Page 18 of Shadows of Fate

The thing was, if she was this powerful as a human, as a vampire she’d be… well, she’d be a force. Every visionary was a little different, just like everyone with any magic was a bit different. Each of us had magic that may work in a slightly different way compared to others, different things may trigger it or it may even have different levels of effectiveness.

I’d met visionaries who could exclusively see the past, some could only see the future, others may have to see someone to see their future at all. Allie seemed to be able to see into someone’s eyes, take their hand, and just know things about them that they may not even know themselves.

That was a powerful and dangerous gift. I’m not sure if the males who tried to take her even fully comprehended exactly what she was capable of.

After getting Allie settled, though, she told me to ‘retrace my steps to find my queen’. That’s what brought me to The Arcane Theater—where it all began. It felt like as good a place to start as any.

Walking across the white marble floor, I let my senses spread throughout the room. I didn’t see her in the main room, but I smelled a faint hint of her raspberries and honey along the back wall.

Following it, it didn’t take me long to find the hidden stairwell or to find the door she was behind. I could’ve knocked, of course, but sometimes a male needed a bit of drama and flair. This was the first time she’d fully see me, after all, not just a quick flash from a distance. A lasting impression was important to ensure my success in wooing her. I couldn’t believe wooing her was what I was thinking about right now.

Be that as it may, what I was not expecting after I’d disintegrated the door with my magic, was the scene in front of me.

She was across the room from where I’d entered, blood dripping from her left hand and more blood on the dagger in her other hand. Her hair was in wavy curls tonight, the fire behind her reflecting off the silver sheen of it. She was wearing the same boots as before with black tights and a close-fitting black top that left little to the imagination. She was a vision with icy blue eyes that dug deep into my soul.

I felt the smile grow on my face as she stared at me, wide-eyed. It was clear she wasn’t completely unaffected by my presence, and that brought me quite a bit of pleasure.

“Hello, my ice queen. I’ve been searching for you,” I said, my voice gravelly. I couldn’t wait to sink my fangs into her and claim her as my own. Not that I could come right out and say that. It was clear to me that she was hiding, maybe even running, from something. Something I’d need to clarify with her later.

First, I had the other males, who seemed intent on destroying what was mine, to deal with. There was a decapitated male who appeared to have a frozen cock—that wasn’t a sight that would leave my mind soon. The other two males were staring at me, one bleeding and the other holding a dagger. The second male with the dagger glanced back at my female and back toward me—as if weighing his odds. That was when I realized the dagger in his hand matched the one in hers.

I felt the dots connecting in my head, and my shadows writhed beneath my skin, so I let them out to play. The male’s eyes widened as my shadows slithered across the floor and up his legs, then torso, before wrapping around his throat. I clenched my fist together and my shadows slid up his nose and into his mouth. Before he could scream, his body was on the floor—motionless.

Withdrawing my magic, I cleared my throat.

“Well, that was quite the show,” she said, her voice as smooth as I imagined her silky hair to be.

The bleeding male slowly started to back away from the middle of the room, but before I could stop him, she threw a dagger that stuck in his thigh. He fell toward the floor, screaming profanities at her.

“Oh, shut up already, Joel. You and I aren’t done having our fun yet. I have questions for you,” she growled.

“Fuck you, you evil ice bitch!” he screamed at her.

In the last hundred years or so, I really had learned to better control my shadows. When I’d first been turned, they had minds of their own. It had taken me a full hundred years with Micah to work on harnessing their power. Then when I’d taken over as ruler of the Court of Shadows, the first hundred years or so were… hard. But I’d learned to control myself—when I’d wanted to. Alas, a short moment around this female and I was back to being even more out of control than I was in my youth.

I felt my magic wrap around his throat until he was gasping for air, writhing around on the floor pulling at his neck. I glanced up at my ice queen and she sighed.

“Don’t kill him just yet. I have questions that we both need answers to, I’m sure,” she muttered.

I let go of my shadows and looked back at the male, Joel, she’d called him. “I suggest you mind your manners, Joel.” My tone left little to talk about. That’s when he looked over at me and his eyes widened.

“You—you—you’re the king of the Court of Shadows.” Joel’s face visibly paled and he started pushing himself backward again until he hit the wall, trying to put distance between us. I allowed it. Mostly because I was too busy searchingherface, trying to decipher what she was thinking. This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned on revealing myself to her.

I’d imagined it more along the lines of us being naked, covered in rose petals, and drinking each other’s blood under the full moon. A scene like that.

She looked from Joel and back toward me, her head tilted a bit as if she were contemplating her options. But she didn’t look surprised by my identity. Finally, she spoke. “Are you here to kill me?”

Of all the questions she could have, that wasn’t exactly what I thought she’d start with. “Should I be?” I asked back.

She shrugged as if that was a decent enough answer for now. Did my female have such little regard for her life? We’d have to discuss that later too. She turned away from me and walked toward Joel, her dagger still lodged deep in his thigh. She crouched down in front of him and pushed it against his skin harder as he screamed, his head hitting the wall behind him.

“What was the plan for me after your little initiation was finished? Assuming I’d be chosen, of course,” she asked Joel.

Initiation? I gritted my teeth and swallowed down my shadows at the itch to disintegrate this male like I did the doorway behind us.

I could tell Joel wasn’t very inclined to speak, and I started to wonder if I should help, but she smiled at him. The same smile I saw in that alleyway. A smile that spoke of anything but pleasure, yet somehow still made my cock jump. Fates help me with this female.

“I know, Joel. I get it. You don’t want to rat out your bosses. But listen closely, because I already tortured your friend—Rogan, right?” She glanced up at me, and I nodded in confirmation. Sure, we’re a team. I’m fine with that being the story. “Right. So, you see, I can let you bleed out slowly in the alleyway and then light you on fire like Rogan, or you can start to chat with me. Your choice, honey.”

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