by R. Scarlett
“Bow,” he hissed.
Gasps of shock and terror echoed in the court at the sight of their queen bowing to Tensley.
“Murder the crown,” one of the lords spoke, voice hoarse and low. It rumbled in the court, and his words thundered in Molly’s chest. “Marry the crown.”
Her eyes swung back to Tensley.
King.
He was the new king of the High Court.
Of the demons.
No.
Her stomach dropped into a dark pit, and her knees shook, threatening to collapse. King of the demons.
One look and his wrath stormed the court, and one by one, they bowed, falling to their knees, their heads lowered in fear, in submission.
Murder the crown, marry the crown, she repeated frantically in her head.
Molly couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe properly as she gawked at the man—bloody and bruised from head to toe, sporting an ugly black eye and a broken nose, and red-stained lips she used to kiss goodnight and good morning. The man capable of making the High Court bow as he pleased.
“Tensley,” she whispered, tearfully, begging for him to chant her name back as he did when he was inside of her, when he was smiling at her, and to catch a glimpse at the man who had told her he loved her that very same day. He turned to look at her, but he only wore an impassive stare of indifference. “Tensley,” she tried again, but his eyes only narrowed at her.
The man she loved was well and truly gone.
The man who had said he loved her.
Lilith stayed low to the ground, her eyes drilling holes into the two of them, and the prince lowered, his chest heaving in anger.
Tensley had murdered the king.
Tensley had taken the crown.
Tensley was king.
But he wasn’t her Tensley.
The death of Tensley Knight and the rebirth of the beast.
His bloody hand touched her wet cheek, and then, her parted lips, smearing his blood and the king’s blood across her skin. She trembled.
An act of possession.
Of territoriality.
Not an act of love.
Or recognition.
His hand swept across her stomach—their unborn son.
Slowly, shaking terribly, she bowed her head, her eyes never parting from his cool ones. Something inside of her fractured so completely, a clean tear down the middle of her heart that would never repair itself. Her hands felt like iron, too heavy, too weak to lift them.
He frowned at her, the line of his jaw shaking as he clenched it.
She tried, again and again, desperately trying to find but a glimmer of the man he previously was, but it was in vain. All she saw was the beast. No gleam in those lethal eyes. Molly looked into the eyes of sullen darkness, dead, loveless eyes that hours ago shined.
Tensley Knight was dead, and in his place was a noxious beast.
First and foremost, I would love to thank my family and my friends for supporting me. A huge thanks to my parents who are loving and encouraging me to chase my dreams.
To Caley, Breanne, and Megan, the best friends a girl can wish for and I have all of you to thank for listening to me ramble on and on about plot ideas and what hair color a character should have. Love you girls!
To Marjorie and Stephanie, the Spring Queens, you girls are my rock. I would be lost in this world, and not only have you helped me improve in my own writing, but you’ve come such important friends in my life. So thank you for dealing with my ups and downs, and craziness.
Sarah, oh amazing Sarah, thank you so much for reading the book and looking over every word with a critical eye, but thank you for being my friend. You always cheer me on and keep me level headed.
To all the beta readers who volunteered their time to read over an unpolished manuscript. Yvette, Taylor, Emma, Paige, Pam, Vasiliki, Amanda, Miriam, and Becca, thank you so much for your feedback and advice to make this book better.
A massive thank you to Leigh Shen for taking the time out of her own busy, chaotic schedule to help me! I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on Ruckus!
Thank you to Regina and Yuli for being such awesome people to work with to design the best covers! Thank you to Lauren Perry for such beautiful, stunning photography!
Thank you to Rogena and Bex for editing through the book and catching those nasty typos!
And lastly, but most importantly, to those readers who take a chance again and again on my books. Us authors would be lost without you so thank you for taking a chance and the time to read my books.
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