I wasn’t convinced. “That’s a stupid idea.”
“Please, princess. Just a few minutes. You go out there and feel the sunrise. Maybe I’ll feel it too. Bond and all that. I’ll stay in the shade and then we can go a block away to the apartment and I can make passionate love to you for the next seven hours.”
My eyes narrowed. He smirked.
“It’s appealing to you,” he said. “I can tell.”
Goddess damn him.
Then his face lit up. “Look.”
I turned to see the sun scorching the horizon. The sky became a blazing fire of reds and pinks and purples as the orb of brilliant light rose above the sands of the dunes.
My heart caught in my throat.
I rose and stepped from beneath the awning, into the red-orange light of the infant sun. The warmth suffused my skin, bathing me in it.
I’d never much enjoyed the sunlight. For most of my life, I’d avoided it. Just another reminder of how I was different—inferior—to the beings that surrounded me.
Now, that seemed outrageous.
I spread my arms out and closed my eyes, soaking it into my skin.
“It’s something,” I said. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Raihn said softly. “It’s really something.”
But when I glanced over my shoulder back at him, he wasn’t looking at the sun at all.
My chest tightened, overflowing.
“So?” I said. “Do you feel it?”
“I’m not sure.” He held out a hand. “Come here.”
I obeyed, crawling back under the awning. And as soon as I was in arm’s reach, his hands were all over me, his lips on my shoulder, my arms, my throat, my chest.
“Yes,” he murmured. “I think I feel it now.”
I let my eyelids flutter closed. Let myself be surrounded by him, as he kissed the dawn off my skin. My husband. My ally. My lover.
Facing a new day beside me.
And as that golden sun crested the horizon, as a new year broke, as his lips found mine, my answer rose to the surface of my skin like the moon rising in the night sky.
And not a single part of me doubted it as I whispered into his kiss, “I feel it, too.”
THE END
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King! This was a very challenging book to write, mostly because I really wanted to bring Oraya and Raihn’s （main） story to a satisfying and emotional close. I truly hope, from the bottom of my soul, that you loved it just as much as I loved writing it. I connected so deeply with their story, and I hope you did too.
Though the Nightborn Duet, which primarily follows Oraya and Raihn, is now complete, the core Crowns of Nyaxia series is 6 books total. There is a lot to come! Book 3 will take us to the House of Shadow… and you may already be a fan of our next primary FMC, a bright and cheerful magic wielder who’s masking some serious shadows of her own…
Book 3 will be coming in spring/summer 2024!
If you enjoyed this book, I would truly appreciate if you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon or GoodReads. I can’t overstate how important reviews are to authors!
And if you’d like to be the first to know about new releases, new art, new swag, and all kinds of other fun stuff, consider signing up for my newsletter at carissabroadbentbooks.com, hanging out in my Facebook group （Carissa Broadbent’s Lost Hearts）， or joining my Discord server （invite at linktr.ee/carissanasyra!）。
I would love to keep in touch!
READY FOR MORE OF THE CROWNS OF NYAXIA WORLD?
If you enjoyed The Serpent and the Wings of Night and The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King and are looking for more in the Crowns of Nyaxia world, you’re in luck!
Book 3, The Songbird and the Heart of Stone, will be coming in spring/summer 2024.
But, if that sounds so far away, you may want to check out…
-
Slaying the Vampire Conqueror
Coming April 27
A standalone , full-length novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia world.
She was commanded to kill him with a single strike to the heart. She didn’t expect her own to betray her.
Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess–her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street-rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king.
But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust… and kill him.