“Emilia, I’d say it was good to see you, but since I can only see half of what I could, I can’t really mean it.” He drags his hair back and shows the melted skin where his eye used to be.
“I am so sorry.” I gasp. “I tried to save you; I swear I tried.”
“By shacking up and whoring yourself to the boy king? Oh yeah, I’m sure you tried really hard.” I feel as his rage burns through him, and my poor shattered heart breaks a little more. “Bring them in here.”
I watch as my parents are dragged into the room, beaten, half-alive, and just barely breathing. I can’t move as they shackle them to the wall, hung by their wrists, toes just able to reach the floor. I am torn between my desperation to save them, and my hatred at them for creating this entire situation.
“Please, you don’t have to do this. If you could just tell me what it is you want from me, I can help; I’m sure of it. Nobody else needs to die because of the bigoted hatred of a few. Please.” I lock eyes with Oberon and plead silently, trying to reach the piece of him that loved me once, but all I see is rage. Nothing but anger and hatred. He nods to the beast in the shadows that tortured me, and I watch on helplessly as they scream and writhe in agony. I scream for them, scream till I’m hoarse, but my pleas fall on deaf ears.
“I never meant for any of this,” I cry once the screams stop, the silence almost as painful as the noise. “I loved you, Oberon. I fought to save you. I know you loved me too. That you must still care for me deep down as I once cared for you.”
“You mean nothing to me, Emilia, so stop with your pathetic groveling. I never loved you; I needed you, needed what’s inside your head. What we had was never real. We were never going to run away and be happy in the human realm or any realm. If I’d have gotten you away from that place, it would have only been to bring you here, to him. You stupid, little girl. You have lost, but you will still give us what we need.”
The last threads of string holding my heart together snap, and the pain I feel is worse than I ever thought.
“And now, I will take your parents, the same way I took the light from your beloved Lily, until you give me what we need.”
“I don’t understand,” I cry, my pain and anger tearing through me, cutting my soul to ribbons.
“Don’t you see, Emilia? All of this wasn’t about me at all. All those lives lost, all those families torn apart, all those loves lost. It’s all because of you. You hold inside you the key to everything.”
“I’m glad you didn’t finish the party before I arrived, boys. What a shame that would be! I left as soon as I could and diverted what I could, but I wasn’t followed. Have you got very far?”
No. I refuse to believe it. This has to be a trick.
“We were just getting started, but breaking her isn’t going to be easy. We’ll find the location of the origin, sir. It just might take a while, and she might not survive it. It depends on how much it takes to reach the repressed memories. If she fights, she could lose herself inside her mind. It depends on how deep we need to go.”
“Well, by all means, don’t let me stop you. I need to get back to my brother, keep up appearances and all that. See if he’s announced his missing princess yet.” He laughs before he looks at me.
“It’s okay, Emilia. I’m sure you’ll survive this. Though, if I get what I need from you, it won’t matter either way.”
“I don’t understand. Wh-what is going on?” I stutter. This can’t be real.
“What's going on, my dearest princess, is the plan I put in place so long ago. Everybody underestimated me. My father. My brother. No one truly knew what I was capable of. Then I found out about my whore of a mother's affair with none less than a Hunter, creating me. An abomination. But you see, when you were whisked away to the human realm with your grandmother, it was to help you forget. Forget what you saw. Forget the secrets you were destined to hold. The secret that holds the key to the power over the races. The reason for the Elves to be the mortal enemy of the Fae for so long. It didn’t take long to find Hunters to join my cause. The powerful so long repressed when we should be at the top of this food chain. The Fae have ruled in comfort for too long while my kind have suffered. Your father put a dent in my plans, but all it took was a whisper or two in my father's mind, and my new plan was hatched. I’d have you close, to win your trust. To control your movements, navigate the game so that you would win. All so I could get you here. Maybe some of it wasn’t necessary, but watching you was too much fun. Watching you think you were falling in love. Watching you believe you had your friends back. That you’d finally found your corner of happiness. You almost made it too easy to rip it from you, but I needed to break you, so I could reach in your mind and take what I needed.”
“But I trusted you . . .” It’s all I have. I don’t know how to get back from this. I watch as he turns his back on me and walks from the room.
“Rowan! Rowan, don’t leave me here!”
To be continued in Winter King
Available for pre-order now.
Quick Note From The Author
You guys! This book, as you know has been a LONG process, but I’m so glad I took the time to rework this before I gave it back to you ready for Winter King.
Cade and Emilia’s story has been so loud in my head that I knew it was time to let them back out in the world.
I hope you loved them as much as I do!
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More by Sloane Murphy
Pick your poison!
Want more paranormal fun?
Check out my best selling IMMORTAL CHRONICLES
series.
Or maybe something a bit more heart wrenching? Then check out When We Fall! Check out the blurbs below!
DESCENT
THE IMMORTAL CHRONICLES #1
Six hundred years after The Outbreak, the human population stand side by side with the Fae & the Vampyrs to stop the Demon King from starting a second Dark War.
Seventeen year old Adelaide Tate is in her last year of the Academy, with her eyes set on becoming part of the Red Guard.
Who cares that no female has ever joined?
When a dark force develops an unhealthy liking for her, Adelaide needs to fight for her life and figure out what makes her so different from the others.
Betrayal. Fear. Anger.
She must overcome it all in order to turn her world the right way around again.
Adelaide has one choice. Accept the help offered to her by Xander Bane, or face the Demon Hoard alone.
One thing is for sure. The descent will be bloody.
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WHEN WE FALL
Erin Michaels wants nothing more than to just survive high school. With a life long crush on the boy next door, and his mean girl girlfriend who seems to want to make her life miserable, it’s no wonder those short years feel like a lifetime.
That is, until Mason Knight.
When Mason Knight rocks up at Rocky Falls High, Erin’s world turns upside down, and her eyes are opened to a world worth living for.
Exploring love
and life for the first time, Erin’s world is set ablaze in ways she never imagined
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Acknowledgements
This book has been a labor of love, sweat, tears and tantrums. Not going to lie, so many times did I nearly give up on this re-release.
First, shout out to my family. Thank you for putting up with the crazy hours this book stole from me! I couldn’t do it without your support.
I have to say a massive thank you to Andie M Long for the wizardry you did on this book, it never would have started re-writes without you! You worked some serious magic and I’m so greatful for it!
Dream Team, you are everything, without you I’d be a mess! Thank you for all of your help, guidance and feedback (especially with that talon scene aha!). The cover, and the story wouldn’t be what it is without you.
Vicki Fryer, thank you for making my job easier just by kicking ass at yours! For putting up with me in the craziest of moments, for your input and well everything, its invaluable, please never leave me.
Jenna, without our sprint sessions, I never would’ve completed the words I needed to, thank you for pushing me!
Finally, to my readers, this is for you. I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU for sticking with me, for your patience and loyalty, and for all your love. If you’re new to me, THANK YOU for taking a chance! Without you, this all means nothing!
About the Author
Sloane Murphy is the author of the international bestselling series, The Immortal Chronicles, as well as a range of other paranormal and contemporary romance. Sloane lives in Peterborough, England, with her husband & fur baby and over the years, she has developed an unhealthy appreciation for cheesy YA Films, cupcakes and bad pop music. She adores fairy tales and ballet, drinks too much hot chocolate, and watches an ungodly amount of Netflix. When she's not busy writing, she can be found exploring the world with her husband and chocolate Labrador.
If you would like to send Sloane an email, you can reach her at [email protected]
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WORKS FROM THE AUTHOR
Young Adult Paranormal Academy Series
Descent, The Immortal Chronicles #1
Crash, The Immortal Chronicles #2
Soar, The Immortal Chronicles #3
Rapture, The Immortal Chronicles #4
Reverse Harem Paranormal Academy Series
Marked, Black Water Academy #1
Chosen, Black Water Academy #2
Hunted, Black Water Academy #3 – Coming Soon
Dark Paranormal Romance Duet
A Princess’s Duty, Dark Fae #1
A Kings Oath, Dark Fae #2 – Coming Soon
New Adult Contemporary Romance
When We Fall, Rocky Falls #1
New Adult Sports Romance
Beginning the Game, Playing the Game #0.5
End Game, Playing the Game #1 - Coming Soon
Summer Princess (Dark Fae Book 1) Page 18