Page 1 of Queen of the Wicked
Prologue
Eternity
I am not patient. Not by nature nor design. Patience belongs to the mortals. It fills their fragile hearts with that disgusting feeling they call hope. They cling to it with trembling hands, cling to the petty illusion that they are in control of their fates.
But I am Eternity.
I am the past that has been both written and forgotten. I am the present that fills their lives with misery and regret. I am the future they dread and the destiny they run from.
I was here before the first child cried into the lonely night. I will be here when the last child’s bones are dust in my rivers.
My breath is the air they breathe and my blood is in their veins. My gaze is the crushing weight of despair they feel when they dare to whisper prayers to their false gods.
I do not answer prayers, for I am not a false god.
I am the only truth these mortals will ever know, and they will bow to me in the end when I come to claim their souls. They will beg for mercy for daring to utter another deity’s name.
I do not grant mercy.
I am magic. I am misery. I am.
And she?
She is mine.
Adelasia.
The darling human that I marked before she even drew her first breath.
Kaius Voroninov stabbed my Yekaterina and ripped out her spine, and so I filled my child with her soul, and watched as she grew strong-willed and with a fortified heart.
When the Son of Crows crushed her fragile neck between his hands–out of love, he claimed–I watched.
The sweet vessel dared look me in the eye as she defied my will. She pulled herself back from the grave with blood and magic that does not belong to her.
And I smiled.
I have allowed her to carry me with her. Allowed my malice to fester in her heart. It already shapes her in my image, and her immortal lover has taken notice. Alarmed and cautious, but still bewitched by her.
The Well still roars from where she drank it dry of the magic I have blessed the world with.
Yekaterina has reclaimed her place as Matriarch, with Amatisi at her cold side. My Coven whispers that the girl has stolen what is theirs. That is where they have made a grave mistake.
I am magic, and magic is mine. They have forgotten this, and they will remember to bow before me again or be punished.
Adelasia has claimed her place on the Vampire King’s throne, at his side, as his Queen, but the magic within her stirs and reaches for more. Will she embrace this new power in her blood?
Will she lead this world as I would lead them? Ruthless, unflinching. A queen who smiles as she carves this corner of the world into submission in my name.
Or will she cling to the bonds of her vampire and incubus? It is sharp and strong, twisted together in a pretty braid.
But their love is not stronger than me, and it will not save her from drowning in the madness she has only just begun to taste.
I shall not interfere, but I shall wait for her at the Well.
She will come, in due time. I will watch her suffer and bleed and reach for hands unable to pull her back from the abyss.
Then, she will know that she does not belong to them.
