Happily Ever Crowned

by Lexi C. Foss

  The key to her power is through her heart, Lux had repeatedly said.

  It seemed she was right. But she also always told me I’d have to use and abuse Valora’s love to absorb enough energy to finish off Necros.

  And I wasn’t sure I could do that. Not anymore. Not after the last few weeks with her.

  She deserves better, my soul whispered. She deserves to be a proper queen.

  Although, it would be so easy. Because even now, I felt her energy humming through my veins. I had access to her heart, to the very power I required to fulfill my life’s quest for revenge.

  Alas, I couldn’t do it.

  I couldn’t chance hurting her.

  I sighed, sipping my wine, and again pushed the female beside me off my thigh. She kept trying to touch me, to play, and I had no interest in her or any of the other naked women in attendance.

  The only one I wanted was locked up in her rooms. Her presence a live wire electrifying my insides, calling for me, begging me to come to her.

  Not talking to Valora today had been one of the hardest tasks of my life, but she needed to know that she could do this on her own. Because I might not always be here to help her.

  Raucous laughter rent the air as one of the women choked and sputtered on whatever Necros had forced her to swallow.

  My stomach churned as she fell to the floor writhing in exquisite pain.

  Part of me wanted to leave her, to let her die. It would be better than living in this hell.

  But this woman lived in what I considered to be my kingdom.

  I stood and kicked her hard in the back, dislodging the item from her throat. It shot across the room, a cock ring far too large for her feminine throat.

  The chuckles died, Necros arching a brow in question.

  I shrugged. “She’s the one I want to play with tonight, which I can’t do if she’s dead. Unless I’m not allowed a treat? In which case, continue.”

  If he denied me the female, I’d have no choice but to leave her to her fate. However, the faint twitch of his lips said he found my choice amusing. “You’re a fan of succubi.”

  “Aren’t we all?” I countered, a forced smile in my voice.

  “They’re very durable,” Necros agreed, waving his hand. “You can take her. I’ve gotten what I needed from the slut.”

  “Excellent. Then you don’t mind if I retire with her?” I held my hand out for the wheezing female, her body still working to heal from the injury caused to her throat. And, well, her back. Which I’d be apologizing for soon.

  Necros gestured happily. “Do as you please, Prince Adrik. My home is your home.”

  You have no idea how true that is, I thought, nodding in my version of a bow. “Congratulations again on your victory, My Lord.”

  “Cheers,” several of the nobles proclaimed, pleasing Necros greatly.

  I left them to their debauchery, the wounded succubus following with a snap of my fingers. Knowing cameras watched our every move, I didn’t turn or acknowledge her, just expected her to follow. It wasn’t until we entered my chambers that I finally addressed her.

  She was a petite little waif of a female with tangled red hair, pearly white skin, and bones that protruded in places they shouldn’t. She didn’t look at me, her head bowed, her hands already inching closer to my belt as if she expected me to shove her to her knees immediately.

  Instead, I swept her messy locks away from her face, cupped her cheek, and forced her glazed eyes to meet mine. “You will eat. You will rest. You will recover.” Each statement was laced in compulsion, something I hated to do, but I didn’t have time to perfect my approach. And I refused to bite what was clearly a drug-enslaved succubus.

  She collapsed into one of the chairs in my sitting area. I retrieved some water and snacks from the en-suite bar. “Eat these and drink this,” I said, holding her gaze once more. “When you feel more comfortable, sleep. I’ll bring you better food in the morning.”

  It was all I could do for her.

  She lost herself to the chocolate bar I left in her lap, her hum of approval one that would haunt my dreams for days to come.

  Necros would pay for this sin and all the others. In time.

  Sweet star, I murmured, entering the passageway behind the painting in my room and heading toward her quarters. Are you awake?

  Her mind told me she was alert, but her mental voice didn’t reply, a hint of anger and hurt lurking in the thread between us.

  I’m sorry for cutting you off, I whispered, knowing that to be the cause. But I needed you to perform on your own today, to prove to yourself how powerful you truly are. And you were amazing, Valora. The brightest star I’ve ever seen.

  Women and children died, she replied, her tone holding a mixture of annoyance and despair. Because you didn’t warn me.

  I frowned. I didn’t know what he planned to do. He invited me out to watch as the chaos unfolded. But I did warn you something was coming. I drew closer to her rooms, the hallways all too familiar now that I’d made this trek so many times.

  She didn’t know, but I’d spent last night here, keeping her company in her dreams. Several weeks of sharing a bed with her had unexpectedly changed me and caused me to crave her presence. She wasn’t the first female I’d experienced such an intimate act with, but she was the first I wanted to continuously bed. Perhaps because I’d yet to take her the way I craved.

  That was going to change tonight.

  If she allowed it.

  If she forgave me for what I had come here to say.

  Valora. I’m here.

  I waited in the dark for her reply, hoping she would grant me entry.

  Light peeked at me from the interior of her room as she slowly revealed the entry, her wary gaze meeting mine.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked softly, moving inside to cup her cheek. She had no reason to be mad at me yet, as we hadn’t even begun our conversation.

  Valora stepped away from me. “Are you working with Necros?”

  “What?” I nearly laughed, but the look on her face said she was serious. “Why the fuck would you think that?” And how was this the beginning of our discussion? I’d expected to at least have a chance to warm her up a little before we started down a dangerous path.

  “He thanked you for your help in guiding me, then asked if you wanted to celebrate.” She folded her arms. “Are you working with him? Is all of this just another fucked-up game? One where you tame my powers for the king?”

  My jaw actually hit the floor.

  After weeks of being everything she needed and more, she questioned my loyalty over a few exchanged words with Necros? If only she knew how accurate her suspicion proved to be, but she suspected me for the wrong reasons entirely.

  “What a tortured life you’ve led to have to be so distrusting of those around you,” I marveled.

  But I also understood.

  If I’d been raised by someone like Necros, I wouldn’t have a shred of faith left in anyone. And the fact of the matter was, I hadn’t sought her out with the purest intentions. I had wanted to use her for myself, to seek justice for my loved ones.

  Except, at some point, my loyalties had shifted. So much so that I couldn’t stop the words that came next.

  “Your husband believes the vows grant him rights to your natural gifts, but he couldn’t absorb them today. I watched him try and fail. The only thing your marriage has done is protect him against your power.” Rather than touch her again, I leaned against the wall, hands in the pockets of my suit pants. “Create a flame, Valora.”

  Her brows pulled down. “Excuse me?”

  “Please?” I pressed. “Can you create a flame for me?”

  Over the last few days, she’d been able to call the energy to her with a thought rather than being pressured or bullied into it.

  She blew out a breath and held out her hand, a ball of blue fire spinning in a hypnotic pattern across her pale skin.

  I smiled. “Beautiful.”

  “And
not an answer to my question,” she added, irritation heavy in her voice. “Your avoidance only proves that you’re hiding something from me.”

  “I am hiding something from you,” I admitted, pushing away from the wall. “I’ve been hiding something all along, but it’s not what you think.”

  It was a risk to confess this to her.

  A risk to both my future and hers.

  But it felt wrong to allow the truth to fester and burn between us like a dark fog threatening to destroy the foundation of our fates.

  “Tell me,” she demanded, the angelfire glowing against her fair complexion.

  “The prophecy claims that your betrothed can claim your power,” I said slowly. “That’s why Necros wed you. However, he didn’t understand that it’s not just about the forced vows but also about your heart.”

  I tugged on the tenuous link between us, mentally calling upon her fire, begging for a taste. It was pure instinct. Her eyes widened as a flicker of blue flame graced my fingertips.

  Valora’s lips parted in awe. “How are you…?”

  “Lux always told me that the key to your power resides in your heart, and it seems she’s right.” I curled my fingers into a wave, diminishing the energy into embers and releasing my yearning for her power. “You’ve let me inside and I could take it all, if I so desired. At least, that’s what the prophecy says.”

  Her cheeks whitened, her own flames dying on her palm. “You took some of it earlier. While in the fields.”

  “When you were done, yes. I tested the theory, then briefly wondered if I could use your power to kill Necros. Because while you can’t harm him, I hold no such vow.” Which meant, in theory, I could do whatever I wanted to him, including using the fire of his betrothed to kill him. “But the problem is, sweet star, if I take too much, it’ll hurt you. And though that may not have been a concern when we first met, it’s become one.”

  And there was the truth.

  The words I had kept from her since the beginning.

  The real reason I was here.

  “You’ve known all this time…” She trailed off, her emotions swimming through her features, each one sending an arrow into my chest. But I couldn’t stop now. I had to be honest with her. It was the realization I came to earlier today when her power infused my spirit.

  If I didn’t tell her, I risked losing far more than my rightful kingdom.

  I risked losing her.

  And I didn’t want to lose her.

  “Yes. I came here to win your heart and use your powers to destroy Necros.” The admission hurt, but not nearly as much as the tear that fell from her eye.

  “So it was all a lie,” she whispered. “This was always about your revenge.”

  “Until it wasn’t,” I replied, taking a step toward her.

  She took several back, holding up a palm. “Don’t.”

  I never knew a word could pain me so much, but it was nothing compared to the agony I felt inside her mind.

  “Valora, I’ve spent my entire life preparing for this. Twenty-five years of pent-up hatred and plotting, all aimed at the man who dares to call himself king of this kingdom. Who renamed my lands Caluçon because he stole the powers of an infant to wipe out shadowkind.” Just saying the words stirred a rage inside me—a rage that desired the powers within her. It would be so easy, her life energy mine for the taking. I could feel it throbbing in time with mine, waiting for me to act, to steal her very breath.

  But my heart held me back.

  A fickle organ I never thought much about other than its importance in keeping me alive.

  Until this moment.

  Now I knew with every ounce of my being that if I chose revenge over the emotions building inside me, I’d crave my own death. Because hurting this woman was a destiny I couldn’t endure.

  Valora trembled, her spirit fracturing before my eyes. “And now you wish to steal those powers from a full-grown woman. From me.”

  My shoulders fell, my head shaking slowly in the negative. “I’ve wanted nothing more than to kill Necros for longer than I can remember. Yet, a few weeks with you has changed all my priorities. Here I am, able to take exactly what I’ve desired… and I can’t. Because I can’t hurt you.” I slid to my knees before her, needing her to hear me, to understand. “Whatever this is, whoever you are to me now, it means more to me than his death. I cannot—will not—use you to kill him. I will find another way.”

  Her glassy eyes met mine, the lashes blinking rapidly, her lips parting without sound.

  “I could have taken your power earlier, finished him once and for all, but I didn’t,” I whispered. “I also could have absorbed them while attending his idiotic celebration, killed him right there in his drunken state, but I didn’t.”

  “Why?” she breathed, her entire demeanor brittle, on the verge of breaking completely. “Why didn’t you?”

  I’d already told her that, but I would try again. For her. For us.

  “Because I won’t risk hurting you, Valora,” I said softly. “I’m telling you all of this now because you deserve to know. Because I refuse to hide this from you. Because I still believe we can work together and take him down, but we need to be united for that to happen. We need to have total faith in each other. And that can’t exist while I’m keeping this truth from you. So here I am, on my knees, telling you everything and begging you to forgive me. To believe me. To accept me once more. To make me yours.”

  I’d spent the evening thinking Adrik was working with Necros, that everything between us had been a lie, a manipulation, a wicked trick.

  And now…

  Now I didn’t know what to think. What to say. How to react.

  Adrik admitted to wanting to use my power.

  Admitted that he could take it right now to use against Necros.

  But didn’t.

  And why? Because he refused to hurt me.

  Everyone in my life used me for one purpose or another. Necros stole my power. My parents gave me up to secure their kingdom. The men who won Necros’s fucked-up game wanted to take pleasure from me without asking. The guards treated me as a peasant, not a queen.

  While Adrik had treated me as a person. An equal. A lover. All because he wanted something from me, too.

  But unlike the others, he didn’t take it. Instead, he confessed his sins, put himself in a vulnerable position, and begged me for forgiveness. Pleaded with me to keep him. To make him mine once more.

  “Is that what you are?” I wondered out loud. “Mine?”

  “If you’ll have me,” he replied, swallowing. “I don’t deserve it—don’t deserve you—but I want you just the same. I want to be yours. I want you to be mine. I want this, whatever it is, that’s growing between us. I want it more than a lifetime of revenge.”

  “So if I asked you to run with me, you would?” I asked, considering the option.

  He didn’t hesitate. “I would go anywhere you wanted to go.”

  “Even if it meant allowing Necros to live?”

  Adrik swallowed, the motion drawing my gaze to the thick column of his neck. “We both know he deserves to die. But if you wanted to run, I’d help you run. And I’d never look back.”

  “While regretting your lost chance at revenge for the rest of time,” I finished for him, drawing my gaze back up to his. “You could live with that?”

  “It wouldn’t be easy, but sacrificing you…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I can’t, Valora. I can’t hurt you.”

  “Then why not kill him together?” I asked, confused. “Why is it an either-or scenario? I want him dead, too, Adrik.”

  He remained quiet for so long I thought he might not reply. But his sigh was heavy with sorrow. “It’s not an either-or situation. I think we can defeat him together, but you needed the truth first so nothing could come between us. Because if we’re going to do this, we need to trust each other. Implicitly.”

  Right. He’d said that. In my confusion to wrap my head around this madness, I’
d warped his statements with the lost ones inside my mind. The foreign pang his admission had caused. Followed by the seductive heat stirred by his emotional confession.

  It wasn’t love.

  Not quite.

  But something pure. Something honorable. Something extraordinary.

  “I want to work together,” I whispered. “I want to work with you.” He was the only one to concede his nefarious intentions and regret them. The only one not to use me without a regard.

  Adrik cared.

  I felt it in the bond we had created. Read it in his mind that he left open to me even now, his thoughts honest and tangible. No more secrets. No more lies. Just the truth. His adoration. His tangible lust. His regret. His pride. His confusion. His warmth for me. His yearning for my forgiveness.

  It all swam through our connection, so raw and real that it took my breath away.

  He’d said something. An affirmation of sorts. But I wasn’t listening. I no longer cared to talk. I wanted to experience him—the real him. Without a veil. Without him holding back. Without him worrying about my sensibilities.

  I wanted him to fuck me the way he truly desired, the manner in which I observed inside his mind. Harsh. Hard. All-consuming. Bliss.

  “Take me to bed, Adrik,” I said, interrupting whatever he’d just said.

  I took a step back, releasing the silk robe I wore, revealing my nakedness underneath. I had expected Necros. But I never wanted that foul creature to touch me again. Only Adrik. And if Necros interrupted us, I’d light this entire palace on fire. Maybe I couldn’t hurt him, but the falling structure could.

  And Adrik could absorb enough to fight him off.

  Together.

  Together we could do this.

  But first… first I needed to embrace the chemistry thriving between us. The lethal heat swirling in the air. The predator lurking in the shadows. I wanted it all. I wanted him, and I said as much again, as I led him backward toward the bed.

  He didn’t crawl; he stood.

  And he didn’t run; he walked.

  Slowly.