Page 20 of Shadows of Fate

With the giant male standing next to me, I came to the realization that he truly seemed to be staying. That was fine. But then it struck me. “I don’t even know your name.”

He looked down at me for a moment before speaking. “Those close to me call me Raiden.”

“What does everyone else call you?” I found myself asking.

He smirked. “I’m not sure. My death magic, as you so kindly called it, doesn’t allow me to commune with the dead.”

“Oh, for the love of the Fates. No My Lord? My Liege? My King?” I was unable to keep my sarcasm at bay in front of this male, apparently.

The stupid smirk on his face just grew as I rambled. “Are you in the mood to bow, my ice queen? I do imagine you’ll look fantastic on your knees before me.”

I felt the blush creep up my neck and immediately turned away from him before it could reach my cheeks. I didn’t even recall what I was doing, that’s how flustered this male suddenly had me. I’d been doing nothing but killing men for almost a hundred years, and one tall, dark, and handsome ass walked through the doors he disintegrated and suddenly I was a puddle of slutty goo. No thank you.

“Does this mean I finally get to hear your name?” he said from behind me.

I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face him again, blush be damned. “Excuse me? What do you mean finally? Have you been watching me?”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t news to him and I shouldn’t care. “You looked quite stunning in red, especially wielding that knife.” I thought back and realized he saw me the night I killed Rogan. He didn’t stop me, and part of me wondered if he was out looking into the disappearances after all.

“What were you doing following me?” I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral. Having him on my side could expedite my goal. That was clearly the only reason I was curious.

He stared at me for a moment. Part of me wondered if he was choosing how much to tell me. “I’ve been looking into the vampires who have been abducting females, along with the one who is dropping dead male vampires all around my court. I feel as if I’ve figured out the second mystery. And while I have many in my court on the disappearances, it bothers me to stay outside of the action when I could be on the ground helping look for them and finding information. That’s why I was at The Arcane Theater that night. I followed you into the alley to ensure he wasn’t going to try to hurt you. Imagine my surprise when instead, I had quite the show. You wielding those daggers in a barely-there blood-red dress? Begging me to take you then and there.”

I arched a brow at him. “I was in the midst of killing one of your subjects.”

He smiled, but it was anything but playful. “Yes, and he would’ve been just as dead had I taken you next to his body.”

My thighs clenched together, and I turned away again before he could see how much his comment was affecting me. I shouldn’t have been affected, though. He wanted to fuck me on the dirty alleyway ground next to a dead body. This male was insane.

Nevertheless, instead of insulting him or showing how I truly felt, I slowly nodded my head as I took everything he was saying in. It was more than I expected to get, I won’t lie. Deciding I clearly had a death wish, I smiled. “Earn it.”

“Earn what?” he grumbled.

“My name, of course,” I said with a cheeky smile.

“And how do I do that?” He didn’t sound angry or even annoyed. No, his voice had dropped half an octave—as if it were his favorite game he’d ever partaken in. Part of me, the insane and turned-on part, agreed. Maybe I just needed to get laid.

“Easy. Help me with that one.” I nodded my head over toward Joel. I could have easily done this on my own, but again. Maybe it would help me to have the ruler of the Court of Shadows on my side for this. He had resources that I couldn’t come close to possessing. I had Cedar—that was it. And while I loved Cedar, he sure as hell wasn’t the ruler of any court.

A smile lit up his face. “That I can happily do, my little ice queen.”

He walked over toward Joel and waved his hand in front of where the doors used to be. Thick black shadows filled the entryway. That solved the issue of being disturbed at least. Raiden leaned down and yanked my dagger out of Joel’s back and walked back toward me. Handing me the dagger, hilt side first, he winked.

“What’s next, My Queen?” he quietly growled.

His voice did highly inappropriate things to my insides. Honestly, so did him handing me a blade covered in someone else’s blood.

I cleared my throat and looked around the room for a chair. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be anything besides the bed and the couch. Looking over toward Raiden, a thought occurred to me.

“Are you capable of using your fancy shadows to hold someone? You know, without using the death portion of it.”

He chuckled. “Yes, of course.” He waved his hand over Joel. Wispy black shadows emerged again, only this time they were long and thin. They wrapped around Joel’s neck, waist, and feet before lifting him up and holding him against the nearest wall.

“Wow. You must be quite the hit with the ladies.” I glanced over at him.

“Let me know when you want to find out,” he replied with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Joel. “Only in your wildest dreams, Your Highness.”

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