Page 16 of Shadows of Fate

“Allie, would you like to come inside?” I asked hesitantly.

“Of course, My Lord. I told you, I trust you.” Her tone was still quiet, but it had a strength to it that most lacked. Which was a good thing for her to have.

After all, visionaries were rare in our world.

Chapter10

Cock Shaped Ice

Silvana

Ever since I’d left Allie at the Court of Shadows manor, I’d felt as if someone was watching me. I’d felt it the night I’d killed the garbage second-in-command too, but I’d shaken it off then. It was a dark alley outside of a tavern—there was always someone outside. So extra eyes weren’t unheard of.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling plaguing me, I kept moving. I had a to-do list tonight, and so far, all I’d done was kill off two weak-minded vampires who’d been trying to abduct a young human girl. I’d expected her to run screaming, honestly, but by the time I’d dropped her off, she’d been acting as if we’d been friends our entire lives.

After she’d left, I’d set off to fulfill one more to-do item back at The Midnight Run and then headed to The Arcane Theater to find the redhead that bolted before. I’d smiled to myself as I thought about the look on Ed’s face when I’d shown back up.

Aside from the missing redhead, my secondary goal tonight was to find a male who went by Joel. He was Rogan’s right-hand man and hadn’t been seen out since I’d killed Rogan. But the man had to eat eventually, so I’d kept looking.

Cedar’s letter had arrived this morning saying that there were more missing females in the Court of Ravens too, but so far it had flown under the radar. No one was diving too deeply into the cause of it that he could tell.

It was typical, honestly. Females went missing, and no one would be bothered to care about it until it was their own kin.

Walking through the doors of The Arcane Theater, I looked around the dimly lit room for my target. A smile curled my lips as I laid eyes on the exact male I’d been looking for. He was sitting at a table near the dance floor with a blonde female in his lap. The man himself was tall and broad, with light brown hair and tan skin.

I wondered if blondes were his type, or if he’d be interested in my silver. It would make this much easier for me if he was. Only one true way to find out, though. I had a plan, but I wasn’t sure if it would work or not. From what I’d learned, most of the females they took were abducted. They didn’t go voluntarily, so I was hopeful they’d take an… easier target.

Walking across the dance floor, I sat down across from him and leaned my arms on the table, setting my breasts atop them. Thankfully I was in a low-cut tight black top tonight. The sleeves were flowy and long, but the rest hugged me like a second skin.

The woman on his lap looked across the table at me, clearly disgusted that I had the audacity. If she only knew. I smiled at him, completely ignoring her.

“Are you, Joel?” I asked, biting my lower lip gently and batting my eyelashes. Trying not to make myself gag over this display.

His dark eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, and he tapped the woman’s side, telling her to move out of his way. She rolled her eyes and walked away toward the bar, clearly upset she wasn’t getting paid this evening. I couldn’t blame her for that. Although knowing Joel’s record, she would’ve been paid in blood, not coin. So, truly, she should be thanking me.

He leaned onto the table, coming closer to me, a smirk on his face. “To what do I owe the pleasure of such beautiful company?”

I giggled shyly. “A friend of mine mentioned you were looking for some ladies willing to—” I bit my lip again and glanced away as if I were embarrassed. “—well, she said you wanted some ladies looking to experiment somewhere outside of the court,” I said in a rush.

I glanced back toward his face, trying to gauge how he was feeling. I could tell the second my lie landed. His smirk grew. “Oh, darling, I’d love to help you experiment. Let’s test it out, shall we? I have a room with some friends upstairs.” He tilted his head to the left and I glanced over that way.

I nodded my head as if I wasoh-so eagerto be alone with the moron. I couldn’t wait to gut him, honestly. We rose together, his hand grabbing mine, and I led the way toward where he nodded his head.

Walking toward what looked like a wall, he moved a dark curtain out of the way. I didn’t even notice it before because it was the exact same fabric and color as the remaining window coverings around the entire room. He walked through, still gripping my hand as I followed him.

We came to a set of dark stone steps, and he led me up them without pause. I decided I was very thankful for my ability to see in the dark like this. Otherwise, I could see where this would be a bit anxiety-inducing.

I wondered if the redhead was up there somewhere. That would really help my to-do list.

When we came to the top of the stairwell, I realized we were in a long hallway. Only one side had a stone wall that matched the stairs, and the other was a railing that overlooked the club below. I glanced over at Joel, confusion clear on my face.

“Why can’t we see up here from the tavern floor?” I asked.

“They call it an optical illusion. Something about the materials they use. It’s the same thing at the bottom covering the stairwell entrance.” He shrugged as if this wasn’t sort of crazy and mind-boggling. His hand still in mine, he dragged me down the hallway until we came to a set of wooden doors. Joel knocked twice and then pushed them open.

Still behind him, I tried to take everything in as quickly as possible.

The room was more of the same dark wood as the doors we just walked through. There was a four-poster bed in the center of the room with dark green bedding, along with a gray stone-lit fireplace against the far wall. That wasn’t what brought me pause, though. Opposite the fireplace, there were two more male vampires lounging on a couch—one tan and dark like Joel, and the other was a familiar face with pale skin and red hair. There was a human female at their feet. She had a chain wrapped around her neck and she was naked, with bite marks all along her pale skin. I felt ill at the sight of her glazed eyes and weak appearance. I could hear her heartbeat from across the room, and it was fading. She wasn’t going to last much longer.

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