Page 68 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

H er twentieth birthday finally arrived. The celebrations went all week long. Fireworks, feasts, and more. The kingdom rejoiced at the oldest Daughter of the Damned coming of marrying age.

Long have I executed her kingdom’s wretched as the blue terror who streaks the skies, but never have I been allowed to be in her presence as the man who loves her.

I run my fingers along her gift, the silver mask melted down.

It’s soft and beautiful by human standards.

She will love to wear it. But if she doesn’t…

The mark on my wrist aches with the thought of what I will do.

I thumb the crested jewel sitting over my heart.

Ensphire stone runed to the nines to protect me from all their powers, and the silver frame protects me from hers .

The necklace doesn’t whisper like the mask used to.

Once it was split into two halves, it quieted down.

I wonder if that will change when we both wear them.

This is my only course of action. He will never let me be with her. I am a monster, a murderer, and she is his little wheat . Her golden hair the shimmering reminder of the stupid, selfish nickname they bestowed on her. She is not wheat.

She is an oak with deep roots. She can withstand a storm. She is the mountain that does not bow to the wind—though she is shaped over time by it. I will shape her over time. I will show her that she loves me.

I test the clasp on her collar, snapping it tight. A flourish of my blue magic surges along the glittering stones, activating all the protections I’ve built into it over the years.

I tug on it.

It doesn’t open.

Tomorrow, I meet my life-mate for her first time.

Tomorrow, I steal a princess.