Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams Read online

  Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams

  J A Armitage

  A D Brazeau

  Scarlett Kol

  Kendrai Meeks

  Jesikah Sundin

  Majanka Verstraete

  Mila Young

  Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams is a multi author boxset published by Enchanted Quill Press Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved. Individual books are copyrighted by the individual authors.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by Enchanted Quill Press

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Beauty Sleep by J.A. Armitage

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  About the Author

  Also by J.A. Armitage

  Blood Dream by A.D Brazeau

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Drayce

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Drayce

  Chapter 5

  Roselen

  Chapter 6

  Drayce

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Drayce

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Roselen

  Chapter 12

  Drayce

  Chapter 13

  Roselen

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  Also available…

  Prologue

  Dreamer by Scarlett Kol

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  File 401 by Kendrai Meeks

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About the author

  Æroreh by Jesikah Sundin

  Dedication

  Name

  Quote

  Prologue

  Quote

  1. Æroreh

  2. Félip

  3. Æroreh

  4. Félip

  Quote

  5. Æroreh

  6. Félip

  7. Æroreh

  8. Félip

  9. Æroreh

  10. Félip

  11. Æroreh

  12. Félip

  13. Æroreh

  14. Félip

  Untitled

  15. Æroreh

  16. Félip

  17. Æroreh

  18. Félip

  Quote

  19. Æroreh

  20. Félip

  21. Æroreh

  22. Félip

  Quote

  23. Æroreh

  24. Félip

  25. Æroreh

  26. Félip

  27. Æroreh

  Quote

  Historical Notes

  About the Author

  Princess of Dreams by Majanka Verstraete

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Untitled

  Author Bio

  Sleeping Seduction by Mila Young

  Blurb

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  About Mila Young

  If you enjoyed Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams

  Thorns and Dreams

  Sleeping Beauty, but not how you remember it...

  One kiss.

  That's all. Just one kiss and the curse will be broken.

  But is love's true kiss a myth and will it be strong enough to break the curse that's held her in its grasp for a century?

  The compelling tale of a young princess fated to sleep forever and the prince destined to save her retold in this spellbinding collection by USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors.

  Kingdom of Crowns and Glory

  Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance

  Kingdom of Fairytales

  Beauty Sleep by J.A. Armitage

  Beauty Sleep © 2018 J.A.Armitage

  Example Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Created with Vellum

  Blurb

  Beauty Sleep

  Carabosse has found the man of her dreams. Unfortunately he’s asleep and only true love’s kiss can wake him

  Carabosse has enough on her plate, trying to find her father’s crown that she lost in a poker match with some ogres. The last thing she needs is a prince who
thinks it’s a good idea to cheat against them.

  With the prince’s life on the line and the ogres after her, she does the one thing she knows how to do. She uses her magic to put the prince to sleep. Unfortunately magic isn’t her forte and the spell works a little too well, putting the entire palace to sleep along with the prince

  With true love’s kiss being the only thing to break the spell, she organizes a competition for the ladies of the kingdom to kiss him. The thing is, she saw him first.

  Beauty Sleep is the first in the Sleeping Beauty Reverse Fairytale by USA Bestselling author J.A.Armitage. Take everything you know about fairytales and turn it on its head.

  Chapter 1

  “You drinking or am I gonna have to kick you out?”

  I looked up into the eyes of the sweaty bartender-cum-club owner and put on my sweetest smile.

  “Whiskey, straight up.”

  He leered slightly, showing yellowing teeth that looked like they’d never seen a toothbrush. His already narrow eyes turned into slits as if deciding whether to throw me out or not. Apparently not, as he turned back to the bar to fetch me my drink.

  I’d not been in this particular cesspit of a bar before, but I’d been in plenty like it. Dark, filthy, the end of the line.

  To my right was an old man slumped over his table snoring, his latest pint of beer only half drunk. No doubt the bartender would be moving onto him now that he was no longer a paying customer. It wasn’t the man that held my interest, though. It was the group of men seated around a table in the corner playing poker.

  Poker was the real reason I frequented dumps like this. Personally, I’d prefer to live it up in some of the nicer establishments in Eshen, but unfortunately for me, they either didn’t allow gambling or in the case of the ones that did, I was already well known. I needed to be in a place where no one knew me to make money, not that it was money that had me trawling bars night after night. The money was just a bonus. No, the reason I chose illegal gambling as my chosen profession was much bigger than trying to get richer.

  And so, I found myself having to travel further and further to find a good game. A game where I could win. Actually, that wasn’t strictly true. I won most games. I needed a game where I could win and not get my face punched by some meathead sore loser which had happened enough for me to worry about it and usually happened at about the same time that I was recognized.

  You see, I was the best damn poker player in a hundred square miles, but to win, I needed people to not know that. I needed them to think I was a helpless little girl, who didn’t know a flush from a straight.

  Being an actual little girl didn’t hurt my ruse. Actually, I was twenty-two but so tiny I often passed as younger. I have that sweet and innocent look about me, thanks to my fae genes, which was the greatest irony. I smoked, I drank, and worst of all, I cheated. I cheated big time. Not that you’d ever guess with my wide green eyes and dark curls. Yeah, I was just the picture of innocence, which is why I generally kicked ass in a place like this.

  And I really did kick ass. Sometimes, literally. I might be tiny, but as a member of the fae race, I’ve got powers that most others don’t. It’s not only poker that these meatheads lose along with their money; they also lose any dignity they have when a girl half their size kicks the crap out of them.

  “Here!” The bartender slammed my drink down, sloshing half of it over the table. I knew better than to say anything. The game was heating up, and the last thing I wanted was to get thrown out before I even had a chance to play.

  There were four of them playing and only four seats. Fine with me. Once one of them was out, I’d sidle up and take his spot...if, and only if, I decided it was worth it.

  Sure, there was a great deal of money on the table, always a good sign. And three of the four looked like complete morons, thickset with meaty biceps and even meatier brains—ogres or, at least, part ogre. The fourth looked to be human although it was difficult to tell as he had his back to me.

  His pile of coins was diminishing fast, much to the apparent joy of the others. I nursed my whiskey, or what was left of it, and watched the game play out. As soon as the human was out, I’d drink it down and take his place.

  He held nothing of value in his hand, so he’d either have to bluff real good or lose everything. As I suspected, he lost the little bit of money he had. Knocking back the whiskey, I stood up. If the three meatheads were used to that level of play, I’d kick their asses.

  The human didn’t leave the table as I’d expected him to do. Instead, he leaned forward and whispered something to the men. All three of the bigger ones grinned broadly and then began to deal again. I called over the barman and ordered another whiskey.

  Whatever the man had said, it had brought excitement to the table. The three ogres were practically salivating. This was getting interesting now.

  The kid was either incredibly stupid, or he was playing my way. I grabbed the whiskey and headed to a table in the shadows, eager to see just how this was going to play out.

  It was to be a one-round game. All three of the larger men went all in, so the center of the small table was filled with gold. It was so heavy, I was surprised that the crappy wooden table could hold it. Whatever the young man had put into the pot, I couldn’t see, but it had to be something huge with all that gold on offer.

  By the end of the game, I was on the edge of my seat, not even caring anymore if anyone saw me. If they were all in, I’d not be able to join. There’d be no point. I really should have left right there and then, but something stopped me. I genuinely wanted to know what was going to happen. . . The rest of the people in the bar watched along with me, as well as the bartender who’d temporarily forgotten he was there to serve drinks.

  My knuckles were white, gripping the whiskey glass as the last of the three meatheads put down his cards. I couldn’t see what he’d played, but judging by what the younger man had in his hand, the biggest meathead was going to win. Just as the younger man put his cards down, he reached up his sleeve and swapped his cards. It was so fast that I was sure I was the only one who noticed.

  The guy was a sneaky cheat!

  Ok, I had no room to talk, but he was so brazen. At least, I used magic to cheat. His cheating seemed so much worse somehow.

  When the cards hit the table, the smirk on the big guy turned to a look of disbelief and then quickly to anger. He picked the young guy up by the scruff of the neck and punched him, sending him skidding backwards across the floor and landing right at my feet.

  It was then that I saw his face for the first time. A face that I recognized instantly.

  A face that anyone should recognize even covered in blood as it was. He was the Crown Prince of Eshen, His Royal Highness Prince Rory.

  Now, what would the crown prince be doing in a place like this? I know I have no room to talk, but I had my reasons. I wondered what his were. Unlike me, he didn’t need the money, so that couldn’t be the reason. His parents were the king and queen for goodness sake. No one in the whole kingdom was richer than they were.

  I should have run, especially when the three ogres threw their chairs to one side and started lumbering over towards me, but my curiosity got the best of me.

  Whether the ogres knew who he was or not was beside the point. I knew guys like these. I’d met plenty in my time. There was no way Prince Rory was going to get out of here alive if they got their hands on him.

  “Crap!” I cursed, under my breath. I’d hidden in the darkest corner of the room precisely because I didn’t want to be seen and I didn’t want any trouble. It was too late for that now. Trouble headed towards me in the form of three butt-ugly ogres. I downed my whiskey—there was no way I was going to leave it—and stood up to face the three men.