Page 214 of The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny)

This is your destiny.

This felt right—this unleashing of power, this conquest. As if I were reclaiming something that had always been mine.

I watched as my forces surged forward, following in the behemoth’s wake. The path to the capital lay open, Auremar’s army in disarray. Victory was within my grasp.

But even as I reveled in the triumph, a part of me remained focused on the true objective. Arabella, Thorne, and Sebastian would be in the palace by now, searching for the prisoners. Their success or failure would determine the fate of the ley lines, of the Shadow King’s prison—of the world itself.

I hoped Arabella was faring better than the soldiers facing my behemoth. I hoped she was safe, that Sebastian was proving his worth as an ally. I hoped that when this was over, I would have the chance to tell her everything I’d been holding back.

That despite the darkness within me and the voice that whispered of destruction, I loved her. And that love was the one thing the Shadow King couldn’t claim.

I raised my hand, signaling the advance. My troops surged forward, and I moved with them, shadows forming giant leathery wings behind me.

The Bone Behemoth roared again, a sound of triumph and hunger. I echoed it with a laugh of my own, embracing the darkness that had always been part of me.

Kazimir Blackrose had come to claim his throne.

62 Storm the Palace

(with a Flower Lord)

Arabella

The palace wards hit me like a wall of bricks, stopping us cold before we even reached the manicured gardens.

“Fuck,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead where I’d smacked into the invisible barrier. “That’s new.”

Sebastian winced beside me, shaking out his hand where he’d touched the magical boundary. “Auremar must have upgraded the defenses after your… departure.”

“You mean after I was kidnapped by my now-husband?” I shot him a wry smile. “Seems a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has already been stolen and married to a villain, doesn’t it?”

Thorne, ever the pragmatist, drew a knife and tested the edge of the barrier. The blade sparked violently against the invisible wall, leaving a brief shimmer of golden light in its wake.

“Can you break it, Lady Blackrose?” he asked, his gravelly voice low.

I studied the barrier, feeling the texture of the magic with my senses. It was stronger than I would have expected from Auremar’s mages. The magic had a familiar signature, though, something that tickled at the edges of my memory.

Through our bond, I could feel Kazimir’s battle rage like distant thunder, a storm of power and darkness that both thrilled and terrified me. Triumph surged through the connection, and I knew his attack was going well. I forced my fear for him aside, keeping just enough awareness to monitor his status.

“Lady Blackrose?” Thorne prompted again.

“I’m thinking,” I replied, my eyes tracing the golden shimmer of the ward.

The Palace Garden stretched before us, a riot of color and scent in the morning light. Topiaries shaped like mythical beasts stood sentinel among beds of exotic flowers, their forms casting long shadows across the perfectly manicured lawns. Beyond them rose Sunspire Palace itself, its white stone towers gleaming in the light, windows glittering like jewels.

I’d spent countless hours in these gardens as a child, before my father decided I was better off locked in a tower. The memory of those happier times hit me with unexpected force—running through the maze with Sebastian, hiding from our tutors, watching the pixies that made their homes in the hollow centers of the topiaries.

Sebastian had kissed me under that oak tree, the one with the swing. It had been awkward and sweet and nothing like the consuming fire I felt with Kazimir. But it had been a moment of innocence before everything went to hell.

The palace, the gardens, the memories—they belonged to a different Arabella. A girl who believed in heroes and happy endings, who wanted to believe her father loved her, who didn’t know the taste of blood or the feel of shadow magic curling through her veins.

That girl was gone, burned away by betrayal and darkness and the love of a villain.

I was Lady Arabella Blackrose now. And I’d never felt more in control of my destiny.

“Stand back,” I said, my voice hardening as I stepped forward to face the barrier again.

Sebastian’s eyes widened. “What are you—”