Page 1 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood (Of Fae and Wolf Trilogy #2)

Chapter One

Briar

A bitter smell filled my nose, and my stomach roiled. The sound of heavy, frantic footsteps rushing away pulled at my consciousness, but when I tried to open my eyes, the world spun and bile inched up my throat.

What the hell? Had I drunk too much? Ember, what’s going on?

I tried to pack link to my older sister.

But then I noticed that the warmth of our pack link bond was muted.

..and everything crashed back over me—being kidnapped and swept into another realm.

Then thrown into deadly bridal trials where contestants didn’t hesitate to murder each other in an attempt to survive and gain favor with both the Shadow and Aureline Councils to wed the Shadow Prince.

Vad .

At the ball, he’d asked me to be his queen.

The breeze shifted, and the floral perfume of lilies mixed with the coppery tang of blood. The scent was so strong I could taste it.

It was still nighttime. I was on the ground, one arm outstretched.

I tried to move my hand, but it wouldn’t budge.

My fingers seemed to be wrapped around a wooden handle.

Thick liquid soaked my gown, hot near my hand and sleeve but cooling as it reached my chest and side, and a strange arm was wrapped around me, cold fingers pressed to my shoulder.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, burning off some of the haze, and I finally managed to open my eyes.

My stomach dropped.

In the shadows of what I thought might be a garden, King Merrick lay beside me, dressed in his black royal surcoat with silver embellishments. I lay next to him with my hand....

Oh Fate. No.

My fingers were wrapped around the handle of a...a dagger that was lodged in his chest, left of center, barely shy of his heart.

A strangled scream ripped from me.

What the fuck ?

“Help! The king needs help!” I shouted. I tried to push myself up, my bare feet scrabbling on the slick stone, but I got no traction. Instead, I slid in the blood that coated my entire side.

My heart twisted. I had to put pressure on his wound. The blade needed to remain in place until a physician could oversee its removal, or it could worsen the bleeding and his condition.

I placed my free hand against the marble, needing extra help to get onto my knees. As I rose, a sickening squelch sounded, and my other hand pulled out the dagger like it was attached to me. My heart dropped into my stomach.

And then the entire nightmare came to light.

Dark blood spurted from the gaping wound and poured onto the pathway. A sharp hiss escaped the king’s chest, wet and wrong, like something tearing open.

The king’s dark blue eyes met mine, and my throat tightened. He was in even worse shape than I had feared.

Eyes glassy and lips pale, he lifted a hand and dropped it to his chest like he was beckoning me to come near.

I dropped to my knees beside him and lowered my head, just as his tongue ran over his lips as if they were parched.

His next breath came with a horrible sucking sound, as if air was being pulled through his wound.

Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. "L-l-lilies," he gurgled weakly.

A scream tore through me as I pressed my free palm over his wound. Despite the pressure, my wolf ears picked up on his weakening heart. As if Fate were taunting me, thick blood pulsed against my hand, slower and slower, and not due to the pressure.

I tried to drop the dagger so I could better help the king, but my fingers remained wrapped around the handle.

A weird, smooth, dark rope bound it to my hand.

It looked like it was made of ordinary fibers, but it felt like a snake, and when I tried to shake it off, a prickling and pinching sensation at every point of contact consumed me.

My heart nearly stopped. This had to be some sort of awful nightmare. One I needed to wake from.

My wolf within surged forward, sensing danger. She was right, though I couldn’t panic. I needed to stay as calm as possible.

Breathing through my mouth, I studied the dagger. It was half the length of my forearm, the metal blade slick with blood with faint traces of iridescent green on the blade.

The strange black cord around my hand turned iridescent, then gray, then faded. The dagger clattered to the blood-soaked ground and splattered in an arc of thick red droplets.

Footsteps pounded again, this time coming toward me.

I whimpered as my vision blurred. “Please, hold on. They’re almost here.” His face had gone deathly pale, but his eyes remained fixed on me as he tried again to form words. His fingers twitched like he wanted to communicate but couldn’t. Nothing but rasping breaths escaped him.

I pressed both hands firmly against his chest as I leaned in.

His lips parted, but his throat worked uselessly. Another breath rattled from him, shallow and ragged.

“No,” I whispered. My arms trembled, but I didn’t move. I could still make out the faint pulses of his heart. Tears spilled down my cheeks. "Hold on."

The footsteps were louder now. Voices echoed behind me, but I couldn’t make out the words. I didn’t dare look away. Blood was smeared over the front of my gown, thick and clinging. My knees burned where they’d hit the stone, and my hands ached from how hard I was pressing.

He was still breathing. Barely. Just barely. "Help! He needs help," I sobbed.

Guards flanked me and seized me by the arms. Their black armor chilled my skin as they hauled me back, ripping my hands from the king's chest.

No . Now there was no pressure on his wound. I thrashed against them and got free, then dropped back beside him and put my hands back on his chest.

Once again, strong hands gripped my arms, the fingers digging hard into my skin. The guards ripped me backward away from the king once more.

“Save him! Someone stabbed him. His heart is barely beating. Save him, please!” I jerked, trying to break free once more.

The heartbeat became no more than a soft, fading thrum, yet each beat cut deep. He'd have had a better chance of living if I hadn't pulled the dagger out. Accident or not, it didn't matter.

Vomit burned my throat. "He needs a physician now !" My voice broke.

Heavy footsteps thundered closer, then halted.

I looked up and saw...Vad. Dark hair streaming wildly over his shoulders, he stared down at his father.

That inexplicable tug in my chest intensified, but I fought it.

My pulse quickened as terror sickened me.

What would he do to me? Whoever had framed me had given me no hope of an alibi.

His head snapped up, and his rage-filled storm-gray eyes locked with mine.

A knot formed in my throat as the world slowed around us.

His sculpted jaw clenched, and a muscle jumped.

“Stop!” He stepped forward, then fell to his knees.

His voice was hoarse. “Stop, let her go. Briar! Guards, unhand her now . Let her speak. Briar, what happened?”

His words snarled in my head, tangling in a mass of rage and confusion. I wanted to tell him that I'd found his father like this, beg him not to hate me, but I didn’t have a chance. I tried harder to break free, but the guards continued to drag me away.

My bare feet scraped the marble, slipping in the cold, congealing blood as if it were oil. The air smelled bitter and bloody, and a cloying scent covered the perfume of the lilies.

The pool of Vad’s father's blood was so large that it was mere inches from reaching Vad’s feet despite the space between them. Vad tried to clamber to his feet, staggering, and stretched out his hands, either toward me or the king, as the guards continued to pull me away.

Two figures resembling reapers materialized from the shadows and crossed in front of Vad, one robed in dark gray and one in light. Council members.

The light gray reaper placed a hand on Vad’s shoulder, holding him back. Vad sneered and took in a shaky breath.

A sob ripped from my chest. The guards dragged me to the edge of the garden, and Vad’s wild gaze snapped from the council members back to me. His eyes darkened.

My heart shattered more than I’d ever imagined possible. Of course. Why wouldn’t he think I’d done it? Whoever had killed the king had set me up perfectly.

Dark shadows slicked from the guards’ hands, and cold magic brushed my skin.

Shadows thickened around me. My lungs froze.

What the hell were they doing? The sensation was similar to what it felt like when I and the other bride contestants had been portaled to our trials through the sigil of the Shadow Kingdom, but only marble was below us now.

“I need to talk to her, right now,” Vad screamed, and the world swirled in grays.

All at once, the gray disappeared, and my feet grated against a coarse stone floor. My nostrils burned from the horrible stench of mold, rot, and blood.

The guards heaved me forward with a grip so tight that the metal of their armor pinched my skin. I had no clue where these twatwaffles were taking me, but if I went there, I’d likely wind up dead or severely injured.

I thrashed, struggling to break free, my wolf howling in my head. I tried to yank their gloves off and break through the metal, but nothing bothered them. They didn’t miss a step.

The joints were the weakest points of their gauntlets, but I couldn’t get a good grip.

The strange new warmth within me flared, and my skin prickled.

Fae magic.

My skin crawled, and I yelped, staring at my arms, expecting them to be covered in bugs.

They were bare. Yet the sensation intensified, and I jerked around, trying to stop the feeling.

Where were the bugs coming from? I couldn’t see anything but a broad hall with dark stone walls, greasy sputtering torches, and a jagged stone ceiling.