CROWN OF ROSES (ASH AND ROSES #2) BY N.B. SNOOK – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: N.B. Snook
- Language: English
- Genre: Paranormal / Sci-Fi
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 6.2 MB
- Price: Free
QUINN
The crown atop my head is tight. The sleek metal feels splintered, as
if thorns have sprouted from the gilded roses. This was a weight I’d
never wanted to bear. The responsibility of a kingdom and the
legacy of a murdered king.
The poisoned thoughts that once flashed through my father’s mind
while he wore this very crown are the same that now flit through mine.
Lunae is our enemy, and fall it must.
The sun has long since set, but my eyes have little trouble in the
darkness as I gaze down from my place on the stone balcony. My people—
or most of them, anyway—dart across the snow-covered clearing on four
legs, nipping at each other in wolfish excitement. They’ve never been here
so long. Never once waited for my command to flood the forest.
This is all new, and I want none of it.
The world is spinning. I back away from the ledge as echoing howls fill
the night. At least I have enough self-preservation left to stumble inside
what remains of the castle before I tumble over the edge. The fall wouldn’t
kill me, but the last thing I need is a broken bone to match my broken heart.
Abby’s blade might have missed, but her absence is just as sharp.
Cherry floors have turned dark with char from the fires that nearly
claimed this place. These halls that once held the chatter of busy servants
and a happy family seem all the more empty now as an invisible fog of
wood-smoke still hangs heavy in the air. This was my home, and although
I’ve hated it for some time, this destruction was not what I wanted for it.
Nor was it what I wanted for its people.
I catch myself on a table as my vision blurs the lines between reality
and memory, and dances between the ruin of flame and the lie that once
ruled. Flickers of perfection and wisps of music enslave my senses until I
can no longer differentiate between fact and fiction.
‘You kept me waiting.’
My heart quickens in response to the voice resonating inside my mind.
The voice, that should only be Abby’s, is low and cruel in a way hers could
never be.
I know this voice. I feel it deep in the very marrow of my bones. The
only shred of comfort that came from the blood staining my hands and soul
was that I would never again be subjected to words spoken by this man.
“You’re not real,” I say, my own voice shaking. My lips have gone dry
and my blood, cold. I haven’t been myself for some time, but my sanity has
never before dwindled to the point of auditory hallucinations.
Which is exactly what this must be because he can’t be here.
‘Real or not, it makes no difference. I am with you. I have always been
with you.’
“No!” I grip the crown and pull it from my head. Sharp edges bite into
the flesh of my palm and heated blood flows freely. I pay it no mind and
send the crown skittering away.
I can almost swear that in its golden reflection, my father’s eyes stare
back.
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