Page 26 of Queen of the Wicked
Would I evensurviveher?
Twenty-Two
Adelasia
I cross the room and sit on the edge of the bed, curling my legs beneath me and resting my head against the headboard. My body aches. My bones buzz.
But it isn’t the rot that bothers me tonight.
It’s the guilt.
It’s the way I still taste Kaius on my lips and feel Rowan’s presence lingering in the studio. The way both of them exist in me now—one rooted in the past I clawed back from the grave to return to, and the other carved out of something new and burning and terrifyingly exciting.
I love Kaius. Ilovehim.
But something in me is reaching toward Rowan, too. It’s not just his magic that stirs when he’s near. It’s not just the pull of an incubus feeding on desire. It’s something far older. Something almost…familiar. Something I feel like I could have tasted with Kaius before I turned myself into thismonster.
I’m going to ruin them.
That thought comes quietly. Two whispers between the ears. One voice,fearfulof ruining them. The otherachingto do so. To hurt and control and bury.
They already have so much history etched into their skin on the broken vow on their arms. I see it every time they stand together. A tether that no amount of resentment or years of silence could break. A bond I’ll never understand.
Because I don’t have one.
There is no golden mark on my arm. No line etched into my flesh to say I belong to Kaius no matter how bad I want to.
He and Rowan both said there should be a bond. That I am his mate. But then why hasn’t it appeared?
Is it because of the magic inside me?
Am I even capable of being loved in the way I once was?
Or what if, in some twisted way, I’ve already been claimed by something darker?
I curl tighter into myself, the fabric of the sheets twisting in my fingers. I don’t know how to talk to Kaius about this without sounding desperate. And if I tried to talk to Rowan about it, I don’t want him to go gloating to Kaius about how I opened up to him instead of the man I died for.
But if he looks at me the way he does for much longer, I won’t be able to keep pretending I don’t feel a pull towards him.
I don’t want to choose between them.
But I’m afraidnotchoosing will tear us all apart.
Twenty-Three
Rowan
I stand behind her, gently guiding the motion of her arm as she draws power from the air—soft and slow. Controlled intent.
“Good,” I murmur. “Now feel it. Not as something inside you. Feel where you end and the magic begins.”
She lowers her hand, chest heaving slightly. Her eyes meet mine and linger longer than they should. Something flickers in her expression, and for a moment, I almost say something I might regret.
Then footsteps approach behind us, and her head turns.
Kaius enters the courtyard in dark clothing, his sleeves rolled up, jaw not set in stone for once. He says nothing at first, only walks forward to stand beside me. Our shoulders nearly brush. It’s the closest we’ve been in centuries.
And somehow, we don’t ignite into flames.
