Page 22 of Shadows of Fate

I reached up and grabbed the back of his head by the hair to pull him up. “I’m not going to kill you, Joel. I’m going to demolish you.” I dropped the dagger to the floor and shoved two of my fingers into the new hole in his torso, pulling on his rib bone again. Holding his hair tight, I reached up and started licking the tears from his face as he screamed.

After a few moments of this, I pulled away and his head flopped back down to his chest. The male had no fight left whatsoever and it was sadly easy to break him.

“Do you know what the point of it all is, Joel? What is the goal?” I asked.

He was trying to catch his breath, so I let him while I picked my dagger up off the floor.

“The head guy—I don’t know who he is! They always just call him The Victor. But someone said he was trying to breed with the female vampires. But that was just a rumor. We just think it’s to create chaos, ya know? He wants to shake things up and have vampires rule over everyone again like the old days with the vampire king.”

Looking over at Raiden, he doesn’t look confused by this news at all. “Breeding?” I asked him.

Raiden finally spoke. “Born vampires are real, but they’re incredibly rare. There are only a few lines left, and they’re heavily guarded. Rarely seen before they take over as head of their family. Before, many centuries ago, they were the rulers of the courts. The families who formed the courts were pure-blooded vampires. None of them have been seen for many centuries, though. There are other families who have born children, of course, but it was typically the royalty that people took note of.”

“News to me,” I muttered before turning my attention back to Joel. “Well, Joel, this really has been fun for me, but I’m over it.”

I pulled out my second dagger from my boot and shoved it between two of his upper right ribs until it jammed into his lung. “Good things vampires don’t actually need to breathe, right? Although I imagine it’s a bit uncomfortable. Most of us don’t actually learn how to cope without oxygen.”

Joel was trying to gasp for breath, but since only one lung was able to inflate, it sounded like it was a bit painful. Taking out my other dagger, I stabbed him in the side of the throat through his trachea. “Are we having fun yet, Joel?” His eyes were squeezed shut as his head smacked against the wall behind him.

I sighed, realizing he couldn’t scream anymore. It was sort of pointless and I was hungry. Drinking vampire blood doesn’t quench your hunger unless it’s from your mate. At least that’s what I’d always heard. I reached up to the dagger in Joel’s throat and ripped it straight through toward me, so it cut his throat in half. Warm and sticky blood splashed over my face and chest as Joel stopped making obnoxious grunting sounds. Maybe his body finally gave out.

Taking the dagger and stabbing him in the heart for good measure, I took a step back, admiring my handy work. Raiden’s shadows were still holding him to the wall. “I almost wish he wasn’t hurt before. His inability to heal quickly took quite a bit of fun out of it for me. Anyway—you good to clean this up? Death shadows and shit?”

I pulled my other dagger from his body, placing them both back in my boots, and started to head toward the door.

“What happened to the girl? The one from the story,” Raiden asked from behind me.

I turned around to look at him, blood splattered all over my face. I knew I probably looked exactly like the crazed killer he thought he was after. “She died, My Lord. But then she was reborn with claws and teeth. She was reborn without the same morals that held her back before. Now she doesn’t cry—she just kills. They created the monster they always wanted.”

I started walking toward the entrance of the room, I needed to bathe. I hated the feeling of blood in my hair.

“Did I not earn your name, my ice queen?” he called out before I could exit.

I smiled slightly. Of course he wouldn’t give up that easily. I turned over my shoulder, looking at him as he stood next to what was left of Joel’s body, his shadows slowly devouring it. He was a bit crazy under that calm exterior after all.

“Silvana.” With that, I walked out.

Chapter13

No Defense

Raiden

Iwatched her leave, and I let her—for now.

Waving a hand over Joel, my shadows left him behind like the pile of dust he deserved to be. She was right, I realized, the more her words bounced around in my mind—my magic was more death than just shadows.

Silvana. The name suited her.

With the males left behind, I realized quickly that I had some business to attend to downstairs. Walking back down to the main floor, I already knew that my streak of silver ice was long gone. I did glance around for a head of dark hair, though. Having to leave Micah back at the manor with Allie wasn’t ideal, but thankfully I’d thought ahead enough to bring Bastian.

Micah would be proud of me for not coming here alone.

Spotting his tall, broad form in the masses of people was easy for me. Being only slightly shorter than I was, Bastian had a dark olive complexion and moss-green eyes. His features were sharp, and his chocolate brown hair was kept cut close to his scalp. Where Micah was not only my best friend, but my second-in-command, Bastian, was my third. He trained and led my Shadow Brigade, but he was also a close friend.

I trusted them both with my life.

Bastian possessed shadow magic, like many in my court. However, where my magic could outright kill, his magic was able to craft weapons and shields made of pure ebony shadows. Which made him even better suited as my general than most would be.

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