My powerful wings were steady as they carried me over forests and around mountains. The moment we left the witch’s cottage with my brother’s location, I ordered my general to gather my army. Less than a day had passed, and now, my Winged Soldiers flew behind me as I guided them toward my prize.
We were almost there. I could feel it in my bones. Decades of scheming, murder, and political plays had brought me to this moment. I had spilled copious amounts of blood to get here, but it would all be worth it.
With the Gilded Amulet in my hands, I would be unstoppable.
We will be unstoppable, the dragon reminded me.
I roared, my flames licking the sky.We, I agreed.
Now that I knew the amulet’s location, there wasn’t a single person who could stop me. This morning, one of my late husband’s Fortune Elves had dared try to halt me in the hallway of my castle, spewing ridiculous nonsense about a broken balance and spreading darkness.
I had ripped out his throat and left him bleeding on the floor.
I did not have time for trivialities. Not today. Nothing would come between me and my amulet.
There it is. The creature’s voice was triumphant, echoing the sentiment running through me as the clouds rolled back, revealing a massive peak in the distance.
Nestled between two smaller mountains, the tallest one was cloaked in darkness. The stolen magic hummed in my veins, beckoning me toward this place. Swooping low, my wings caught the current as I descended. We would be there in mere hours, a day at the most.
Soon, immeasurable power would be mine.
Another roar left me as I remembered the moment when I first learned of the amulet’s existence.
It was seared into my memory for more than one reason.
A brisk breeze blew in through the open window, causing goosebumps to erupt on my bare skin. The cool sensation was a welcome distraction from the warmth of the male beneath me. I rested my chin on Dante’s expansive chest, my fingers idly playing with his long blond hair. It lay in sweaty ringlets around us, both of our bodies slick with sweat from our previous entanglement. He ran his fingers playfully over me, and I shivered at his touch.
Of all the lovers I’d enjoyed, Dante was my favorite. Not only because of his crown—although that was an absolute benefit—but for the way he made me feel. Of course, the life growing within me was nice, too. That was my little secret, one I had been nurturing for weeks. Hiding it was becoming impossible, though. I was going to share my news with my lover and my brother together at dinner later this week. Taking care of two birds with one stone, so to speak.
“What’s it like to be king?” I asked.
A dark, murderous chuckle escaped my lover. “To hold this kind of power is everything, Saena.” Dante raised a brow. “I can barely find the words to describe it. When people look at me, they know I hold their lives in my hands.”
Smiling, I brushed my lips over his chest. “That must be incredible.”
His hand wove through my hair, and he tugged my head up. “My rose, you have no idea. Power like mine… it’s addictive. Once you’ve tasted it, you want nothing else.” He kissed me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth. “That’s why I have to leave tomorrow.”
“What? So soon?” This was my first time hearing of this, and it was going to throw my carefully structured plan out the window. I struggled to keep the panic out of my voice. “Where are you going?”
Dante, the ruler of the Southern Kingdom, sighed. He rolled his eyes as if this line of questioning was beneath him. “My spies have received word of a powerful artifact hidden deep in Ithenmyr, and I want it.”
“Can it wait?” I pouted. “I don’t want you to go. You just got back. Can’t you send Philips in your place?”
Dante had been coming and going for months. He was always on one mission or another, and I barely saw him. This gift growing in me had been conceived during his last trip home, and now he wanted to leave again.
“My rose, I must go,” he said patiently, explaining it as though I was a child and not a fully Mature female. “This artifact will only work once, and I can’t risk the power going to anyone else.”
Frowning, I studied him. What could be more important than me? I ran my hands over his chest, moving lower and lower and lower. I was Dante’s rose, and though he didn’t know it yet, I was carrying his child.
Kissing a trail on his stomach, I formed a new plan. Tonight, I would tell him. When he knew what I was carrying, there was no way he would go.
Who could leave a rose who was about to bloom?
Shuddering, I pulled myself back to the present. Everything had gone wrong that night. Dante’s rose?
It had all been a lie.
In the end, Dante had been like all other men. Horrible. Untrustworthy. Good for nothing but a quick roll in the sheets.