The breaking period: Day 5, hour 14
I stared into the promised land of the sun god.
If I had any emotional capacity left, tears would have streamed down my face because it was that beautiful.
Divine. Wonderful. Exquisite.
Eyes bone dry, I stepped into the bathing palace and sighed as warm steam curled across my chilled flesh.
Water bubbled and frothed throughout the dimly lit, low-ceilinged space.
Heated waterfalls streamed down all four walls, and in the middle of the room, the largest tub I’d ever seen popped with churning bubbles. In the center, water spilled from a turquoise tile spout into the frothing tub.
I’d never seen anything like it.
Paradise.
The eight of us stood along the narrow tile walkway that led to the tub.
Lothaire glared at us.
His harsh features and cold demeanor were out of place among the lavender-scented bubbles floating in the air.
Bro needed a good smoke in the bath.
The intrusive thoughts told me to push him in. What can he do? Beat you up?
Lothaire snapped, “You fuckers get this room for the next six hours. The water is infused with crystals and has been blessed by Lyla to accelerate your healing. I don’t care what the fuck you do with your time in here; just be ready to work afterward. Don’t get used to it, you lazy fuckers.”
What does he mean about doing stuff? It’s just a bathing room.
Lothaire glared.
We stared back respectfully.
He arched his eyebrow slowly, and his face darkened as he waited.
We must have all realized what he was waiting for at the same time because we chanted in unison, “Yes, sir!”
I wasn’t the only one struggling to keep my eyes open and focus.
Lothaire spat, “Lazy, useless, ugly fuckers,” but he didn’t bludgeon us to death with his baton.
A win.
He stalked out of the warm room and said something to the half warriors, who waited for him in the hall. The door swung shut behind him.
Water trickled, and bubbles floated.
We were alone.
The eight of us stood in silence. Covered in ocean water, cuts, dirt, and sweat. Our feet left bloody footprints on the marble floors.
Six sun-god-blessed hours.
An eternity.
Trembling, I yanked desperately at my sweatpants, freeing my legs from the freezing material.
The boxers preserved my modesty, and I was too tired to worry.
I went to pull off my sweatshirt, but my shoulders screamed as I tried to raise my arms. My eyes rolled back with pain.
I remembered the scars.
The sweatshirt stayed on.
Teeth clacking loudly, my body shivered from cold and muscle aches.
This is misery.
In my sweatshirt and boxers, I took a tentative step forward, then face-planted into the whirling pool.
Heat enveloped me, and pinpricks of agony exploded across my cold flesh.
It was the opposite of the tank. I was overly stimulated.
I dragged myself to the low bench on the perimeter of the tub and washed my hair with soap that had been left out.
Afterward, I rested on the edge.
Closed my eyes.
Far away, water lapped as seven men threw themselves into the pool.
I drifted away.
In my dreams, I begged the sun god to take me from this heinous place and make the suffering end.
I screamed at him. Shouted as I begged and prostrated myself at his divine feet.
But he did nothing.
I was all alone.
No one saved me because they never did.
And they never would.
I woke up to grunts and moans.
Rubbing at my eyes, I was momentarily disoriented by the hot water that slapped my face.
Neck aching, I groaned and rolled out my shoulders.
Consciousness returned in a slow trickle.
I was pressed against the hard edge of the pool, and for the first time in days, I didn’t feel like I was going to die from sleep deprivation.
My skin no longer felt like it was falling off my bones from exhaustion, and my muscles didn’t throb in time with my heartbeat.
Warmth bubbled around me.
It was wonderful.
A smile pulled at my lips as I sank contentedly into the heat. Against all odds, I’d regained my will to live.
Loud noises interrupted my blissful state.
Women moaned.
Men breathed harshly.
Flesh slapped.
The smile fell off my face as I took in my surroundings.
What. The. Flying. Fuck.
I covered my mouth with my hand as I tried to process just what in the sun god I’d woken up to.
“Oh, please more, Master. Harder. Yes, yes, please, yes, don’t stop.”
A familiar burn streaked across my back.
In the far corner of the tub, Zenith and Vegar were wrapped up in each other’s arms, kissing.
A few feet away from them, John was sitting on the shallow pool ledge with half his naked body in the water as a man bobbed down and sucked him off under the water.
Ew, I didn’t need to see my friend getting head. I needed bleach.
John groaned loudly.
Nope. No. I am not doing this.
I ducked under the water and prayed that I was just having a horrible nightmare.
When I came back up, the room was still full of people having sex.
Suddenly I understood what Lothaire had meant about us doing whatever we wanted.
But this?
All I wanted to do was sleep for hours, smoke, and eat sour candy. We’d literally just been tortured for days.
What was wrong with men?
Even Horace was making out with a girl, although his yellow eyes were wide open as he kissed her, which was beyond creepy.
I grimaced and looked away from him, and I immediately regretted it.
Close enough that I could reach out and touch them, the kings were ass naked, fucking two girls.
I choked.
Weren’t they in a relationship with Orion?
Malum knelt on the tile floor, massive butt cheeks rippling, as he slammed his dick into a woman on all fours. Even more shockingly, Scorpius stood in front of the same girl and fucked her face.
But he had a steak knife in his hand, and he pressed it against her neck. Did he take that from the dining hall?
In the future, I would not be using the silverware.
Blood dripped down her chest.
But they weren’t the only ones groaning with ecstasy.
Beside them, Orion’s too-pretty face was flung back, and his wet blond hair was plastered to his flower tattoos on his neck. He was fucking a woman from behind.
The quiet man slammed her against the water-streaked wall with so much force that the marble rattled.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
He had a divine butt.
The pain across my back increased in intensity.
The fae were notoriously open about sex, at least the nonelite fae, who weren’t breeding tools. But everything always happened behind the closed doors of the sex clinics. And I never watched the sexual broadcasts that exploited people.
So technically, I’d never seen people having sex before.
Well, I was fucking seeing it now.
Scorpius pressed the knife harder against the delicate skin of the woman’s neck, and he smeared her blood across her breasts.
Moving in rhythm, the three fae slammed their cocks into the two women at the same time.
Malum had a belt in his hand, and he slapped it across the woman’s bright-red ass.
She moaned around Scorpius’s cock and begged, “Please. Please, more, Master.”
I jumped when the belt smacked her harder.
Scorpius and Malum were sadists.
I hated to be that dumb bitch virgin, but I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening.
There was. No. fucking. Way. That what they were doing was pleasurable.
This was a hate crime.
Blood dripping, loud grunts, heady moans. The forceful pistoning of hips made the endless muscles ripple across their bodies.
Each king had a detailed tattoo of a serpent eating its own tail on his hip.
They also had words written across their ridiculously wide shoulders.
“Venimus” sprawled across Orion’s golden back.
We came.
“Vidimus” covered Scorpius’s pale skin.
We saw.
“Vicimus” was tattooed in thick black letters across Malum’s flesh.
We conquered.
They had ancient Latin words on their backs, and everyone knew Latin was the language of the gods.
It was spoken to children at a young age.
Everyone knew the rumors.
If a world stopped speaking Latin, then it meant the gods had abandoned the realm. When Latin was dead, people died.
But why did the kings have it tattooed?
Oh no, I was starting to worry about what other people did with their bodies.
I was truly becoming a man.
At least you’re not the only one with words on your back. You could pretend “whore” means something in a different language.
A chuckle burst from my throat.
Malum’s buzzed head snapped to the side, gray eyes hard as steel as he kept slamming himself into the girl between his legs.
I sank lower into the water.
Never mind, him watching me while he fucked a woman was the real hate crime. My cheeks burned, and I knew my face was the color of a tomato.
Malum licked his lips slowly like he was taunting me as he tipped his buzzed head backward. The endless lines on his abdominals pulled and bunched deliciously.
No. Not delicious. Horrible. Heinous.
I couldn’t look away.
Predator stared at prey.
Hint: I was at the top of the food chain.
My breath caught as he slammed the belt harder along her ass. All while maintaining brutal eye contact.
Scorpius dragged the dagger across the swell of her full breasts.
The woman pulled her head off of Scorpius’s dick and moaned breathily, “I’m coming. I’m coming.”
“I don’t care,” Scorpius growled as he choked her with one hand and shoved his dick back between her lips.
Malum’s belt hit harder. Angry purple welts rose along her ass.
Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she shuddered and bucked, the knife pressed against her breast, face turning purple from asphyxiation.
Steel eyes never left mine.
My lower stomach pinching, the burning sensation across my back spiked hotter. Like knives were jammed into my spine.
Malum’s thigh muscles bunched and his face scrunched as the woman’s eyes rolled back like she was about to pass out.
“You’re fucking dead, pretty boy,” he mouthed as his hips snapped harder while Scorpius pulled her hair and moaned.
Pain blinded me.
Eyes dead, face relaxed, I revealed nothing.
Cum flooded out as Malum pulled his cock out of the woman’s ass. He never looked away from me.
They released her.
The woman collapsed onto the tile, boneless and satiated as her hips continued to buck.
Scorpius came all over her face with a grunt.
What species is she? Everyone knew it was nearly impossible for a female to come from having her ass penetrated. Let alone while having her ass beat and a dagger to the boob.
I was lowkey impressed.
Not my thing—but good for her.
The moaning woman sat up, and she tiredly reached for Malum. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, she grabbed at his tanned shoulders to steady herself.
Malum shoved her violently away, and her skin smacked loudly across the tile.
“Never touch me, slut,” Malum growled, his raspy voice brimming with malice.
“But. I didn’t mean…what? Master?” the woman stuttered as her brows pulled tight with confusion.
“I don’t give a fuck what you meant. Don’t touch me.”
Her eyebrows rose higher. “I don’t care if you’re a king and a dom. You don’t get to treat me like this.” She leaned forward to push at his chest.
All great points.
I silently cheered her on.
But the second her fingers touched his skin, Malum snapped upward. Pure hatred radiated off him, and he transformed into the evil fucker that had shoved food down my throat.
Fire leaped across his arms.
“You fucking cunt. I warned you.” His voice was a low rasp. “You have five seconds to leave or I’ll light you on fire.”
Tears filled her doe eyes as she chose a different angle. “Master?”
Orion stopped fucking the woman against the wall as he watched his leader.
“Five. Four,” Malum counted.
Her lip quivered as she looked up at Scorpius. “You’re going to let him treat me like this, Master?”
I grimaced.
He was not about to help her.
White eyes staring across the room, Scorpius tipped his handsome face backward and laughed cruelly.
“Corvus is everything to me, and you’re nothing. He told you not to touch him, and you did it anyway. You’re nothing but a hole to fuck. Now listen to him and get your used ass out of here. Also, you suck at giving head.”
Malum continued to count, “Three. Two.”
Sobbing, the beautiful girl bent to grab her clothes off the floor, but Scorpius kicked them into the water.
“You’ll fucking leave naked, and tell everyone that you were punished for touching Corvus. No. One. Touches him. Understood?”
She sobbed harder.
“One,” Malum snarled.
“Stop it!” I yelled as I grabbed her wet clothes from the pool. “Don’t listen to them. They’re just ugly bullies.”
She blinked at me.
I handed her the wet clothes. “At least you can cover yourself with these. Seriously, you can find way better men to have sex with. Trust me. Like anyone would be better than them.”
I winked at her, hating the demoralized hunch of her shoulders.
“I cannot emphasize enough how anyone would be better.”
Her lips turned up slightly.
Public humiliation was Mother’s favorite, and it never got easier. It never stopped hurting.
The shame changed a person.
All I’d ever wanted was for one fae to stand up for me and tell Mother to go fuck herself.
Just one person to show a little empathy.
No one ever did.
“Thanks.” She smiled shyly. “I’m Tara.”
“Aran.” I smiled back.
“I know.” Tara was impressively tall for a woman, probably taller than myself, and had curves that I envied.
Where she was all ass and boobs, my female form was built like a barn door.
A slight exaggeration, but I still had more muscles than the average woman.
Where I was lean and strong with small curves, Tara was soft and lush like a dream woman come to life.
She was stunning.
I couldn’t help but reassure her. “No worries, and seriously, you’re way out of their league. I’m not joking. Don’t let it get to you.”
I whispered and fanned my hand like I smelled something rancid. “I’ve heard they have bowel problems.”
Tara choked on a watery laugh as she covered herself with the wet clothes.
“See you around, Aran.” She smiled as she stomped out of the bathing room with her dignity.
“I can’t wait,” I called back to her.
I slumped with relief when she disappeared into the safety of the hall.
The kings couldn’t hurt her.
“Are you kidding me, Egan?” Malum snarled, and his voice was so deep I could barely make out his words.
Scorpius sneered, “So you wanna play white knight to our sloppy seconds? You think she’d want your scrawny ass? Tara likes to be dominated; that means she needs men. Not prissy little boys.”
I silently mimicked his words, knowing he couldn’t see me mocking him.
Malum growled. “You think you can disrespect Scorpius like that? A pathetic weakling like yourself dares to mock a king.”
Actually, I’m a queen.
The two massive kings took steps toward the edge of the pool.
Two against one, not the best odds.
Orion pulled his cock out of the dark-haired woman’s ass. Why were none of them fucking their vaginas? I might be a virgin, but that just seemed wrong.
Of course they wouldn’t fuck a girl where it would pleasure her.
I tried to look away from the gorgeous man, but his naked muscles gleamed like gold silk. Orion was leaner than the other two kings, and his dick wasn’t as thick but was slightly longer.
Stop staring at his penis!
A strange sensation pinched my chest, and I had the irrational urge to tell the girl to step away from the quiet king.
The dark-haired woman stepped closer and whispered something in Orion’s ear. His expression slowly fell.
She kept talking, and the longer he didn’t respond, the more he looked dejected.
“Why won’t you say anything?” she snapped at him.
Orion’s face fell at the words. His lush lips parted, but no words came out.
Malum and Scorpius turned their attention away from me as they zeroed in on her.
“Are you okay?” Scorpius asked Orion tenderly as his long fingers gently caressed his bobbing cock. He whispered something in his ear and pressed his body flesh against him.
Orion’s chocolate-brown gaze stared sadly up at Scorpius, and the pale man kept stroking his dick as he gently pressed their lips together.
Bee-stung lips met a cruel mouth.
The pinching in my stomach got worse, and I struggled to breathe.
“Why are you ignoring me?” the dark-haired girl sputtered at Orion.
“Get the fuck out, commoner whore!” Malum grabbed her by the arm and physically dragged her out of the room. “He doesn’t talk to filth like you.”
I froze.
Whore.
W-H-O-R-E.
One small word that said so much and yet said nothing at the same time.
Enchanted knives carved my back to pieces.
Malum stalked back into the room with his disturbingly thick cock bobbing between tree trunk legs.
Scorpius ran his thumb across the tip of Orion’s dick as he pressed himself against the man with one last sloppy kiss.
He pulled away and kissed the tears that glistened under Orion’s wet lashes.
All softness left his expression as he turned slowly and stared me down. Malum walked up beside him.
I had their full attention.
It was two against one.
Malum’s cock is the thickest. Scorpius’s is shaped the nicest. Orion’s is the longest. I mentally slapped myself for the unnecessary observations.
Sadie would have made a bad penis joke.
And in the midst of an extremely serious situation, I giggled. Sun god, I missed Sadie.
Red flames jumped higher across Malum’s arms as he glowered at me.
He thinks I’m laughing at their naked bodies.
Might as well.
I laughed harder and pointed at their dicks. “Wow. You guys have a lot of self-confidence walking around naked when you look like that. Embarrassing.”
Violence crackled as they bristled.
Malum smirked. “Really? Because it seemed like you were jealous that we were fucking while you were sleeping like a wimp.”
“Hey.” I scoffed with indignation. “Sleep is very important. Not all of us are man whores.”
“Stay away from the women we fuck,” Scorpius snarled. “What we do with them is our business, not yours.”
I snapped back before I could stop myself, “Why did you treat them like that?”
Why did you only fuck them in the ass? hung unspoken between us.
The dagger stretched wantonly across Malum’s Adam’s apple as he spoke. “Women are weak creatures that need to be taught their place. Otherwise, they don’t fucking listen.”
My teeth hurt from grinding them.
“We only fuck them in the ass because they’re nothing but holes. Our true love’s Orion, but during training, we don’t want him to be too sore. As doms, we like it rough.” Scorpius leaned over and gently kissed bee-stung lips.
Long pale fingers wrapped gently around a flower-tattooed neck like they were imagining choking him.
Red blurred my vision. “So you’re just misogynistic pigs?”
Flames crawled atop Malum’s shaved head like a fucked-up crown. His voice rumbled like honey, but what it spewed was acid. “It’s just the truth. Women are weaker than men in every way. They’re good for fucking. That’s it. No one compares to Orion.”
Scorpius chuckled. “Exactly.”
Pink stained Orion’s golden cheeks as he leaned into Scorpius’s hands. His brown eyes were unfocused like he was desperate for the cruel fae to choke him.
Who the fuck did these men think they were?
They needed five minutes alone locked in a room with a pissed-off Jinx and a numb Sadie. That would shut them the fuck up about women being good for nothing.
Scorpius sneered at me, “You got something to say, pretty boy?”
“Yeah, I do,” I snarled. “You’re all dumber and more pathetic than I fucking thought.”
Faster than I could react, Malum lunged down and dragged me out of the pool. He slammed me face-first onto the deck.
Crack.
My nose broke, and blood splattered.
The leader of the kings moved so quickly I struggled to process just what the fuck was going on.
I bucked and kicked, but he dug his knee into my back, and I nearly vomited from the pain that streaked across my wound.
Harsh fingers tangled in my curls and shoved my face into the water.
I screamed out bubbles.
Struggled.
Aimlessly.
More pressure was added to my back as someone else held me down.
Water filled my lungs, and I panicked.
It was too much.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I didn’t stop.
Far away, John yelled, and there was the sound of fists on flesh, then a loud splash. It was suddenly silent.
They must have knocked him out.
Scorpius laughed, an awful, cruel sound, and Malum joined in a chorus of sadism.
They shoved my face down for long minutes until I inhaled water and thought I was going to die from the pain in my chest.
They were like devils from the rumored hell realm.
Just when I thought I was going to pass out, they lifted my head, and I vomited water. I gasped desperately for air.
They shoved me back under.
They drowned me.
Held me under until my monster woke up.
It bellowed against its cage.
I screamed. My lungs burned.
My monster bellowed.
Back.
Agony.
Pain.
Everywhere.
They didn’t stop.
They had no mercy.
But in the throes of agony, I rediscovered my will to survive.
They drowned it into my subconscious with every cruel movement.
My new life purpose—I would destroy Malum and Scorpius.
They’d beg for mercy as I tore them to shreds, but I’d laugh at their pain. Just like they did now as they taunted and shoved me under.
Malum whispered against my ear, “You want our sloppy seconds, pretty boy?” His rough voice was that of a monster.
Scorpius sneered, “Not such a pretty boy now. In fact, you’re pretty fucking hideous.”
Malum said, “If you don’t learn your place, it will only get worse for you.”
They laughed as I choked and sputtered, lungs burning, water running painfully out my nose.
The bars of my cage rattled as they were forced apart. Ripped wide by the creature inside.
In the warm water of a bathhouse, Aran was tortured while Arabella watched.
He suffered.
She learned.
After a particularly brutal beating, I’d asked my mother why she did it.
She’d responded, “A fae monarch must be ruthless, cruel, cunning, and the coldest of them all.” Her voice was sad. “That’s why you’ll never be one. You’re too weak.”
At the time, I’d thought it was a good thing that I had none of those traits.
But as I got older, Mother started to make me do more and more heinous things.
That was why I ran.
Why I hid.
I wasn’t like her or the kings; I didn’t revel in the suffering of others.
“Fuck you,” I snarled between coughs and gasps as hot water drained out of my mouth.
They laughed as he shoved me back under. Orion said nothing, but I knew it was his gentle fingers that held down my legs. His touch was like an iron brand.
He was just as horrible as the men who loved him.
My lungs filled with water.
My chest throbbed.
No matter how hard I struggled, they never let up.
But in the overwhelming pain, I found the capacity to loathe others so deeply it scorched my thoughts and rebuilt my will.
Through violence and hate, fate had its way.
I will make them suffer.
The mantra repeated in an endless loop and tethered me to reality.
I’d enjoy their pain with every molecule in my black soul. I screamed out bubbles of rage, and my monster bellowed in agreement.
For the first time, monster, girl, and monarch were completely aligned.
Our interests in synchrony.
I will rend their limbs from their bodies.
I will bathe in their blood.
I will laugh as they writhe.
Malum’s taunts rang in my ear. “You’re nothing but a spineless coward who doesn’t deserve to be an assassin. You’re weak and pathetic. You’re going to die under my watch, and I don’t give a fuck.”
Those were the words he said to Aran.
All Arabella heard was “Women are weak creatures that need to be taught their place. Otherwise, they don’t fucking listen.”
My limbs trembled.
I saw black.
Malum wrenched my head back painfully, gray eyes flat and unfeeling. Scorpius smirked beside him, the eye tattooed on his neck staring at me. Orion was a silent shadow.
“Got anything to say now, pretty boy?”
Head pulled back at an impossible angle, my stomach heaved, and I vomited water onto him.
It trickled out my nose and eyes, burned like acid as it drowned my lungs, but I showed him my teeth.
“You’ve done it now,” Scorpius sneered.
A flaming fist reared back, and white exploded across my vision.
Malum punched me in the face.
Copper filled my mouth, and I spat blood at both of them. Red droplets dripped across their hate-filled faces.
Orion mouthed, “Learn your place, Aran.” His big brown eyes were wide and sad.
But I didn’t fall for it.
He was evil.
Scorpius wrenched my head forward and shoved me back under the water until it turned pink.
Their sadism seemed to last for hours.
And in an infamous academy, under an ominous bloodred eclipse, another fae monarch discovered their capacity to hate.
Because there was one universal truth—leaders were not born.
They were made in unanswered pleas for help, muffled sobs, silent screams, and the crack of knees against hard tile.
Leaders were forged in misery.
Mother was wrong.
I was ruthless. Cruel. Cunning. The coldest of them all.
A queen was born.
Light-years away, sparks traveled through the gilded fae palace.
Like a shadow come to life, the gold skulls on the seat of death turned ivory black.
A palace aide who was passing the throne room dropped his chalice in shock.
The harsh clang echoed off the marble.
His lips parted.
The seat only turned black for the darkest and most powerful leaders. That meant the fae queen wasn’t just alive; her power was unrivaled.
The rumors of the princess being powerless must have been a ploy.
She was much stronger than her mother.
The aide nodded. He’d always sensed something was up with the blue-haired beauty the realm worshiped.
He’d always known there was something wild in her aquamarine eyes.
Now he knew what it was; the black throne was proof of it.
Power.
He ran off to share the news. Parades would be launched at once, and the realm would rejoice.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
He shook his head as he ran. A leader so powerful the seat of death turned black. Who could have imagined?
He was thousands of years old, and the seat had only ever been gold. He’d never thought he’d see it in his lifetime.
The princess was hiding so she could prepare to come back and take her throne. That must be it.
With so much power in her veins, no one would dethrone her.
She’d return soon and lead them.
She was the next great fae monarch, a queen strong enough to rule over some of the cruelest and strongest beings in all the realms.
He leaned back and laughed with abandon as sheer exhilaration coursed through his old bones.
Once again, the sun god had blessed the fae realm.
Tears trickled across his cheeks because her enemies would tremble as she brought them into the glory days.
Arabella Egan was their savior.
The sun god had blessed her like no one else.
“Long live the queen,” he sobbed. Then he shouted to the gods, “LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!”
