Beneath Shadows and Secrets

♔ 𝕱𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔶 - 𝕾𝔦𝔵 ♔

This is just a quick one. I'm posting this on Monday 10th April (probably 12:01 am) which means tomorrow, Behind Darkness and Deceit becomes available for purchase. Literally in 24 hours.
I just want to take a second to thank you guys. You've all be so overwhelmingly kind and supportive during me writing this series, and I can't express my gratitude enough for that. Engaging with you all has made writing that much more fun, and has truly driven my passion. I can wholeheartedly say, without the support of you, and those who read my other books, I'd have never taken the first step into publishing.

The entire process has felt like a fever dream, and I cannot believe it's literally about to happen. Thank you all, again, for choosing to read what I write. I really do adore you all, and I'm so glad you've found something in my books worth staying for.

With that said, if any of you want to watch me crying when it goes live on Amazon, I'll probably post a vid on my Instagram and embarrass myself a touch.

Now, I'll let you get back to the second book, because Lord knows you've earned it ❤️

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♔ 𝔑𝔦𝔯𝔞 ♔

I cannot fathom how Libitina can find any comfort in her usual clothes.

Her blouses and pants that I borrowed were fine, but hardly her usual attire. Her leathers are stiff and restrictive, especially in the height of summer. It feels suffocating to pull it on to my body, so awful that I almost consider returning to my initial plan to wear something looser that sits in her drawers, but she would never present herself such a way in company.

She wishes to display every ounce of muscle that she has built across her body. She pronounces the curves of her breasts and hips. She does not hide her shape, instead flaunts it.

It is a single piece, rising to the throat, and buckled over the torso. The top fastening is broken, and so I must leave it open, allowing the skin of my chest to show. My arms are covered by sleeves, and I pull on a pair of her boots that are lifted with a slight heel up to my knees.

There are plenty of fastenings across the attire for all her weapons, and so I sheath myself with as many as I can carry. Then, when done, I run a heavy hand through my hair, leaving it tousled and untamed, rolling in messy waves down my back.

I am sweating, and hugely regretting this idea, but I am too committed to stop now.

As I finish strapping the demon's knives at my waist, commotion from the turning circle stalls me. I press myself against her bedroom window, watching as a carriage pulls to a stop.

First, a winged figure lands beside it. Cenred. His torso is bare, wings unfurled behind him. My heart fills at the sight, knowing he is safe, and I can see him once again. I wish for nothing more than to call out to him, to run downstairs and capture him in an embrace, but I cannot.

My breathing stalls as the carriage door opens and a figure exits. Blonde hair, tamer than it was the last I saw him, in a braid that runs down his back. His features are solemn, and I wonder if Calix was right to say it would have been better for me to kill him. He has no desire to choose a different path to the one that follows behind his Lord.

It is him that exits the carriage next.

Zaire looks the same as he always did. Auburn hair, brighten under the unrelenting sun, cropped blunt at his shoulders. He wears a simple shirt, with dark emerald pants that stand against the crisp white. Unlike Ezekiel, he does not look burdened at all. He looks as though nothing has happened the past few months. Like he did not ruin my life and hide a secret from the entire Realm beneath his roof. Like he did not kill Sloan, simply because she disagreed with his twisted concept of love.