Vows & Ruins

You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. There’s no coming back from you, no end to this wanting…

Biscuit. Your warhorse, the gift you received for being one of the most infamous warriors in all the midrealms… is called Biscuit.

How had he never felt power like this before? Magic rippled from each of the stars as one by one, his apprentice, a lost princess of Delmira, the woman he loved, plucked them from the wall, freeing him.

Because I fucking love you,’ he said.

There was only one bed.

Use your words, Princess,’ he said. ‘What do you want?

She had never seen him falter, had never questioned whether or not he’d keep fighting. Until that moment.

When I was younger, I didn’t know a woman could bring me back from the darkness.’ Thea exhaled shakily. ‘A woman can do all of that?’ ‘Not any woman. There is only one. There has only ever been one.

He’d all but told Althea Zoltaire that he loved her, that she, the lost heir of Delmira, the living storm, owned him mind, body and broken soul.

Thea echoed the same words he had once said to her in Harenth. ‘You’ll have to try harder than that to hit me.

Let them see, Wilder thought irrationally. Let them see that she belongs with me.

A pang of guilt hit Thea low in her gut. She’d hurt Wren, and Wren was still inviting her to dinner? But Thea still couldn’t bring herself to agree. ‘I’m

Fuck me till the sun rises, Wilder. Until I can’t remember the war at our doorstep, the magic coursing through me, or even my own damn name.

You have no idea how much I want you. How I burn for you. You lit an inferno within me and it won’t stop. I can’t stop —

You need to look after yourself. To keep yourself healthy so that when I train you, I don’t break you.’ Her pupils dilated. ‘Nothing can break me, Warsword. Least of all you.’ ‘Is that so?

There was no end to the wanting of her, the loving her. It was in his blood, etched in his bones, and it burned through him like wildfire.

If there’s one thing that transcends time and distance and all else, it’s love.

When I was younger I didn’t know what it was to look at a woman and want to fall to my knees,

The servant opened the doors to a breathtaking suite. Its design was clear. There was only one bed.

She’d shared herself with him. She’d found her place under his skin and in his heart, and there she’d stayed, despite whatever vows they’d made.

Life is too short – yours, in particular – to hold grudges against the people you love.

She cast the sword aside and kissed him. Furies save him. This. This was why he hadn’t slept in weeks. This was what he had imagined day after day since they’d parted.

How I burn for you.

Furies save me

Don’t you remember me?’ she asked, reaching for something Thea hadn’t noticed hanging around her neck. A flower necklace. Her hand brushed the petals there, before intricate bolts of lightning danced at her fingertips. Thea loosed a breath, not realising that she had taken a step towards that familiar power that called to her. ‘I thought you would recognise your own blood, sister,’ Anya said. Sister. The

I knew you’d be my ruin, too,’ Thea whispered.

How I burn for you. You lit an inferno within me and it won’t stop. I can’t

Furies save him, her touch set him alight, and he’d never stop burning for her.

he was so deeply in love with her it might just consume him.

But it’s more than that, Thea. To love you… is to be free.