The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 16: Derrick looked a bit astounded with her unexpectedly calm response. He then cleared his throat.

What life is left for a warrior when there is no more enemy to fight?

…He knelt before her in the posture of a soldier giving honor to their Queen. And she didn’t even know it.

“Harth,” he rasped, “I come empty-handed. I bring no weapon. Because I swear to you, I will never choose to harm you. Never draw your blood—in anger, or in fear. I bring no shield. Because I vow I will never defend myself from your eyes, your hands, your mind. I am yours.”

*****

After a year of peace in Anima, Tarkyn finds himself… lonely. As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard and a lion-shifter, he has met every female in the tribes, but never found his mate. Certain he must have overlooked someone, Tarkyn undertakes a grueling ritual, pleading with the Creator to reveal her. But the ritual presses him to the end of even his formidable strength.

Yet, the Creator heard his cry…

Discovered on the brink of death by his mate, Harth, and nursed back to health, Tarkyn now faces the most difficult battle of his life. Because Harth isn’t just a stranger to the Anima, she is a weapon of the humans who tried to destroy them.

Can the love of a warrior and his enemy bring peace to Anima? Or will they be torn apart forever by war between their peoples?

*****

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STANDALONE STORY: While Tarkyn’s story is a part of the Anima world and fans will be reunited with some of their favorites as side-characters, Tarkyn and Harth are new POV characters and their story is a new plot arc, so their story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books! But please add Falling in Love with the King of Beasts, and Taming the Queen of Beasts to your library to enjoy later!

In a world where any normal human could create elements at will, Aziel Mateo came into life and was left in an orphanage.Humans from this world were granted magic by the universe when they turned fifteen years old. These blessed magic users served under the twelve gods.Aziel Mateo, a kid without visible talent found that he also couldn't do magic as he wasn't blessed by the universe.He decided to train himself in order to fill the gap between magic users and himself. However, he still found himself lacking, as the magic users can become stronger with their magic.Aziel Mateo later got admitted in the Academy but felt like an outsider, always being bullied, and rediculed constantly. Still, he continued his training in the shadows, slowly but surely he rose up to the ranks of the strong students without using magic.When everything seem to finally going his way, he was ambushed during their training camp, and left there to be eaten by a beast.However, this tragic event forever altered the course of his life in a positive way.Aziel Mateo survived that ambush and was brought into a cave where he saw a woman, introducing him the magic chest that was full of magic scrolls. The scrolls that contained forgotten arcane knowledge for magic.The woman revealed herself as a goddess who was betrayed. She helped Aziel become stronger for a cause. She needs his help in getting vangeance, in getting the justice that she deserves.Aziel Mateo obtain the ancient arcane powers, and become stronger that he didn't thought he could attain, not even in his imaginations.