Page 5 of She Who Holds My Wrath

Chapter 2

DAISY

Ilet Aran’s words settle over me.

He’s right. It doesn’t matter what I want, not really. I don’t have a choice anymore when it comes to my life. This is what I signed up for when I agreed to become Korithax’s queen. Well… not being a widow. Or grieving my best friend. Or watching people I love get slaughtered. Or… any of this, actually. I signed up to be his wife and queen, not solo ruler of Zeriavoss.

Despite me being awake for less than an hour, I have people relying on me to just get up, and get on with it. People demanding I just roll out of bed, fresh out of a coma, and get my shit together. All I want to do is sit in an oversized chair and stare out the window for months, like Bella did in Twilight. Alas, Bella didn’t have a war to face against giant celestial fuckbags. Life really can be a cruel bitch. But it seems she particularly enjoys being the cruellest to me.

Despite my thoughts and feelings, facts are facts. And the fact is, if I run, they’ll only follow, meaning more people are at risk. Because despite them taking so much from me, in this life, and the one before, they still want more. To think I had a hand in creating those fuckers.

I don’t know if it’s a new side of me, or if it’s Dasmyrin shining through, but I’ve grown quite fond of cursing. It’s kind of therapeutic in a way. Fuck fuck fuuuuuuck. Yeah. That helps a little.

My head snaps up as a low chuckle sounds from the doorway. “I heard the queen was having a temper tantrum, and I just had to come and take a look.”

Maelkar leans against the door frame, grinning with his hands stuffed into his deep-black trouser pockets. His obsidian hair sits around his smug face in inky waves, framing those violet eyes that gleam in the presence of my suffering. Sariya stands just ahead of him, looking unimpressed with his sudden appearance.

“Shadowtongue,” I murmur, scowling at him.

“Rage muffin.” He grins. “Looking positively feral today.”

I roll my eyes, but despite how I’m feeling, I smirk. He has that effect on people. Insufferable, yet can break the tension in any room by just being his painfully irritating self.

“What do you want, Maelkar?” Aran asks, shifting into a protective position beside me.

He shrugs. “Just checking in. And, I’m offering my help.”

“Your help?” Elyistria, Sariya, and I ask in eerie unison.

Maelkar grimaces. “That was fucking creepy. Don’t do that again. But yes, my help. Clearly, I am the most powerful person here.”

Aran scoffs, and I can’t help but smirk at how irritated he is by Maelkar. It’s as if he feels the need to be the only man now who can help me. Gods, he better not be as overbearing as Korithax with the protectiveness.

Korithax. Just the thought of his name sends a fresh pang of pain through my chest. I will never again get to experience the way he would fiercely protect me. The way he would guard me with his life, just like he did in that very throne room where he lost his life.

Sariya arches a brow, gesturing to me and Elyistria. “If you haven’t noticed, cursed one, there are three goddesses in this room. And you, are not a god.”

“Correct. I am not a god.” He smirks, waltzing into the room and making himself right at home by throwing himself onto my bed and laying on his side. “I’m something worse.”

“Because you’re a corrupt bastard?” Aran offers, frowning at him. “And get off the bed, she doesn’t want your fleas.”

Maelkar stretches out on the bed, rubbing himself all over the comforter whilst flipping Aran the bird. I hide my smirk behind my hand as I see Aran’s cheeks burn crimson.

“Well, yes,” Maelkar says, looking entirely too pleased at his reaction. “That’s part of the charm.”

He rolls back onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow before flashing me a wink that pulls a giggle from my lips. It feels wrong—laughing in a moment like this—but breaking tension is something Maelkar is, unfortunately, very good at. I study him as he rests his head against his palm, struck once again by how utterly at ease he seems in every situation. I can’t tell if it’s all an act… or if he truly just does not give a shit.

“But also,” he continues, “my magic is different. It’s potent and dark. The kind the Divine Six couldn’t ever control. And that makes me a problem for them. A deliciously untouchable one.”

“Your ego is exhausting,” Elyistria mutters.

He winks at her this time, making her eyes roll. “Thank you. Anyway, Daisy’s magic, it speaks to mine. I feel it. The rage, the pain, the hunger for revenge. I can help her train.”

“No,” Aran says instantly. “Not a chance. You are not corrupting her.”

I push myself up on shaky legs, placing a hand on Aran’s shoulder. “Wait. Let’s hear him out.”

Maelkar grins. “See? I knew the little hellflower had a taste for the dark side.”