The Throne of Broken Gods
by Amber V. Nicole
Published by Rose and Star Publishing
Book 2 in The Gods & Monsters Series
"Then, Samkiel, you will know this is how the world ends."
But it was not this world. No, it was mine. It was Dianna. The world quakes in fear as the last shred of Dianna's humanity is ripped from her. As it should. Grief consumes Dianna, burning away any semblance of good within her and threatening the budding relationship between her and Liam. Now, Liam must pull her back from the brink of complete damnation before time runs out.
Genre
Triggers
Torture, Violence, Murder, Grief from loss of close family member
Yikes, this book was heavy.
And torturous.
In a good way, but still. Amber Nicole likes to torture her readers.
The first delightful torture was Dianna's arc in this book. She was out for bloody revenge, and honestly, it was hard to read at times. I understood her feelings. Her rage. Her heartbreak. But it didn't make it easy to read. Especially when it came to Samkiel trying to get to her, the Dianna he knew was still in there. I even had a hard time reading the part when she finds Drake. Amber was able to really hone in on Dianna's emotions, and you felt them along with her.
Whereas Dianna's arc went from one extreme, to the other, Samkiel's arc was consistent. His love for Dianna never, ever wavered. No matter what she did. No matter how much she purposely would hurt him and try to push him away. He never stopped hunting for her, and trying to save her from herself. Dianna helped him come to terms with his past in The Book of Azrael, and now it was his turn.
That was the second torture, though. While we had a few moments leading up to them coming together, it was well into the story before it happened. Amber didn't disappoint though. She knew her readers were salivating for the moment Dianna and Samkiel finally shed their walls and came together. Again. And again. And again.
While I love our main characters, and Dianna and Samkiel are just delicious to read, Amber's side characters are just as entertaining. I'm invested in them all, even the bad guys. Kaden seems to have a backstory that I am interested in reading - although I still think he is terrible. And Camilla, well, her story is interesting as well. How she is brought back into this story after the ending of the first book was not what I was expecting, but I loved her overall arc in this book as well.
In regards to the Hand, they all have their own story arcs that make me excited when one of their chapters comes up. Cam and Xavier dancing around their obvious love for one another. Neverra and Logan, and the family they want to start. My relief that Amber didn't make Imogen a villainous, jealous ex. I didn't really want to read about Dianna and Imogen fighting over Samkiel, and I loved that Amber went in a different direction, and made them friends. I love that Imogen wants real, true love, and Samkiel was not that for her. Then there is Vincent. There is a story there, and I can't wait to learn it.
I even love the odd bond Dianna has formed with Rocurrem, and I definitely think there is much more he will be adding to this story.
While I spent over half of this book in a state of anticipation and torture, it never once bored me. I loved the action. The tension. The romance. And let's be honest, even after Dianna and Samkiel get together in this book, it's a whole new torture wondering what cliffhanger Amber is going to torture us with at the end of the book. No matter what though, I can promise, I am reading the next book right away.
Dianna: “When I burn this world to embers, and you paint me as the villain, remember, I really did try to be good… once.”
Gabby: “Do you plan to do that with my sister?”
I nearly dropped the phone.
Samkiel: “Ms. Martinez, I can assure you that is not my intention,”
I managed to choke out, even if the dream from last night told me otherwise. Gabby said nothing as she chewed, the crunch coming through the phone.
Gabby: “Why? Do you think she’s ugly?”
Samkiel: “Absolutely not.”
Gabby: “Too loud?”
Samkiel: “Never.”
Gabby: “Is she mean to you? She was mean to me when we were little sometimes, but I stole her toys and then her clothes when we got older.”
Samkiel: “She is not mean to me.”
No more so than I deserved, and only when she was mad at me.
Gabby: “Oh, so it’s because you think she’s a monster?”
Samkiel: “I never… Why are you questioning me on my intentions toward your sister so thoroughly?”
She chewed once more.
Gabby: “I’m just checking.”
Samkiel: “You have taken someone from me with your actions—someone very precious to me. And now you have helped a lunatic corrupt her already damaged heart, shattering it into a million pieces. They are pieces I will pick up and fix, but what you have done is unforgivable. I plan to make you suffer for that transgression. Death would be a kindness, and you deserve none.”
Drake: “Dianna is stronger now. Every Otherworld creature felt it when Gabby died. The world shifted, but she is still Dianna. She is still the girl I saved in the desert who cared so much about others that she followed a stranger into a terrible world. She is still the girl who likes flowers and pretty gifts from overbearing god kings. She is sweet, kind, funny, and loves with her entire being. That’s why she is like this. She’s hurt. She’s in pain. If you love her, truly love her, don’t give up. True love is worth it. It’s worth fighting for. Remember that.”
Samkiel: “I never once said that I was good. That is just a fable you all tell yourselves, I suppose. You tell yourselves that I will show mercy. You believe that to be the law and govern the realms, I have to at least be neutral, but sometimes a king has to be a monster.”
Dianna: “It means stop talking to me like we’re suddenly friends again because we are not.”
Samkiel: “Great. I despise that word. I wish to be so much more than friends.”
Heat suffused my entire body as a sudden memory of just how much he hated that word flooded in. He did that every fucking time. He always got in. I spun.
Dianna: “How many times do I have to set you on fire, drop a building on you, or stab you before you leave me alone?”
Samkiel: “After what you just did?”
He didn’t even look phased as he shrugged a single shoulder.
Samkiel: “At this point, I’m starting to think the violence is foreplay for you.”
Dianna: “We both know that’s not what I like.”
Samkiel: “It’s not?”
He stepped closer, encompassing me in his warmth and scent.
Samkiel: “Come home and teach me what you do like.”
Dianna: “I don’t have that anymore.”
My voice dropped, the tears filling my eyes, making the wine bottle in my hand blurry. I picked at the label with my thumbnail and continued, speaking mostly to myself.
Dianna: “The one person who actually loved me, who cared, who would cross oceans and face monsters to save me, is gone. I am truly and utterly alone. That’s what Kaden reminded me of when he showed me Samkiel. He got his family back, and I lost mine.”
His voice was like a whisper in the wind.
Roccurem: “That’s where you are wrong. There is so much you have yet to do and see. You’ve only just begun.”
Xavier: “Leave the mortals alone, Cam.”
Cam: “But they blush so easily.”
Dianna: “You ruin everything,”
Dianna hissed, her lithe form landing in a crouch before me.
Samkiel: “You will have to be more specific, akrai, on what exactly I ruined. Your mood?”
I taunted her.
Samkiel: “Your panties, perhaps?”
Dianna: “How many do I have to kill for you to give up on me?”
There it was, a final split in the armor she built so diligently around herself. Her expression twisted, and I could see that she hadn’t meant to respond, the words slipping out.
Samkiel: “You could make a river of blood run down these streets, and I would still try because I know you, the real you, not this version he created.”
Samkiel: "We can do this dance until this world burns and the next takes its place, but I will still choose you.”
Samkiel: “Do it.”
I angled the tip of her blade above my heart.
Samkiel: “If you are truly gone, I refuse to live in a world without you, so you’ll have to angle it farther to the right. That’s where a god’s heart lies, and mine already belongs to you, so do with it what you will.”
I snorted, rattling the chains above me.
Dianna: “Bondage, huh? I don’t remember seeing this in your memories.”
Samkiel: “You haven’t been through all my memories, akrai, or you’d know of the four-armed beauty of Tunharan. Now that was bondage.”
Samkiel: “You can’t hurt me anymore with words, Dianna. I know the heart that still beats beneath your breast. I’ve held it. You might as well surrender now because you cannot scare me away. You never could.”
I smiled, and Samkiel’s gaze followed mine.
Samkiel: “I dislike that,”
he remarked, eyeing my grin.
Samkiel: “It means you have some idea I will probably not like.”
Garleglish: “A thousand plus worlds he has seen, yet when he dreams, he dreams of you.”
Rocurrem: “Love is such a dangerous and powerful emotion. The gods curse it, for it has power. Empires have fallen for it, reduced to sand and scriptures. Worlds have burned for it, and they will once more. Love has the power to touch even the untouchable. Use it.”
I blew a strand of hair from my face and snarled up at him.
Dianna: “I will rip your throat out with my teeth if you don’t let me go.”
Samkiel: “I was right the first time I saw you. All teeth, claws, and fury. Definitely a riztoure beast.”
He leaned closer.
Samkiel: “Pure hellcat.”
Samkiel: “I would have followed you anywhere, Dianna. All you had to do was ask. Instead, you used me. You used every single bit of knowledge you had on me to hurt me, my family, and my friends. You threw things I confided to you back at me without a moment’s thought. I have been stabbed, tortured, and nearly decapitated. All in service to my home and kingdom. But nothing has hurt me as you have. Nothing.”
Samkiel: “Can you answer one thing for me? Honestly?”
I rolled my eyes.
Dianna: “We’re playing this game again?”
Samkiel didn’t say anything. He just stood there, watching me and waiting.
Dianna: “Fine. What?”
I grumbled. I knew I sounded petulant, and I didn’t care. He was leaving me.
Samkiel: “You weren’t planning to come back to me at all, were you?”
I heard the pain in his voice, and a part of me ached, but I knew it had been the only choice. He deserved so much better.
Dianna: “No.”
He nodded and turned away.
Dianna: “You would have been happy,”
I said to his retreating back.
Dianna: “If you would have just let me go and kept your warriors out of my way. This would have been over, and you could have made this damned castle for your rightful queen.”
Samkiel glanced at me over his shoulder, a small glow of silver dancing behind his storm-filled eyes.
Samkiel: “You’re a fool if you think I would be happy in a world where you did not exist.”
Dianna: “And what outcome would that be, oh annoying one?”
Samkiel: “I told you before I would show you eight ways to make you forget that hideous friend word. Tease me again, and I shall show you twelve, and after your little display, we’ll start in the bathroom,”
Dianna: “Walk in front of me,”
I snapped.
Dianna: “I don’t want you staring at my ass.”
He grinned that devastating grin I loathed and leaned down to whisper in my ear as he passed,
Samkiel: “I don’t need to stare. I have it memorized. Now if you wanted to let me see it bare again—”
My brows furrowed, my lip curling.
Dianna: “Of course, fate is a nosy bitch.”
Roccurem: “I see all.”
Dianna: “Creeper.”
Xavier: “May I carry you, my lady?”
Dianna: “My lady?”
I snorted.
Cam: “Remember, she wants us to think she's a cold, emotionless monster, Xavi? Play along,”
Cameron said, and I cut him a glare. Cameron's smile only grew a fraction wider.
Samkiel: “It was not anger that I felt. It was fear.”
Dianna: “Fear?”
Samkiel: “Yes, fear because when I learned of where you were and what was happening, I realized there is no limit to what I am willing to do for you. The old gods spoke of how powerful we all are and how our emotions can override the critical part of our brains. We trained religiously to ensure the realms, the people, come before all else. We cannot be selfish, but I fear that with you, it is not something I can control. When Vincent told me what was happening, I knew I would rip Onuna to pieces for you. If Kaden had taken you, I would turn mountains to sand to find you. I’ve reduced worlds to desolate wastes before, and I’d do it again for you.”
Logan: “Hey, Neverra has told me she hates me before, but it was for a very different reason. It is a position you will likely experience soon enough.”
Samkiel: “When has she….”
My words trailed off when I caught sight of his grin. It was far too wide to be anything but a double entendre, and his meaning slowly registered.
Samkiel: “You are about to be forbidden from spending time with Cameron. Actually, I am forbidding him from spending time with anyone. That should be enough punishment. It might actually kill him.”
Dianna: “Let go of me,”
I hissed.
Samkiel: “Are you going to throw another pillow at me?”
Dianna: “Yes.”
He tipped his head to the side, staring at me, his eyes filled with warmth.
Dianna: “Fine. No.”
As soon as he released me, I bent and grabbed the pillow, smacking him in the shoulder this time.
Samkiel: “Your smile, Dianna, is only one of the most beautiful things about you.”
Beautiful. It was such a stupid word and one I had heard plenty of times before. Yet he said it, and I damn near melted. I cleared my throat, but my voice still sounded husky.
Dianna: “Do you always flirt with homicidal killers?”
His smile was bright, making him impossibly more gorgeous, and a part of me ached.
Samkiel: “Only the really pretty ones.”
Samkiel: “No one comes here. It’s yours if you wish it.”
Dianna: “A whole beach?”
I shook my head.
Dianna: “You’d give me a whole beach?”
Samkiel: “The world, if you wish.”
Dianna: “I never got to say goodbye. I think that’s what hurts the most. But at least she told me, right?”
Samkiel: “I think she knows. If there is any way for her to watch over you, I have no doubt she is doing so. Gabriella was a fighter just like you, strong, resilient, and stubborn. Even with the realms sealed, she’d find a way.”
My eyes filled with tears.
Dianna: “She would.”
Samkiel: “I also think that sometimes two people can love each other so very much that not even death can separate them.”
Samkiel: “I haven’t been up that long. I didn’t want to wake you.”
I chose a piece of the toasted grains and said,
Dianna: “Too bad. You should have stayed. I would have woken you up. I was feeling generous.”
He choked on his drink, his face turning red as he coughed.
Dianna: “I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be around me either,”
I muttered, curling a long strand of my hair around my finger. A star caught my eye, twinkling as if in answer. It shone so far away, yet it was one of the brightest.
Dianna: “What? Are you judging me? You’re just a ball of gas. What do you know?”
It flashed twice, and I reared back, dropping my legs.
Dianna: “Can you hear me?”
One wink. I tossed my hands up.
Dianna: “That’s it. I’ve gone insane. Now I’m talking to stars.”
My head slammed to the table, and I lay there face down.
Samkiel: “What if you’re wrong, and I am just seeing what I want to see? What if it isn’t real, Logan?”
I mumbled against the table. Logan’s laugh only made my nerves more erratic.
Logan: “They wrote war songs about you. Men and beasts alike would piss themselves if you stepped on a battlefield, and now the great and fearsome World Ender is afraid of a date.”
Samkiel: “I am not fond of you right now,”
Dianna: “You’re cute when you’re homicidal.”
He made a noise low in his throat.
Samkiel: “Do not be mean, then flirt with me.”
Dianna: “Why? It’s our whole dynamic.”
Samkiel: “I need you to understand what you’re doing. What you are asking for. I know what I said before about you using me, but I lied. The second I touch you, once I take you completely, there will be no other. I will not share you. There will be no other lovers. I am not Kaden. I will demand you and only you. Do you understand? You mean too much to me. If we do this, you are mine, and I will not share you.”
Samkiel: “I could come a thousand times over listening to you beg and those naughty little sounds you make.”
My breath hitched, and I parted my thighs wide, cradling him as he settled atop me.
Samkiel: “And I plan to.”
The thick length of his cock settled against my swollen sex, and I couldn’t hold back my whimper. I writhed against him, rocking my hips.
Dianna: “I don’t think I can come anymore, Sami.”
He smiled, kissing my cheek, the tip of my nose, and then my lips.
Samkiel: “Yes, you can. I’ll show you.”
Dianna: “Arrogant ass.”
Samkiel: “I used to dream of what my destiny would be, my future. Everyone has an amata. It was written before the universe had form.”
He rose above me, his hand cupping my jaw, his thumb running across my cheek.
Samkiel: “You are very special to me. No one feels like you. No one else can ruin me so completely. I know without a doubt that if I had an amata, even if they were alive today, I’d still choose you. It will always be you, Dianna.”
I felt tears prick my eyes.
Dianna: “Destiny be damned?”
Samkiel: “You are better than any destiny.”
Roccurem: “The god king is preoccupied at the moment with matters that must be attended to,”
Roccurem interrupted.
Cam: “What the fuck does that mean? Did he go to Yejedin without us again?”
I asked. Neverra shrugged a little too quickly. Imogen scratched behind her ear and suddenly became interested in the book she’d just closed. Logan avoided everyone’s gazes and slunk further down in his chair.
Cam: “Hey, I saw that! What do you all know?”
I demanded. Logan held up his hands, blowing out a breath.
Logan: “Nothing. He said he was going to Onuna with Dianna yesterday. That’s all I know.”
I slammed my hand on the table for dramatic effect before I pointed at Roccurem.
Cam: “Is he having sex with Dianna?”
Roccurem’s six eyes popped open, all white and opaque, surprised at my bluntness. He recovered quickly and closed all but two.
Roccurem: “He is with your queen, yes.”
Vincent dropped his head into his hands.
Vincent: “Oh, gods.”
I laughed.
Cam: “Please tell me that Vincent’s noise complaint, slash possible murder call from Onuna, was because of them. Please, Roccurem, give me this little speck of joy.”
Vincent: “I hate you,”
Vincent groaned.
Furniture lay overturned, the table on its side, big chunks missing from the edges. Shredded couch cushions and pillows lay strewn about the floor, feathers floating in the air.
Cam: “Think a wild animal attacked and killed them both?”
Logan snickered and pointed up. My gaze followed, and I saw what looked like lacy underwear hanging from one of the chandeliers.
Logan: “If by wild animals you mean Samkiel and Dianna, then yes.”
He took a step forward. The moonlight illuminated him, and I realized Samkiel was stark, fucking naked.
Cam: “Holy gods, dude! Put that weapon of mass destruction away!”
Small bruises lined Samkiel’s neck and shoulders, bite marks marring the heavy muscles of his chest.
Cam: “You’re like her own personal chew toy,”
I said with a laugh.
Samkiel: “Thank you for that, by the way. The clothes and you all keeping the council busy.”
Neverra smiled.
Neverra: “That’s what friends are for, to help their friends get laid.”
Samkiel: “This changes nothing. Nothing, Dianna. She still is and will always be your sister. The same one you grew up with, the same one you experienced life with, the same one you died for, lived for, and fought for. Blood is the least of what makes a family. Trust me.”
Dianna: "Well, I’ll wear a pretty dress tonight to make you feel better.”
He gave me a small smile, a crack in that thick, heavy armor.
Samkiel: “You’re too kind.”
I stepped forward, the lights between us glowing from his power as I whispered,
Dianna: “With nothing on underneath.”
The lights burned brighter, illuminating both of us.
Samkiel: “I’m healed.”
Dianna: “You’re lucky that is all I did after what he said to you.”
I sat up, running my fingers up and down his spine.
Samkiel: “What about what he said about you?”
Dianna: “I’ve been insulted by far scarier men.”
My finger traced a line across his back, the muscles beneath it twitching.
Dianna: “One even called me a worm and said I was beneath him, although he stays beneath me more often than not now.”
Samkiel: “There, now it shall never come off.”
I beamed and reached out to touch the pendant reverently, relief and that warm emotion burning away the rise of insecurity.
Samkiel: “Well, unless I am decapitated, I suppose.”
I smacked him on the chest.
Dianna: “Samkiel! Oh my gods, why would you say that?”
He rubbed the spot on his chest as if wounded, but he beamed at me.
Samkiel: “I am merely stating.”
Dianna: “What Samkiel and I have is different. It’s messy and painful at times, but it’s real. He would never hurt me, no matter what I said or did. He would never hurt the people I love or use them against me. Samkiel’s kind, he’s good, and he cares. He cares about me and accepts every part of me—the good, the bad, and the ugly. He has seen it all and stayed. You broke me completely, Kaden. Every chance you got, you broke me. Samkiel healed me.”
I didn’t cower beneath his angry stare.
Dianna: “That’s. Love.”
Dianna: “Will I ever see you again?”
Gabby: “I never left you.”
A small smile played on her lips.
Gabby: “I am always with you, and I always will be. You’re my sister. Our bond is stronger than blood or any stupid paper that says otherwise. Remember, I love you.”
Her hand slipped from mine as she stepped back.
Gabby: “And hey, if you are going to be a monster, at least be a damn good one.”
A sharp roar blasted through the air, followed by a snap and a crunch. Nismera paused, and we all looked toward the doorway. The reptilian general’s large, sharp-toothed head rolled by. It came to a stop, its tongue lolling and the whites of its eyes showing.
Dianna: “Gross, I will never get this out from under my nails.”
A jolt went through me, my battered and bruised heart struggling to pound in my chest. Dianna. I almost wept. But no, she couldn’t be here. Not with them. Nismera’s lip curled in a snarl as she looked at her dead general and back.
Dianna: “Oh, I’m sorry. Was that yours?”
Nismera: “Oh, what a naïve half-wit you are. Do you really think you frighten me, child?”
Dianna didn’t flinch. She smiled and took a step to the side. Nismera and the others followed her every move, taking a step away from me.
Dianna: “That’s it? That’s your line? You know, I have seen you in his nightmares and heard stories about the powerful Nismera. Come on. I’ll give you another try. Tell me you’re going to rip my skin from my bones or something.”
Samkiel: “You are my whole world.”
He looked up at me, and my heart shattered. His once vibrant gray eyes had darkened as his skin paled.
Samkiel: “I-I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you. Being with you, I finally felt what I wanted and had searched forever for. You woke me up and gave me reason. You made me feel like I was enough. I never felt like the World Ender with you. I never felt less. You are what I’ve been searching for my entire life. You, Dianna, had my heart long before I ever touched yours.”
Dianna: “Sami.”
I couldn’t hold back my tears. My chest heaved, and I tried once more to close his wound. He hissed in pain and grabbed my hand, stopping me.
Samkiel: “I wish I had never left when my world fell. Maybe I would have heard you. Maybe it would have been me to find you and Gabby. I would have loved you then, too.”
Dianna: “If Roccurem is wrong, and I am truly out of time, if this doesn’t work, I want you to know that I am nothing like your father, Samkiel. I refuse to live without you. There will be no peace in this realm or the next. I will burn this universe down to embers for you. I will leave nothing untouched, taking apart anyone that’s ever hurt you piece by piece. So when you hear the screams from however far away you are from me. When you feel the very stars shake from the rage you aren’t here to pull me back from, when you hear them beg and plead for mercy, I need you to remember that it’s because you and your stupid, annoying persevering ways got to me. I want you to remember that you got under my skin when I hated you. I want you to remember that you made me happy and made me feel when no one else could. I want you to remember that you saved me in every way possible and never once gave up on me. So when the very fabric of the universe burns, I want you to remember that I love you.”
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