Page 2 of Shadows of Fate

I took a moment to look around the room. I already knew he was alone. Which made my job easier—knowing that he was a loner, and no one would come looking for him while I was working.

Taking a more thorough look at Elias, I realized that he was a shorter man than I’d expected. Maybe a bit taller than me, but not by much. His skin was colorless, and he appeared to be starving. His light-toned hair was thinning. I’d bet that his eyes were turning white as well. When a vampire went too long without blood, our bodies started to shut down. Hair thins, skin loses its color, and eyes turn a milky white. It’s a slow and brutal death, one that Elias should be thankful he didn’t have to partake in now that I was there. Part of me wondered why he was starving, but the other part of me didn’t care.

I pulled a dagger out of the side of my boot and leaned down beside him. I stared at his sleeping form. The fact that he still slept showed how gone he truly was. Holding the blade against his neck, I harshly cleared my throat. He jolted awake and stilled instantly when he realized what I had pressed against his pale skin.

“Hello, Elias. I’ve heard you’ve been a very bad boy lately,” I said gently.

His eyes widened and he managed to get a shade paler still. “I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I ent done nothin’ wrong,” he mumbled quickly—his words still thick with sleep.

“The Crassodon’s sent me, Elias. They seem to have a different version of events.” I pressed the dagger a bit deeper into his throat. “You see, Elias, they tell me that you’ve been taking young human girls off the pathways at night, turning them, and forcing them to marry you. Then, when they refuse to consummate the marriage—and truly, who can blame them? Look at you—you kill them. Know anything about that, Elias?”

I could feel my rage drawing closer to the surface of my skin as his eyes grew wider. I knew he was trying to come up with some sort of explanation for me. However, I could see in his demeanor when he realized he lacked one—even a made-up one. He chose anger instead.

“Well, who the fuck are you to question me? What’s it matter anyway? Those brats should’ve been thankful for what I offered them! It’s what they’re meant for!” he yelled, his throat pressing against my blade.

“I appreciate the confession, Elias. This takes a lot of guilt out from what I’m going to do next.” His mouth snapped shut, and I felt him swallow against my dagger.

“You see, Elias, I have a special… well, some would call it a talent—a gift, even. So, I appreciate it when I have all the facts from the source’s mouth before I move forward. You understand, right? What I do is rather permanent after all.” I shrugged as if it were the most casual conversation we could be having at the moment.

“I-I-I-I don’t understand,” he muttered.

I chuckled now. “Oh, sure you do, Elias. I’m here to kill you.”

Chapter2

Feminine Retribution

Silvana

Dropping off proof of Elias’s death was nice and quick. Payment from the Crassodon Coven was the same. I smiled to myself thinking about the look on their faces when I handed them the bag. Clearly not what they were expecting as proof of death.

I do imagine that opening up a brown canvas bag with a frozen vampire head inside was a bit alarming to anyone who wasn’t fully prepared.

However, the night had taken a swift detour. I was on my way back to the main road when I decided to stop at a small tavern in hopes of a quick bite to eat, when I heard them.

“Have you seen Odette this evening?”

“She won’t be in tonight. Her husband is in one of his moods again…”

“That poor woman. No one deserves that type of treatment.”

I would always be thankful to my vampire hearing at moments like that. Being able to hear across the bar? What a gift. But what I heard from the ladies? Well, that meant I was eating well tonight after all. Saving my appetite for a willing donor was truly overrated when there was fun to be had. Why use theon-tapservice, when there were abusive husbands I could be eating?

I didn’t want to stay in this town longer than I needed to, but then again, it hadn’t taken me long to figure out where Odette and the horrid male she was tied to lived. I just had to follow the screams, or in this case, kindly persuade the man behind the bar to tell me where she lived. Batting my pretty eyelashes went far when I desired it to do so.

After all, I was a blood-sucking monster, but that didn’t mean I acted like an animal. I still had thoughts and knewoccasionallywe had to see things with our own eyes before making hasty decisions to end a man’s life.

At least that was what I’d been reminding myself of for as long as I could remember.

Their home was a quaint little two-story building made of light-colored stone. The sort that seemed common in the city where your neighbor’s home was pressed up against yours. Many humans all squished into one minuscule plot of land was only possible if you also put their houses on top of each other apparently. Personally, I preferred the towns with ample-sized pieces of land and houses spread out. Easier to hear the men scream and enjoy it without arousing suspicion. No one truly enjoyed a nosy neighbor, especially when I was having fun.

Although I didn’t see that being an issue here. No, Odette had been screaming and crying since I’d arrived, and the neighbors didn’t seem to notice or care at all. Maybe it was that normal for them. I’d just make her male scream like a woman too, I guess. Wouldn’t want to arouse suspicion.

I smirked to myself at the thought. Tonight would be lovely, indeed.

I walked up to the front door and gently twisted the doorknob. It was locked, of course, but that was where vampire strength came into play. I gave the knob a quick and harsh twist, breaking it from the door, and it quietly swung open as if even the home itself was welcoming me inside—eager for me to kill themonsterof the house.

I could already smell the fear permeating through the house, but it wasn’t Odette’s fear I was after.

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