In a broken world, thousands of years into the future, the cursed rule as gods and a war between empires rage with underlying secrets and mysteries that might change everything.
In a broken world, thousands of years into the future, the cursed rule as gods and a war between empires rage with underlying secrets and mysteries that might change everything.
He stood observing the men before him, enduring the harsh harmattan breeze that sucked all moisture from his skin. He saw some of them show signs of their displeasure and he frowned, staring them down with his orange eyes, tightening his fists. They were Tije. The Royal army that was made up only of the king's sons. They were his brothers, so to speak but they were not a part of the princes. They did not have the curse about them.
He had a thousand and eighty six brothers of which he was the five hundred and fifty fourth. But he ranked far above them because he was a Viner. His father was the emperor of the dried lands, a place that had been known as Nigeria before the great eruption, five thousand years ago. An event that obliterated the lands beyond the seas and birthed the first of the cursed. His father had tried to bear cursed sons and even after countless tries over five thousand years, he had birthed only four who possessed one out of the three curses. He had gathered the rest of his sons and turned them into Tije; a battalion of highly trained, mutated men that possessed heightened senses, increased strength, speed and agility. He had given them armor and swords made of sandsteel but they were expendable to him as he prized only his cursed sons.
The young man observed the pink sun and a shadow of a smile flew across his lips. A new year was coming. His twentieth year of existence. The year it was promised that he would go to battle, the year he got to choose a wife, not that there was any urgency to it. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and focusing on the task at hand. He frowned, wondering where Elek was. The man always seemed to enjoy keeping people waiting.
He had barely run through the thought when the sands swirled beside him and he rolled his eyes, watching Elek slowly come up from within the ground. Elek smiled at him; a calm cold thing that made the deepest of scowls seem flowery. He ran his hand through his thick, black, braided hair, totally free from dust and sand despite where he had come from, advantages of him being a Sander. He turned towards the men, his broad, powerful chest expanding to impossible breadths with every breath and he clenched his fists in obvious irritation, making the muscles of his arm writhe under his tattooed skin. Elek was the first son of the emperor and commander of the entire black army. He had fought alongside the emperor during the sand wars, three thousand years after the great eruption and he was instrumental in the victory against the formless priests and the whip masquerades.
"Where are our brothers, Idem?" He asked, gritting his teeth in a deeply irritating way that made Idem struggle awhile with his temper.
"I have not seen them in a few days. I thought you would know." Idem said and spat into the dust. Elek observed him quietly for awhile then shrugged, turning to the men. Both of them waited patiently. It was time for the duel of princes. It was held once every fifty days, a rule made by the emperor himself and it was observed by the emperor and the Tije.
" They had better come here before he arrives" Elek said, scowling and Idem bit his tongue, reining in his nervousness. The emperor would not tolerate this disrespect and they would all endure the punishment that came with it. All of them except Elek. There was a respect the emperor gave him that was given to no one else. Idem looked at the sky and saw it darkening. He suddenly felt a sudden, inexplicable fear hit him like a fist. He turned to Elek who had a deep frown on his face. He felt it too. The utter dread that hit any man whenever the emperor was close.
Idem grimaced as a darkness covered his vision for a time and a weakness enveloped him but he stood perfectly still, his head raised in defiance. The men stood shaking but none of them cried out. They would be killed if they did. Weakness was not tolerated among the Tije.
The darkness left Idem's sight and he saw, seated on a skillfully carved ivory throne, the emperor. He wore black silk trousers, his massively muscled body unclad, covered with tattoos. His beard was braided and bits of cowries were intertwined in them. He had fierce, almost glowing red eyes and his face was calm and unmarked. He was sorrounded by cursed guards. It was rare for a commoner to be born cursed but the emperor went to great lengths to gather them and transformed them into his guards though he could not extend their lives as he could with his cursed sons.
The roasted lamb was cold, a reflection of her marriage. On their third anniversary, Evelyn Vance waited alone in her Manhattan penthouse. Then her phone buzzed: Alexander, her husband, had been spotted leaving the hospital, holding his childhood sweetheart Scarlett Sharp's hand. Alexander arrived hours later, dismissing Evelyn's quiet complaint with a cold reminder: she was Mrs. Vance, not a victim. Her mother's demands reinforced this role, making Evelyn, a brilliant mind, feel like a ghost. A dangerous indifference replaced betrayal. The debt was paid; now, it was her turn. She drafted a divorce settlement, waiving everything. As Alexander's tender voice drifted from his study, speaking to Scarlett, Evelyn placed her wedding ring on his pillow, moved to the guest suite, and locked the door. The dull wife was gone; the Oracle was back.
My stepmother sold me like a piece of inventory to a man known for breaking people just to plug the financial crater my father left behind. I was delivered to the Morton estate in the middle of a freezing storm, stripped of my phone, and told that if I didn't make myself useful, my senile grandfather would be evicted from his care facility by noon. The master of the house, Adonis Morton IV, was a monster living in a silent mausoleum, driven to the brink of madness by a sensory condition that turned every sound into a physical assault. When I was forced into his suite to serve him, he didn't see a human being; he saw a source of agony. In a fit of animalistic rage, he pinned me to the wall and nearly strangled me to death just for the sound of a shattering teacup. I only survived by using my grandfather’s secret herbal blends and pressure-point therapy to force his overactive nervous system into a drugged sleep. But saving him was my greatest mistake. Instead of letting me go, Adonis moved me into a guest suite connected to his own bedroom by a hidden door. He didn't just want me as a servant; he needed me as a human white-noise machine to drown out the demons in his head. The nightmare deepened when he took the promissory note that defined my freedom and tore it into confetti. By destroying the debt, he destroyed my exit strategy. He replaced my maid’s uniform with a silver silk dress that clung to my skin but did nothing to hide the dark, ugly bruises his fingers had left on my neck. He branded me as his "primary care associate," a title that was nothing more than a gilded cage. I felt a sickening sense of injustice as he forced me to sign a contract that banned me from contacting other men and required me to sleep wherever he slept. He looked at me with a possessive heat, calling me his "medication" rather than a woman. My family had sold my body, but Adonis Morton was intent on owning my very presence, using my grandfather’s medical bills as a leash to keep me within twenty feet of him at all times. Standing in a neglected greenhouse with mud staining my expensive silk, I realized I was no longer a victim waiting for rescue. If I was going to be his medication, I would learn how to be his cure—or his undoing. I began clearing the weeds with a cold, calculated frenzy, determined to turn this prison into my laboratory. He thinks he has trapped a helpless girl, but I am going to pry open the cracks in his stone walls until his entire world comes crashing down.
Life was a bed of roses for Debra, the daughter of Alpha. That was until she had a one-night stand with Caleb. She was sure he was her mate as determined by Moon Goddess. But this hateful man refused to accept her. Weeks passed before Debra discovered that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy brought shame to her and everyone she loved. Not only was she driven out, but her father was also hunted down by usurpers. Fortunately, she survived with the help of the mysterious Thorn Edge Pack. Five years passed and Debra didn't hear anything from Caleb. One day, their paths crossed again. They were both on the same mission-carrying out secret investigations in the dangerous Roz Town for the safety and posterity of their respective packs. Caleb was still cold toward her. But as time went on, he fell head over heels in love with her. He tried to make up for abandoning her, but Debra wasn't having any of it. She was hell-bent on hiding her daughter from him and also making a clean break. What did the future hold for the two as they journeyed in Roz Town? What kind of secrets would they find? Would Caleb win Debra's heart and get to know his lovely daughter? Find out!
I just got my billionaire husband to sign our divorce papers. He thinks it's another business document. Our marriage was a business transaction. I was his secretary by day, his invisible wife by night. He got a CEO title and a rebellion against his mother; I got the money to save mine. The only rule? Don't fall in love. I broke it. He didn't. So I'm cashing out. Thirty days from now, I'm gone. But now he's noticing me. Touching me. Claiming me. The same man who flaunts his mistresses is suddenly burning down a nightclub because another man insulted me. He says he'll never let me go. But he has no idea I'm already halfway out the door. How far will a billionaire go to keep a wife he never wanted until she tried to leave?
Isabelle's love for Kolton held flawless for fifteen years-until the day she delivered their children and slipped into a coma. He leaned to her ear and whispered, "Don't wake up. You're worthless to me now." The twins later clutched another woman's hand and chirped, "Mommy," splintering Isabelle's heart. She woke, filed for divorce, and disappeared. Only then did Kolton notice her fingerprints on every habit. They met again: she emerged as the lead medical specialist, radiant and unmoved. But at her engagement gala, she leapt into a tycoon's arms. Jealous, he crushed a glass, blood wetting his palm. He believed as soon as he made a move, Isabelle would return to him. After all, she had loved him deeply.
I was finally brought back to the billionaire Vance estate after years in the grimy foster system, but the luxury Lincoln felt more like a funeral procession. My biological family didn't welcome me with open arms; they looked at me like a stain on a silk shirt. They thought I was a "defective" mute with cognitive delays, a spare part to be traded away. Within hours of my arrival, my father decided to sell me to Julian Thorne, a bitter, paralyzed heir, just to secure a corporate merger. My sister Tiffany treated me like trash, whispering for me to "go back to the gutter" before pouring red wine over my dress in front of Manhattan's elite. When a drunk cousin tried to lay hands on me at the engagement gala, my grandmother didn't protect me-she raised her silver-topped cane to strike my face for "embarrassing the family." They called me a sacrificial lamb, laughing as they signed the prenuptial agreement that stripped me of my freedom. They had no idea I was E-11, the underground hacker-artist the world was obsessed with, or that I had already breached their private servers. I found the hidden medical records-blood types A, A, and B-a biological impossibility that proved my "parents" were harboring a scandal that could ruin them. Why bring me back just to discard me again? And why was Julian Thorne, the man supposedly bound to a wheelchair, secretly running miles at dawn on his private estate? Standing in the middle of the ballroom, I didn't plead for mercy. I used a text-to-speech app to broadcast a cold, synthetic threat: "I have the records, Richard. Do you want me to explain genetics to the press, or should we leave quietly?" With the "paralyzed" billionaire as my unexpected accomplice, I walked out of the Vance house and into a much more dangerous game.
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