Royal of Darkness

Previously

…“Then keep me,” I whispered, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and a desperate, exhilarating hope. “Keep me safe, Valerius.” His eyes darkened, a fierce triumph igniting within them. And then, his lips were on mine, a kiss that was both a claim and a surrender, a promise of the fierce, shadowed future we were about to embark upon. The queen’s gambit had been played, and I, Elara Vance, had just made my move, stepping willingly into the heart of the darkness.