My magic encounters another ward, and it flays the spell wide open, allowing my shadows to rush in. In an instant I become aware of an entire subterranean prison located beneath the palace and the hundreds of women held captive within it. My darkness does its work, shredding through prison guard after prison guard.
The whole thing is over in a matter of seconds.
I bow my head as my power sweeps back into me. The only ones to survive the ordeal are Callie and the captive women. Everyone else has disintegrated into magic and dust.
I lift my head, my gaze finding that of my bloody mate. “The King of Fauna is no more.”
Chapter 25
The Future is Now
Present
The hour is late, but here in the Night Kingdom, it makes no difference. The sky is just as dark as it always is, and the stars twinkle just as brightly as they always do.
I lay in my royal chambers, my mate at my side.
I stare down at Callie, her dark hair fanned out around her, her eyes closed and her lips parted in sleep. A soft sigh escapes her.
It’s almost unbearable, caring this much for someone else. I have half a mind to wake Callie up, just so I can slide into her and feel her around me.
I settle for tracing one rounded earlobe.
Never have I been so thankful to see my mate safe in my bed.
… not true …
… you’re always thanking the bloody night that she’s in your bed …
My lips quirk, before the expression dissolves away into something more somber.
Almost lost her.
Even now I can acutely remember the sight of her in the Flora Queen’s sacred oak forest, her essence slipping further and further away from me as she bled out from a knife wound inflicted by the Thief of Souls. For several horrible seconds, I had to grapple with the possibility that my mate was gone.
If I hadn’t fed her the lilac wine …
Even now a small shudder works through me. Unendurable. And to think of how many centuries I have left to live. It’s impossible to imagine spending them alone.
My thumb brushes her lower lip, causing her to murmur in her sleep.
Now I won’t have to.
I’ve taken her, I’ve claimed her, and now I get to keep her. She’s tasted lilac wine, and the elixir has both given her everlasting life and made two magics that were once incompatible, compatible. The cord that binds us pulls on my heartstrings even now, and through it I can hear the dark, alluring notes of Callie’s power, her siren calling to me.
A noise on the balcony has me out of bed in an instant. I slip on a shirt and pants and head to the doors that lead out, my wings flaring behind me. Wings that, not so long ago, my undead father had broken. They’ve healed, but the memory hasn’t.
I step onto the balcony, which is completely deserted—just as it should be—and I lean against the railing.
Galleghar Nyx, the Shadow King, is still out there. What a fool I’d been all those years ago to not question why his body had been impervious to the elements. I’d been so filled with hate for him that I let it cloud my judgment.
And now I’m just beginning to pay the price.
I stand outside a few minutes longer, taking in the pale buildings that spread out around me.
An unnatural sort of silence descends upon Somnia. The back of my neck pricks.
… He … Is … Here …
I turn around, my shadows billowing out of me as I head back inside.
Who?
… … …
I stride into the bedroom, and that’s when I see it.
A shadow looms over Callie, one dark arm reaching out to pet her hair.
Kill. The thought is instinctual.
My darkness unleashes itself. It sweeps across the room, wrapping around the shadow. I expect my magic to devour the creature, as it does all magical things, but it won’t.
It … can’t.
The thing cackles once, a wispy, hollow sound that seems to come from somewhere else, and then it’s gone.
I only get moments to make sense of what I saw. Then the quiet night is quiet no longer.
A thousand screams shatter the silence. They come from deep in the bowels of the castle, the shrieks shaking the earth.
I know what I’m hearing before even the shadows can confirm it.
The sleeping women have awoken.
Keep a lookout for
Dark Harmony
The final installment in The Bargainer series.
Coming winter 2017
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Click here to sign up for Laura Thalassa’s mailing list for the latest news on her upcoming novels.
Be sure to check out Laura Thalassa’s young adult paranormal romance series
The Unearthly
Out now!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Be sure to check out Laura Thalassa’s new adult post-apocalyptic romance series
The Queen of All that Dies
Out now!
Click here to buy it on Amazon
Other books by Laura Thalassa
The Unearthly series:
The Unearthly
The Coveted
The Cursed
The Forsaken
The Damned
The Fallen World series:
The Queen of All that Dies
The Queen of Traitors
The Queen of All that Lives
The Vanishing Girl series:
The Vanishing Girl
The Decaying Empire
The Infernari series:
Blood and Sin
Novellas:
Reaping Angels
Found in the forest when she was young, Laura Thalassa was raised by fairies, kidnapped by werewolves, and given over to vampires as repayment for a hundred year debt. She’s been brought back to life twice, and, with a single kiss, she woke her true love from eternal sleep. She now lives happily ever after with her undead prince in a castle in the woods.
… or something like that anyway.
When not writing, Laura can be found scarfing down guacamole, hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
Contents
Prologue
Part I: In the Beginning, There was Darkness
Chapter 1: Misbegotten
Chapter 2: The Shadow King
Chapter 3: The Angels of Small Death
Chapter 4: A Mortal Mate
Chapter 5: Make War, Not Love
Chapter 6: All Prophecies Have a Price
Chapter 7: To Kill a King
Chapter 8: A Body to Curse
Chapter 9: All is Fair in Love
Chapter 10: On to Earth
Chapter 11: How the Bargainer Came to Be
Chapter 12: The Opposite of Hope
Part II: Be Mine Always
Chapter 13: It Begins
Chapter 14: Hell to Pay
Chapter 15: My True Love
Chapter 16: A Crown of Fireflies
Chapter 17: A Marked Man
Chapter 18: Under a Peruvian Sky
Chapter 19: The Final Wish
Chapter 20: Repayment Begins
Chapter 21: Another Man
Part III: Till Darkness Dies
Chapter 22: Reunion
Chapter 23: Till Darkness Dies
Chapter 24: The King of Claws and Talons
Chapter 25: The Future is Now
Contents
Laura Thalassa, The Emperor of Evening Stars (The Bargainer Book 3)
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