Darkest Heart

Darkest Heart Shadow Kissed Book Three Rebecca L. Garcia The characters in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Copyright © Rebecca L. Garcia 2022 www.rebeccagarciabooks.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publisher. The moral right of the author had been asserted. This was a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and organizations was purely coincidental. CONTENT WARNING: Please note this is a dark fantasy romance intended for readers 18+. Please go to my website to read the complete list of content warnings: www.rebeccagarciabooks.com/contentwarnings PLAYLIST: Nightmares By Elise Say By Ruel Paralyzed By Sueco Where Your Secrets Hide By Klergy Sweet Dreams (Remastered) By Eurythmics My Temptation By Klergy Running Up That Hill By Loveless Middle Of The Night (Violin) By Joel Sunny I Am Not A Woman, I’m A God By Halsey Dark Horse By Katy Perry Slow Motion By Charlotte Lawrence I Don’t Even Care About You By Missio Can’t Help Falling In Love By Tommee Profitt Young God By Halsey Dark In My Imagination By Verona How Villains Are Made By Madalen Duke Vendetta By Unsecret Pacify Her By Melanie Martinez Not Afraid Anymore By Halsey Don’t Fear The Reaper (Reimagined) By Denmark + Winter Kings And Queens And Vagabonds By Ellem I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight By Hidden Citizens Knocking On Heavens Door By Raign I’ll Make You Love Me By Kat Leon Stockholm Syndrome By Arcana What A Wonderful World By 2Wei Don’t Let Me Go By Raign Never Forget By Kendra Dantes Haunted By Adona Slip Away By Unsecret Who Are You By Svrcina Empires By Ruelle Fallout By Unsecret All The Things She Said By Poppy Click here to listen to the entire playlist PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Adormai—Adore-me Algor—Al-gore Aniccipere–Ann-iss-sep-heir Azia-Az-Eye-Ah Baldoria–Bal-door-ee-ah Competo Da Vita Immortalis—Com-pey-to Da Veet-ah Imm-ore-tal-iss Dragoirmer—Drag-er-mare Draven: Dray-ven Erianna–Air-ee-anna Hamza–Ham-zah Jaiunere–Shaun-air Kalon–Kal-on Laveniuess–Lav-en-nwass Niall: Nye-ill Malum Dominor—Mal-oom Dom-ee-nore Ravena–Rav-ee-nah Salenia–Sal-ee-nah Salvius—Sal-vee-us Sangaree–Sang-ah-ree Sanmorte–San-moor-tey Seraphina–Sair-ah-feen-ah Sargon–Sar-gone Stagma—Stag-mah Vitarem—Vye-tear-em ONE Olivia The last streaks of daylight dissolved between the drapes as the darkness swallowed all hope. I lowered my tired eyes to the rotting floorboards. Panicked whispers climbed through them as the mortals caged in the room beneath mine came to the same terrible realization. It had been three days since the aniccipere’s last feeding. Soon, they would wake, and the nightmare would begin. Footsteps pounded through the unintelligible chatter, and the door opened. The creatures made their way inside the rooms beneath my feet, their tongue slathering saliva around their lipless mouths. Immortal hearing was a curse. Every sound from their insatiability reached me. I was helpless, unable to do anything to help the people also trapped here. I struggled against the restraints on my wrists, desperation clawing under my skin as I tried to reach my magic, but it was numbed, kept away by the poison they fed me daily. I’d barely formed a relationship with my magic before it was stripped away again. For most of my life, I couldn’t access it. Then when I was first brought to Sanmorte, they kept a bracelet on me, suppressing my powers. Fate kept intervening whenever I got close to becoming the sorceress I wanted to be. I thought being immortal, and keeping my sorceress abilities, meant I would be more powerful than ever. Yet here I was, naked, soaked in urine, at the mercy of my ex-boyfriend and the soul vampires. My depression came back with a vengeance, sucking the hope out of every fleeting ‘what if’ moment. I glared at the window, almost tasting the freedom laying beyond this place. For the first couple of days of my capture, they held me in a house in Dragoirmer. Then they moved me here. Someone must have gotten close to finding me, or disclosed information about where I was. Whatever it was, the aniccipere felt the need to drag me out of the city in the middle of the night. Now, hidden eight towns over, I was a prisoner in this crooked mansion overlooking a forgotten cemetery. I peered around the room, doing my best to shut out the terror seeping from the people below. An old grandfather clock stood in a nearby next room, ticking the days away. The sound slowly drove me insane. I missed Sebastian, Erianna, and even my mom. Being alone with my thoughts, after the initial hit from the poison wore off, meant a lot of time for reflection. Memories of Sebastian, my friends and Draven kept a part of me alive, but did little to combat the sadness clouding me. Because Draven was gone, too. Killed by my uncle to hurt me. The gaping hole left behind by grief would never heal. I wondered about my husband, if we’d ever find our way back to each other again. Clinging to the memory of Sebastian’s voice, and reassuring words kept the threads of my sanity from snapping. But the more time that passed, the more that hope seemed like a dream. The door creaked open, and Astor emerged from the shadows, flicking on the lamp. The brightness seared through my eyelids as I clamped my eyes shut. “Are you ready to listen yet?” he asked, his tone laced with desperation. I blinked him into sight, my nose scrunching as I glowered at the man I’d once loved. Hatred pushed through the barrier I’d spent years building, which shut out the heavy emotions from others. Being an empath had never felt more dangerous. He rolled his brown eyes, puffing out his cheeks in an inaudible sigh. “How much more of this will it take for you to see sense?” Behind my parched lips, I ground my teeth until they ached.