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The last time Rehv had been in the throne room had been when he’d slit his father’s throat open, and he remembered how the male’s blue blood had dripped down the fine-grained, pristine stone like an ink bottle that had been spilled.

Rehv didn’t like the image, although not because he was ashamed of what he’d done. It was just…if he caved in to what Wrath wanted, would that be his future? Would one of his extended family someday slice him down?

Was that the fate that waited for him?

All in his head, he looked at Ehlena for help…and she gave him precisely the kind of strength he needed. She stared up at him with such a steady, burning love that he decided maybe he shouldn’t take such a dim view of destiny.

And when he glanced back over at Wrath, he saw that the king had the same kind of hold on his shellan as Rehv did on his.

That was the model to work off of, Rehv thought. Right in front of him was who and what he wanted to be: a good, strong leader with a queen who stood beside him and ruled as much as he did.

Except his civilians were nothing like Wrath’s. And Ehlena could have no part up in the colony. Ever.

Although she would be great at advising him: There was no one he’d rather seek counsel from…except for the vampire motherfucker in that throne across the room.

Rehv took his mate’s hands in his. “Listen to me carefully. If I do this, if I rule, I interact with the colony by myself. You cannot go up there. And I promise you, there are going to be ugly parts. Really ugly parts. Things are going to happen that might change your opinion of me—”

“’Scuse me—been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” Ehlena shook her head. “And no matter what happens, you’re a good male, and that’s always going to win out—history’s proven it over again and over again, which is the only guarantee anyone’s ever going to get.”

“God, I love you.”

And yet even as she beamed up at him, he felt the need to double-check. “Are you sure, though. Once we jump—”

“I’m absolutely, positively”—she lifted up onto her tiptoes and kissed him—“sure.”

“Hot damn.” Wrath clapped his hands like the home team had just scored. “I love a good female.”

“Yeah, me too.” With a small smile, Rehv gathered his shellan into his arms, feeling like the world had righted itself in so many ways. Now if they could just get Xhex back—

Not if, he told himself. When.

As Ehlena laid her head against his chest, he rubbed her back and stared over at Wrath. After a moment, the king’s face shifted away from his queen, like he knew that Rehv was looking at him.

In the quiet of the lovely, pale blue study, an odd communion was struck between them. Even though they were so different on so many levels, even though they shared little and knew each other even less, they were united by a commonality that neither had with any other person on the planet.

They were rulers who sat alone on their thrones.

They were…kings.

“Life is such a glorious trauma, is it not,” Wrath murmured.

“Yeah.” Rehv kissed the top of Ehlena’s head, thinking that before he had met her, he would have cut the glorious out of that statement. “That’s exactly what it is.”

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND PROPER NOUNS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

THIRTY-SIX

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-EIGHT

THIRTY-NINE

FORTY

FORTY-ONE

FORTY-TWO

FORTY-THREE

FORTY-FOUR

FORTY-FIVE

FORTY-SIX

FORTY-SEVEN

FORTY-EIGHT

FORTY-NINE

FIFTY

FIFTY-ONE

FIFTY-TWO

FIFTY-THREE

FIFTY-FOUR

FIFTY-FIVE

FIFTY-SIX

FIFTY-SEVEN

FIFTY-EIGHT

FIFTY-NINE

SIXTY

SIXTY-ONE

SIXTY-TWO

SIXTY-THREE

SIXTY-FOUR

SIXTY-FIVE

SIXTY-SIX

SIXTY-SEVEN

SIXTY-EIGHT

SIXTY-NINE