Page 30 of Shadows of Fate

I sighed. “Fine. The plan is simple. She’ll be here before sunrise, we’re going to figure out where exactly the Eternal Outcasts are running this operation in my court, and then we’re going to fix it. While doing all of the above, I’ll make her fall madly in love with me and she’ll never want to leave. Sound more thorough to you?”

Micah was still chuckling under his breath, and I truly wanted to throw something at his head. Shaking his head, he finally sat in the chair next to me.

“At least with her next to you, I don’t have to worry as much about you venturing the city streets alone,” he said between fits of laughter.

The thought of needing to worry about my own security was laughable at this point. There had been many days lately when I felt as if this was all just a big show. All some sort of joke—thesecourts.

The drama. The intrigue. It seemed to be more about power and money lately, than bettering the lives of the vampires and humans in our care, and I was tired of it. When I’d taken over the seat of power in the Court of Shadows, my sire told me the only thing that truly mattered at the end of it all was humans and vampires living simultaneously in harmony. We couldn’t live without them, and the quicker we realized that the easier our lives would continue to be.

Micah quieted down and gave me a careful look. “I just worry about you, Raiden. Not as your second. More so as your best friend. I worry about the risks you take and some of the rifts and waves you’re beginning to make within the courts.”

I smirked and looked back toward the view of Darkmoor. He was referring to the trouble I was starting with the Court of Ice. Their ruler had been in power for a long time. He was rarely seen outside of his court, and that seemed to suit him fine for the last hundred or so years. But rumors were starting to come down his mountain about how his inner court was being run—not all of us were thrilled by what we were hearing. Especially not me.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he was The Victor they’d all been talking about, but I wouldn’t voice those thoughts until I had more proof. I didn’t want to push war upon my court unless it was absolutely necessary.

I shrugged off what Micah was saying and changed the subject. I wasn’t worried about the other courts. At least not at the moment. I had enough going on in my own court to deal with first.

“Any word from our people?”

Micah eyed me for a moment, his face telling me all he needed to say:this conversation wasn’t over.

“Actually, yes. Your female is a ghost. I know next to nothing about her, even with her name and the drawing you made. People have seen her, of course, but no one knows where she came from. There are no records of who sired her, her family, nothing. We have plenty of information on her friend Cedar, but nothing connects him to a female until a little less than a hundred years ago.” Micah shrugged as if this news didn’t shock him given what we’ve learned about Silvana thus far. “As far as the missing, I think your theory is accurate. Given what I found on the missing women, those I could track down, of course, they have vampire genes within the last five generations of their family lines.”

I nodded my head at this and then glanced back up at Micah. He was staring at me as if he had more to say but was hesitating. “What is it?” I tried to keep my voice patient, but at the same time, I wasn’t. I could always tell when something was up with him.

“I received a letter from Paine and Arabella this morning.” He pulled out a piece of parchment from the ruler of the Court of Ravens from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to me, a worried look on his face.

I looked down at the letter in my hand, already wondering why they went through this route of communicating instead of coming here, and began to read it over?—

* * *

My dearest empath,

I hope this finds you well. Normally I wouldn’t do it this way, but with the contents, we can never be too careful these days. I need you to pass a message on to our holy darkness—he’ll know what it means.

The world isn’t what it seems, make haste on your search. The ice queen is the key to what you need to know, but she won’t divulge willingly. She has many secrets to keep in the dark, more so than any of us can fathom. I’ve consulted with those who know more than I and they all agree. Frost is coming in the darkness—remain enlightened. Keep those you trust close.

-Feathers

* * *

Iread the letter three more times before I looked back up at Micah. Handing it back to him, I looked him in the eye, so he knew I meant this with absolute certainty. “Burn it, don’t leave behind any ashes where it’ll be found.”

Micah blinked and slowly nodded his head before speaking. “I have no idea what he’s even saying, Raiden, do you? I’m assuming the ice queen refers to Silvana, given your nickname for the female. But the rest is open for interpretation.”

I leaned back in my chair, setting my chin back on my hand, running my finger over my bottom lip before looking back at him. “He’s saying that we don’t know everything we need to know, but we need to act anyway. Silvana is the key to what we need to know, but I can’t just jump down her throat. Not that I’d even be able to with her. But Keres is coming. He’s going to act—whether we’re ready or not. I’m going to assume that Paine has spoken to a visionary.”

Micah stared at me for a moment. No doubt trying to play catch-up in his mind. “How would the ruler of the Court of Ice even know about Silvana?”

“That’s why I think he’s found a visionary. I know they’re rare—I still can’t believe we found Allie. But it’s the only explanation I can come up with. I know he’s had one in his circle for many years, but I’ve never been sure how their magic works.” I took a deep breath before continuing with the next part that I knew he’d ask me about. “You and I both know that we don’t know anything about Silvana and her past. You just told me so. We don’t know how old she is or where she came from. We have no idea who sired her. Nothing, Micah. You know how unlikely that is. A vampire doesn’t come out of nowhere. So, her knowing something about Keres isn’t that far-fetched.”

“So, what do you want to do about it? Question her?”

“Absolutely not. At least not yet. Let’s get her here first. I’ll get closer to her, and we’ll figure it out.”

“Raiden, it’s clear she has ice magic and she’s angry; she could very easily have been sent by Keres himself. Have you thought about that?” He sounded worried, and I understood his concern, but I wasn’t interested in hearing it.

“It’s not up for discussion right now, Micah. I’ll handle it.” My voice was firm and left no room for argument. It was a rare occurrence when I did this, especially with Micah. But this was one thing I wouldn’t budge on.

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