Page 45 of Shadows of Fate

“They don’t. They’re down there all night looking for men and women who want to join their ranks! The army is recruiting or something.”

I normally did my best to stay in the corner of the tavern and not draw even a drop of attention my way. It made it easier to eavesdrop and find leads on who killed them all.

The two males down the bar from me? They didn’t share the same affliction, apparently. The two of them were more than happy to let the entire tavern hear what they were talking about. So, I wasn’t shocked when another male rose from his chair, a menacing look in his eye.

“We don’t need no talk about those undead fuckers in this place. Take it somewhere else,” he growled and pointed to the door.

The two males at the bar looked at each other for a moment, before the first turned around and stood in front of the angry one.

“Why should I? You don’t think living forever would be nice? And I hear they’re strong as hell, and I know quite a few fuckers I’d love to off without a trace. Ya with me?” He laughed and smacked his friend’s arm as he joined in on the joke.

The angry man wasn’t having it, though. He stepped in closer and if it were me, I would’ve sat back down. But maybe Aldo had served this man too much of his piss beer because he just wasn’t taking the hint.

“If you want to sell your soul to the undead bloodsuckers, be my guest. But do it quietly while the rest of us enjoy our dinner.” His voice was menacing, and maybe the first male had finally gotten the hint because he sat back on his stool and turned around toward the bar without another word.

Shaking my head, I turned back to my beer. The beer that I didn’t need to be drinking. I needed to be out on the streets, looking for anything that may lead me in the right direction.

“I was just saying, if I had the power to not let anyone fuck with me? Why wouldn’t you take that?” the male said to his friend quietly. His friend shrugged in clear agreement, but they seemed to drop the conversation there.

I hadn’t been down to the docks since a week after I’d last worked with my father. I tried to go down and get some work done—even devastated and heartbroken, I knew I had to eat. But just the sound of the waves crashing against the old wood made my stomach tighten. I couldn’t make it any closer.

I’d talked to one of the fish merchants my father had befriended and asked him to sell all my father’s fishing gear. He’d split the profits with me, and I had tried to stay far away from there since.

I was a coward—I realized quickly. An absolute coward.

I threw some coin down on the bartop for Aldo and began forcing my feet toward the docks.

* * *

Leaned back in my office chair, it was taking every ounce of willpower not to spiral. I truly hadn’t felt like that since before I decided to meet V at the docks all those years ago.

I looked around the room I’d decided to hold myself hostage in. My office was just like the rest of the manor—dark colors with velvet upholstered furniture. My desk was made of a dark wood, almost black, with gold finishes. Timeless elegance. The windows to my left looked out onto the gardens. Part of me felt like I’d been staring out at this view just to torture myself more. This office was the last place I wanted to be right now, but I’d decided it was better to distract myself with work—and torture myself, apparently—than it was to focus on the fact that I hadn’t seen her since she walked away from me in that same forest outside my window.

I’d let Bastian and Micah talk everything over with Cedar, giving him the letter for Paine, the information he needed on where to go, what we needed to know, and how he was to report back, that sort of thing. It was mostly them who came up with the plans anyway. I just gave approval when needed.

Thankfully, my men didn’t need me right now.

Was I being a coward? Potentially, yes. But I was also trying not to push her. I’d made my stance on it all clear. I wanted her with every fiber of my being. I’d do anything for her. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so there I sat. In my high-back black velvet chair, at my desk, with a glass full of blood and no idea where to go from there.

I hadn’t felt like a coward in over six hundred years, yet there I was. Hiding from a small vicious female that the Fates had decided to tie me to. What a lovely joke in the grand scheme of things.

A knock on the door brought me out of my brooding state. I cleared my throat before releasing a few shadows to swing the door open.

A tall male with deep tawny-colored skin and chocolate brown eyes walked into my office. His gaze quickly went over the room, as if he’d been trained to note all the windows, doors, and possible exits. He had a deep scar that went from his brow and down the side of his face that could’ve only been left on a vampire of his power with a shadow stone blade. Interesting.

I knew immediately that he was Cedar. He gave off the aura of protection that my ice queen had told me about the night we’d stood in the garden under the moonlight, talking until just before the sun rose. I wasn’t sure how that had only been two evenings ago, but somehow it had.

I nodded my head toward the male across the room from me and waved my hand toward the chair in front of me, asking him to sit down.

“What can I do for you, Cedar?” I asked, my tone pleasant but firm.

Cedar shut the door behind him before sitting in the chair I’d offered. He leaned back, his legs wide. By all accounts, he looked comfortable. But I knew better. This male was ready for anything that may come his way.

“It’s come to my attention that you believe you and Silvana are mates,” he said plainly. I liked that, a male who just jumped right to the point without the frills and niceties. The people in the court politics of Kostbare could learn some things from him. “Before you ask, she doesn’t know I’m here meeting with you,” he added on quickly.

“I wasn’t going to ask, honestly.”

Cedar nodded slowly. “Good. That’s a point in your favor.”

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