Page 31 of Claimed By Night

The fae man is dressed in battle armor, but his armor is distinguished from that of the others by the royal crest of the Seelie Court. He is the King of the Seelie, and he leads his legion of Seelie Fae soldiers as they clamor against another. A legion of their own kind—the fae. Only instead of the lightness of the Seelie Court, this enemy bears the darkness of the Unseelie Court. Eternal rivals, yes, but never have they fought on opposite sides. Not like this.

Standing beside the Seelie King is the man of shadow. He, too, is a king. The King of Shadows controls his own legion of winged creatures, all of whom are bathed in darkness. They are gargoyles, protectors of stone. Creatures of the night. Yet these shadow warriors fight alongside the Seelie? Against the Unseelie, against the fae king’s own kind?

I don’t understand.

The legion of the Unseelie Fae are led by their own king—he is dark where the King of the Seelie is fair, but just as devastatingly handsome. The Unseelie King’s anger penetratesout of him in unending ire. He’s joined by still more creatures, and they’re surrounded by a light brighter than even that of the Seelie.

I feel my stomach fall as I realize the race of the Unseelie King’s accomplices. Angels.

Look closely at the angels, Eilish.The woman’s voice inside my head says.

I do as I’m told and further suffer another shocking blow. The angels are male. But how can that be? There are no more male angels left…

Except for one.

TheKing of the Angels, Variant,the woman’s voice corrects me.

I gasp and break the illusion as I drop the beautiful man’s hand. He pulls away from me at the same time, even going to so far as to stand up to put more distance between us. I don’t know if he’s witnessed the same vision I have, but he looks stunned.

“You’re the Seelie King,” I whisper, and the man’s eyes widen only momentarily.

“Thank the fuckin’ stars she got her goddamned wits back!” the sprite nearly sings as it bobs up and down in the air. “I thought thatAtacomiteshit had eaten up her whole damn brain an’ she was gonna be as smart as a fuckin’ zombie.”

I ignore the annoying creature.

“HewastheSeelie King,” the King of Shadows clarifies and I look at him, suddenly realizing he epitomizes the word “king”—from his impossibly large presence to the way he holds himself, the arrogance of his countenance.

“You’re the King of Shadow,” I finish.

His eyebrows are drawn and there’s surprise on his face, but he’s clearly pleased I know this. He’s pleased to be recognized as the king he is. A smirk appears on his lips and it’s all I can do to think of anything other than tasting them.

“What’s your name?” he asks. No—demands.

“Eilish,” I answer, suddenly overcome by an exhaustion that seems to claim my entire being. I close my eyes as I listen to the rasp of my breath, inhaling deeply.

“Don’t overstress her, she can’t take it,” the Seelie King warns.

I open my eyes to look at him but he looks beyond me, to the open window as a cool breeze enters the room, assaulting each of us and blowing his hair around his ears. I want to tell him how beautiful he is, but I hold back. The timing is wrong.

“My liege,” the shadow man from behind the Shadow King interrupts. “We must return to our own realm before we’re forced to become stone.”

“Yes,” the Shadow King agrees, and worry etches across his face.

“Take her and go,” the Seelie King says, motioning to me. Cold and indifferent, he still won’t return my gaze. I imagine he wasn’t always this way and I wonder what must have happened to change him.

“No,” I insist, and I feel everyone’s attention on me. I don’t know why, but there’s an absolute understanding within me that I can’t be separated from him or the King of Shadow. I need this Seelie King as much as I need the shadow warrior behind him. “You… saw the… vision,” I say, narrowing my eyes on him.

“What’s she talking about?” the King of Shadow demands. He sounds perturbed.

“I don’t know,” the Seelie King lies.

“Yes. You do,” I insist.

I know he saw it, I felt him pull away from me in shock and outrage at what the vision revealed. Like he didn’t want it to be real. I was equally shocked to see visions of a battle, but even more so when I saw the two of us in the midst of a sexual tryst. Shocked, yes, but I wasn’t about to deny any of it was true. Ofcourse, I don’t have my memory, so I couldn’t say if what I saw had already happened and I just couldn’t remember it. Or maybe it was portending the future? A vision, sent by the woman’s voice that keeps sounding in my head? Whatever it was, I believe it.

“What vision? What the bloody hell is she talking about, Cambion?” the Shadow King asks, spearing his glance between the Seelie King and me.

I’m too tired to respond.

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