Page 11

FIFTEEN YEARS OLD

T he tides of the war had turned, and I had been right.

There was a Stormshade resistance, and Zion and Annelise were at the heart of it.

I had been appointed the captain of the king’s guard and, for all intents and purposes, I ruled his army.

After Osiris took me under his wing and took a personal interest in me, I had climbed the ranks effortlessly.

And they backed me.

Supported me.

They knew, despite still being young, I was the most powerful Shade this realm had ever seen. They wanted to see me on the throne as much as I thirsted for it. I quickly grew a contingent of soldiers loyal only to me, and for what I had planned next…this was important.

I had even slept with one of them.

There was no better way to get closer to someone than to engage in pillow talk.

I had flirted with Annikin for weeks before I made my move on him. He was one of Osiris’ favorites, but I knew he secretly hated him. Just as I did.

I had brought him back to my quarters in the castle, stripping bare before him and laying on the bed. He was no fool—he didn’t turn down the invitation. I felt nothing for him. He was simply a pawn to be used in the greater scheme. A soldier I needed to win over to my side. Someone I could trust.

I used my body to lure other soldiers, too. I felt nothing for any of them.

When they stripped me bare and thrust inside of me, all I could think about was how I was growing closer and closer to the all-consuming power I craved.

I even tried to bed Alastir, but that had failed.

He was one of the few soldiers who could see through my facade, and he was Osiris’ best friend.

If I couldn’t bring him to my side, manipulate him, he would need to be dealt with.

Annikin and I had killed hundreds of Stormshades. Maybe even thousands. He was always with me when we battled them, charging out from the castle to hunt and slaughter them.

My shadows were unstoppable now.

Annikin craved me the same way he craved power, and I felt much the same.

Once, I had been power hungry, so enthralled from the battle that I had stripped bare right there on the battlefield.

I had pushed him to the ground in a pool of blood, straddling him.

Savoring the feeling of him inside of me, my naked body covered in Stormshade blood.

Annikin was a powerful ally. I would never take a king once the throne was mine.

That would undermine my power. My seat. But I wouldn’t mind if he followed along for the journey.

His company wasn’t completely…intolerable.

I had never been in love, never felt what that was like.

To be entirely consumed and enamored by someone.

But I imagined that with Annikin, that was the closest I would get.

I didn’t experience the same butterflies I had when I had first kissed Malec. The thought of him didn’t send my daydreams whirling. But he was…useful.

And if I could wring pleasure from him, all the better.

I had grown hungry for the throne. I thought about it day and night.

It consumed my every thought.

In that way, maybe I had experienced love. Or was it obsession? Whatever it was…it consumed me. Body and soul.

I wasn’t the heir to the throne. That title belonged to my disgusting little sister. Even if Osiris would never hand his throne over to a Stormshade. That left me one little problem I needed to take care of to ensure I was the next in line for succession.

“You’re serious?” Annikin asked, still inside of me. I fell to his side, curling around the bedsheets. I ran a delicate, manicured finger down his bare chest, twirling the hair there. Annikin had to be in his early twenties, a few years older than me.

“Deadly,” I hissed, capturing his mouth with mine.

“How are you going to kill the king ? He is guarded at all times. You’ll never have an opportunity to do it. And he has loyal followers…” His words trailed off.

“As do I.” My voice was dripping with venom. “You don’t think I have enough followers to take the throne?” I raised my eyebrow at him in question.

He shook his head quickly. “That’s not what I meant at all. I know you would be an incredible queen, the queen this realm needs . I don’t see how we are going to dispose of the king. It won’t be that easy.”

“No, not easy,” I replied. “But it must be done.”

“When?” he asked, his gaze on mine. Annikin had never been scared away by the endless black that gazed back at him.

He knew it meant power. Strength.

“In order to grasp the throne entirely, Osiris needs to be dead. What better way than for him to fall in battle?”

Annikin laughed, the vibration sending a delicious shiver down my spine. “He hates Stormshades, too. The others will wonder why you killed him.”

“It won’t matter,” I mused. “He will be dead, and I will take the throne. Anyone would be a fool to stand against me.”

“They would, my love.” His mouth found the crook where the column of my neck met my collarbone and he placed a kiss there, his tongue tasting my skin.

My love.

Did he love me? Is this what love was? I shook my head to clear it, banishing the thought. There was no point in love. All it did was make you weak. The only thing I had eyes for was power .

We stormed Siraleth two days later, and I planned to make my move for the throne at that time.

All Annelise and Zion could talk about was how they had failed me. But I didn’t think they had failed me at all.

Without their negligence, I might never have been queen.