Reborn From Ashes: The King's Ruthless Queen

it was inside her, a living thi

avy, dead weight against her chest, her skin already cooling even as the room turned into an inf

of sparks onto the rug. Through the

nn

ressed to his face. He hadn't looked back. Not once.

ed, but the sound wa

htgown catching fire, but she didn't feel the pain

bbed hi

en he saw her-saw the fire eating her hair, saw the dea

!" he s

her back. She reached for his throat. She wanted to take him w

ered, her voice cracking.

timber, wreathed in fire, sna

, white-hot, s

en, si

g stopped.

a cold so sharp it

rasping for a throat that wasn't there. Her chest heaved, sucking in

re out of her throat

t duvet was cool under her sweating palms. The curtains were

aid, stood there, a basin of water i

water sloshing over the rim of the

out of bed. Her bare feet hit the cold floorboards, and

lders. Her grip was bruising.

ng at her intensity. "She's in the nurs

bled, her legs feeling like jelly, her heart

into the

ood still in the corner. And there, in t

rd she could barely control them. She reached out, terrified that h

ny, rhythmic

sleep, her little han

ed her hand over her mouth, biting down on her knuckles

in the hallway.

steps. She had heard them walk

in his morning suit, looking crisp and respectable. His fac

the room. "Sophie said you

ed her he

d hatred must have flashed in her eyes, because Kenney pau

ep closer, reaching out

linched, shrinking away from his hand as if it

" she c

ring in the air. "You're trem

g her lungs to expand and contract slowly. She had to hi

trembling. "A nightmare. A terri

cticed. "Oh, my poor darling." He moved to the nightstand a

lass. His fingers b

he took the glass, gripping it so tightly she thought the crystal migh

hat soothing, patronizing tone he used when he wanted somethi

ad sna

ter Mas

rs ago. The night it all began. The night he f

e asked, her

eyes. "It's crucial for my promotion, Imogene. I

rotting him from the inside out. She saw the man who would lea

e," she s

sfied. "Good girl. Sophie is pre

dy thinking about his career, a

watched Emily sleep. The terror of the fire

lked to the mirror

nblemished. Her eyes were wide and haunted. But underne

ore. She was the one who k

irst, a grimace. But she adjusted it. Sh

whispered to

end the masquerade. She would