My teeth ground together.
What she failed to see was that I’d spent the last five fucking years searching for an alternative to this wedding. Some sign to indicate that this wasn’t my right path, yet the stars continued to align against me.
All pointing to a sea dragon bride better suited for my nightmares.
It wasn’t even her snakelike hair that bothered me, but her bitter soul. She was a vile creature who wouldn’t know kindness if it bit her on the ass. And she was destined to rule at my side.
“Fuck,” I grumbled to myself, setting my empty glass to the side before rubbing a hand over my face. For many years, I’d used sex as a relief from my fate. But not even that had appealed to me for the last six months. Actually, the only activity I enjoyed of late was sparring with Zaya. Perhaps because my soul recognized the torment in hers. I may wander around with a jovial grin, pretending not to have a care in the world, but inside, I was slowly shattering.
Fate had forced me to decide between my happiness and the happiness of the kingdom.
I’d chosen the latter but found myself yearning for the former.
My mother was right about one thing, though. Brooding wouldn’t solve my problem.
At this point, nothing really would.
Apart from a dagger through Napia’s heart—an act of treason that was proving more and more promising every day.
“Zaya...”
A shiver danced down my spine, urging my feet faster as I ran down the endless corridor.
Nova Kingdom, I recognized, spinning in a circle, my mind dizzy. How? How am I here?
It had to be a dream.
A warped reality.
A nightmare.
Please. Please don’t let this be real. Not again. Not again!
“Oh, Zaya,” the deep voice taunted, causing my heart to race in my chest as I pushed myself to my limit, searching for a way out, a door, anything, to end this lengthy torment. “You can’t escape the inevitable, little one. I’m inside you. I made you what you are. Don’t try to run from it. You’ll never be free from me.”
Lies! I thought back at it. “I’ll escape you,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from screaming.
When was that?
When had I screamed?
I couldn’t remember, this hell a maze of mental torment.
This isn’t real.
This can’t be real.
Run!
I slammed into something hard—a hot wall of male—and my world shattered to a stop. It’s him. My tormentor. The one who orchestrated my destruction.
Necros.
I’d dreamt this scene so many times, awoken to tangled, sweat-drenched sheets and the visions of a past I longed to forget.
“There’s no way out,” he said, his voice a low taunt to my senses. A dark embrace. A kiss of a memory forever ingrained in my mind.
I shoved him away, only to be caught up in his hold once more, my eyes clouding with unshed tears.