Part 1 (1/2)

Broken Dove.

Kristen Ashley.

Dedication.

Every girl's gotta have her girl that no matter what time pa.s.ses, No matter the distance, When they are again together, all that fades away.

And every girl's gotta have the girl who gives her peace.

Calm. Contentment.

But likes her fantasy.

That girl for me is Elizabeth ”Bethy” Bullard.

So this book is for her.

Prologue.

Not His Plans.

Apollo Ulfr saw the dancing lights against his closed eyelids before he felt the presence in the room.

He rolled out of the bed, grabbing the knife from underneath his pillow as he did so. Crouching by the bed, scanning the room even as his eyes became accustomed to the dark, suddenly he felt it and knew it was her.

The witch.

Valentine Rousseau.

Annoyed, seeing as it was the dead of night, he was naked, had not long before sent the Beniessienne wh.o.r.e to her own bed and he'd already told the witch his plans (and these were not the plans he'd shared with her, hence the wh.o.r.e who had left), and last, he was in Fleuridia to collect his children from boarding school so he could put them in a safe place before darkness settled on the land, he straightened, doing so speaking.

”Witch, I told you the time and place you were to bring her to me and this is not-”

She interrupted him, her voice, as usual, wry but there was an underlying urgency to it that made his skin p.r.i.c.kle.

”If you want to meet the Ilsa of my world, I suggest you change your plans.”

Through the dark, Apollo narrowed his eyes on her slim shadow.

”And this means...?” he prompted when she said no more.

”This means, the Apollo of my world has found her.”

When last they spoke, she'd explained what that meant.

The Apollo Ulfr of the other world, his twin, was not a good man.

And he'd harmed Ilsa. Because of this, she was evading him.

Now his twin had found her.

G.o.ds d.a.m.n it. He'd waited b.l.o.o.d.y years to have his wife back. He wasn't going to let the other b.l.o.o.d.y him in a parallel universe take her away.

Without delay, Apollo bent to collect his clothes from the floor, commanding, ”You'll take me to her.”

”Is that a question?” she asked in reply.

Yanking up his breeches, he cut his gaze to her shadow. ”No, it's b.l.o.o.d.y not.”

Thankfully, the maddening witch, who could be sly and perverse, instantly lifted her elegant hands with her long, slim fingers tipped in scarlet-painted nails and he saw the green mist start to light the room.

”Bring your weapons,” she warned.

b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l.

Ilsa.

”Of course,” he murmured, having yanked on his s.h.i.+rt, he pulled on his boots and moved quickly to the chair where he'd thrown his cape and saber.

”All of them, Apollo,” she went on.

b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l.

He didn't respond.

He swung his cape around, quickly buckling it on its slant across his chest. He did the same with the scabbard that held his saber. He donned his knife belt, shoved his blade into the sheath and moved to the wardrobe. Bending low, he pulled the knives out of the box at the bottom and shoved them in his boots, one on each side.

The green mist had encompa.s.sed the room and he and the witch were both fading by the time he moved to her.

Although he didn't fall, he felt the ground give way beneath his feet and all faded to black.

When he felt solid beneath him again and their environs came into sharp focus, at what Apollo saw, his blood coursed scalding through his veins, he opened his mouth, and he roared.

Chapter One.

Tenderness and Pain.

Five minutes earlier....

I ran up the steps as fast as I could, one of my hands carrying my keys (always ready, always), the other hand in my purse, digging into the side pocket where I kept my phone.