Chapter 19 Ezra
Ezra
Who the fuck am I becoming?
When I left the splatter of blood that used to be Jameson, I fully intended to charge into Aurora’s cottage and claim what was rightfully mine. But when I burst through her door, she looked so broken, I swear something inside me broke with her.
I was whole for billions of years. She shattered me in a single night. The blood caked on her face and the black handprints around her neck made something dark and uncontrollable shiver through me.
Let every soul in Heaven and Hell pray that no one tries to take my little goddess from me. Because the thing inside me? The thing I don’t fully understand? It would burn the world to its fucking bones.
The shadows coil at my feet, rippling out like wind over tall grass, feeding off the violent promise in my mind before I force them back. I refuse to become that kind of monster. At least, not yet.
But I killed for her.
Not for me. For her.
The moment I ran my knuckles down her crimson cheek, I realized I would do anything to protect her.
And I mean fucking anything.
I didn’t expect her to ask me to stay. Maybe I should have said no, but when those huge, dark green eyes looked into mine, I knew I would have unmade existence itself if she asked me to.
The knight and the monster in my mind fought throughout the night until she woke up, clawing at her neck. Only then did they stop battling and start screaming for me to help her.
I’ve never been so scared.
When Aurora fell to her knees, her tiny body convulsing with each violent sob, I felt as though the world itself had splintered.
My entire being screamed to reach for her, to hold her, and make the suffering stop.
But, from experience, I know better than to touch someone after enduring severe trauma.
Last night, the chance to fuck Aurora came my way once again.
She wanted me. She would have said yes.
I could have taken advantage of her severely fucked up mind. When she straddled me, it took every ounce of control not to unzip my pants and sink my cock deep inside of her.
I could have fucked her and walked away, like I’ve always done.
For millions of fucking years.
But last night, something shifted.
The knight, the thing clawing for control since I saved her, didn’t fight the monster. It didn’t try to purge the hunger from me. It embraced it. And somehow that made me whole.
I did the right thing for the first time since I saved that scrawny little huskmaw brat. And when she begged me to touch her this morning, the only thing I wanted was for her to feel safe with me so she’d allow me to feel her skin against mine again.
Every time Aurora came, my shadows thrummed around us, pulsing with her pleasure. And in the darkness, I saw the flicker of yellow-orange fire licking over her skin.
A promise of what she is … and of what she will become.
My goddess. My flame. My undoing.
She’s so close—so fucking close—to unlocking everything she is.
Aurora will claim her power through me. Not fate. Not prophecy. Me. That’s the truth written in my shadows and carved into the cosmic dark—the force that made me, and then placed her in my path.
Christ, I can still taste her. Sweet and lush, with an edge of something divine that would break a lesser man. And the way she talked about sucking cock almost broke my already fraying resolve. The wicked little goddess knew exactly what she was doing.
I’m still hard from earlier, and my balls ache for release.
Unfortunately, my own pleasure will have to wait.
Aurora is currently down the hall, taking a shower while I sit in her living room with the hell-mutt.
It’s time to put aside my internal struggles and accept the decisions I’ve made.
There’s no point in fighting it anymore.
Every road I take, every path I could possibly carve, leads me right back to her.
Settling into Aurora’s reading chair, I mindlessly flip through a book, unable to concentrate on a single word. Internally, I’m struggling to navigate my new reality.
As old as I am, I should have all the answers.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the Daughters, I’m just as lost as Aurora. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that we must remove the spells cast on Aurora and Louie. Which means I have to do something I hate: ask for help.
As if asking Thane for help with the cellphone wasn’t enough. Now I need to grovel at the feet of a fucking wrakh.
A frustrated sound rumbles up from my chest as I twist my head side to side, then roll my shoulders, trying to work loose the relentless tension coiled beneath my skin.
When I open my eyes, I find Louie sitting directly in front of me. A snarl twists her face, but from the years I’ve spent shifting into a dog, I recognize the look of pure disdain.
Normally I’d bait her for fun, just to watch the sparks fly—but not today.
We both know I’d win.
And Louie? She’s not my enemy.
“You look like you want to say something, Louie. Out with it.”
What could she possibly have to say to me? If the hellhound thinks she’s going to convince me to fuck off, she’s in for a big surprise.
Apparently, I’m here to stay.
“You … she … ugh, she’s an innocent, ya know? Yeah, she’s had boyfriends before, but they were pathetic and gone in a matter of days. It’s always been me and her. But you? You’re different. Fuck, even I can feel the pull between you two.
“I know it’s only a matter of time until you take her virginity and she gains her power, but you need to prepare her for what comes next.
She’ll have to master magic she barely understands while navigating a world that doesn’t care if she’s ready.
Some of them will protect her. Some will try to use her.
Christ, the woman can’t even get to work on time.
“And yeah … I’m scared. Not of her being powerful, but of what it might do to her. What if this changes her? What if she’s not my Aurora anymore?”
A minuscule part of me almost feels bad for the little hellhound. She’s been Aurora’s loyal protector for almost three decades and, until recently, didn’t even realize what she truly was.
Louie doesn’t like me or trust me.
And for good reason.
But if she thinks I’m going to walk away because Aurora is innocent and kind and everything good in this putrid, rotting world, then she’s sorely mistaken.
Running a hand through my hair, I choose my next words carefully.
“I suppose I understand your concerns. Aurora is your world, and I respect what you’ve done for her all these years. But she’s my world now, too.
“We must find some sort of peaceful compromise because, although I find it difficult to think straight when I’m around her, our focus now should be on protecting her from the Disciples.”
Louie glares at me, curling her lips to reveal her mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
Christ, that was the nicest I’ve ever been to anyone, so fuck you too, hell-mutt.
“Ezra, mate, I say this with my whole heart and soul—you’re a fucking whore. A charismatic, attentive whore, but a whore, nonetheless.
“Aurora doesn’t stand a chance against your …
charms. You’re a goddamn predator, Ezra.
You’ll tell her everything she wants to hear until you get what you want.
I know she’ll eventually claim her power.
I just want it to be her decision, not the decision of an ancient twat who spent most of his life fucking anything with a hole. ”
Louie is much smarter than she looks, although her assessment is just a smidge off.
“You’re not wrong, Lou, about me fucking anything with a hole, but that got dull. So dull, in fact, that it’s been three hundred years since my last sexual encounter. Aurora woke something deep within me. Something I can’t ignore, even when I try.
“I hate how I feel when I think about her because it’s antithetical to who I’ve been for billions of years. It’s very confusing. But as I said in the woods, I don’t take anything that isn’t offered and, until she’s ready, Aurora will only get what she asks for.”
The hellhound looks unconvinced.
“What if you get bored? What if you come to think she’s dull and unexciting?
You’ve had billions of years to figure out what you want and who you are.
She’s only been alive for twenty-seven years.
That’s it! The Daughters were never immortal.
But no one’s ever had the balls—or been dumb enough—to break one before.
What happens when you shatter the one thing monsters actually believe in? ”
“Louie,” I say quietly. “There’s nothing to fear. You have to trust Aurora and trust that her power wouldn’t change who she is. That tiny female is so goddamn stubborn, not even the end of the world could shake her.
“And let’s be honest. Up until now, the Daughters were barely more than folklore performing cute little party tricks. A little fire. Some taller plants. Even in the tales the underborne whisper late at night, their magic is sweet but forgettable.
“Aurora’s magic will be the same. She has the opportunity to step into something more, but that’s her choice. And even if she does decide to be a queen to the underborne, that won’t change her power—just her status. And that’s what’s dangerous.
“Do you remember what you told me about Ellie while we waited for Aurora to wake up? She came into her full power and was always kind, protective, and loving. She always had Aurora’s best interests at heart, even when she cast those spells. Yes, it was misguided. But it wasn’t malicious.”
What I don’t tell Louie is that she’s right to be scared.
The truth is that none of us—not even the bitchy little hellhound—have spent any real time with a Daughter.
We’ve heard stories. Seen echoes. But we have no idea what actually happens when one of them steps into their role.
We’d be fools not to feel a little fear. Because she’s not the one in danger.
The ones who underestimate the little hellfire queen?
Well, they’re already doomed.