Page 10 of Shadows of Fate

She wiped the blade against her dress, the color suddenly making even more sense, cleaning his blood off. “I know what you’re thinking. Head, heart, fire. The only way to kill a vampire. Wrong. Ice magic mixed with a shadow stone blade? It’s the perfect recipe for our deaths. The shadow stone blade makes it harder for your entire body to heal, you see. Then the ice, if used properly, of course, freezes the edges of your wound so it can’t heal until you thaw. You bleed out—which I’ve noticed for a vampire is very painful. Do let me know, won’t you? Maybe blink a bunch if the pain is a bit much?”

She had ice magic, not exactly typical within my court. Most vampires with ice magic stayed in the Court of Ice. Their ruler didn’t part with the powerful easily. Part of me wondered what she was doing here, but the other part of me was just enjoying the show.

She sat on the ground next to his body, which as she said, was slowly bleeding out without any sign of healing. “I just realized I haven’t explained myself. My mistake, Rogan. Let me do so. It’s come to my attention that you’ve been a naughty boy lately. You’ve been caught working with some… not-so-kind men, we’ll say. From my tally, you’ve taken at least six females and sent them off to wherever you’ve been sending them, including a friend of mine. You’ve also killed at least twelve humans that I know of. There’s probably more, right?” She looked down at him as he blinked a few times, and she sighed. “I figured as much. I do acknowledge that I should’ve asked you where you’ve sent the rest of the females off to first, but let’s be honest with each other. You didn’t become second-in-command of the group by talking about your plans. So, I just cut to the end. That’s your death—to be clear. I do appreciate you telling me where my friend is, though, that will please her father.”

The female giggled then—actually giggled.

I leaned against the wall at the end of the alley, watching her watch Rogan bleed out over the cobblestone. The sun would be up soon, and I should have been eager to return home. Talk to Micah. Find out who this female was, so I knew exactly who I was dealing with. But I didn’t do any of that. I just watched her.

For all I knew, she could be one of the ones leaving bodies all around my court. I should have been furious, but all I felt was contentment. Even my shadows were quiet for the first time in months.

I continued to watch her as Rogan died in a puddle of his own blood. I watched as she pulled out a small match and dropped it atop his dead body. He burst into flames, and she walked away from his smoldering body—a smile still gracing her beautiful face.

Perhaps that answered one of my questions, after all—my new queen was my serial killer.

Chapter7

Raging Killer Female

Raiden

Walking into the manor, I found Micah in his office exactly where I knew he’d be.

It’d been a little over an hour since the sun rose into the sky, and I’d spent the rest of the night and day prior sketching her face to perfection.

Micah leaned over his desk, parchment spread out before him.

“I’m glad to see you made it back in one piece this morning, My Lord.” His tone oozed sarcasm. Apparently, he was still angry about the incident at The Arcane Theater. Normally I would care—tonight wasn’t normal for me, though.

I walked over and set the picture I’d drawn on top of whatever he was reading. “I need her found. I need to know everything about her. Where she’s from, who sired her, where she normally resides, what she does for money, who she spends time with, all of it.”

Micah stared down at the picture for a moment before his gaze drifted upward toward my own. “And who exactly is she, Raiden?” he asked cautiously.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, Micah.” Anger splashed into my tone and my fists clenched. I needed to find her. I almost went after her—if I were anyone else, I would have in an instant. But I’m not just anyone. I’m one of the four rulers of Kostbare. An entire court depends on me, and I can’t just go chasing after a female because she’s piqued my interest. I needed to learn more about her first; think about this more. I needed time to ask myself why I was already planning a future with a female I didn’t even know.

Forcing myself to take a breath, I released my hands and sat in the chair across from him. Bringing my ankle up to rest on the opposite knee, I set my hands on the armrests of the black high-back leather chair I was seated in. I glanced around the office, trying to find a way to explain how I was feeling to my longest friend.

Micah’s office has been the same for centuries now. All dark wood—bookcases, his desk, the floor. The tall brass candelabras were well placed around the corners of the room to provide a softly lit atmosphere. The chairs were all high-back and dark leather, providing comfort but still an edge of sophistication that not many possessed anymore.

He was leaning back in his own chair, watching me carefully. I knew he wouldn’t speak until I did. He was giving me time to gather my thoughts. After spending over five hundred years together, he knew me better than anyone. I wasn’t the best with words or emotions. I’d been known across Kostbare to lash out with my magic and ask questions later. With this, though… with this, I felt the need to be honest with my second, my friend.

“I saw her at the theater last night. I don’t know why, but I was drawn to her immediately, Micah.” I looked across the room at nothing in particular. Maybe if I didn’t look him in the eye this would come out easier. “I watched her leave with another man, and something made me get up and follow them. I told myself it was because I was worried she’d be hurt, but really part of me wanted to claim her. Kidnap her. Take her back here with me. I don’t know, Micah.” I released a pent-up breath, relieving some of the tightness in my chest.

I ran my hands over my face as Micah stated, “Well, you clearly didn’t kidnap her unless she’s in a hole somewhere. So, what happened?”

I forced myself to look at him. “I watched her from the shadows. She tortured the man she was with until he bled out in the alley. It was… well, it was magnificent, honestly. She mentioned that Rogan, that was his name, was the second-in-command and had quite the list of women he was connected to, so I didn’t intervene. I just watched her be absolutely brilliant.” I realized there was a smile plastered to my face, and I felt like a prepubescent boy with an infatuation for this female.

Micah’s brow furrowed. “Did you say Rogan?”

“That’s what she called him.” The thought of her taking out more of my possible enemies with that sweet smile on her face made me feel a way I hadn’t felt in many years. I shifted slightly as my pants started feeling tighter for the second time in so many hours. This was all assuming he was indeed an enemy, and she wasn’t some female serial killer that I let get away. I shook my head at the thought, refusing to even go down that path in my mind.

Micah reached over the top of his desk to hand me the piece of parchment he’d been reading when I walked in. “I’ve been having some of our more trusted people investigate the females’ disappearances, as you asked. They brought me this before the sun rose.”

I read the letter he handed over to me. It had a few names listed on it, including Rogan. The numbers next to his name were smaller than what the female listed out to him, so that was interesting. I wondered where she’d gotten her information from. I read the rest of the list. I didn’t recognize any other names on it, but their numbers are also smaller than his.

“The female mentioned numbers to him. She read him off his crimes as he bled out.” I smirked as the image passed through my mind again. “But her numbers were higher than those listed here.” I handed him back the parchment and he sat back in his chair, glancing over the list again.

“How much higher? How would she even know what his numbers were?” he asked.

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