Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,133

Lore snorted, shaking his head. “It’s real, her scent. I feel it in my balls. Her noises? I have heard nothing like them, and I can’t get enough. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I pulled up a bed roll and slept next to your tent just to hear her sweet-ass noises.”

“That’s fucking creepy, asshole,” Brander stated.

Lore looked around and slowly shook his head at our agreement. “Fuck you guys. I have never heard a female make that sound before Aria. Everything about her calls to me, and I don’t understand why. I wasn’t alive when our women made those noises, let alone went into heat. I have never smelled anyone like her. Sorry if needing to experience what she is makes me a creep, but I don’t fucking care. She’s like watching the discovery channel, but with our species on it, ya know?” Lore frowned, sucking his lip between his teeth while crossing his arms over his chest. “And she fucking fought an entire stronghold wearing a unicorn raincoat and rocked the shit out of it too.”

I frowned at his response, knowing we were all in the same fucking boat. Aria was something none of us had seen in a very long time. In Lore’s case, ever. I hated that she felt right against my body, cradled in my arms. I hated that I enjoyed everything about her, even the snarky comments.

“So she did,” I muttered.

“She actually did that shit,” Brander snorted, smiling. “Only fucking Aria.”

Only fucking Aria.

Only Aria turned me inside out and made me want more.

Only Aria made my heart beat like lightning in an electrical storm with her heated looks and kisses.

Only Aria rattled to my beast, challenging him openly as she bared her pretty, soft throat to him, uncaring that if we crossed that line, she’d be more than mine. She’d be ours. That was a thought that made warmth flood through me, and yet it couldn’t happen.

Liliana and Sven deserved justice.

I was leading a fucking rebellion against Aria’s people, and even if she wasn’t one of them, the only way to stop the high queen from reaching the Hecate witch line was to slaughter them or remove them from the equation permanently.

“Get rid of the body,” I ordered. “Meet me at the tent so we can get Aria to that pond. She’s in pain, even if she won’t admit it.”

I bent in the creek, washing the blood from my hands before returning to the tent. Pausing at the entrance for a moment, I listened to the voices inside. Greer spoke, but Aria was silent.

My heart clenched at the thought of her in pain, knowing she wouldn’t complain no matter how much she felt it. She barely made a sound when she removed her rib and only screamed slightly when she’d pushed her arm back into the socket.

“Ever heard of twin flames?” Greer asked, and I closed my eyes.

Greer’s words from long ago replayed inside my head. Me, drunk and fueled with rage as I’d decided to set the world on fire.

“Why do tragedies like this exist and strike against us?” I’d demanded, on my knees, seated between the tombs of my wife and child.

“Because they made you to rage, and in your grief, you are to unleash it upon the Nine Realms, My King.”

“Why am I to unleash my rage? Why does everyone I love get taken from me? I have never wronged this world or any other. I am a good king to the people! My son was loved, as was my queen, Teacher!”

“You are to unleash your rage because you’re fueled with grief. Without grief, you would never find the true one who seeks you. This world will never know the truth without her, or you. Someday this will fall away, and a new fire will burn. When you find the twin flame, the other part of your soul, and you become whole again, this grief will no longer consume you.”

“You think I will ever love anyone again?” I demanded harshly, rising to my feet to look at the man who had become closer to me than my father. “I never want to feel this weakness again. I was vulnerable because I loved them and let others see that weakness. I won’t ever make that mistake again.”

“Love is never a mistake, Knox. Love is two souls that meet and intertwine and then burn brightly together. When you meet your twin flame, she will challenge everything about you. Your mind, beliefs, needs,