Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

“I found your cum inside of her,” I confessed as I straightened.

Something in his eyes changed then. As if he had finally realized that there was no getting out ofthis. That I had no plan in releasing him. His eyes turned to ice, his trembling easing. “You should have heard her scream for her mother. ‘Please, no, don’t. Mommy.’ It was so…” he shivered in pleasure, a smile spreading across his face. “Good.”

I offered my own smile. “I don’t fuck girls who don’t want to befucked,” I told him. I stepped forward and wrapped a hand around his throat. “Give my thanks to whoever runs hell.” I felt his bones turn to dust beneath my hand, his life leaving his body just like that.

Fuck, I needed to see my girl.

4

My Bible, Chapter 17, Verse 45

The only ‘god’ you will serve is yourself. If someone else is reading this, the only god you will serve is me. I am your god now. Get on your knees and pray for the mercy I will never give.

Kyra

We walked for a while before I saw the first sign of movement.

Well, the truth was that I saw it only a second after Cole reached for his sword. My heart slammed and I grabbed his arm, nails digging into his shirt. A warning.

He found my eyes, glaring.

I glared back. “Don’t you dare.”

“You told me the verlacs would be after us.”

“If it was a verlac, oh mighty General,we wouldn’t hear it. Take your hand off that blade or I swear to the gods, I’ll let whatever it is eat you alive.” A half lie. I would let them eat him alive if they weren’t all herbivores, but something told me that neither he nor his High King knew that about the demons.

No one did.

He gave me a look, which I had to give him credit for. He’d kill whatever it was before it got close, but I stood by my half-threat anyway.

I straightened, pulling my hand away. “Demons are one of the most intelligent species in the world. I don’t just mean that they can understand us, I mean that there is a very real possibility that they can understand things even the gods couldn’t. So, stop acting like a brute, take your hand off the weapon, and do me a favor.”

“What?” he asked tightly.

“Listen to me,” I demanded before turning back to the woods. “You didn’t even know that the verlacs were venomous,” I told him, searching as I continued walking, steps silent. “So shut-up and do as I say, or the deal is off and you can go tell your boss that some human girl put you in your place.”

It was dangerous the game I was playing, but the demons didn’t deserve to be hunted by some egotistical male with a complex.

Cole was quiet for a moment, but by the release of tension in the air, I knew he was listening. Minutes passed with no other sound save for the sound of our own breathing. Finally, Cole said, “Talons suits you.”

To which I rolled my eyes. “Kiena Talons was an idol. A Nephilim goddess by some standards. You barelyknow me, and you won’t listen. That’s hardly enough to give me a name like that.”

Cole released a husky chuckle. “You know of Kiena Talons?”

I nodded, rolling my shoulders to try and force the tension out, my hearing strained. “The war was called Rectify. She led a small army, a group of women, towards what is now the Desert of Bones. There was a small group of rebels summoning creatures they shouldn’t have been, similar to what happened during the Fall, I suppose. They were killing a lot of people, which is how that desert got its name. Many believe it’s haunted. Going there was death sentence even then, but she went anyway.”

I actually really loved her story and had based several characters off her and what she had done. She was an icon in my eyes. Strong, brave, unrelenting, but I supposed the Nephilim and the Fallen had so many people like that who had done similar enough things that they held no pride for her.

That was fine, I held enough pride for all of us.

“And they all died,” Cole finished, slight shock in his tone. “But they took every single rebel with them. She and the rebel leader, Ark, were the last two standing. Bloodied, exhausted. It was a horrible battle, but she prevailed against all odds, killing Ark, ending the battle, only to die from her injuries among her people. You found that story here?”

I finally caught another flash of movement in the distance, my steps slowing. “I like to read.”

“But where did you find a book about Nephilim?”

I stopped, holding my breath. “Can’t remember.” Istole it from a bookshop on the Impossible Street. If they knew I took it, they never mentioned it. It was still my most read book, even to this day.