Page 21 of Shadows of Fate

“You’re right. Only it isn’t just my wildest ones—it’s in all of them as of late. You’re quite the main attraction while I rest.” His tone suggested he was being completely serious with me, and it took everything in my power not to turn and look at his face to ensure I was correct in my assumption. I had a male to torture and kill, I was not flirting with the ruler of the Court of Shadows right now.

I took that opportunity to smack Joel across the face, bringing him back to consciousness. He slowly blinked his eyes, trying to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. When his eyes finally opened fully and settled, he tried jerking against Raiden’s shadows. I was surprised when he wasn’t able to move at all. I wasn’t sure why I was shocked—the rumors of his power weren’t exactly a secret.

His back wouldn’t heal for a while yet, but I hit him low enough that it wouldn’t make a difference in him speaking to me.

Joel looked at me, his eyes wide and angry. “You bitch!! I told you what I knew. Let me go.” I noticed the shadows around his body slowly contract until Joel was screaming. They didn’t return to their previous spot until I heard a rib or two crack.

I glanced over at Raiden, an eyebrow raised in question, but he just shrugged. “They don’t respond well to you being insulted, it seems.”

“Oh, of course. Because the shadows having feelings and sentient thoughts was definitely what I was worried about tonight,” I replied.

“Oh, trust me, my ice queen. They are quite sentient and feel plenty.” He winked. He fucking winked. My throat felt dry suddenly and my core felt hot.

I cleared my throat, returning my attention to Joel. I smiled at the male. He was breathing heavily as his ribs slowly repaired themselves. The shadow blade being in his body for so long depleted a lot of his vampire abilities. It would take him longer to heal, which while funny, was inconvenient for torture.

Pulling out the dagger that had been launched into his spine, I held it up in front of Joel’s face. It was still covered in his blood. Once his eyes landed on the dagger, I slowly licked from the hilt to the tip of the blade, cleaning his blood off of it.

His eyes widened as he watched me. “Who the fuck are you?” Joel whispered.

When the blade was clean, I used it to slowly slit the front of his shirt down the middle. Surprisingly, the blade cut through the shadows with ease and I watched as they reformed after I passed through.

I glanced over at Raiden, while I picked my next words carefully. He was watching us both intently, and I knew it was because he had the same question.

Looking back at Joel, I smiled again. “I’ve been called many things, Joel. Crazy bitch is a common one, of course. Evil whore is another. Some call me an angel, a protector. But really, I’m just a female who’s had enough. Enough of the men in this world thinking they can stomp all over us and get away with it—again and again.” I took a breath and then ran the dagger down Joel’s chest. Just enough to draw blood and sting the fuck out of him. “I’m going to tell you a story, Joel, and I want you to listen closely, okay? It’s the last one you’ll ever hear after all.”

I unbuttoned his trousers and cut them down each thigh until they were hanging around his calves. He was trying to shake me off, but Raiden’s shadows were magnificent.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl. She lived in a town quite a way from here. She had a mother, a father, and a little sister. But one day, a man showed up at her door. He offered her father all the things he’d ever wanted. Money, jewels, land—you get it. In exchange he wanted his eldest daughter, so what was the father to do? He handed her over, of course.” The slice down his chest had finally started healing over, so I sliced two more lines on either side of the new scar. Joel gritted his teeth, and I smiled at the tears running down his face.

“Now, this male had secrets—don’t they all? He betrayed the girl’s parents. Instead of riches and gold, he took both the man’s daughters and then killed the man and his wife in their beds while they slept. He then took both the daughters to live with him in a faraway town covered in ice and frost, high in the mountaintops—never letting them leave.” I sighed and started carving small little lines up his sides as I continued my tale, ignoring his attempts to squirm and whimper.

“Once the girls were stuck in his home, his true colors came to light. They thought he was horrid before, but they had no idea what he was capable of. He wanted them to breed—the livestock had it better, Joel. Do you understand? The girl, she knew she was first, of course, being older. Her little sister hadn’t bled yet, so she had time before she’d be expected to perform.” I scoffed at the thought. “But the oldest girl, well, she was ready and ripe for the taking, as they say. Every night he’d come for her. At first, she just cried. Cried and cried and cried. Begged for her mother. Begged for death. Begged for salvation. But nothing came. Everyone in that castle heard her beg for help, but no one came. Do you know what that’s like, Joel? To scream and cry? To beg the Fates above to just make it all stop? Only to have absolutely no one answer you?”

I sliced him a little deeper between the ribs this time and shoved my index finger inside until I could feel his rib bones beneath my fingertip. He screamed louder, tears still rolling down his stained face. “Yeah, I’ll bet you do know what it’s like. At least now.”

Pulling my finger out, I licked the blood off, and he stopped screaming. Dropping his head to his chest, he started breathing heavier.

“So, Joel, are you sure you have nothing else to relay back to us? I’ve got all night, after all, and I want anything you can offer me on the group calling themselves the Eternal Outcasts.”

He started shaking his head and gritting his teeth. I sliced just under where his ribs ended. Then I shoved my first two fingers inside, curled them around his rib bone, and pulled them toward me beneath his skin. He screamed louder and smacked his head on the wall behind him.

“Okay, okay, okay! Fuck—please. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. P-please…” he said, whispering by the end.

I pulled my fingers from inside him, licking the blood off once more.

“You said they show up with wolf venom? What does that mean? I wasn’t aware wolves had venom to dose people up with,” I asked.

Joel was breathing heavily, apparently, he was not talented when it came to coping with pain. “It’s just what it’s called. It’s some sort of silver mixed with a tranquilizer drug. It was created in the Court of Wolves—hence the name. They used it to get high for a while in small doses, but we found out in higher doses it can knock a vampire on their asses for a full day.”

I glanced back at Raiden, his brow was furrowed, and his arms crossed over his chest as he listened. “So where do they go from here?” I asked.

“I swear to you, I don’t know.” I started to slice on the other side of his rib cage, and Joel started shaking. “No—no—no! Wait! I don’t know where they go, but I do know it isn’t just here. It’s in the other courts too! Wolves and Ravens for sure! I have some friends there working. Please, no more. Just kill me.” His head was dropped to his chest again, and I could smell the tears running down his face.

“We’re going to need names, Joel,” Raiden said from behind me.

Joel nodded quickly and started rattling off name after name. There were twelve in total, all the top people he’d worked with in the other courts.

“Are we good now?” Joel whimpered.

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