KiaraLove777
King Malakor hooked the slender gold sword beneath my chin, forcing my head up until the skin stretched to breaking. I didn't flinch, staring into his soulless, flickering eyes even as the sharp point pierced me. A single, hot bead of blood welled up, crawling slowly down my throat.
Behind me, my father thrashed with a guttural roar, his chains screaming against the marble.
"I thought of taking you back, Rhea," Malakor mused, his voice a terrifying purr. "A wife? No-too much honor for a girl who smells of wet dog. A consort, perhaps? The thought was... quite pleasant."
***
Ten years ago, Rhea Thorne was a ghost, drowned in a river to escape a mad King's reach. Now, she is the ultimate pawn in a game of blood and betrayal. Forced back into the glittering, lethal heart of the High Court to save her father from the gallows, Rhea is bound by a soul-shattering blood-vow: she must marry the cold, legendary General Vance Crane while secretly poisoning his house from within.
But in the den of the lions, the lines between enemy and protector are blurred by a dangerous, four-way pull on her heart. There is Vance, the iron-willed warrior who broke her spirit in the sparring ring only to ignite a terrifying, dark obsession. There is Barrett, his scholarly younger brother, whose soft touches and hidden devotion offer a sanctuary she can't afford to crave. And then there is the King himself-a deranged predator who holds her leash and watches her from the shadows with a hunger that transcends politics. In a world of silver-tongued spies and ancient grudges, Rhea must decide which man she will ruin-and which one will be her undoing-before the crown claims her life for good. - A new face in the crowd might just be the one to steal her focus-and her breath.