Page 11 of Shadows of Fate

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know who she is, as you know. She said he was responsible for six missing and twelve dead, but she believed his numbers were even higher than that. It was hard for him to confirm with a gaping hole in his throat.”

His gaze quickly snapped back to mine. “Wait—you said while he bled out?”

I felt the smile curve against my lips as I envisioned it all over again in my head. It just played back again and again on a loop. “Yes. It was glorious. I can’t think of a better word for it. She had a shadow stone blade and then used ice magic to freeze open the wound. It was… Fuck me, Micah. It was absolute magic.”

Micah’s eyes were wide as he listened to my explanation. “As happy as I am that you’re clearly besotted with this raging killer female, we need to figure out who she is and how she was able to obtain a shadow stone blade, Raiden. That can’t be in the hands of just anyone.”

I understood his anxiety over it. Shadow stone was a complicated metal created by combining shadow, fire, and ice magic. It also required a talented blacksmith to be able to handle all the magic together while working with the metal. Normally it wasn’t successful, but when it was the metal could be made into blades, chains, and so on. The chains had the ability to block magic altogether, while the weapons had the ability to block magic and have us healing at the rate of humans.

I smirked. “I know that. I’ll handle it. Just focus on finding out who she is. Maybe she can help us fill in some gaps on how she knew Rogan’s numbers better than we do. I don’t take kindly to this female knowing more about what’s going on in my court than I do.”

I rose from my chair, feeling better now that I’d shared with Micah, and I had him on the path to finding my new queen.

* * *

My hands ached as I did my best to pull the ropes tied to my father’s fishing net back into our boat. The sun was just cresting over the horizon, and we’d already been at this for hours now.

“Come on, boy! Pull it in quicker or the fish’ll jump out!” Father yelled from the other end of our raft.

Our boat was on the smaller side compared to the other fishermen on the dock, but Father said that it didn’t matter. It only matters how much work you’re willing to put in to feed the family. At fifteen years old, I was willing to put in the work to keep my little sister, Ophelia, fed and happy. Mother too, of course, but Ophelia was only eight. She still didn’t fully understand why some days Father and I brought back enough to keep us fed for days, and other times we returned with nothing.

If we didn’t bring enough back to sell to the fish merchants at the docks to cover the costs of living, we returned with nothing. I hated those days. Going to bed on an empty stomach and working the next morning was hard.

So, I gripped my hands tighter on the nets and pulled as hard as my body would allow.

When it felt like many moons had passed, we were finally going back to shore, my entire body aching.

“You did good today, my son,” Father said and patted me on the shoulder gently. I think he knew how badly my muscles ached.

I’d been going out with him since I was ten, but even after five years on this tiny boat, my muscles still ached after a long morning and I still slept like the dead after we arrived home and my mother fussed over me.

Father and I sold the majority of our catch to our favorite fish merchants along the dock and then gathered up our supplies to head back home. The cobblestone streets were wet and dreary as the sun peeked through the gray clouds above.

Our home was only a few blocks from the docks, thankfully. I’m not sure how much farther my legs would have carried me.

I saw the graying brick ahead and my heart felt lighter already. Our home was one of many in the city of Darkmoor. Father said that one day the vampires would rule this city because the sun hates it here, just like they do. But right now, it’s just humans like us.

I walked up the stone steps to our front door and took off my wet shoes before entering. Even though I tower over my mother, she’d still have my hide if I tracked water and sea muck through her home.

Dark brown braids whipped around the corner of the kitchen door and bound for me. Thankfully, I thought to drop my things first, because Ophelia hurled herself into my arms before I could stop her.

“Phillie, I’m covered in sea muck,” I said with a laugh.

Her dark blue eyes gazed up at me, a huge smile beaming my way. I chuckled at the sight. She’d lost one of her top front teeth recently, so the giant holes in her smile made her that much cuter to me.

I knew most big brothers found their little siblings annoying, and that was fine for them. I never thought I’d have any brothers or sisters, so when Mother and Father told me they were having Ophelia all those years after me, I couldn’t have been happier. Father made me promise when she was born to always look after her like a big brother should, and I took that promise very seriously.

“Ray! You brought back breakfast. That deserves a hug,” Ophelia said after finally releasing me from her tiny grasp.

I smiled, taking the fish I’d been carting with my father into the kitchen to my mother.

Father was already there, arms wrapped around my mother as she started to prep everything she needed for breakfast.

Blue eyes that matched Ophelia’s perfectly glanced across the room at me kindly. “Go get cleaned up to eat, Ray,” my mother said with a smile.

I looked around at my family, realizing just how lucky I was. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

* * *

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