All The Queen's Monsters (The Queen's Slave, Book 3)

Fourteen: Reckoning

"The Love You Left Behind"

By: Michael Schulte 

A Z A L E A 

Hey, Az here. So I know it's been a while, and yes I am aware that I am breaking the fourth wall, thank you. Here's the thing, my author is frazzle brained. She has all these amazing ideas (her words, not mine), but more often than not she struggles to keep things in line. So that's where I come in! When she stared the third installment of this series, she didn't anticipate deviating quite so much from the storyline. To clear things up for you, our wonderfully patient and understanding readers, I will start from the beginning. 

Approximately nine months after the wedding of all weddings (the last chapter of Book 2), and even more exciting yet tiring wedding night, our world crumbled. We found out that Hades had been controlling Elizabeth's bitch of a mother for who knows how long, both possessing her and allowing her to inflict her own brand of torture upon our lives and the lives of our loved ones. He attacked shortly after I had just given birth, and believe me, fighting a god while your lady parts were thoroughly wrecked really sucked. Anyway, Hades appeared in a flurry of taunts, Ravenna sent her army to kidnap my brother, Owen, and we were all left standing there with our mouths open catching flies. 

Luckily, my head strong mates were by my side when he reined his fury down upon us, only Kore took the brunt of it. Elizabeth, gifted with the new ability to transform into a giant black panther (thanks to the shiver blood our three-way bond had awakened) took charge and I rode into battle to meet him at his request, the chill of the frozen lake emanating below us. 

Long story short, we fought, and Kore fell hundreds of feet from the sky, slamming into the ice with all the force of a meteorite. Hades, seeing Elizabeth and I's distress, plotted to use her pain against us, and it nearly cost him his demise. (Or so we thought). While he was distracted with threatening our lives with torture and pain and yada yada yada, you know how it goes, Kore managed to find the strength to launch herself up, snatching him from the air and slamming him down onto his back. In her rage, she rained fury upon his face, landing blow after blow, yet even as he bled, he laughed. I know, what a dick. 

She hit him so hard, the ice began to crack and sway, tipping his body into the water. He floated aimlessly below us, his eyes shut, an almost peaceful look on his face. While he slid beneath my feet, I realized his sword was laying a few feet away, and grabbed it. I knew at the back of my mind that this little stunt would probably not lead anywhere, but I sure as shit didn't expect what could and did happen. I reached for the sword as his eyes snapped open, words laced in such power and a language I'd never heard before vibrating the ice between us and settling in my bones.