Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

You are a fucking masterpiece.

You’re mine, Angel. Forever.

It was like one of my books vomited on this world, releasing him.

I knew they were just words to Cole, but not to me. Maybe that’s why Trick caught so many women in his web. Because he knew exactly what to say to get them to latch on.

Maybe I was just another in a long line of playthings, but gods, it felt good. Wasn’t I allowed to feelgoodfor just a few minutes?

“You deserve nothing,”my Mom spat.“You should have just fucking died.”

After another second, I stepped back and found Cole’s eyes. “Can you run to town and get a rabbit for tonight, please? I can’t go with Mark out there.”

Cole’s shoulders fell and after a moment, he nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, Ky. I’ll be back in a few hours. I just…I want you to be careful. I don’t want you to die at his hands.”

“Thank you.” The joke was on him though, I guess, because I was going to die. Whether it was by his hands or mine or Evanora’s, I was going to die. I wanted to die.

~~~

Trick

I wanted to take the afternoon to confront my sister about some of the things I had been hearing since Cole’s visit a little over a week ago.

When I Jumped back to Arkalious, I found Lora in the study, reading over laws I had created centuries ago. Good for her, doing that kind of dirty work, but changing a law was more than just scratching out the old and writing the new. She would need to tell the entire Court about it. Retrain the warriors. Make sure that everyone had some leeway before she truly put her foot down.

Centuries of habits were hard to break. I knew that better than anyone.

Hereyes met mine for a brief moment before she went back to her work. “I thought you were gone for good.”

I shrugged, sending a glance around the shelves of bookcases. This room had once been our father’s. Centuries after his death, and I could still smell him with each step across the dull red carpet.

It’s why I had never visited more than a handful of times.

“One of the leaders of the Congregation is a pixie. I’ve confirmed it.”

“Hmm,” she mused, setting a book down on the desk before taking her seat. “Congratulations. Six years in the making, right? You should be proud of yourself.”

I knew she hated what I did. She had always preached that I should pay more attention to our Court. To our people. But the world was filled with more than just Fallen. Sometimes I wondered if the other High Kings and High Queens had forgotten about that.

“I’ve heard you stopped looking into the witches.”

“Yes,” she confirmed without looking up.

“And that there are rebel forces growing among the Fallen.”

“A lot of people hated you, Trick. Now I have to deal with that,” she stated blandly.

I nodded, uncaring of how difficult this was for her. “Have you thought about announcing your new position or are you just going to keep that a secret from the world until…” I shrugged. “After the war?”

Lora sighed and looked up. “What do you want, Trick? You don’t care about what happens here, that’swhy you revoked the crown. You care more about chasing tail than you do helping your own people, you made thatveryclear years ago. So, what is it you want?”

Being around her was always so much fun. “I’ve always cared about what happens here, but nobody believed what I had to say.”

She stared at me for a long time before huffing and returning to her work. “You kill hundreds of innocence every few months and then you let Karious go home with a bare warning. Now I’m dealing with the repercussions of that. He’s gathering people. Berkly, Hunri, Jaz. They’ve all joined him. Our territories in the North, South, and West.”

Not all of them.

“And they want to take us to war over something that doesn’t even exist anymore.”