THE QUEEN'S WRATH

Chapter 8

The Queen's Wrath

The world tilted.

Darkness swallowed me whole, a void so deep it felt like drowning. Cold fingers coiled around my throat—not physical, but something else. Something older.

Magic.

I gasped as the shadows receded, and suddenly—

I was no longer in Damien's chambers.

The room was gone. The walls. The torches.

Only endless black remained.

And her.

Selene.

She stood before me, her beauty more terrifying up close. Everything about her was otherworldly—pristine, perfect, wrong.

"You should not exist," she mused, circling me like a lioness toying with a wounded gazelle. "And yet, here you are. Crawling between my lover's sheets like a common whore."

I clenched my fists, swallowing the fear creeping up my spine. "Damien doesn't belong to you."

Her laughter was musical—mocking. "Oh, darling," she purred, tilting my chin up with one ice-cold finger. "He has belonged to me for centuries."

A slow, poisonous smile spread across her lips. "And I don't share."

A sudden force slammed into me, sending me crashing to my knees. Pain exploded in my skull, magic seeping into my veins like venom.

I couldn't move.

Selene knelt, her fingers tangling in my hair as she leaned close. "You took something that wasn't yours," she whispered. "And now, you'll suffer for it."

The air rippled—

And the pain turned to fire.

A scream tore from my throat. My body arched, every nerve ending shattering as something ancient slithered into my soul. It wasn't just magic—it was a curse.

"Shhh," Selene crooned, her fingers brushing my cheek like a lover's caress. "It will be over soon."

I could barely breathe. "What… what are you doing to me?"

Selene smiled, her eyes glowing. "I'm making sure you never touch him again."

The shadows swirled.

And then—

I was back.

Damien was there.

I gasped, my body collapsing into his arms as my vision spun. His grip was tight—too tight—his storm-gray eyes wild with fury.

"What did she do?" His voice was a snarl, power crackling around us.

I trembled. My skin felt… wrong. A deep, bone-chilling ache coiled inside me, like something was being peeled away.

Selene's voice rang through the chamber. "She will wither, Damien. Fade like a dream."

His grip on me tightened. "Undo it."

Selene only smirked. "Oh, love," she purred, "You know it doesn't work that way."

I barely registered their words. My body burned. Every cell screaming.

Damien's gaze snapped back to me, something desperate and broken flickering in his eyes. His hand cupped my face, his thumb tracing my cheekbone.

"Stay with me."

A sob wrenched from my throat. "I—I can't—"

Panic darkened his features.

Then, in a single, reckless motion, Damien took me.

His lips crushed mine, his hands desperate as he pulled me closer, as if he could keep me from slipping away.

I melted into him.

Because what else was there?

If I was losing him, if I was fading—then I would take everything before the curse ripped me away.

I pressed against him, my hands fisting in his shirt. He growled, yanking the fabric over his head, then ripping what little clothing remained on me.

It wasn't gentle.

It wasn't sweet.

It was desperation.

A frantic, brutal hunger that consumed us both.

Damien lifted me effortlessly, pressing me against the cold stone wall as his mouth devoured me.

My fingers traced every line of his body, memorizing the feel of him, the heat, the way his muscles tensed beneath my touch.

"Mine," he growled, dragging his lips down my throat, his teeth grazing my skin. "You're mine."

But we both knew the truth.

I wasn't.

Not anymore.

The moment he thrust into me, I shattered.

It was too much. The rawness, the way he moved with a savage, aching need—like he was fighting for me.

And God, I fought too.

I moved against him, meeting every thrust, every brutal claim of his hands, his mouth.

It wasn't enough.

I wanted more.

I needed more.

He owned me in that moment.

And I let him.

Again.

And again.

Until the world blurred. Until the pain of the curse was lost beneath pleasure so sharp it was almost unbearable.

Until there was only him.

And then—

The world crashed.

Damien stiffened. His grip on me faltered.

I gasped, my vision fracturing.

The curse snapped into place.

And suddenly—

I couldn't touch him.

*******Damien reached for me—

But his hands passed through me.

I stumbled back, horror clawing up my throat. "No—"

I tried to grab him, tried to feel him—

But there was nothing.

I was nothing.

Selene's laughter echoed.

Damien roared, his power shattering the walls, his fury turning the air to flames. But it didn't matter.

I was already fading.

His eyes locked onto mine, wild with agony. "Don't you dare leave me."

I tried.

God, I tried.

But the shadows swallowed me whole.

And the last thing I heard—

Was Selene's voice.

"Did you really think a human could ever hold him?"

********

Pain.

I woke to pain.

I was somewhere else. Not the castle. Not Damien's chambers. A ruined temple, moonlight spilling through the broken ceiling.

And she was there.

Selene.

Sitting on a throne of black stone, one leg crossed over the other, watching me like I was a particularly amusing puzzle.

"Why—" My voice was raw, broken. "Why are you doing this?"

She tilted her head. "Because you don't belong in this world, little one."

I gritted my teeth. "Damien—"

"Is mine," she finished smoothly. "And always has been."

I swallowed hard. "He'll come for me."

She smiled. "Oh, I hope so."

A pause. Then—

"Tell me, little one."

Selene leaned forward, her dark eyes gleaming.

"Did Damien ever tell you what you are?"

My breath hitched. "What… what do you mean?"

Selene laughed. "Oh, dear."

She stood, gliding toward me, her cold fingers brushing my cheek.

"You felt it, didn't you?" she whispered. "The power beneath your skin. The way your body responded to them both—Lucian and Damien."

My pulse pounded.

"That was never human," she purred.

My stomach twisted. "No."

Selene smiled.

"You are not human, darling."

She leaned closer, her lips at my ear.

"You are something much, much worse."

The world tilted.

My vision shattered.

And then—

Everything went black.