[Kingdom 01.0 - 03.0] Kingdom Series Collection

by Jovee Winters

  Violet willed her body to stop. To close her mouth. Told her brain no more. But she was so hungry. So hungry.

  Jerking, fingers digging like claws into Malvena’s tiny shoulders, Violet drank and drank. That dark soul twisted in her gut, churned through her bowels.

  Malvena stopped jerking. Her once lovely face now contorted into a wordless scream.

  Hands shook Violet.

  “Stop…ple…”

  Something hot and wet seeped from her nose and ears.

  “Nay, stop…” A deep burr, a desperate growl.

  Ewan.

  For a moment joy replaced the fear. With one final pull, Violet inhaled the last of the dark fairies soul. A mummy stared back at her, desiccated skin covered a tiny pile of bones, then erupted in a giant tower of flame. Fire licked at Violet’s face, but she didn’t pull back, even as she sizzled and burned.

  She was going to die.

  The madness, the darkness, it spread insidiously to her head, through her veins, down her legs. She screamed. Clawing at her skin to relieve the sensation of a million ants biting, before it drove her mad.

  “Get it out,” she cried, doubled over as the agony of a bloated belly ready to rupture, drove her to pound her fists on the ground.

  Smoke began to billow from her fingers, out her nose. Her insides quaked, churned like a pot of boiling stew. Eyes burning, she racked her fingers down her face.

  She pleaded, begged, not knowing what words came out of her mouth. Then large hands gripped the corners of her face and a pair of lips slammed down on hers. She screamed her agony into its mouth, shoving the alien power down, down, down.

  Clutching tight to a savaged back, she sunk her nails in while the violence poured out. The agony turned to relief as the twisted soul transferred out of her body.

  “Red.” The voice was gentle, so soft. More a breath of sound.

  Ewan. She trembled, he’d found her. Saved her. Love you. Love you so much, she thought over and over even as she poured more and more death into him.

  She didn’t notice his tight hands growing slack on her waist, letting Malvena go felt so good. She could breathe again, see again. Violet opened her eyes and stared into a sunken pair of golden ones.

  Finally noticing how lax his mouth was on hers, she jerked back. The corners of his eyes were sliced open, bloody tears tracked down the sides of his nose. He was a mass of bruises and cuts. Purple skin mottled the bronze.

  “Ewan,” she cried when he collapsed on top of her.

  She barely had enough strength to brace his heavy weight.

  “He’s fine, Vi,” Aunt Mir’s stern voice filled with compassion. “Ye did well, and so did he.”

  “He’s dying,” Violet cried, running her fingers through his matted hair, remembering the agony of being filled with that level of malevolence and power.

  “Nay, girl,” Aunt Mir’s large blue eyes blinked solemnly back at her. “Nay. He’s a wolf. His body will expel her poison.”

  Ewan’s forehead was wet, and with more than just sweat. A strange oily residue coated her fingers. He was shaking, teeth grinding as his back arced and muscles jerked.

  Violet held onto him, grateful beyond words for what he’d done, praying to the gods Aunt Mir was right and the poison would leave his body. She kissed his clammy cheek, his forehead, and nose. Uncaring that he tasted bitter, or that a hint of what’d possessed her, now leaked through him. She wanted him to know she was here, just as he’d been for her.

  A strange gurgling sound rumbled from his gut, and then he moaned. Knowing what was coming, Violet turned his face.

  Ewan shuddered, retching over and over and over. It seemed impossible that he could spew up so much, but it just kept coming--a steady stream of sparkling black substance.

  Tears blinded her vision.

  “He’s okay, Violet.” The one named Danika patted her arm gently. “He’ll live.”

  She sniffed, and nodded. “I know, it’s just…”

  Danika’s blue eyes were kind, her face motherly. So different from the cruel mask she’d worn when grappling with Malvena. “He still loves you.”

  A choking sob gripped her, and she shuddered through her tears as he continued to release all of the Black’s power.

  She’d put him through so much, tried to kill him, herself. Why would he ever care for her? How could he? She couldn’t have. In fact, she’d hated him for decades, each day letting the hatred fester and boil into a wound so deep, she’d refused to listen. Almost killing any chance she’d ever had at happiness.

  Violet was a bad person. Who would want to love that?

  She stroked his sweaty forehead. “I’m so sorry, Ewan. I believe you. I trust you. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before. But you have to be okay. You have to… Because I… I want to know you. I want to mate you too.”

  Finally he stopped. Taking deep cleansing breaths before, with a loud moan, he turned to glance at her. A crooked smile curved his cracked lips. “I’d do it again, to hear ye say that.”

  She smiled and nuzzled the top of his head. “It’s true.”

  “Well, alls well that ends well. Is it not, Mir?” Danika’s voice was light, happy.

  Violet smiled and Ewan nodded. “Thank the gods,” they said in unison.

  Ewan low crawled away from the glistening puddle that’d now began to froth like a witch’s brew.

  Miriam stood silent, a sad smile on her face. Her hair was now fully white, her skin so aged it immediately sent a chill down Violet’s spine. She’d been so worried with seeing to Ewan, she hadn’t noticed her Aunt.

  “Aunt Mir?” She stood on shaky legs. “What’s happened to you?”

  Ewan’s strong warm hands clamped down on Violet’s shoulder. She leaned into him, comforted by his solid presence.

  Danika gasped. “Miriam.”

  Miriam fell to her knees, her head hung low and her entire frame seemed to literally wither before their eyes. In the span of seconds she was aging rapidly, skin turning spotted and livered. Clumps of hair began to fall in patches. She turned bloodshot eyes toward Danika.

  Danika fell to her knees, her wand was in her hand and she blasted a pink bolt at Miriam’s head. “Return to what you once were,” she said in a voice that shook.

  Mir chuckled, the sound ancient and threaded through with feebleness. “It’s okay, Dani. Truly, sister.”

  Fat tears dripped from Danika’s nose. Violet’s throat seized up, and a sound like an animal dying wailed from her throat. Ewan grabbed her, pulling her to his bloodied chest, crooning softly in her ears.

  Danika pulled Miriam’s head to her bosom, rocking back and forth.

  “What have you done, Mir? What have you done? You said you were strong enough to hold her? You said--”

  “Ssh. Donna fash yerself,” Aunt Mir closed her eyes, “it wasn’t just this, sister. I’m tired. For centuries I battled time outside our realm, keeping Malvena contained was simply the straw, Dani.”

  “But you said we’d hide, we’d travel--”

  “No, sister,” Aunt Mir’s voice was reed thin, a barely there whisper, “ye did.” She touched Danika’s cheek. “The roses, Dani, remember the roses.”

  “What?” Danika was sobbing now, large waterworks fell down her face. She sniffled, wiping her nose.

  Ewan’s soothing up and down motion on Violet’s back grounded her, kept her sane in a world that felt like it was beginning to unravel around her.

  “Grab my hand tight, now,” Aunt Mir said, urgency lent her weak voice strength.

  Danika held on, and then she gasped when the black bolt of Malvena’s power headed like a missile straight towards them.

  It whistled past Violet’s ears, she shivered at its passing.

  The Black power was headed for Danika’s wide blue eyes. The Black was one of the Ten, the power could never fully be killed or contained. It needed a host and would not be denied.

  With trembling fingers, Aunt Miriam pulled her wand from her pocket and t
ouched the tip of one of Danika’s knuckles just as the black bolt met her face. A wash of pink energy exited the tip of Miriam’s wand.

  “To me,” Miriam wheezed, and then the power flowed like a conduit from Danika into her. Miriam cried out, smiling as the energy filled her skin, making her glow from the inside out with differing shades of black and pearl.

  Suddenly her hair began to regrow, turning a deep luscious mahogany as a rosy flush filled her cheeks. Her skin firmed up and with a happy sigh, Aunt Mir opened beautiful lavender eyes.

  “Mir!” Danika cried, wrapping her up in her arms. “I thought you were dying. Oh, blessed be, sister. Blessed be.”

  Aunt Miriam smiled and Violet sobbed, but this time with relief.

  “You’re one of the Ten now, of course. It all makes sense. Galeta can never force you into bondage. How foolish I was… how--”

  Miriam hushed Danika with a swift shake of her head. “Nay, sister. I’m here but for a short time.”

  “But, Aunt Mir, how can you say that?” Violet interjected, her heart returning to its normal rhythm. Safe in Ewan’s arms. “You’re so healthy and perfect.”

  Ewan’s Adam’s apple bobbed along the top of her head when his deep voice cut in. “Because the Black corrupts all it touches, Red.” There was a tenderness to his words, like he was trying to break it to her easy.

  Aunt Mir’s lips quirked. “Aye.”

  “Wha?” Violet glanced from his face to hers and back again.

  But finally she saw what her joy hadn’t registered before; black had begun to bleed through Aunt Mir’s eyes, overtaking the lovely lavender.

  “In three or four centuries,” Aunt Miriam said, “I’ll be worse than Malvena. The power grows worse, never better. It doesn’t matter that my heart is pure now, hers was too. Once. There’s only one way to contain the Black.”

  “I won’t kill you!” Danika shouted, her eyes were bloodshot, her lips trembled.

  “I donna want ye too, sister. I knew when I choose this path all those moons ago, that this was where I’d end up.” She touched the tip of her wand to her chest, the power flowing out of it was black as shadow now. “I’ve chosen my path.”

  “No, Mir. No.” Danika shook her head, grasping onto her Aunt’s shoulders.

  “We won, Dani. We kept my girl safe. It’s over now. I’m so tired, could ye deny me the rest?”

  Danika bit her lip and Violet buried her nose in Ewan’s chest. She couldn’t look, couldn’t face whatever was about to happen.

  “No, Mir, I can’t.” Danika’s soft words tickled Violet’s ears.

  “Aunt Mir,” Violet whispered.

  Eyes, nearly entirely black, glanced at her kindly. Her Aunt looked so young, so beautiful. As she’d remembered her in the beginning. Her Aunt had held her when she cried at night, read to her when storms raged beyond their home, cooked, cleaned… loved her.

  “I love you.” She didn’t say the words so much as breathe them from the depths of her heart.

  Aunt Miriam nodded, a serene smile graced plump pink lips.

  Heart shattering, Violet squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could crawl inside Ewan’s skin, nestle always in the warmth of his body. Forget this night, the look of acceptance in her Aunt’s eyes. Her Aunt had a stubborn streak, she might seem meek and mild, but when Miriam set her mind to something, she’d never veered off her course.

  Violet hiccupped, gulping down the hot ball in her throat.

  “Ssh, Red,” Ewan crooned, his hand trailing fire and goose bumps along her skin. Over and over his hand ran up and down, down and up.

  Violet lost herself in the hypnotic rhythm. Ignoring the bright flare of light behind her lids. She wouldn’t look. Couldn’t see what her Aunt had done to herself.

  “Oh, Mir,” Danika sniffed. “My sister, my sister.”

  “It is done, Red.” Ewan’s warm breath caressed the side of her neck.

  Terrified, she took a deep breath, and like ripping off a band-aid, looked.

  Danika was kneeling, murmuring softly to the earth.

  “Where did she go?” Violet pleaded, glancing around, desperate to see her Aunt. But there wasn’t a trace of her in the trees. She’d gone, vanished.

  Ewan led her toward a softly crying Danika.

  Violet frowned, glancing at him, a question on her tongue, when she noticed Danika gently cradling a black seedling. Its long stem swayed in the gentle breeze.

  Danika looked at her. “The roses, now I know what she meant.”

  Reaching out a hand, Violet silently asked to hold the seedling. With a trembling shudder, Danika passed it--almost reverently--to her.

  Violet ran her finger along the smooth stem.

  “The tree is a giver of life. Though full of dark magic, its wooden heart will always remain pure,” Ewan whispered.

  Danika knuckled tears from her eyes. “Miriam did know how to contain the Black’s soul. Her sacrifice will not be in vain. I will plant her in the roses. It’s what she wanted.”

  Violet wasn’t sure, but when she closed her eyes, it felt like her Aunt’s voice filled her head with a bell like strain and the words: I love you too.

  Chapter 48

  Violet ran, bare feet kicking up stones. Her heart pounded. Snow fell in thick clusters. She couldn’t escape him. He was so close.

  Then she heard him.

  He was running, panting.

  “No,” she yelped, and then he was on her, tackling her to the ground.

  White light exploded off his body like flames, then Ewan was kissing her face, her nose, her chin. Growling as his hard erection drove into her thigh.

  “I won,” he snarled, voice more beast than man, and he nipped her chin.

  She laughed, blood singing, adrenaline pumping. “No fair. I told you to give me a ten second head start.”

  Golden eyes glowed in the deep twilight. “I lied.”

  “Oh, who cares,” she moaned, desire coiling down her stomach, making her toes curl.

  His body was warm, like a thermal blanket, heating her even as the snow drifted lazily around them.

  It’d been a year since that night, a year of laughs, sadness, and hope. Hope because Violet knew she was more than the darkness inside her. Ewan had showed her. Loved her.

  “I adore ye, Red,” he whispered in between trailing hot kisses along her throat.

  She thrust her hips up, excited by the friction of his skin rubbing along hers. Wet and ready, she moaned.

  “I love you too, Ewan. Always.”

  She bit him, just like he liked it. Marking the spot above his heart with her teeth. He hissed, and thrust harder.

  “You’re mine. All mine,” she said, pressing a kiss against the bite.

  He tugged on her nipple, and she arced, gently scraping her nails on his head.

  Desire flooded her, made her moan and groan. Her nails pierced the sensitive skin of his skull.

  He growled, white teeth bright in the liquid moonlight.

  She traced the curve of his lips. “My, what big teeth you have.”

  Ewan snapped them at her. “The better to eat ye with, my dear.”

  Violet laughed, a sound of pure unadulterated joy. “Then what are you waiting for? Need you now,” she mumbled, dizzy with pleasure.

  “Mmm, like this,” he rumbled, deep voice a hot caress against her breasts.

  Then his hot hard length slipped inside and Violet rocked on him, riding the spiraling staircase that would take her beyond the here, above the clouds.

  “Forever,” he whispered.

  And that’s just how she wanted it. In his arms, making love… forever.

  Epilogue

  Danika touched the large oak tree. A thicket of roses surrounded its gnarled black base. Galeta had been furious that Miriam had outwitted her. But it was a victory Danika could not rejoice in.

  It was a wound to know her friend was lost to her forever. All that remained was a gnarled old oak.

  “Thank you, Mir. Thank you for lo
ving like you do, for protecting that girl. Ewan is madly in love and Violet feels the same. I planted more roses last week. Not sure if you noticed.” She sniffed. “They’re blacks, I thought they were appropriate.”

  She sighed, glancing at the wild abundance of roses. Every night since planting her best friend within the small rose garden, she’d returned and planted one new rose. There were whites, reds, yellows, orange, pinks, creams… an explosion of color that she knew Mir would have wanted.

  “I love you, sister. I’ll never forget. But I must return to the mortal realm, Jinni’s mate is in trouble. I know all will be well, but…” Danika stuttered as the fresh pain lanced through her heart. “I must go, dear. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  She stood, dusted off her spider silk skirt, and grabbed her pouch of fairy dust. Sprinkling the gold flecks liberally on the garden.

  The roses swiveled, blinking rose colored eyes gratefully back at her. They never talked here, as if they knew that were rooted on sacred ground.

  “You’re welcome,” she murmured to them, then patted the tree one last time.

  Heat infused her palm and in her heart, she knew Miriam had thanked her too.

  * * *

  Want more Kingdom? I have lots of options. The series has been ongoing since 2012 and has grown in ways I could have never imagined when I started Her Mad Hatter.

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  Buy the next book in this series, Jinni’s Wish. Or pick up with the Dark Queen’s written as my alter ego, Jovee Winters where you’ll discover the next step in the Hatter’s and Alice’s saga!

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  Or… if you’d like to read about myths and the gods I’ve started a Greek gods of Kingdom spinoff. Start with The Forge King about Hephaestus and Aphrodite. I’m getting ready to release the next Greek myths back to back, The Stone Queen and The War King. Coming very, very soon.

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