Rumelt is a normal town. Or as normal as a town can be when they're cut off from civilisation. They live in perfect harmony and have nothing to fear--apart from the Deathbringer, who lives in the underworld and steals the strongest, healthiest teenagers away to their deaths.
Beatrix has lived in Rumelt her whole life. She has nothing to fear from the Deathbringer, being the weak, sickly teen that she is. She knows that. Everybody knows that.
But on the eve of her 15th birthday, she is stolen away, never to return home again. She encounters the Shadowland, a near-perfect copy of Rumelt, save for the fact that it's underground, and is the base of the underworld. When she arrives, she is given a choice: die, or join the Deathbringer's army. Choosing the latter, she meets Jamie, a 16-year-old half-elf boy with a mysterious past. Jamie has his own secrets, but perhaps he can help Beatrix discover the secrets of the Shadowland, and of the Deathbringer himself...
Part 1 of the Kings Series.
Aiden brings me closer and wraps his hands around me, engulfing me in completely. He kisses my bandage on the forehead and I await a 'I'm sorry' but it never comes. He caresses my hair and rubs my back to comfort me. My eyes well up in tears but I control them from falling. I can't be weak. I don't want him to give that power.
He takes my face in his hands and his eyes meet my eyes. A lone tear drops down but I stare into his eyes, not breaking the mask I've built around him. "I can be good to you. Only if you let me. If you keep disrespecting me and my decisions, what happened yesterday would be nothing in comparison to what I'm capable of. I let go hurting you yesterday. I wanted to make you bleed profusely and chain you to my bed for weeks until you came to your senses. Your friend's ear is still intact because you of what you told my parents afterwards. Don't test me, love. And don't test my patience. You decide your own fate and your fate is in my hands. Make a wise decision. I won't let go again."
"Do you understand?"
That lone tear got accompanied by many lone tears and now I was crying silently. He looked at me, just waiting for an answer. So I gave it.
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, Aiden."
He smiles. "Good girl."
Mature Content.