Queen of Wrath (Queen of Vengeance Trilogy #2)

1. Lea

1

LEA

T he overwhelming rage I felt was truly uncontrollable.

It was a ruthless, indiscriminate thing—this fiery maelstrom turning my blood to acid—burning wildly as I tried to rein it in.

I was about to explode out into the world, prepared to consume whatever came in my way. Foe. Friend. Innocent bystanders. All were at risk. I couldn’t be sure of much, but I was certain there would be no stopping this predatory madness once it had broken free.

Was that truly the person I had become? A destroyer?

A shaky breath left my lips as I slowly opened my eyes.

I found that not only was I burning up from the inside, but I was also surrounded by a giant raging blaze strong enough to consume an entire city in one night, which was exactly what it was busy doing right in front of my eyes.

The once vibrant and beautiful city of Theskin erupted into chaos as I stood in the middle of one of its main cobblestone streets. The grand white Vermil buildings before me were now a monochromatic scene painted in hues of orange and black.

My skin prickled as the oppressive heat radiated toward me, the air thick with acrid smoke, filling and stinging my lungs with every breath. But through all of it, the scent of burning wood, metal, and flesh still assaulted my senses with a vengeance.

Even as my stomach churned, and bile welled up in my throat, I couldn’t make my body move. Paralyzed, I was forced to watch as the flames’ murderous roars filled the night, interspersed with the cataclysmic booms of structures collapsing and the wails of anguish and despair—a symphony of devastation curdling into my very soul.

Then the monstrous inferno spread through the rest of the city like a charging tsunami—remorseless and unstoppable—engulfing everything in seemingly one final decimating barrage.

But even as everything fell to absolute ruin around me, I was trying to remember something…something important.

I couldn’t recall when this catastrophe had started, or even how I’d come to stand here to witness it, but somehow I knew…

All of this was my doing.

Then it hit me. I had wanted this for as long as I could remember.

Finally , this city was made to reap what it’d long been sowing.

And Jax. Knowing that everything he’d built and acquired, through betrayal and larceny, was being burned to the ground as well… It should have brought me to fits of laughter after everything he had done to me.

Why did I still feel so empty then?

Wasn’t I getting what I had wanted for almost two whole decades, after all?

A sickening, swirling sensation pooled into my head, causing me to feel top-heavy and off balance.

What the hell just happened? What’s this feeling?

I dropped to my knees.

My mouth opened, gulping for non-existent air, my jaw almost unhinging.

A sound expelled from deep within my throat.

I thought it was laughter at first, but I was wrong.

The sound that came out of my mouth was a desperate, heaving cry. A cry so intense my entire body ached along with it.

My shaking arms cradled my body as I leaned forward.

Saliva dripped out of my open mouth onto the soot-covered cobblestone street.

What have I done?

As if someone had taken hold of the volume dial to the city, and ruthlessly continued to turn it, the sounds of crumbling buildings and people screaming in agony and despair became louder and louder.

My hands flew up to cover my ears, desperate to drown out the horror of what I’d done.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry !”

M y eyes flew open, blinded by the morning light immediately after.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, sweat running down my face in torrents.

I flung myself out of bed in a fright, gasping for air. I was alone in my room.

Again? Why do I keep having the same dream?

I lowered my head into my hands in an attempt to calm myself, but the sickening feeling did not leave my body. Instead, I threw the sheets off of me and knelt next to the shrine I’d placed in the corner of my room to honor the Lunair Goddess, Lunaira, and my family members who were up there with her now.

My mother always used to tell me that no matter where I was, Lunaira would always hear me.

I hoped that was true. For I’d been praying to her more than ever before, pleading that she would help me keep my sanity.

I shifted my weight as the cold, hard wood of the floor bit into my knees. “Lunaira, please guide me. The path ahead of me is treacherous and unclear. One step wrong—if I’m caught—it would all be over… My one chance, the one I’ve been waiting for, would be lost forever… But mostly, I’m afraid of who I have become…and what I’ve lost to become her.”

After a moment of silence, my hands hesitantly fell away from each other. I lowered myself back until I lay flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

Something about the gold stars painted on the white surface above seemed to calm me, probably because they reminded me that I was no longer in that prison cell.

Although it had been several months, I still found it hard to believe. I never thought I’d escape that dreadful place one day.

I rolled over onto my side and let out a deep sigh.

I may have escaped, but can I ever outrun what that place did to me?

When it got too quiet sometimes, especially at night, I could still hear the screaming, sobbing, and moaning of the other prisoners. That was why I couldn’t sleep without a light on anymore, burning through candles at an alarming rate, just so the darkness wouldn’t swallow me back into that cold, unforgiving place.

I thought I’d be past it by now…

I curled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Even sitting on the floor like this felt more like home than the bed had earlier.

What about all those stories we were told when we were younger? Tales about the unbreakable spirit of the werewolf…

There was a light knock on the door, followed by a soft voice I recognized as Rowan’s. “Emma, are you up yet?”

I was still getting used to people calling me Emma all the time now. I knew she was only doing it to help me get used to it, but I wished she would use my real name when it was just us. The longer I pretended to be Emma, the more I forgot Lea. But Emma was actually the one who fanned my rage and fueled my path to revenge, the one who made all of this possible.

To get what I wanted, I was willing to let Emma push Lea aside completely—even throw her off a cliff if that was what it took.

I snapped myself out of my mind enough to answer Rowan.

“Come in,” I called out unconvincingly, not in the mood to get up just yet, so I just raised myself enough to sit cross-legged on the floor.

I was barely finished speaking when she burst into my room. “I thought we could do some shopping around the city. You know? Build your own wardrobe. We can keep borrowing things from Akil Wiley for only so long.” She stated his name with derision. “If I have to hear him complain that you nicked or stained one of his robes again, I'm going to fling myself off the highest point in Theskin… Thank goodness Emma is only a temporary arrangement.”

My eyes snapped up, my heart in my throat. “Temporary?”

Rowan looked at me confused for a moment, then smiled, “Well, of course. Once this mission is over you can have your life back.”

The thought churned my stomach. “What life?” It wasn’t like I had anything to go back to. “There won’t be anything left for me once Emma is done exacting Lea’s vengeance.”

Rowan frowned and lowered herself to my level, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Now you listen to me. You can’t let this be the only thing you’re living for. There is much more to life beyond revenge, even if you can’t see it right now. Despite everything you went through, your heart is still kind, and no one can ever take that away from you.”

Agent Rowan Lexie was the one I saw the most out of everyone. She would often come over to check up on me, and, of course, to make sure the mission was still going as planned.

But I also knew to some level that she cared about me.

She was a good person and a good agent… She also gave me a lot to think about.

I turned my head from her without a word, letting her know I was done talking about this.

“Back to the task at hand.” Rowan swiftly changed the subject as she walked over to my bed to sit down on. “Have you heard? They arrested a dozen more people yesterday on illegal potion charges. Apparently, the use of Etern Moss is forbidden now, too. It’s like they want every Potionist to end up in prison.”

This wasn’t anything new. The rules kept fluctuating for some reason, more than they ever had in the past, and people were being arrested before they even knew they’d done anything wrong.

One day a potion mix was legal and completely acceptable, whereas the next you’d get thrown into Ryklira for having anything to do with it.

A nervous shudder ran down my spine just thinking of going back to that place.

But, as one of Jax’s “most qualified” employees now, this was the sort of thing I was expected to stay up to date on.

“Okay.” I picked myself up from the floor and padded over to the window. I pushed the curtain aside with flare, as if I couldn’t wait to let the whole room be flooded with iridescent morning light.

From the second-floor window of my room, I could see how the streets were already bustling.

Children laughed and played, while merchants tried to draw people’s attention to their wares and produce.

They weren't anything like the merchants back in Dask. These were distinguished people who dressed in finery, and only sold to those they wanted to represent their brand.

This place still seems so foreign to me… And I suppose it always will.

I found myself longing for my poor little village. It had none of the opulence and convenience this city offered, but it had always been home to me. Now, I couldn’t even say that anymore.

Just before I turned away from the window to get dressed, I noticed a man in a long burgundy cloak swiftly moving through the crowd below.

He walked with a purpose and didn't greet anyone as he went by. Other than that, his clothing appeared somewhat older and largely out of style—not to mention, his cloak appeared as if it had been burnt on the ends. At first, I thought it was mud, but the frayed edges told another story.

Strange.

Theskin wasn’t exactly the kind of city that often had unkempt-looking people traversing its streets.

Then his sharp gaze darted up to me for a moment, as if he could sense my thoughts.

My breath hitched in my throat as I stood there watching him.

His deep brown eyes undressed me, smirking as he dropped his head once more and disappeared from view.

Don’t I know him?