or what?” Silver asks from opposite me, his legs spread wide and his glass half empty of whatever poison he’s drinking tonight.
I needed it. More than ever.
Bringing the rim of my drink to my lips, I let the liquid burn its way down my throat. It was her. All a-fucking-long it was her. I should be mad. Fuck, I am mad… but the more time goes on, the more the dulling ache turns into a ball of fire, and the pain I feel in my chest has nothing to do with the betrayal of finding out she killed my triplet. Nothing. It’s that she’s not here, with me, on my lap and on my dick.
What kind of bullshit is that?
“Knight!” Silver taps my foot with his, just as I sink the rest of my drink.
Dark powder lines the table between us, and every time the strobe light flickers in the background, it hits the small glitter particles in the Fae dust. The darker the dust, the stronger the magic, and this shit is pitch-black.
I hiss at my best friend, baring my teeth. “What?”
“Goddamn…” He leans back in his chair, and I watch as he moves over his shoulder and grabs one of the dragon waiters by the waist, pulling her down onto his lap. As he shifts her long blue hair off her shoulder, her eyes turn to slits as they land on me. Silver smirks as he whispers in her ear and she hurries off, snatching a few empty glasses on her way back to the bar.
It’s no surprise that The Dungeon is patched up far better than it was after the explosion. Crimson burns against stone pavement cracks, flowing down from the lava waterfall that rolls over the wall behind the bar.
I rest my head back against the headboard, desperate for an out. Anything to take my mind off the last twenty-four hours.
The ceiling is void of any cover, giving a direct view of the dark night up above. Planets illuminate against the onyx-colored backdrop. I wonder how loud I need to scream for one of the gods to come down and fuck my shit up.
“Don’t even fucking think about it, Legend.” I can feel my brother’s ideas from here. He wants me balls deep in a distraction and to renounce the bond I have with London.
“So, you’re good with her being your mate? Someone who fucking murdered our sister?”
I clench my teeth so tight I swear I could hear them crack.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” I lean forward and swipe the rolled gold bill and shove it up one nostril, snorting the perfect line of Shadow Fae dust. It hits me all at once and my head swims in a pool of colors. Colors that aren’t even on the palette. Vibrant purples line around Legend’s body as he leans into a young shifter who was dancing in the lava moments ago. I watch as he hurries himself between her fat tits, sucking on her pierced nipple and running his tongue around the little swollen bud.
I didn’t want to come out tonight, but both Silver and Legend knew I needed it. A distraction. Just not the kind Legend thinks I need.
“I don’t want to talk about her,” I say, grabbing the rolled pixie herb from behind my ear. “And I don’t need a distraction like that.” I light the end and puff on it, allowing the smoke to settle down my throat in lavender and mint waves, before exhaling.
My eyes shoot up to the cage that’s hovering in the sky above The Dungeon, zoning in on the loud cheering and yelling. On another hand… that is something I can get behind.