Dark King Read online

  I nestled my face into his neck, breathing in his scent.

  “I thought we needed her back,” he said. “And I wanted it so badly that I committed a crime against the gods. But all we really needed was you. You’re the true queen of Ys. And it’s now my mission to protect you.”

  I smiled up at him. “But why do I feel like you’ve been protecting me all along? Or at least, you didn’t kill me when you should have. You thought that I was torturing people to death for no reason, and nailing iron into fae bodies for sadist purposes. Why am I still alive? Why didn’t you throw me in prison at least?”

  He shifted. “I just couldn’t. When I saw you in London standing over that human body, I thought it was my duty to kill you. But the idea of hurting you made me feel physically sick. It was like iron corroding me every time I thought about it. It felt like witchcraft.”

  “Is that why you healed me in the prison and gave me a pillow?”

  He flicked his fingers under the waist of my panties, teasing me again with slow, lazy strokes. “Yes. That’s why I gave you my cloak. And I wanted you to smell like me.”

  “How sweet.”

  “I told you. It’s my job to protect you.”

  I dragged my fingernails down his bare back as he tugged down my panties.

  Oh, Lyr.

  When I got my power back, I wouldn’t need protecting.

  Thanks so much for reading. If you want an optional short epilogue, you can click here.

  It’s not crucial for the plot, just an extra—a steamy romance scene from Lyr’s point of view!

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  Also by C.N. Crawford

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  https://www.cncrawford.com/books/

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  https://www.cncrawford.com/faq/

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to my supportive family, and to Michael Omer for his genius critiques and emotional support. Thanks to Nick for his insight and help crafting the book.

  Robin and Stephanie are my fabulous editors for this book. Thanks to my advanced reader team for their help, and to C.N. Crawford’s Coven on Facebook!