Page 8 of Shadows of Fate

The court system wasn’t perfect. Kostbare was ruled by four courts—the Court of Shadows, Wolves, Ravens, and Ice. The rulers of each court came together forming a council, but they each ruled over their respective courts only coming together for something that involved the entirety of the region. Then each court ruled over a set of covens that were smaller groups watching over the towns throughout. Each coven reported back to the ruler of their respective court.

If the humans being turned had proof they were turned against their will, it was a problem. Even worse was the outcome if the rulers of the four courts were called in.

Humans worked with the courts now, and they had rights. They weren’t slaves and hadn’t been for hundreds of years now. I’d heard of the court rulers wiping out entire covens of vampires if they couldn’t exist within the laws and help uphold and protect the humans in their territories.

“So, what’s being done about it?” I asked Cedar. “Is the Court of Shadows ruler calling in his fancy Shadow Brigade to handle things?”

I’d heard legends about the ruler of the Court of Shadows, none of them good or optimistic. There was a reason he’d been in charge here for over three hundred years. He used his shadow magic first and used it ruthlessly. He was the last male I needed to be around.

“Well, I’m not sure,” Cedar said cautiously. My stomach dropped at this news. “Part of me wonders if the rulers of the courts are even aware it’s happening, Silv. I think someone higher up is covering for them.”

“How do you know about it then?” I asked curiously.

Typically, when Cedar handed me a job over to me, it was because he’d learned about it through the covens we’d built relationships with. We were experts at taking out problematic vampires before the court rulers needed to be called in.

Sorrow passed through Cedar’s dark eyes. “Dryden’s daughter was taken. He hasn’t gone to any of the leaders, because he’s worried about it being taken to the top. He has other kids to worry about, Silv, but he’s asked around the docks and, apparently, she isn’t the first to end up gone.”

Dryden was one of the dock workers that Cedar had become close with over the last few years. He’s a human, and while most humans are wary of us, Dryden had always been kind. His wife passed on a few years ago, leaving him behind with five children to care for.

Cedar sat down in the high-back chair behind him and eyed me carefully before he shrugged. “I know if anyone can find out what’s going on, it’s you.”

I stared down at him for a moment and started pacing the worn-in wooden floor beneath my feet.

“I guess I’m going hunting,” I stated plainly.

Chapter6

Smoldering Body

Raiden

Iwas seated in a small booth in the corner of The Arcane Theater, a glass tumbler of bourbon in my hand. I could feel the shadows under my skin itching to be released. They echoed beneath my chest when I was in large groups like this.

Swirling the amber liquid in my glass around lazily, I watched people dancing and fucking around in the dim light of the tavern. No one could see me—not if they didn’t know where to look. Disappearing into dark corners such as this was one of my specialties.

By all appearances, it would seem as if I was enjoying an evening out. If this were a perfect world, appearances would be correct. But it wasn’t a perfect world. Instead, I was here with a singular purpose in mind; some might even call it a hunt. A hunt may be a more accurate statement since my main goal involved a few questions and then a painful death.

I glanced over as the seat beside me was taken by Micah. His sandy blond hair disheveled as if he’d run his hands through it a few too many times. His emerald-green eyes were bright as he took in those surrounding us in the dark space.

He settled back into his seat after a moment and turned his head toward me. “You were supposed to wait for me.” If anyone else had come looking for me, they wouldn’t have found me. However, when you spend five hundred years with someone and they have the ability to read emotions and intentions, it isn’t easy to hide from them. They seem to know your emotional signature, or whatever nonsense Micah spouts about his magic. I genuinely didn’t understand it all the time, or exactly how it worked. He’d explained it to me on multiple occasions, but it differed so greatly from my own that it was hard for me to grasp.

I looked away from him and back toward the middle of the tavern, shrugging off his reproach.

The Arcane Theater was a building that at one time matched its name. The high vaulted ceilings and large stone columns of deep gold spelled out a regal taste. The floors were made from white marble and every angle you cast your gaze screamed elegance. Thousands of candles lit the open space, which only added to the sense of sensuality it wanted to exude.

At one point in time, it housed and showed off some of the most talented performers in all of Kostbare. Now, however, it was more of a distinguished tavern with less-known musical performers, dancing, drinks of all natures, and sex.

I could feel Micah’s eyes staring toward the side of my head, waiting for a response that I didn’t feel I needed to give. After a moment, though, I conceded. It wouldn’t do well for my plans tonight to infuriate my second-in-command.

“You and I both know they’ll strike again tonight. If I’m here, I have a higher chance of finding them than if I sit at the manor with my feet up waiting for those I lord over to do so for me.” My teeth ground together and my fangs ached with the thought of ripping someone’s throat open.

“Raiden, I understand that. But I still think it’s in poor taste for the leader of the Court of Shadows to be out of his home, alone, hunting down criminals. This isn’t your job—not anymore.” His tone was gentle as if I needed to be coddled.

I whipped my head in his direction and my shadows writhed beneath my skin, matching my anger.

“If it’s not my job and responsibility to keep those in my court safe, then what exactly is my job, Micah? Please explain this to me.”

“You taking out every male vampire who hurts a young woman won’t bring Ophelia back. It wouldn’t six hundred years ago, and it won’t now. If something happens to you, all the work we’ve been doing lately will be for nothing. You know this. There is no one else,” he said, his voice short and clipped. I knew he was trying not to draw attention to us as we had this conversation, but it wasn’t working with my darkening mood, and the shadows escaping my body.

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