Reborn to Wed the Serpent King

Vesper was born a living voodoo doll. When her father's mistress tried to poison her at birth, the poison rotted the mistress from the gut outward while Vesper remained intact. Maids, midwives, guards—anyone who tried to harm her died the way they wanted her to die. Every wound reflects back onto the attacker. Her father wanted to burn her alive, but her guileless sister Cecilia saved her from the fire. Then fate played its cruelest trick. Cecilia was sent to marry the brutal Serpent King, who cut her open and made her into a living blood font, draining her to sustain his mistress. The Serpent King later slaughtered their entire pride, and Vesper died alone with Cecilia's tragedy. When she opened her eyes, she was back on the day of the matching ball. In her past life, she had married the kind Lion Arbiter Lucian. This time, when the Serpent King Cael and Lucian stood before both sisters, Vesper walked toward Cael without hesitation. "Vesper, you'll die there," Cecilia pleaded. "I'll go in your place." Vesper shook her head, clutched the marriage contract, and laughed. "This time, neither of us will die."

Three days later, two matching ceremonies were held at once. Lucian came to collect Cecilia himself in formal white and gold, the kind of man who made ceremonial dress look effortless. Vesper watched him help her sister into the carriage, then turned and stepped into her own. Cael had not come to meet her. He had spent last night at a brothel house with his mistress and could not drag himself out of bed before noon. When the ceremony began, he still had not appeared. What came in his place was a spider larger than a fist, its legs polished black, a ceremonial ribbon tied around its midsection. It was placed on the altar before her. The guests jeered—a human bride bound to a pest. Cael's attendant stepped forward and announced the king was occupied through the night and sent his most prized companion to stand in his place. Vesper looked past him to the Queen Mother, who told her to complete the ceremony. Vesper did not comply. "You're asking me to complete a matching ceremony with a bug," she said. "So the Serpent King is equivalent to this bug?" The spider lunged, spitting venom. Vesper dodged and drove a candlestick spike through it in one clean motion. The hall erupted. The doors opened. Cael walked in, eyes sweeping the room and landing on her, on the crushed creature, on the absolute calm on her face. "You killed my spider." "It started first." "I'm going to kill you." Vesper smiled. He beckoned, and thousands of serpents swarmed forward. A serpent's tail stopped an inch from her throat. "Kill me," she said, "and you'll die."