Heir of Broken Fate (HOBF Book 1)

Each page of the dark magic book seals our doom. It’s a horrid thing, its black leather marred with scratches and claw marks, the pages yellow and crumpled with age, as if the dark magic’s very essence rots the book. The one thing that isn’t scarred by age is the emblem on the front cover, an upside-down triangle surrounded by a circle, filled with swirls and twirls, that appears to be dripping with blood onto a human skull.

“We need a spell cleaver,” Knox announces to everyone gathered in the study.

I frown. “What’s a spell cleaver?”

“Those that specialize in spells. They have their main elemental magic and yet something else entirely. Magic that allows them to assess all other magic and the spells that are created with it.”

Hazel inches forward on her chair. “It’s an extremely rare specialty. Some Fae are born with the ability to cast, create, and undo spells. Any Fae can cast a spell yet the spell cleavers can create just about anything. They can also undo creation.”

Nolan shuffles his feet into a defensive stance, moving the conversation back to work. “Are we sure we need one?”

Hazel grimaces. “The entrapment spell is more complicated than we thought. Emmalyn used multiple spells, combining them to create one giant clusterfuck of a problem.”

I’d be shocked that she swore, yet there’s no other way to describe what type of power and spell Emmalyn used to create this horrid ordeal.

“Can we trust a spell cleaver?” Axel mutters.

Harlow clicks her tongue. “I wouldn’t.”

Lenox rolls his eyes. “You don’t trust anyone.”

Harlow flings a manicured finger in Knox’s direction, sweeping it around the room. “I trust everyone in this room.” She pointedly stares him down. “Even the dog.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I’m not a dog,” Lenox mutters under his breath.

“You’re as loyal as one. You follow Knox around like a lost puppy.”

The insult hits its mark. Lenox’s eyes shutter, pain filling them before it’s gone in an instant. My heart twists. Lenox jokes around all the time, but I’ve never seen a better friend. He loves everyone in his court and will be loyal until the day he dies. He shouldn’t be taunted for his loyalty and the kindness in his heart.

“Harlow,” Knox snaps, his eyes full of thunder as he glares at her.

My spine stiffens. He’s never barked at Harlow before. I frown, watching as Lenox’s face hardens, shutting out everyone as he focuses on the book. Harlow grimaces, seeing the repercussions of her words.

“I know a spell cleaver,” Hazel says, breaking the tension. “I’ve known her all my life. She’s the best if you ask me, and she can be trusted.”

“How do you know?” Nolan asks, lifting his brow.

Hazel’s swallow is audible. “Emory’s the only one I trusted to ward my cabin when my daughter died. No one ever found my location over the one hundred and forty years I lived there.”

Ace places his hand on her back, comforting her at the mention of Luna.

Hazel turns her kind eyes to Knox. “She lives in Cardania. I can take you to her.”

Knox nods. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“Should we keep trying to decode this thing?” Harlow asks, grimacing.

“No, it’s too complicated. Only a spell cleaver could understand it and know how to unravel the spell Emmalyn weaved,” Knox says tightly.

Lenox walks out of the room without another word. Knox’s brows furrow as he gazes at the door.

“I need to go check on the new guards, make sure they understand their assignments,” Nolan says, breaking the silence as he exits the room.

Ace and Hazel are next to follow, muttering excuses to leave the room as Knox glares at Harlow.

“You better apologize to him for that bullshit you just pulled.”

“It slipped, I wasn’t thinking,” she says, sincerity lining her eyes and, dare I say, guilt.

“I’m not the one you need to explain that to.”

After a noticeably quieter dinner, I’m lying in Knox’s bed, both of us naked after mind-shattering sex, his finger trailing up and down my skin as we lay in each other’s arms. I lift my head, propping it onto my fist as I gaze at his beautiful face.

“What happened to Lenox?” I ask quietly. Knox’s face visibly shudders. “If you think he wouldn’t want me to know that’s all right,” I say after he’s quiet for a moment.

“He wouldn’t mind you knowing…It’s just horrible. I hate thinking about it.”

I wait patiently for the words to come, my chest tightening when they do.

“I’ve known Lenox since I was a young boy. We met in Azalea and became fast friends. His parents were horrible to him and used him against each other like a bargaining tool.” Knox shakes his head in disgust. “As we grew up, we became closer. We wouldn’t go a few days without seeing each other.” His face pales as his eyes glaze over. “That’s how I knew something was wrong. I hadn’t seen Lenox in two weeks. It was unheard of for him to disappear. He practically lived at my house, and my parents treated him like he was their own.” Knox falls silent, building the courage to speak again, his voice breaking as he does. “When I went to his house, I found…his father had murdered his mother, and killed himself after.”

My heart sinks, ice coating my veins.

“His father had found out Lenox wasn’t his own. In punishment he knocked him out while he was asleep, took him into the middle of the woods where no one could hear him scream, and locked him in a room he built into the ground. His father paid off a gremlin before he died to dump water and food daily, but the food was laced with poison that made his power useless.” Knox rubs his eyes with the heel of his palm, dampness coating his thick black lashes.

“It was years before I found him. He hadn’t seen sunlight or felt fresh air for over seven years. The bastard of the man that put him in there took all the necessary steps to make sure I could never find him with my power. I had to search every inch of the land myself by foot.” Knox’s voice cracks. “It took Lenox a long time to get better, and shortly after he did, my parents died. They treated him like their own, showering him with the love and kindness he never received. When they died it was as if he lost his true parents. It destroyed him as much as it destroyed me.”

Silent tears roll down my cheeks as he finishes, my heart breaking for Lenox and what he had to endure, and for Knox, the man that never gave up on his friend, searching for him for seven years. I lean over, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, my tongue tasting salt water as it connects with his tears.

“He has you,” I whisper.

“Sometimes I feel like it’s not enough,” he croaks. “I will do anything for my people, yet no matter what I do, it’s never enough. I keep failing them.”

“You are more than enough,” I say vehemently. “You have the kindest, most caring and loving soul. I see why your people love you and are loyal to you. No one else could make a better ruler.” I sit up, dragging his gaze to mine. “You are not failing your people. The only way you could fail them is if you stopped trying and you have never stopped.”

Knox stares at me so intently I swear I can feel it burning into my soul before he leans forward, kissing me deeply. My heart grows as Knox and the family he’s created fills my heart.

“We’ll make Emmalyn pay for the pain she’s caused,” I vow as he pulls away.

I’m in Knox’s arms as he flies over the Water Court, Hazel and Ace leading the way in front of us, when I gasp. The entire city is surrounded by water, no forest to be found anywhere. White-stoned buildings fill the city of Cardania. Bridges arch over canals and streams, with each street framed by a body of water. Some buildings are even surrounded by waterfalls.

We land before a small two-story white house that sits on a busy residential street. A river separates us from the houses on the other side. Hazel marches up to the door, knocking three times.

Feet pad downstairs before the door opens to reveal a stunning woman. Her brown skin glows in the morning sun, deep ringlet hair falling to her shoulders. With sharp cheekbones, deep brown eyes, and pouty lips, Emory’s gorgeous. Her entire face lights up as she smiles down at Hazel, towering over her. She looks to be about my height. “Hazel!” she exclaims, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. “What are you doing here?”

“Can we come in?” Hazel asks hesitantly.

Emory lifts her head, gazing past Hazel’s shoulder to us, as if just realizing Hazel isn’t alone. I see the moment her internal walls go up, when her eyes land on Knox and Ace. Hazel frowns as she looks behind her, her eyes widening. “He’s not a guard or warrior. This is the King of Azalea, Knox,” Hazel rushes on.

Emory’s spine straightens further, Hazel’s words doing the opposite to relax her. I know exactly what it looks like to be afraid of men in power. I step forward. “We mean you no harm. I’d kill him myself if he ever laid a hand on a woman.”

Emory snaps her eyes to mine, more assessing than uneasiness, understanding flashing through her expression. That, I too know, the horrors that men put women through, and I will never stand aside to let it happen.

Emory tentatively steps back, opening the front door further. Knox gives Emory a kind smile as he passes. It does nothing to ease her tense shoulders. Walking through an open archway to a sitting room, two white cushioned seats face each other, a coffee table sitting in the middle. The room is designed with stunning colors of white and blue, in honor of her elemental court.

The moment Emory closes the door, Knox seals the house in a silent ward, making Emory snap accusing eyes to him. “We have to discuss sensitive matters,” Knox explains.

Hazel cuts in, “We know how the entrapment spell was cast, but we need your help in breaking it.”

Emory freezes, shock flashing in her brown eyes. “How?”

“Emmalyn, the queen’s second. She cast multiple spells in one night, murdering the kings and queens as a sacrifice to channel the power into the dark magic spells,” Knox explains.

Emory stumbles into the living room, taking a seat on her plush couch. She waves a hand in front of her. “You may as well sit down. I need a moment to process.”

Hazel dashes out of the room, returning with a glass of water. She takes a seat next to Emory, handing the glass to her. Knox sits beside me on the couch, Ace taking the free space on the other side of me.

“How do you know this?” she asks after a moment.

“I think it may be easier if I show you,” Knox offers gently.

Emory’s eyes steel before nodding, her eyes going vacant as Knox shows her the memories. Once Emory comes back, her stunned gaze lands on me. “You took the book?” she asks in disbelief.

I nod. “Will you help us?”

“Of course,” she answers. “I’ll need to study the spells in the book myself, though.”

Relief courses through me. We’re one step closer to a world of freedom.

“It’s at my home. Under the circumstances, can you study it there?” Knox asks.

Emory dips her chin stiffly. “Yes, I’ll start tomorrow. There’s certain elements that I’ll have to prepare,” she says, standing.

Taking that as our cue to leave, we shuffle toward the front door.

Hazel pauses in the living room, wringing her hands as she turns to Emory. “Is it safe for you to stay here alone with this information?”

“My wards are impossible to break. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Knox chimes in, “I can send someone for you—”

Emory holds up her hand. “I appreciate the gesture, Your Majesty, but I will have to decline.”

“Please call me Knox. We’re very informal in my court.”

Emory clicks her tongue, ending the discussion.

We exit her house, taking off into the sky. The flight home is more freeing knowing that we now have a spell cleaver to help us. I can see it in Knox, Ace, and Hazel’s faces.

Hope.

After a cheerful dinner of celebrating our success in finding a spell cleaver, I take a much-needed soak in the tub. It’s always been my safe space to calm down after a long day, but we’ve been so busy lately that I’ve had to rush with bathing.

I step out of the clawfoot bathtub in my room. Wrapping a towel around my body I walk to the vanity mirror, running a comb through my wet tangled hair, when Knox appears behind me, making me jump. I don’t have time to chastise him for scaring me because before I can speak, his warm hands are trailing down my back, pulling the towel down until I’m standing in front of him naked.

I watch in the mirror as heat fills his eyes, turning molten. “I can’t keep my hands off you.”

I turn around, peeling off his shirt, sighing as I see his bare chest. I run my hands up and down the smooth planes of his stomach, my mouth watering when his muscles bunch. “It’s a good thing I have the same problem then, isn’t it?”

Knox leans forward, sighing the moment our lips connect. I part my mouth, letting him devour me with his tongue, each stroke making my body tingle. Sparks ignite in my core, and wetness pools between my legs—just from his kiss. I drag my hand down his chest, delight sparking through me when he shivers from my touch.

I unbutton his pants, pulling them down along with his boxers. I capture his hard length when it springs free, soaking up the sound of Knox’s moans in my mouth. I stroke him slowly, squeezing every time I reach the tip, circling the drop of moisture with my thumb. Knox’s hands explore every inch of my body, never stopping in one place for too long as if he can’t get enough of me. On the next stroke up his length, I squeeze harder, his hips bucking as he thrusts into my hand, his breathing turning shallow. I whimper when he pinches both of my nipples, my hips moving on their own accord, seeking his touch.

Knox growls when he notices my hips grinding air, begging for him. He bends, wrapping his hands around my thighs he picks me up, placing me onto the counter. The sting of the cold marble sends a shiver through me.

Knox’s mouth leaves mine. I open my eyes, my breath leaving me as he begins to lower. It is the most glorious sight I have ever seen—Knox on his knees in front of me, naked.

“I kneel to no one but you.”

Utter delight ravishes his face as he smirks. His tongue darts out, his eyes never leaving mine as he licks my center, swirling his tongue around my clit. I throw my head back on a moan, burying my hands in his hair as I tug him closer.

“You taste so fucking good,” he groans, and I feel every vibration of it through my core.

“Oh gods,” I breathe.

Knox’s fingers enter me, pumping as he swirls, licks, and sucks my clit. I grind my hips shamelessly against his face, needing more, needing everything this man is willing to give me. Knox curves his fingers, stroking the part inside of me that makes me explode. My legs shake as the pressure inside of me builds.

“I’m so close, I’m so close,” I pant.

Knox’s husky rasp is what tips me over the edge. “Come on my face, Angel.”

My hands cling to Knox’s hair, my hips grinding against his face, as bliss shoots through my body.

My eyes are still closed when he kisses me, the taste of myself on his tongue making me moan into his mouth. Knox lifts me, lowering me to my feet as he spins me around to face the mirror, his hard cock resting on my ass.

I lift my droopy eyes to his, finding his blazing gaze already on me as he lowers his mouth to my ear. “I want you to watch as I fuck you.”

A full-body shiver wracks through me from his words.

My knees buckle as he enters me in one hard stroke, my head falling forward as I moan, his arm around my waist keeping me on my feet as his hips thrust. He wraps his other hand around my neck, pulling me back flush against his chest. “Look at you,” he purrs. “You’re so beautiful.”

I whimper, his words making wetness trickle down my thigh.

His hand travels between my legs, circling my sensitive clit as his other hand teases my nipple, I close my eyes on a moan.

“Open your eyes Angel, look at what I do to you,” he growls in my ear.

I open my hooded eyes. My body burns with fire as I look into the mirror to see his powerful body play mine like an instrument. He withdraws, glistening from my wetness, only to slam into me again. His eyes are full of heat so fierce it makes me moan, his gorgeous face filled with utter pleasure as he fucks me with abandon.

My core clenches around him at the sight of us.

“You’re so fucking wet,” he groans.

Fisting my hair, he twists my head to the side, fucking my mouth as passionately as he fucks me, kissing me with such ferocity my heart sings. I wrap my arms behind me, clinging to him, afraid that the intensity of what I feel will sweep me away entirely.

A feral growl leaves Knox’s mouth at my thoughts. He moves so quickly I don’t have time to process that I’m suddenly pinned against the bathroom wall, his length entering me again in one hard thrust. His shoulders shudder at the feel of me wrapped around his cock.

“Delilah, I—”

He smashes his lips to mine, kissing me fiercely, deeply, as he pours whatever he wanted to say into the kiss and I pour everything I feel into it. I nip Knox’s lip, groaning when his wings snap out behind him. I scrape my nails down his back, unable to hold back on the intensity building within me. My legs start shaking around his waist, my hips grinding, meeting Knox thrust for thrust.

“You’re. Mine.” He punctuates each word with a deep, hard thrust. “I’m. Yours.” I moan, digging my nails into his shoulders as I cling to him. “Say it, Angel.”

Kneading my ass, he pulls me down onto his cock, swiveling my hips just right so that my clit brushes against his pelvic bone. “You’re mine!” I scream. His thrusts become faster, more frenzied, as his cock swells inside of me at my words. “I’m yours…”

He shatters, saying my name like a prayer as he comes inside of me, his hips thrusting erratically as his power blasts throughout the room. His loud growl of pleasure topples me over the edge.

I come screaming his name as my world explodes around me.