Queen of Darkness (War of Heavenly Fire Book 1) Read online

  I know what happens next. I will be branded with the flame itself. It will bind me to this place and its power and recognize me as its future queen. Nissa will receive a brand too. As a servant of the flame. Equally bound with none of the power that I will receive once I take my place as queen.

  “But in these uncertain times,” my father continues, “even the darkness needs protection.”

  What? I look up in surprise. Surprises from my father are never a good thing. Even worse things happen when he smiles. Which he’s doing right now.

  “Another battle,” he says. “For the honor ruling alongside the vessel and guarding its light with their very soul. And also for the honor of guarding the throne.” My father gestures for me to get up and move beside him.

  Oh fuck. I should have known that he would do something like this. Arad has ruled Tartarus for hundreds of years. Every vessel born under Eris has been slaughtered. Now that I’ve been chosen, he’s not taking any chances. Which means giving me a king, and a soul bond that I do not want.

  My gut twists into a knot and I fight to conceal my panic. He did it here and now because I cannot say no. I’m not branded and not crowned. The only thing I have is another notch in my victory belt, and it means nothing yet. I’m still a pawn in this game, and there’s no way out.

  I should have known that nothing would be different.

  My father is still smiling. “Both my daughters have fought valiantly, and so both of them shall be bonded this day. Victor with victorious, conquered with the overcome. Of course, only the greatest warriors can be trusted with this task. And so I call forward the general of my armies and enforcer of my reign, Telem.”

  No. Oh holy fuck, no. There’s no air. I can’t breathe. I’m going to pass out right next to the throne, and they will kill me for being weak. It would be better than being mated to a monster known for his brutal conquests. The bodies of females he’s left behind tell a story I don’t want any part of.

  He strides forward into the center of the room, drawing his sword and looking at me with a territorial glint in his eye. That smile is terrifying. If I survive him to become queen, I’ll find an abyss to lock him in—soul bond or no.

  “And I call forward the scourge of the light, the fallen Cassian, who proved himself worthy by striking a blow to heaven’s heart.”

  I look over at him and register the shock on his face before he steps forward into the center of the room to meet Telem. He glances at me dismissively. He’s not giving his opponent any extra ammunition.

  I’ll never forget the first time that I saw Cassian. Ancient and immortal, still bloodied and burnt from his fall from heaven. They cast him out, and our soldiers found him in the still smoking crater that he made. Wings broken and forever blackened by his divorce from the light.

  He’d done the impossible. Something that the Underworld had tried to do for years. He killed the High Trinity. The three archangels that led heaven’s forces. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. Heaven had never been more vulnerable, and Tartarus celebrated. And attacked. A lot of angels died that day.

  There’s a new High Trinity now, but they don’t have the millennia of experience in waging war against us.

  Cassian’s eyes that day were steel and fire. Pride and pain and fury. He stood naked before the Court of Darkness and took the abuse that was hurled at him. And then everything came to stillness when he knelt and pledged himself in service, vowing to destroy heaven. Revenge made solid flesh.

  I was old enough to feel the pull towards him. To wonder what it would feel like to run my hands along his body or be covered with his wings as he moved deep. To crave losing myself to that fire I saw inside him and feeling an entirely different kind of burn. He was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, and he still is.

  As if he was reading my thoughts, he looked up from where he knelt and pinned me with his stare. That look pierced me through the chest, and I never forgot it. He didn’t either.

  My father saw, and forbade it. And he loved to torture us, knowing we had a connection we didn’t ask for and could barely resist. He commanded Cassian to guard the door as he sold me off to his advisors and enemies alike, so he had to listen to every grunt and groan. Made me practice my seduction techniques on Cassian in front of the court, to prove that I could make a man hard before he sent me off to sow the chaos that he desired.

  There were other tortures too of our own making. The long looks and hidden touches. Never crossing the line we knew we couldn’t cross. Until this morning. Until the kiss that we can’t take back, and I won’t be able to forget.

  I wish I didn’t know that he tastes like embers and rain. And I wish that he didn’t know what it was like for me to lower my walls and trust him. Because after that, if I have to be bound to this monster instead of him, that will be a wound that never heals.

  Cassian meets my eyes across the room, just like that first time we saw each other. I reach into my darkness, drawing deep, ignoring the feeling of singeing and fracturing under my skin. I gather it into my chest and send it spearing towards him with one singular thought, though I show nothing.

  You better fucking win.

  The rest of the audience would never know that he heard me, but I see it. One nod, and the tilt of his head towards his opponent that I know is lethal. The sound of the bell echoes through my chest, and Cassian lunges.

  It’s over before it begins. He doesn’t even unleash his wings, and for the first time I realize how much he’s truly been holding back. From everything. Even in the few battles we’ve seen, he’s never moved like this. So fast that he’s a blur.

  Cassian does not draw his sword. He doesn’t have to. Telem’s sword is in his hand before I blink once, and I don’t know how it got there. One kick sends the demon flying onto his back, and the earth shatters underneath him when Cassian plunges his own sword through his shoulder. Close enough to his heart to be a warning, and far enough away to let him live.

  Telem’s roar sends people running in fear, and even my father is still with shock. Cassian stands over the demon with casual grace. Like the fact that he pinned the Underworld’s strongest demon to the ground with his own sword took no effort at all. Maybe it didn’t.

  On the ground, Telem is fighting. Black blood spills across the stones from his wound as he tries and fails to dislodge the weapon. Cassian merely watches with vague interest—a giant ready to crush a bug.

  Please. I don’t know who I’m asking, but I need Telem to yield. I can’t be bound to him. Everything I’ve ever done in Tartarus has been to survive, and I would die first.

  Telem rages against his wound, but he raises his hand crossing them in surrender before Cassian pulls the sword out of his shoulder like it’s not buried in solid stone. He drops it on the floor and strides towards my father with purpose, dropping on one knee and looking up with an insolent smile. “My king.”

  Adar laughs, a sound that’s disconcerting on most days. “Cassian. I accept you as protector of the vessel and soul-bonded king of Tartarus.”

  In the middle of the throne room, priests and healers are swarming over Telem, trying to stop the bleeding. And other priests are preparing the altar, unfurling chains from their hiding places and covering it with infernal ash. I’ve seen many things happen on that altar, and none of them good.

  Soul bonds are usually performed in front of the Infernal Flame itself, since they’re so rare. But this is me. Of course it’s going to be here and now. My father would never lose a chance to humiliate me in front of this court in the name to show off the vessel’s dedication to the darkness.

  Cassian meets my eyes, and they’re unreadable.

  “I should have known you would unleash yourself for my daughter,” Adar says so that only the two of us can hear. “Perhaps I should have given you the option sooner.”

  “Maybe I just wanted to feel Telem’s flesh break,” Cassian says roughly.

  The king tilts his head, regarding the fallen angel, but says nothing. Un
til the priests approach us. “Prepare them.”

  Hands on my arms pull me towards the altar, and that same panic rises up in me as before. I’m not ready for this, even if it is Cassian. A soul bond is permanent and unbreakable. If one of us died, the other would be lucky to survive.

  I’m pulled in front of the altar, and the same priest that searched me at the doors is there with reaching hands. “Soul bonds must be performed—”

  “Touch her, and you’ll join Telem on the floor,” Cassian growls.

  The priest has the good sense to go pale and step away from me. Soul bonds must be performed naked, he was going to say. Because they can only be performed when the participants are fucking—the most carnal and intimate thing—so that the souls are vulnerable enough to shape. Souls are territorial things. They don’t want to be connected, and they’ll fight. At least one of them has to be contained.

  That’s why there are chains on the altar right now. For me. Not for him. Shit.

  I swallow. “Cassian.”

  Quiet. The word washes over me. A reminder not to show any weakness in front of them. Not after I’ve won.

  I don’t think I can do this. The power I need to use to speak to him hurts, but he’s maintaining most of the connection.

  You’d rather it be Telem?

  I recoil. Of course not. But this—this is not the way I imagined our first time together.

  We’re just standing there, and the priests are staring at us. They’re going to figure it out if we don’t move. I start unlacing my vambraces and remove my boots.

  Cassian’s power is softer this time. Like a caress. It’s not what I imagined either. But that can come later.

  Panic wells in my chest, but I shove it down. Later. There will be a later. We are going to be bound for eternity. I undo the leather bodice and put it to the side as Cassian hauls his shirt over his head. I just wish we had time, I say to him.

  Time for what.

  I’m shaking.

  Anything.

  Cassian reaches for me as I toss my shirt to the side. He grabs my chin between two fingers, putting on a show of making me look at him, though his fingers are gentle. Do you want me?

  I close my eyes, shuddering. Yes.

  Do you trust me?

  Yes.

  Then we will do this, he says in my mind, the words stroking through it like a breath in my ear. It leaves goosebumps. I lean into that thought, and every thought of desire that I’ve ever had for him. I let the images and yearning fill me and soothe the panic.

  Arielle, he says to me. They will not expect me to be gentle.

  He’s right. To Arad and the rest of them, I am the King’s assassin, and he is the angel who killed heaven. And despite the fact that I will rule the underworld, there will always be a part of them that wants to see me torn apart. Taken and dominated. I shiver. If it has to be anyone, I want it to be him.

  The skin I have bare prickles into goosebumps. These are the roles that we’ll have to play, no matter our faces in private. We might as well start now. Do it.

  Cassian doesn’t hesitate. He grabs my arm and pulls me close, and it’s the furthest thing from gentle. That unfathomable strength shreds what clothes I have left like they’re nothing. I’ve been naked in front of the court more times than I care to count, but this is different.

  Blood rushes to my face in a furious blush, but I struggle to keep my face flat. Unaffected. He unwinds my hair from where it’s pinned and drags his fingers through it. Another piece of the show. Make me look ruined. The only thing he doesn’t strip from me is his medallion on my arm.

  Cassian presses himself against my back, grinding against me with a dark chuckle that’s echoed through the room. He’s already hard. Even through the leather I can feel the size and length of him.

  It’s different because it’s him. With anything else—anyone else—I can keep up my armor. But I want Cassian. And so my armor is gone. Vulnerable just like I need to be for this. But I can’t stop the embarrassment and heat from building up in my chest.

  His hips pin me to the altar while he bends me over it, stretching my arms out to the waiting priests. “Chain her for me.”

  I barely recognize that voice. Dark and fire and dominance. And there’s an echo of it when he speaks into my mind. Breathe.

  I can’t.

  Hearing his laughter in my head is like glowing fingers trailing down my spine. You will for me.

  Stone cuffs lock around my wrists, and Cassian knocks my legs apart as they scrape closed around my ankles. Oh fuck. Hysteria flutters in my chest. I’m trapped. Bound to this stone and pinned by Cassian’s body. I pull against the cuffs, fighting them. “Wait,” I say out loud, and a hand claps over my mouth.

  Breathe. Now, Arielle.

  I haul in one breath at the command, and then another. He lets my mouth go just to grip my hair with those same fingers, yanking my head back so everyone can see. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he says, loudly enough to make the priests grin with anticipation.

  Cassian draws his hand down my spine as he pulls away, exploring my body with his hands. They drift over my ass, and I can hear laughter. Cheering. Comments about what it will feel like to take me. My face is on fire and I have to close my eyes.

  You’re not going to listen to anyone but me, Cassian whispers in my mind. It’s another command, and for a brief moment I fight it. And then I let go.

  “I’ve always wanted to do this,” he says out loud, sliding his hand around my hips to touch me where I’m already wet for him. He’s mocking me to them, but it’s a truth between us. Clever fingers stroke from my clit down to my entrance and back.

  I gasp at the unexpected pleasure of it, and block out the jeering. Later, Cassian says, when we’re alone. I’m looking forward to showing you all the things that I’ve wanted to do to you. With you.

  He slips a finger inside me, and a moan slips out. Fuck. Another finger and I gasp. My head is pulled back again, and Cassian draws his tongue along my neck. It makes me fight against the restraints. I want to be closer to him. Only him.

  Hands wrap around my body and cradle my breasts. Lift them up and put them on display for everyone to see. I don’t watch. My eyes are closed.

  I’m going to make you scream, he says. I’m going to make every single one of them wish they could fuck you the way I am. And when you’re Queen, every single one of them will grovel on the floor, hoping you’ll take them as a lover.

  He shoves his pants off his hips, and then he’s there, teasing my entrance with his cock. One brutal thrust, and he’s in me to the hilt.

  Everything freezes for a moment. Cassian wraps himself around me. Legs against mine, chest pressing me down into the altar, hands gripping my wrists over the cuffs. It’s for them, to show them the power he has over me. And it’s to give me a second to adjust to the sheer size of him.

  But a second is all we have.

  Cassian moves, and I try to keep my face blank. I don’t want them to know how badly I’ve wanted this, even if it’s the only thing that I’ve been dreaming about for years. Long strokes getting harder with every thrust. Fuck, he feels good.

  I grab the edge of the altar so my hands don’t curl into fists. In the same way that he’s surrounding me with his body, Cassian wraps his mind around mine. Smoky power that tastes like the way he kissed me. Trust me, Arielle.

  Power licks down my spine and spreads across my skin. And suddenly I’m not here. I’m not anywhere. It’s just the two of us. No audience and no altar. Just a moment that we’ve always wanted. I know that it’s not real, but I embrace it. As I do, everything turns to pleasure.

  I surrender to it. To him. And he fucks me. It’s raw power and ecstasy. Driving me up into pleasure that I’ve never had before. Because I’ve never wanted anyone before. No one but him.

  And now he’s mine.

  I’m suddenly wetter than I’ve ever been because it’s Cassian. He’s in me. Filling me in the way I’ve always wanted. Perfect fric
tion, like he was made to take me. His lips brush the back of my neck, and I shudder.

  Let go, he says, power like perfume in my brain. I do. I fall into what he’s offering and let him fuck me, clinging to that rising fire. I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t resist. When I cry out, I don’t hold back.

  Every driving thrust presses me harder against the stone of the altar, scraping my skin. I’ll trade it for this, the feeling of his cock impaling me so deep that I’ll never be able to forget it.

  “You’re mine,” he says out loud. I don’t care that it’s for them. It’s those words that light me up from the inside, breaking me open and sending me over the edge. I do scream then, climax nearly crushing me. I’m blind with it, breath ragged.

  There’s brightness behind my eyes and it takes me a second to realize that it’s not the orgasm. I open my eyes to the infernal flame in front of me, so bright that it burns. In that same bowl in which it appeared earlier, now held by a priest. This is the part that we can’t take back.

  Cassian is still plunging into me with all of his strength, grunting with the effort. But even he shudders as the priest takes our hands together and shoves them into the flame. It’s pure pain. Like someone has stabbed me through the wrist with acid, and more. I’m dizzy and drowning and being unmade.

  Now I know why they have the chains. I fight them, even though I am not in control. I can feel traces of myself disappearing and I do not want to be unmade. I’m a caged animal and I will be free. Cassian holds me down, spearing me with his cock over and over again, and I scream against this.

  Arielle.

  It’s his voice and I shove it out. They didn’t tell me that it would feel like being unraveled from the inside out. A sliver of him—of Cassian—buries itself in my heart. I can feel it there like a splinter and a wound. It winds itself around who I am and fuses. Melds us together so we can never be apart. I can feel that missing part of myself in him.

  But it’s still missing.

  Cassian comes. Heat explodes inside, and he roars his pleasure, making sure that they know he’s claimed me both body and soul. It draws me back into myself, and I’m left feeling empty. Nothing. Just a shell bound to an altar. I don’t even move when the chains fall from my wrists and ankles.