Previously On . . .

Previously on—

No, I’m kidding. Logan showed me this show one time where they do funny recaps, and yeah . . . anyway.

You know those times when you’re relaxing after a long day? You put your feet up, thinking life can’t get any better? No? Yeah, well, me either. I thought I’d experienced the worst thing that could happen the day Rashearim fell. The world I knew crumbled, and my family was torn apart. I thought, it can’t get worse, right? Xavier would have slapped me if I’d said that aloud, but man, did I think it.

Samkiel, our king and loyal . . . You know what? I can’t even say loyal because that bastard left us for . . . I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyway. You think you know a guy, right? We’d partied together, fought side by side, and even fucked in the same room. Don’t make that face. It is necessary to blow off some steam after battle, and we had fought together in several fucking wars. When you get so desperate for a release that you no longer care your friend is across the tent, then we’ll talk.

Anyway, we’d spent hundreds of years with Samkiel before Rashearim fell. After that, he changed, but I’d be a liar if I said it hadn’t started long before. It had all begun with the change in Unir. Honestly, I should have paid closer attention. To everyone.

Samkiel deserted us after the destruction of Rashearim. He left us instructions on maintaining the rest of the worlds and then disappeared for centuries. Then the fucker shows back up with a super hot—and I mean quite literally will-burn-your-face-off—girlfriend.

Everything changed with Dianna, and I mean everything. She didn’t just scorch a path of destruction across the world to avenge her fallen sister, but she burned so damn bright she revealed secrets buried within our family and ourselves.

Xavier, Imogen, and I were stationed on the remains of Rashearim, completely unaware that Samkiel had not only come back but was working with our archnemesis, the Ig’Morruthen—see hot girlfriend above. Apparently, they were searching for a relic. But all of it went to shit, and Dianna lost the one person she loved. Then, she tried to kill us all in her devastation and grief. It was no joke. I quite literally held my own guts in my hands.

Samkiel, always the hero, was able to break through that crazy shell of hers. He even remade his home and hid her, keeping her safe from the council. Those shady bitches wanted her head. Sure, maybe I was sleeping with one of them as a distraction from what I was feeling for my best friend, but everyone has problems, right? Anyway, let me get back on topic.

Dianna, as fierce and loving as she is—don’t tell her I said that—was not the worst thing in the world, not by a lot. Apparently, her maker, Kabitch—sorry, my pen slipped—Kaden had a plan far grander than any of us suspected, and none of us knew it wasn’t him at the helm.

I thought I knew pain. The day Xavier told me he was dating someone made me want to claw my eyes out, but when I found out how horribly we had all been betrayed, it was devastating. Faced with the reality that Vincent, a man I considered my damn blood, had been working with Kaden, sent my world spinning again. He lied, manipulated, and turned my family into perfect, uncaring, unfeeling soldiers.

Once more, I thought that was the worst that could happen until Kaden dangled Xavier as bait to lure me in. I offered to come willingly, to give up not just my physical freedom but the freedom of my mind. I would join them as long as we could stay together, but Kaden had other plans. We were all dumb enough to believe we knew all the secrets the gods harbored. But none of us were prepared to face the all-powerful children Unir had hidden away. Locked away for ages, they were finally free and intent on blood and revenge.

Yeah, you heard me right. Papa Unir was not just getting hot and sweaty and making one kid. No, no, he had three. Three hell-bent children set on making Samkiel and all of us pay dearly for his crimes.

Although, technically, the jury is still out on how they were created. I don’t remember Unir sneaking around the palace with different partners like Samkiel. I knew of his amata Zaysn. She was cool and a complete badass who could make Unir cry with a look. I doubt she’d let any affairs fester, but I am getting off topic again. Why do people entrust me with these things?

I know, I know, you’re all really concerned about me. I get it. And, well, I guess you’ll have to wait and see what happens with me. But I can say that everything is different now. Completely different.

I assumed we would always come out on top. It was arrogant of me, yes. We fought for what was good and just in the world. Despite that, we all failed fucking miserably. Not only did we lose, but we lost our home again. I still have nightmares of watching the remains of Rashearim burn, of seeing Samkiel beaten and bound on the floor. Now, his power spills across the sky, the last remnants of him. Nismera reigns over the realms, and we are all trapped beneath her rule now. I thought we had experienced the worst, but I was wrong. So fucking wrong.

I know Dianna is still out there. I know she will want retribution for Samkiel’s death, and a part of me hopes she burns this whole fucking thing to the ground. If I must die a fiery death at her hands . . . I just hope I go with my Xavi.