Wicked Reign

Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 More Books By Harper A. Brooks About the Author Wicked Reign © Copyright 2023 Harper A. Brooks Visit my books at https://harperabrooks.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher/author. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. H.A.B. Publications LLC Cover Design: Claire Holt with Luminescence Covers www.luminescencecovers.com Interior & Formatting: Formatting by Jennifer Laslie Editor: Words of Advice Editing Trigger Warning THIS BOOK CONTAINS: Dark themes Mental illness Instances of non-con/assault Violence Group scenes Death Wicked Reign The darkness is closing in And I’m the only one who can stop it. They say I’m the key. The Chosen One. They say I have the power needed to restore Prince Airic to the throne and save the Dark Castle. If only I knew how to use it. My monsters are helping me learn, but it’s their bodies that I crave the most. They are the spark that always sets me ablaze… and my magic too. I just need to figure out how to harness our bond and tap into the power within. Somehow. But time isn’t on our side. There are enemies everywhere, danger lurking around every shadowed corner, and a bloody war looming on the horizon. Controlling the chaotic magic inside me is the only way to take back the kingdom and free its people from Malachi’s wicked reign. Otherwise, the darkness will devour everything. And this world, along with the monsters I love, will be lost to me forever. Chapter One Airic Reis isn’t dead. That knowledge sits inside, a cool stream of relief, and I just let it be. There are things in this world I can’t talk about, things I both understand and don’t quite grasp, at least, not until they happen. It’s part of being the Shadow Prince. Part of what it will be when I’m King. If. That’s an if. Wels’s gaze is on me as he waits for the water to cool enough to pour into the copper basin in the cave. I just let my gaze shift past his tall form. He’s naked, human again, and Stella’s curled on the rugs, eyes shut, bruises on her flesh from the fucking. They’re good bruises. Ownership. I put thoughts of the prophecies away and deep inside is the understanding this is a reprieve. One we needed. Reis is gone. Not dead. And we’ll get him back. “You’re slipping.” “Are you talking to me, Wels?” I turn my most imperious gaze on Wels. He pours the water into the tub, sweetening it with night honey. The heady scent of the rare flower fills the room and the symbolism isn’t lost; a rare flower for a rare flower. “Slipping. Going into maudlin mode, Airic.” “I’m your prince.” At this point, I don’t even know how true it is. Our kingdom lies is ruin, the rest of our lands being destroyed. And I’m… “Like I give a fuck.” Typical Wels. But at least this time there’s no bite, no sinuous intent. This time… The scent of the sweet, heady and complex blossom’s perfume weaves its own magic, spreading a calm through the room. Stella, my love, stirs and sits up, and she averts her gaze from the nakedness, tries to cover herself. Humans. Endlessly fascinating. Especially Stella, and she always has been, ever since they found each other as children and now…now I have to share her. It’s one of those things I’m both comfortable with and uncomfortable. Comfortable because even with the complexities of my relationship with Wels, there’s no one, along with Reis that I’d rather share her with. And uncomfortable, not because I’m prince of this broken land—although that true—but because she’s been mine since I first knew her. Since that day she hit me, appearing from nowhere, a lonely girl who got me. She’s always been mine. It’s a knowledge that runs in my veins. A piece of me. And fucking Wels is right, I’m being dramatic. “Come on, Princess.” Wels doesn’t wait, he scoops her up and strides to the bath, shooting me a long, low look that’s pure trickster, the man I know well. And he climbs in with her, settling back, pulling her to him. Wels picks up a sponge and starts to wash her, slow sensuous slides over her shoulders, stomach, breasts. My heart constricts. “Airic…” She settles back into him, a small sigh on her lips, her silvery blue hair darkening to the prettiest shade and she looks at me. “Why are you standing there?” “Because he’s sulking.” “Wels.” Her voice is warm, but I can hear the need, the edge of sadness. I join them, the water a heated caress as I step in, the copper bath big, slightly magic as it seems to adjust to the three of us. But it’s there, big, the great knight’s absence, so strong it’s like the negative imprint of him his there. Sliding in, I take the sponge from Wels who smooths his fingers through her hair, along the long curve of her throat. She sighs as I start working her legs,