Paperwork was staring back at me, but I couldn’t make sense of it.

This was my job, my duty, and I knew I should take it seriously.

It had been three days since I’d put Nina in the pit, and I was quite certain I was starting to lose my mind.

I closed my eyes, pinched the bridge of my nose, and took a deep breath.

There had to be a way to get myself to focus, but I couldn’t seem to do it.

Three days, and the pain hadn’t abated, the rage hadn’t dimmed, and I still wasn’t myself.

My nights had been haunted by her face, her eyes brimming with tears, and her soft pleas for me to pardon her.

Monster.

The accusation was for me, not her.

I’d thrown her back into the cells she’d lived in for most of her life, and I still had no idea what that would do to her. It couldn’t be good, I knew that, but the ramifications remained to be seen.

Oh, certainly, I could walk down there and find out.

But I knew that one look at her face, dirty and streaked with tears, would break my heart all over again and I’d have no recourse but to take her from the prison I’d put her in.

That was what I wanted to do.

Or at least, half of me did.

The other half wanted very much to kill her for what she’d done.

Not really for the murders. Those were bad, yes, but it was the pain in my heart that made me want to hurt her as she’d done to me. She’d broken me, ruined me, and I wanted her to feel that pain.

Yet I hated that I was the source of her pain now.

All I’d ever wanted was to hold her in my arms and teach her about the pleasure I could give her, to see her face aglow with light and laughter, to know that she was mine.

That would never happen now. She’d made sure of that.

She’d ruined whatever future we might have had together, but I’d put the last nail in the coffin.

I knew that even if I let her out now, she’d never forgive me for putting her in there in the first place.

And that was good, because if I could get past the hatred and venom in my veins, I still wouldn’t deserve her.

I leaned back in my chair and let my mind drift to the fantasies I’d once had.

Nina, curled up in my bed, turned to look at me with the remnants of sleep in her eyes.

“Were you watching me sleep again?”

“Is it my fault you look like an angel while you sleep?”

She made a soft noise and grinned at me. “Shush, you.”

I pulled her into my arms and buried my face in her long, silky hair. She squealed and wriggled but ultimately settled back against me with a soft sigh of contentment.

“How did you sleep?”

“Well enough,” I murmured, inhaling her scent.

I’d never be able to get enough of her, no matter how much time I spent with her. She’d gotten under my skin, and I couldn’t ever dream of letting her out.

She twisted in my arms until she was facing me, placing a hand on my cheek.

“Ready to start the day?”

“Absolutely not,” I said with a smirk. “I have no intention of leaving this bed, and you’re not allowed to, either.”

“Oh. Is that a royal decree, then?”

“It is.” My voice was solemn for all of a moment before a smile cracked across my face.

She laughed at me, and I couldn’t help but join in, the sound was so contagious.

“Well, I must listen to my King.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that.”

I pulled her to me, captured her lips with my own, and feasted on the taste of her.

She was exquisite, a luxury that I’d always indulge in, and she tasted like heaven.

Our tongues dueled for a while before I took her lower lip between my teeth, then nibbled and sucked at it until I elicited a moan from her.

“Gray...”

The sound of my name on her lips was more than I could bear, and with a growl I dumped her on her back, pinning her to the bed.

“Hurry.”

“Oh, I have every intention of savoring this,” I replied.

She shook her head. “No, I can’t wait, please.”

“Your torture will be long and slow, my pet.”

She whimpered. I bent my head…

“My Lord!”

A sharp voice jerked me out of the fantasy world I’d allowed myself to slip into, and I sat upright with a jolt.

Someone was hammering at my door like they wanted to beat it to splinters.

What in God’s name was going on?

I walked to the door and yanked it open with a scowl.

“What’s gotten into you?” I snapped at the young man in front of me, who looked like he’d just seen death incarnate.

“It’s the blood mage, sire—she’s escaped.”

I felt all the blood drain from my face as I absorbed what he’d just said.

Nina was gone.

She’d left me.

Pain lanced through me all over again, somehow worse this time, and my chest felt constricted.

I couldn’t breathe.

She was gone.

Without thinking, I slammed a fist into the wall, letting out a howl of rage.

The man flinched and backed away from me.

Good. Let them all fear me.

I’d show the world what a King looked like.

No longer would I be the peaceful King I’d strived to be—now, they would know the real me. The bringer of death.

A man who ruled with an iron fist.

Nina had taken what kindness I had within me and run away with it. The pain the world would feel would be on her shoulders from now on.

But by God, I would hunt her to the ends of the Earth.

She wouldn’t get away from me this time.

I started for the door—and then the alarms began, splitting through the castle and shrieking in my ears.

The castle had been breached.