Luka is like no one I’ve ever met.
The Storm of the Empire, an all-new fated-mates, forced proximity, fantasy
romance from bestselling author Eden Eaves is now available!
I’m a warrior, the most skilled dragon to wield a sword since my mother put her mark on
the Kingdom’s history, but I’m not allowed to take my place without a Ryder.
Yes, I’m a dud. A ryderless dragon. And I’m stuck in this palace, surrounded by dragons
fulfilling their destiny, while I pass the days teaching them the skills to defend the
kingdoms, unable to fulfill mine. I’m letting my entire line of storm dragons down.
Until he turns up.
Luka is like no one I’ve ever met. A breath of fresh air, but I’m not sure I can trust him.
He seems to be on the wrong side of everything. Walking in the shadows and making
secret deals.
But when he discovers dragon’s eggs are being moved in secret, I have no choice but
to throw myself into his clandestine world. I have to trust him to show me the worst parts
of the kingdoms so we can find who’s stealing the eggs.
The trouble with the shadows is, they hide a lot more than we bargained for.
Start reading today!
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Keep reading for a look inside The Storm of the Empire!
I wished for death.
Begged the Goddess Kalilah to grant me peace.
I longed for nothingness.
For the calm of the afterlife.
Anything but the endless torture I endured.
This had been my waking nightmare for months. Or had it been years?
Whenever I woke, death reached for me, but my captors staved it off, treating my burns and forcing medicines and potions down my throat to treat the exposure to the Dragon’s Bane. It wreaked havoc on my body, burning my magic from the inside out.
For days, I pleaded with the fae who cared for me to let me die. They never spoke to me, keeping their faces covered and their identities hidden. I tried to reach my brother, searched for our bond, but I found nothing. He was gone. The Dragon’s Bane had decimated my magic so thoroughly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover it.
Time became meaningless.
I tried again and again to reach Nyx as my body healed, but our bond remained cut off from me.
Slowly, I began to regain movement. My muscles were weak, and it took all my energy to roll over or stumble to the privy on the other side of my cell. At first, I wasn’t conscious for long. The energy required for even small movements was all I could manage. But it became longer with each waking. From a few moments to what felt like an hour, then more.
I studied my surroundings in my waking moments. Four dark walls encapsulated me. A heavy door with an open portion at the top filled with rusted bars was the only source of light and sound which filtered down from somewhere far above this pit of misery.
The scent of dirt filled my senses, but it didn’t smell like the Sea Kingdom. The smell bore rich minerals. Sulfur burned with each inhale. Magic pulsed in the ground and the earth was rich with it. But I couldn’t reach it, not even with it all around me.
Pain was my existence. Everything hurt, from my bones to my soul. I was destroyed in every way. My head pounded constantly, perhaps from the knot at the base of my skull, an injury I couldn’t recall receiving. I could say the same for the many other places my body hurt, too.
My mind fogged periodically and left me unsure if I had slept or blacked out, but when it happened, I dreamed of Nyx being captured and turned like the rest of my flight.
The chilling eyes of my friends once they had become those undead creatures would never leave me. It haunted me every time I closed my eyes. I would wake screaming Nyx’s name and realize I was dreaming, but when I reached out for him, I would remember he was gone, and the longer I remained awake, the better I understood he had to be dead. Otherwise, I would feel him living, even if I was unable to reach him.
I felt nothing.
When we were captured, had he tried to come? Had he faced the undead and lost? Or had the hoards I had witnessed moved on to the capital? Was all lost in the kingdoms? Somehow, I knew I would never live to know the answer.
So, alone in the dark, I grieved. My life had no meaning without Nyx, and locked in this prison, I would slowly go mad from the severing of our bond. So once again, I implored Kalilah to take me to the Shores of Avalon where I would find Nyx and leave this misery behind.
Metal groaned as the lock on the door to my cell turned, and my head spun as I looked up. Why was I being kept when they had turned those who were with me? I couldn’t make sense of it. What use was I to them in this state? I had just been left here to rot.
The old hinges creaked, and I readied myself for whatever was about to happen.
But nothing could have prepared me for the reality I faced.
Octavian stood in the doorway with a sinister smile, and the blood in my veins ran cold.”
For more information about Eden Eaves and their books, visit their website:
https://www.edeneaves.com
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