Page 4 of Shadows of Fate

I grabbed his chin and pulled his face to look me in the eye. My face was completely serious. “Almost like you hurt Odette? Every single night? Breaking her? Bruising her?” I leaned in, running my nose down the column of his throat as I whispered, “Let me ask, Buttercup, did you ever force yourself on her too? Take what you believed rightly belonged to you? Treat her as property you believe is yours to claim? Because of what? Your fragile ego?”

Tears were streaming down his face as his entire body shook. I ripped his shirt open down the middle and tore my nails down his chest, leaving behind a trail of his blood. I inhaled roughly. “Oh, Buttercup, don’t worry now. I saved poor Odette, and you do smell delicious all wrapped up and ready for me.” He whimpered as I ran my tongue slowly along the cuts, licking the blood as I went. “Something about evil men just tastes so much better—do you know what I mean, Buttercup? Almost as if the bitter and fragile masculine ego you possess makes your blood taste more… spicy? I’m honestly not even sure how to describe it to you.”

He started crying harder. “Please don’t turn me. I’ll give you anything you want! I have coin! I know people!”

I almost choked on my laughter. This imbecile. I guess he figured out the vampire part. Technically our existence wasn’t a secret among humans. We lived in covens in major cities and did our best to stay apart from most of them. Although there were some who intermingled. Whether it was for blood or companionship.

Normally those humans were turned, but not always.

“Turn you? Do you think I would offer you such a gift? Absolutely not. But you will make a delectable dinner on my way out of town.”

His eyes widened. “A gift? You’re a monster!”

I crouched back in front of him. I had to look up to see his eyes at that angle, but that was fine with me. “Before I died, the only memories I can recall were of a man who claimed to love me… but every single night he showed me just how wrong that idea was. Love. I don’t know how it happened, and honestly, I don’t even care. All I know is I awoke as something better. Stronger. I was finally free. So maybe I’m a monster in your eyes, but in mine? I was given the gift of revenge and power.”

I rose back to my feet and sat down to straddle his lap while wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer. He actively tried to jerk himself away from me, but he was failing miserably. “So, you see, I’m going to relish the sound of your screams because this is my revenge just as much as it was Odette’s.” I leaned down into the crook of his neck and slowly licked his pulse point. “Make it sound good for me, Buttercup. I do love it when my food screams for me.”

Slowly running my fangs down his neck, I let them scrape hard enough to draw blood. I was right before; he still tasted fantastic. He was screaming at that point, trying with all his strength to shake me off his lap, but quickly he concluded that I was stronger than he was. He also wasn’t much of a match against my magic. I leaned back; my arms wrapped around him as if we were lovers.

“What do you think, Buttercup? Should I mind my manners and serve you up in a cup? Or drink straight from the source?” I tapped my index finger against my chin, as if deep in thought. I could tell by the way he was grinding his teeth together that he was trying to keep his snarky response to himself.

I sighed dramatically. “You’re boring me, Buttercup.”

I rose from his lap, and he let out a breath he’d been holding—as if it was finally okay for him to relax. I turned toward the cabinets in his kitchen and started to rummage through them.

“It makes sense why he hit you…” he muttered under his breath.

I stood up straight and peered down at him, my control starting to wane. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted to draw this out, but I felt myself teetering to that place in my mind I hated to go.

“What did you just say?”

He looked up at me, eyes widening for a moment—shocked I heard him. I could tell in his eyes when he decided it didn’t matter anymore. He knew he was going to die before the sun rose again.

“I said, I understand why whoever in your life before you became this monster, beat you. With that mouth, you were probably asking for it.” He shrugged, an air of indifference about him, and before I could think better of it, I was in his lap with his head in my hands. Only it was no longer attached to his neck.

I let out a deep breath as my vision cleared. “Now I’m going to have to find dinner elsewhere. Pathetic.”

Chapter4

I Suggest You Kneel

Raiden

My throne was uncomfortable.

It was made of solid shadow stone, which was dangerous on a good day, but today it was just uncomfortable and had me irritable.

I was leaning back in the onyx-colored torture device they called my throne, legs wide, arms resting on the sides, my face sitting on my clenched fist. The perfect picture of boredom. Sometimes, like today, being the ruler of an entire court wasn’t where I wanted to be. I missed training with my men. Being in the thick of it all—where it mattered.

However, I could tell that my favorite part was likely coming up soon. In front of me was a male that Micah, my second-in-command, had brought before me. The male had been caught trying to convince runaway girls to ‘join him on an adventure’. What he didn’t tell them was that the adventure was turning them into vampires and then leaving them in the sun to burn, while he watched safely from his home.

Truly, after over six hundred years in this realm, you’d think I’d have seen it all. Apparently, I had not, because this was new.

The male was currently presenting his case, going on and on about how it wasn’t his fault they didn’t wake in time to remove themselves from the sun. What sort of logic did this male possess? Not the type I wanted in my court—of that I was certain.

Letting out a loud and exaggerated sigh, I stared at him for a moment. The noise made him stumble over his words until he stopped speaking, realizing I was done listening.

My shadows were writhing beneath my skin, as they normally did when I felt any sort of intense emotion—right now it was aggravation.

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