Amanda told me about her special skills. She wasn't the strongest fighter, but she and her brother, Nicor, had unique regeneration abilities. I wish she had told me about her little secret earlier, but I was amazingly glad that she was going to be all right. I stood in awe, watching the wounds disappear from her body. She shrugged and gave me a crooked smile."Those skills saved my life more than once. Unfortunately, I'm not immune to pain, even if I can withstand more punches."I looked at the bloody puddle around her and inhaled a ragged breath. "He hurt you pretty badly, didn't he?"Amanda chuckled dryly. "Landon might have been old, but he was also stupid. All those cuts he gave me slowed my heart rate to a nearly undetectable level. Since he could no longer hear it, he figured I was dead…" Then she frowned slightly and lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Nala. I thought I could handle him, but that son of a bitch was too strong…""Yes, he was." I smiled faintly. "But it no longer matte

"What the hell was that?!" Amanda took those words right out of my… head since I doubted that I could actually say them out loud. I was unable to say anything at all. I simply stared at Calvel as he broke our kiss, his lips curving into a satisfied smirk."Well, that felt pleasant," he all but purred, putting my cheeks on fire.My trembling hand moved to my lips, and I traced the swollen contours with my fingers as I looked into his eyes. I felt the soft tingling, and I barely resisted an urge to drag my teeth through the plush skin. I think my mind might have been in a bigger mess than when I caused the quake. His touch and scent instantly reminded me of the sex dream I had with him as the main lead…I shook my head violently, chasing away all the strange, and highly inappropriate thoughts, before forcefully shifting my eyes to the cracked walls and smashed windows. Finally, my eyes found Amanda, and my lips instantly formed an apologetic smile."I'm so incredibly sorry, Amanda," I s

I stared at Calvel in shock. Perhaps I shouldn't dwell, but curiosity won, and I finally asked, "Did Ash know...?"Calvel nodded. "It was long after he told Estelle that nothing more would happen between them. Estelle was heartbroken, and I wanted to comfort her. I crossed the line I shouldn't have crossed with her… I resented Ash for engaging in a meaningless relationship, and then I repeated his mistakes by believing I could control her, even when I knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to bring out jealousy in Ash, and perhaps I should have told her that it would have never worked on him. He can be many things, but he surely doesn't get possessive or jealous. In the end, I was the one who led to the whole tragedy."I inhaled shakily. "I felt her anger and pain on the island... Back then I..." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "I thought I was better than her—stronger. But when I heard Ash's words when he told me that he could never love me, I realized that I was wrong. I am ju

The war was about to begin, and I was going to sit in the front seat while it happened. Formally, I was still Ash's fiancée, and if he sat on the throne, I would also be considered a ruler of this world. As dumb as it sounds, I felt a brief shiver of excitement hearing him refer to me as the Queen—his Queen. That feeling lasted a heartbeat before giving way to a painful stab in my chest. I would never become his Queen, because he wasn't mine. As soon as he sat on that damn throne, our fake relationship would end.Ash, Calvel, Nicor, and even Amanda seemed absolutely confident that the plan would work. I was certain that the Malachious family's army was well-trained and more than capable of defeating those who sided with King Morfran Tenebris. I knew that Ash and Calvel had been preparing for this moment for years, analyzing every detail and strategizing their scheme to perfection. So why could I hardly breathe from the restlessness that gathered within me? My instincts weren't simply

"Tell me one more time: did that guy say anything else?" Ash asked me for the fifth time. He, Calvel, Nicor, Amanda, and I were sitting in his office and trying to figure out what had exactly happened that night. I was exhausted but also terrified. Someone knew what I was and that my powers had awakened, and the more I thought about it the more I realized that I knew who that person might have been."I have something to confess," I said hesitantly. "I might have met that person who called me Nephilim before. The voice I heard in the ballroom was hoarse, but it could have been him.""Him…? Who?" Nicor asked while he and everyone else stared at me, confusion in their eyes.I took a deep breath. "From the moment I found myself in the residence, I've been receiving notes," I began nervously."What kind of notes?" A cold edge surfaced in Ash's voice.I swallowed a knot in my throat. Then I told them about the messages someone had been slipping through my door and how I chased a maid and lo