Page 38 of Shadows of Fate

Silvana

Raiden and I returned inside to find everyone still in the library. We went over everything we knew together one more time and decided to wait until Cedar arrived so we could form a plan on where to go from there.

It turned out that once Bastian was in ‘general mode’ as I’d started calling it midway through the meeting, he was no-nonsense. It became quickly apparent why Raiden had taken him on as his general, as well as a friend.

While Bastian was all about getting his men into position and knowing exactly what he needed to ask, Micah somehow had all of the answers. The male knew everyone and everything, and I wasn’t even close to sure where he stored it all in his mind. He seemed so quiet when we’d first met, but once Raiden had finished talking, Micah stepped up and took over without a beat missed.

I was curious about all of them. How they came together, how old they were, where they came from, and if they had any gifts. That was also the most time I’d spent in the company of males I wasn’t killing since Cedar found me all those years ago.

Letting go of the sentimental thoughts flowing through my mind, I brought myself back to the present.

We desperately needed people on the inside who could find out where they were taking all these women—bringing them home was our first real objective and destroying their meeting places and hideouts was our second.

Bastian was contacting some of his people and calling them in to give them tasks on where to go and when to report back. We made sure to attach the appropriate names and locations from what Joel had given us. Raiden was writing his letter to send to the ruler of the Court of Ravens. Micah was talking to Allie about plans and the best way to get the women out safely from what she remembered Bazz and the others saying about where they were taking her.

All we could do had been done for the night, it seemed.

I glanced over at Raiden, trying to decide how much I wanted to push my luck. We’d been getting along shockingly well, and I found myself inexplicably drawn to him.

A part deep inside of my soul felt at home here, and that scared me. I’d never had a home—not a true one I could remember anyway. The one I did somewhat remember wasn’t anything I’d wish to remember, aside from my sister.

Letting out a breath and building up the nerve to stop second-guessing myself, I looked at the male beside me.

“So, My Lord, is that tour still on the agenda?” I asked.

He looked over at me, a smile on his face. “For you, My Queen? Absolutely.”

That fluttery feeling hit my stomach, and I smirked at the nickname. He folded his letter for Paine and set it with the rest of his notes from this evening. “I’ll need to stop by my room before we go, but then we can walk the grounds.”

“That’s one way to get her into bed,” Bastian said from across the table, a huge smirk on his face.

Raiden shook his head and didn’t comment.

As we got up and headed down the hall toward both of our rooms, I decided to ask, “So does everyone here know of your obsession?”

Raiden looked at me, confusion clear on his face. “My obsession?”

“Yeah. You know, with me? Is this how you get females into your bed when the whole ‘I’m the ruler of the whole court and really powerful’ bit doesn’t work? Just act all in love and obsessed?” I could feel the tension in his body rising the longer I spoke, but for some reason, I couldn’t seem to stop. I wasn’t normally the insecure female, but at the same time, I wasn’t normally around anyone who made me feel this way either.

Part of me was waiting for the facade he was putting on to drop, and I was worried it would drop when I finally fell for it. The routine I was sure he threw into the mix to keep his life interesting. I didn’t want to be another conquest he’d achieved. I didn’t know what I wanted if I was honest with myself.

Raiden didn’t reply. As we reached his chambers, he pushed the door open and put all of his notes from the meeting into the side table next to his bed. I took the moment to glance around his room and realized it matched mine perfectly, only it was flipped. That was when it truly hit me.

“You gave me the queen suite?” I asked.

He turned to look at me for a moment, and I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. It could have been annoyance or maybe exasperation. Whatever it was, a sick, twisted part of me was enjoying it.

“Well, I did tell you that you are my queen, did I not?” he growled, slowly walking toward me.

I took a step backward. “I thought that was a joke, to be honest.”

“You’ll find, Silvana, that I’m not much of a joker.” The way my name slipped from his mouth made my core clench again.

I cleared my throat, trying to change the topic before I did something insane, like stripping naked and lying across his bed like a good little slut. I honestly didn’t even know who this female was in my head. I’ve never met her, but fuck is she a fan of this male.

“So. The grounds?” I asked, my voice sounding slightly hoarse.

Raiden clenched his fist a few times and then nodded. “Follow me, my little ice queen.”

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