Page 64 of Shadows of Fate

“Anything else you want to add, Delano?” I asked, irritated.

He stared at me before smiling. “You can go wherever you think will help and ask whomever you want, Silvana. But nothing can save him, and no one can stop Master from obtaining you again.”

Master.

I cringed and walked closer to his dangling body. “What did you just say?” I whispered.

“You heard me, Silvana. Nothing can stop him. He’s coming for you, and he won’t stop until you’re back where you belong.” I saw red, a haze fell over me at his words.Master. It made my insides crawl. That’s what he had us call him. I pulled my dagger from his gut, but before I could rip his throat out, Cedar was there. His arms wrapped around me as he pulled me away from Delano.

“Don’t. I know what you’re thinking. Don’t kill him. Not yet. Let him hang here for a bit. I won’t let anything happen to you, Silvana,” he whispered in my ear.

I started counting backward—something I used to do when I’d first woken up in the middle of the snow-covered forest. I had to find Raiden, that was all that mattered. I forced my body to relax against Cedar’s hold until he let go.

“I’ll be back for you, Delano. Only next time, my mate will be with me,” I growled.

Delano paled and I could have sworn he looked scared as I walked back up the stairs and away from his bloody body.

Chapter33

Red Everywhere

Raiden

Walking back to my house from the dock, I was feeling good. I’d finished up the work for the day with Father and told him I’d stay behind to sell the fish we’d caught that morning. He was getting tired much easier these days, and if I could pick up any slack for him, I would in a heartbeat.

I’d been able to get a good price from the fish marketers. One of them had brought their daughter with them, Colette. She was beautiful—a tiny blonde with a smart mouth and sparkles in her green eyes when she looked up at me. Father teased me because we clearly liked each other, but I knew her father wouldn’t approve until she finished school.

That was fine, I could wait. She was a year younger than me and only had one more winter before she was finished.

Father liked to joke with her father that one day our fish empires would join together as one family—catching and selling the fish, and we’d take over the Darkmoor seaport. Colette and I just laughed at the old men, but it wasn’t a horrible idea. I could see a life with her like my father and mother had.

Simple and happy.

Shaking my head clear of such dreams, I walked the path I’d been down almost every day of my life, my home coming into view quickly. Stopping suddenly, I looked behind me, I could have sworn I saw someone next to me in my peripheral view. A shock of silver—but no one was there.

Laughing to myself, I started up the stairs, nothing else on my mind but that I was bringing home more money than I expected, when I stopped just short of the front door.

It was cracked open, which was strange. Father was meticulous about keeping the door closed firmly—especially when Mother and Ophelia were home.

I slowly pushed it open, the old wood creaking as it swung and hit the wall behind it. The house was as silent as the dead, a foreboding feeling working its way up my spine.

“Mother? Father?” I yelled as I stepped over the threshold. I walked through our living room and found no one. A sense of unease was growing in the pit of my stomach. “Ophelia?”

Nothing. No sounds.

I walked into the kitchen, and all I could see was red.

Red everywhere. Red so dark it was almost black—everywhere it shouldn’t have been. The cabinets, the countertops, the floors, the table. There in the doorway, at my feet, was my baby sister. Covered in red.

I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face, and pulled her limp body to my chest. She was so cold, her skin sticky and smelling like copper.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you, Phillie. I’ve got you,” I whispered against her dark hair.

* * *

Iblinked my eyes a few times, trying to take in my surroundings, and shook off the dreams of my past that chose to haunt me. My eyelids felt extremely heavy, and I was having a hard time focusing on what was around me. Thankfully my memories didn’t seem affected by the drug Delano had put on the shadow stone blade. I knew exactly what happened, but I could feel my shadows again. Although not much. The normal writhing tendrils beneath my skin felt like a small stream at the moment. As if the ever-growing power that itched to escape me was currently taking a nap.

Taking a slow inventory of my body seemed like an easier thing to do with my eyes closed, so that’s what I chose to do instead.

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