Happily Ever Crowned Read online

  Necros stirred on the floor, his feet sliding beneath him as he stood to his full height. “Gold,” he said flatly. “It’ll be gold.”

  “Will it?” Lucifer asked, sounding intrigued. “I always saw Valora preferring more vivacious colors, like pink. But what do I know?” He shrugged, the gesture somehow exceedingly elegant. “Oh, yes, I know quite a bit.” His lips curled into a charming smile, one befitting his stature.

  “Are you aware of the destruction that little whore just caused?” Necros asked, folding his arms across his broad chest. “She’s taken down half of Caluçon.”

  More, I thought, calling the life strands to my mind, seeking the ones I’d yet to destroy who’d earned their fates. I’d released them when Adrik required my energy, knowing I could find them again.

  Harness it, Adrik whispered. We’re going to need all of it, Valora.

  For Lucifer, I realized. I don’t understand why he’s acting this way.

  He’s the Devil. He acts however he wants.

  “I do,” Lucifer murmured out loud, his obsidian gaze twinkling with the stars of the night. Whether it was in response to our internal exchange or to Necros, I wasn’t sure. And the Devil didn’t clarify. “Nothing occurs in the Underworld without my knowledge. I am the Creator, after all.” He glanced upward, sighing loudly. “Not that I’d had much choice in the matter. Alas, here we are. Serving our fates as required.”

  “We can fix this again,” Necros said, his focus landing squarely on me. “You know I can control and wield her power. I’m happy to serve as the conduit once more.”

  Lucifer chuckled. “I’m sure you are, Necros, but you’re not the one she’s chosen.” His smiling eyes went to Adrik. “You’re everything we desired and more, King of Shadows.”

  “We?” Adrik repeated, his dark brow inching upward.

  “Yes.” The feminine response came from the shadows as a female with long, dark hair and sable eyes slid into view.

  Adrik’s lips parted. “Lux.”

  She bowed her head, just enough to show respect without belittling her position of power. I’d never seen the Queen of Noxia in person, but she was every bit as beautiful as I anticipated. And energy seemed to pour off her in waves now that she’d revealed herself to the room.

  Necros frowned. “Are you here to retrieve your wayward son? The one you claim as your own who is not who he seems?”

  Lux’s lips curled in delight, her head shaking back and forth, amusement gracing her gorgeous features. “Oh, no, King of the Dead. I’m not here for my son.” Her dark irises flitted to mine. “I’m here for my daughter.”

  “Our daughter,” Lucifer corrected, his tone indulgent.

  My mouth worked without sound, my confusion reaching a precipice that left me dumbfounded before them. What?

  “That’s not possible,” Adrik interjected. “I would have known.”

  Lux’s smile held a touch of sadness. “Influencing the minds of children is easy, Adrik. You know that. All it takes is a little illusion to hide what their eyes truly see.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, then released a laugh of disbelief and shook his head. “There was never a prophecy. You’ve been fucking with my head since the beginning.”

  “No prophecy?” Lux tutted at him. “The King of Shadows will destroy the King of the Dead through the use of the Daughter of Light’s heart.” She glanced at Lucifer, the male claiming to be my father. “Lucifer Morning Star, the lightbringer, the father of our lands, the fallen one who brings light to the darkness.”

  “You masterminded all of it,” Adrik accused. “Every detail down to this very one.”

  “It’s true we may have crafted the prophecy to guide you all, but isn’t that the point of a destiny?” Lucifer asked, sounding curious. “To create the paths for you to walk, with a little nudge along the way?”

  “Why?” I finally managed to demand, my voice a rasp of sound. “What about Graystall?”

  “The justice bearers are all my creations, hence their ancestry in the stars. They are the ones I use to guide the Underworld, to enforce order where required. It wasn’t hard to convince the Queen and King of Graystall to raise you as their own and make you their heir apparent, darling child. We even gave you the Queen’s eyes.” He glanced indulgently at Lux. “Hmm, but I do believe they darken to a deep blue shade when she engages her fire, similar to your irises when you call upon your own flames. Yes?”

  “Yes,” she agreed, smiling at me. “A gift I bestowed upon her while she grew in my womb.”

  “Among many others, in addition to my light.” His focus shifted back to me. “Which is why you possessed too much power, even as an infant, for you to truly prosper. So I provided you with an appropriate upbringing to ensure your understanding of humanity, justice, the principles of right and wrong. It was the only way to guarantee that you could properly lead. Otherwise”—he turned to Necros—“you would have ended up like him.”

  “That’s one hell of a risk,” Adrik cut in. “What if she grew up just like him?”

  “But she didn’t,” Lucifer replied with a smile. “And the beauty of it is, his actions ensured that she didn’t. While yours crafted you into the perfect candidate to serve at her side. With a little grooming from my beloved.”

  Lux bowed her head. “It was my pleasure to raise such a fine king for our darling queen.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “This was all a way of raising me?” The forced marriage. The rape. The agony. A part of me wanted to laugh. The other part desired destruction of the worst kind. But as the flame rose on my fingertips, Lucifer blew it out.

  “If you’d been raised as mine, you would have never seen the Underworld as you do now. You have a heart, Valora. That heart is what will help you rule. And yes, it was crafted beneath a wave of cruelty, but now it will thrive in a sea of warmth. Your warmth.” He looked to Necros. “I believe you’ve served your purpose. Valora, I release you of your vows to this vile creature. What is yours is now yours again, including your loyalty, fealty, and protection.”

  A vise around my heart released, causing me to shudder, as Necros fell to his knees with a look of astonishment on his face. “What? After everything I’ve done for you? In your honor?”

  Lucifer snorted. “We both know it was never for me, King of the Dead.” He glanced at Lux, a curious note in his voice as he added, “How aptly we named him.”

  “Indeed,” she agreed, smiling. “His reassignment with the Reaper will be well-appointed.”

  “You slaughtered my kingdom,” Adrik growled, the words for Lucifer and Lux, not Necros. “To what? Create a new regime? To guarantee my loyalty? To craft the perfect mate for your daughter?”

  “All of the above,” Lucifer answered calmly. “The Shadow Kingdom needed to fall for you to value your place just as much as Valora values hers.” He canted his head, his expression thoughtful. “Corruption is the consequence of power, of which you both contain more than any other in all of the Underworld. To curb that corruption and influence humanity requires great sacrifice. As you both now know.”

  “But we never wanted this,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I never desired…” I trailed off, hearing the lie before I finished speaking.

  Because I had desired power. Many times. But mostly to protect myself and others who required it from vile men like Necros.

  “And you feel that way because of your instilled humanity,” Lucifer murmured, obviously inside my thoughts. “You’re my most beautiful creation, Valora. Strong, powerful, and a living, breathing star. You could destroy the Underworld if you chose to, but I know you won’t. Not after everything you’ve endured and learned through experience.”

  “What’s to stop me from destroying you?” I wondered aloud, furious with the knowledge of being his puppet.

  Adrik seemed to agree, his link to me thriving with support at my comment.

  “Your heart,” Lux replied softly. “One day, you’ll unders
tand what we’ve done and why. When your child is born, you’ll understand the sacrifices we made on your behalf. For you’re not the only one who suffered all these years, Valora. And fortunately, you’ll never feel the pain of a mother giving up her child—for the greater good.”

  When? I thought, glancing at Adrik.

  His pale skin seemed to whiten to a near-ashen color. “Child?” It came out on a whisper of sound.

  Necros ruined the moment by chuckling, his presence becoming more of a nuisance than a fright. “Impossible. She’s barren.”

  Lux’s lips flattened as she regarded him. “Why do males always assume it’s the female preventing pregnancy?”

  “A flaw in our creation programming,” Lucifer sighed. “And yes, Adrik, you are the father. Contraception is a mortal invention. Valora merely needed to choose and she chose you.”

  The world spun around me, Adrik’s arm catching me before I could fall. But he didn’t seem to be faring any better, his shock at the pronouncement leaving us both stunned.

  “Once you’ve sent Necros to the death planes, the kingdom and all the surrounding regions will become yours to rule as you desire. But I have faith you will both prosper here.” Lucifer smiled. “The fates are in my favor, after all.” He held out his arm. “Shall we, My Queen?”

  “One thing before we go,” she said, approaching me cautiously. “Valora, I know you hate what we’ve done. But you will heal. You already are. Twenty-one years is a blink of an eye for someone who will live as long as you. I just want to say, I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become, and the queen you will be. When you’re ready to learn more, you know where to find me.” She turned to Adrik, her smile growing. “I’m proud of you, too. You’re everything I’ve always dreamed of for our daughter. Strong, noble, and kind. The perfect king.”

  She started toward Lucifer, her heels clicking against the soot-littered ground.

  “What about Grigory?” Adrik asked. “Is he…?”

  Lux turned, her grin magnificent in its beauty. “Mine?” She nodded. “Yes. And he will take his place soon, once he’s finished living his destiny.”

  Lucifer chuckled. “I love how that’s playing out.”

  “She is quite feisty, isn’t she?”

  “Reminds me of someone I know,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her.

  They disappeared with a rumble of power that sent us all to our knees.

  Necros was the first to recover, his rage blowing through the room on a harsh tornado of power that swept Adrik up into the ceiling and sent him crashing down to the floor.

  His head lolled, his body momentarily stunned from the display of unexpected force. Necros followed up the explosive blast with one meant for me that I blocked. His third attempt was lost to my flames.

  He growled in fury. “Is that any way to treat your husband, wife? The male who raised you and provided you with shelter. The one who gave you jewels and dresses and a life.”

  He must have missed the part where Lucifer denounced our vows.

  I narrowed my gaze. “I’ve let you do horrendous things to me thinking it was your right as my husband. Something you taught me, I might add. But now I see the truth. You’re a weak demon with little hope left. It’s a poetic end to a life that has meant nothing but cruelty.”

  “I’m the one who’s fed and clothed you since childhood. I made you my queen when everyone else abandoned you.” His laugh was cruel. “You’re nothing but a pawn to Lucifer. Surely you see that?”

  “Just as I was a pawn to you?” I countered. “You only raised me for my power.”

  “A power Lucifer gave me. The man who calls you his daughter. What does that say about our fates?”

  That I never had a choice.

  That we were always meant to end up here.

  “That today is the day you die,” I said out loud, stirring my power into the air to create a force field around myself and Adrik. I sent a third wave of energy to the only remaining guard—the one who chose me over Necros—and shoved him from the room, needing him to run and find shelter.

  This was between me and my soon-to-be-dead husband now.

  “We’ll see.” Necros sent shock wave after shock wave at me, but each one bounced off my fiery shield and hit the walls of the palace, destroying the foundations of Adrik’s former home.

  It was almost laughable how Necros’s energy compared to mine. My fear for him felt ancient, infeasible. Now all I experienced was boredom from the clearly lesser demon.

  Oh, he was more powerful than most.

  He just no longer compared to me.

  And he didn’t have a conduit to my flames.

  I’m Lucifer’s daughter.

  Queen Lux is my mother.

  I will bow to no one again.

  What they did to me was wrong. But I also understood it. They wanted me to have a connection to humanity, to keep me grounded and prevent me from becoming someone like the cruel, arrogant being before me.

  They gave me compassion.

  But not for this man.

  Necros deserved to die, and painfully. For all his heinous acts against me and those who opposed him.

  I held my hands up high in the air, lifting Necros on a cloud of smoke until the tips of his heavily booted feet barely brushed the ground. He struggled, his energy battling mine, but it was no match to the angelfire brewing within me.

  “Too many clothes.” I had no desire to see my husband naked ever again, but my plan required it. A surge of flames demolished his garments to ash, leaving his skin undamaged. “Isn’t it degrading to be in such a vulnerable position?”

  “Nudity has never bothered me,” he countered, sounding just as cocksure as ever while his power futilely roared with a vengeance.

  He knew I intended to kill him.

  He knew I would win.

  But he seemed to be hell-bent on maintaining his dignity as he went.

  “How many males have you broken in this position?” I wondered aloud, tilting my head. “Hmm, I can count several dozen I’ve witnessed alone. Would you like to see what I learned from those experiences, husband of mine? To see what you’ve taught me to do?”

  A flicker of uncertainty flashed in his depths of his eyes, followed swiftly by mocking disbelief. “You don’t have it in you.”

  I brought my fingers up to my lips and hushed him. “Shh. My time to rule now, dead king. And I’m concentrating on your demise.”

  A stray tendril of blue embers curved its way out of my body and around Necros. I didn’t allow it to burn him, but to simply coil like a snake around its prey. It lowered over his abdomen and toward his manhood.

  He tried to swipe it away with flares of his own. But failed.

  “Do you know the part of you that I hate the most?” I circled his flaccid cock, arching a brow. “All the times you defiled my body and made me do things to you I despised were experiences I tolerated as your wife. But then you shared me. And that, Necros, was your biggest mistake of all, because I learned about pleasure. I was never the problem. You were, and your miserable excuse for a dick.”

  It was my turn to allow evil laughter to fill the room. It didn’t echo off the ceilings, because they weren’t there anymore. Instead, the sound flooded out into the Kingdom of Caluçon to let those who heard it know a new leader was rising.

  “Say goodbye to your precious instrument. It wasn’t all that useful anyway.”

  His eyes bulged at the words, but behind them lurked a begrudging respect.

  A respect I wanted to see die.

  He did not make me.

  He did not own me.

  I was not his queen.

  My vine of fire twisted around the base of his cock and burned through the flesh, cauterizing the wound as I severed the most despicable part of him.

  Necros screamed, his body shaking in exquisite agony, his power dying before my eyes and then flashing again as he attempted one last time to save himself.

  “I see why you enjoy this,”
I mused. “It’s beautiful to watch someone so vile writhe in pain.” I lifted the sliced-off part of his anatomy to his face, pressing it to his lips. “Open. Take it all. And swallow like a good little king.”

  His gaze met mine. “You’ll destroy Cal—”

  I shoved the offending item inside with a surge of heat, no longer interested in his voice. “The only thing I’m going to destroy is you, the male who murdered innocent women and children of his own realm as a test. The male who raped for pleasure, abused for fun, and murdered for power.”

  Darts of fire spanned from my body and pounded into Necros’s flesh like a hailstorm in a thunderous downpour. I watched as his skin melted, the smell of acrid flesh filling the room. One hit his eye and burned deep into the socket, blinding him.

  “Your outside matches your inside now,” I said quietly. “A scarred monster.”

  Adrik stirred beside me but still didn’t wake. I could sense his thoughts as they entwined with mine. A fervent desire for Necros’s death.

  Rest, my lover. Rest.

  I pictured the organs in Necros’s body—his liver, lungs, kidneys, bladder, intestines, stomach, brain, and heart. They were what kept him alive. I latched onto them all, shoving my angelfire inside, needing to destroy him completely. Utterly. Resolutely. His insides burned and bloated and crumbled. His heart didn’t take long, because he barely had one, and last was his brain.

  “Goodbye, husband. See you in hell.”

  His single eye met mine, just long enough for me to see his pride.

  I ripped him apart into a sea of embers dissolving to ash at my feet. That look from him would haunt me for the rest of my life. He was proud of me for torturing him. Proud that he taught me to lead in this way.

  And it was vile. Disgusting. Wrong.

  He thought he’d created a monster to live out his legacy.

  And I would spend the rest of my life proving him wrong.

  With a sweep of my arm, I sent his remains as high as my power allowed, into the sky above. The violet sun dissipated, replaced by a dark night littered with glistening stars.