Page 13

Chapter 12

My Death Magic

Silvana

I glanced over at the male beside me. The male who just walked in after I’d killed one man and watched me torture another—sort of helped me torture another. Although, he also killed one of them.

The ruler of the Court of Shadows. I wasn’t really sure why he was there, and simultaneously I was curious if I should be more concerned about my future than I actually felt at the moment.

It unnerved me how comfortable I felt next to him. Aside from Cedar, I’m not sure I’d ever felt comfortable next to a male.

I glanced over at Joel, sprawled on the floor, dagger sticking out of the top of his spine. He wasn’t dead—yet. I just figured I needed him still for a moment so I could collect myself. Maybe have a chat with the male next to me. Plus, the look on Joel’s face when he realized he wasn’t escaping was funny.

I walked over to Bazz and smiled at my handy work with him, before looking up at the large male standing across the room from me—watching me. “So, can you do what you did to the doors, to these two?” I waved my hand from Bazz to the other dead one. Never did get his name. “It would really save me on cleanup.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me and then looked down at the two males. I felt his power before I saw it. Dark obsidian shadows crept from his hands toward the floor and then over the top of the two bodies. It was only moments before they were covered completely in the darkness, and when the shadows retreated back toward their owner, all that remained was dust.

My head tilted to the left a bit as I looked over what used to be two very large bodies. “Has anyone ever told you that you should call it death magic instead of shadow magic?” I asked, genuinely curious.

A smile curved along his face before he finally spoke. “I can’t say they have, my little ice queen. But honestly, most that see it in action don’t live long enough to give me feedback and thoughts on what I should call it.”

His little ice queen? That was the second time he’d called me that. The way it made my chest feel warm was not a feeling I was interested in pursuing at the moment, possibly ever.

“Hm. Well, they should. I get the shadow part, but the death part seems more… relevant in the grand scheme of things.” I shrugged and walked over toward Joel. “But thanks for your help. I do appreciate it. I’m going to be staying with this one for a bit, and I’ll let you know what I find out. If you’re interested, I mean.”

Was I seriously stumbling over my words? Internally, I rolled my eyes at myself. Externally, I did my best to appear uninterested. I didn’t need to be his anything. I was on a mission, one that had no time for the fluttery feelings that this brooding male was bringing about in my chest.

Thinking back to what Allie said about us being connected made me internally cringe. I didn’t want to be connected to any male, especially one that made my insides feel the way they currently were. That was a slippery slope I had no interest in sliding down.

He walked over to my side and looked down at Joel. “I’ll stay. Pretend I’m not even here.”

I let out a long breath. “Mhm, because that’ll be easy,” I muttered. I knew he could hear me, but I wasn’t looking to talk about it any further than what just slipped from my lips. He was the ruler of the entire damn court, so it wasn’t like I could just tell him to fuck off. Well, I could. But that wouldn’t help my case.

With the giant male standing next to me, I came to the realization that he truly seemed to be staying. That was fine. But then it struck me. “I don’t even know your name.”

He looked down at me for a moment before speaking. “Those close to me call me Raiden.”

“What does everyone else call you?” I found myself asking.

He smirked. “I’m not sure. My death magic, as you so kindly called it, doesn’t allow me to commune with the dead.”

“Oh, for the love of the Fates. No My Lord? My Liege? My King?” I was unable to keep my sarcasm at bay in front of this male, apparently.

The stupid smirk on his face just grew as I rambled. “Are you in the mood to bow, my ice queen? I do imagine you’ll look fantastic on your knees before me.”

I felt the blush creep up my neck and immediately turned away from him before it could reach my cheeks. I didn’t even recall what I was doing, that’s how flustered this male suddenly had me. I’d been doing nothing but killing men for almost a hundred years, and one tall, dark, and handsome ass walked through the doors he disintegrated and suddenly I was a puddle of slutty goo. No thank you.

“Does this mean I finally get to hear your name?” he said from behind me.

I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face him again, blush be damned. “Excuse me? What do you mean finally? Have you been watching me?”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t news to him and I shouldn’t care. “You looked quite stunning in red, especially wielding that knife.” I thought back and realized he saw me the night I killed Rogan. He didn’t stop me, and part of me wondered if he was out looking into the disappearances after all.

“What were you doing following me?” I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral. Having him on my side could expedite my goal. That was clearly the only reason I was curious.

He stared at me for a moment. Part of me wondered if he was choosing how much to tell me. “I’ve been looking into the vampires who have been abducting females, along with the one who is dropping dead male vampires all around my court. I feel as if I’ve figured out the second mystery. And while I have many in my court on the disappearances, it bothers me to stay outside of the action when I could be on the ground helping look for them and finding information. That’s why I was at The Arcane Theater that night. I followed you into the alley to ensure he wasn’t going to try to hurt you. Imagine my surprise when instead, I had quite the show. You wielding those daggers in a barely-there blood-red dress? Begging me to take you then and there.”

I arched a brow at him. “I was in the midst of killing one of your subjects.”

He smiled, but it was anything but playful. “Yes, and he would’ve been just as dead had I taken you next to his body.”

My thighs clenched together, and I turned away again before he could see how much his comment was affecting me. I shouldn’t have been affected, though. He wanted to fuck me on the dirty alleyway ground next to a dead body. This male was insane.

Nevertheless, instead of insulting him or showing how I truly felt, I slowly nodded my head as I took everything he was saying in. It was more than I expected to get, I won’t lie. Deciding I clearly had a death wish, I smiled. “Earn it.”

“Earn what?” he grumbled.

“My name, of course,” I said with a cheeky smile.

“And how do I do that?” He didn’t sound angry or even annoyed. No, his voice had dropped half an octave—as if it were his favorite game he’d ever partaken in. Part of me, the insane and turned-on part, agreed. Maybe I just needed to get laid.

“Easy. Help me with that one.” I nodded my head over toward Joel. I could have easily done this on my own, but again. Maybe it would help me to have the ruler of the Court of Shadows on my side for this. He had resources that I couldn’t come close to possessing. I had Cedar—that was it. And while I loved Cedar, he sure as hell wasn’t the ruler of any court.

A smile lit up his face. “That I can happily do, my little ice queen.”

He walked over toward Joel and waved his hand in front of where the doors used to be. Thick black shadows filled the entryway. That solved the issue of being disturbed at least. Raiden leaned down and yanked my dagger out of Joel’s back and walked back toward me. Handing me the dagger, hilt side first, he winked.

“What’s next, My Queen?” he quietly growled.

His voice did highly inappropriate things to my insides. Honestly, so did him handing me a blade covered in someone else’s blood.

I cleared my throat and looked around the room for a chair. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be anything besides the bed and the couch. Looking over toward Raiden, a thought occurred to me.

“Are you capable of using your fancy shadows to hold someone? You know, without using the death portion of it.”

He chuckled. “Yes, of course.” He waved his hand over Joel. Wispy black shadows emerged again, only this time they were long and thin. They wrapped around Joel’s neck, waist, and feet before lifting him up and holding him against the nearest wall.

“Wow. You must be quite the hit with the ladies.” I glanced over at him.

“Let me know when you want to find out,” he replied with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Joel. “Only in your wildest dreams, Your Highness.”

“You’re right. Only it isn’t just my wildest ones—it’s in all of them as of late. You’re quite the main attraction while I rest.” His tone suggested he was being completely serious with me, and it took everything in my power not to turn and look at his face to ensure I was correct in my assumption. I had a male to torture and kill, I was not flirting with the ruler of the Court of Shadows right now.

I took that opportunity to smack Joel across the face, bringing him back to consciousness. He slowly blinked his eyes, trying to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. When his eyes finally opened fully and settled, he tried jerking against Raiden’s shadows. I was surprised when he wasn’t able to move at all. I wasn’t sure why I was shocked—the rumors of his power weren’t exactly a secret.

His back wouldn’t heal for a while yet, but I hit him low enough that it wouldn’t make a difference in him speaking to me.

Joel looked at me, his eyes wide and angry. “You bitch!! I told you what I knew. Let me go.” I noticed the shadows around his body slowly contract until Joel was screaming. They didn’t return to their previous spot until I heard a rib or two crack.

I glanced over at Raiden, an eyebrow raised in question, but he just shrugged. “They don’t respond well to you being insulted, it seems.”

“Oh, of course. Because the shadows having feelings and sentient thoughts was definitely what I was worried about tonight,” I replied.

“Oh, trust me, my ice queen. They are quite sentient and feel plenty.” He winked. He fucking winked. My throat felt dry suddenly and my core felt hot.

I cleared my throat, returning my attention to Joel. I smiled at the male. He was breathing heavily as his ribs slowly repaired themselves. The shadow blade being in his body for so long depleted a lot of his vampire abilities. It would take him longer to heal, which while funny, was inconvenient for torture.

Pulling out the dagger that had been launched into his spine, I held it up in front of Joel’s face. It was still covered in his blood. Once his eyes landed on the dagger, I slowly licked from the hilt to the tip of the blade, cleaning his blood off of it.

His eyes widened as he watched me. “Who the fuck are you?” Joel whispered.

When the blade was clean, I used it to slowly slit the front of his shirt down the middle. Surprisingly, the blade cut through the shadows with ease and I watched as they reformed after I passed through.

I glanced over at Raiden, while I picked my next words carefully. He was watching us both intently, and I knew it was because he had the same question.

Looking back at Joel, I smiled again. “I’ve been called many things, Joel. Crazy bitch is a common one, of course. Evil whore is another. Some call me an angel, a protector. But really, I’m just a female who’s had enough. Enough of the men in this world thinking they can stomp all over us and get away with it—again and again.” I took a breath and then ran the dagger down Joel’s chest. Just enough to draw blood and sting the fuck out of him. “I’m going to tell you a story, Joel, and I want you to listen closely, okay? It’s the last one you’ll ever hear after all.”

I unbuttoned his trousers and cut them down each thigh until they were hanging around his calves. He was trying to shake me off, but Raiden’s shadows were magnificent.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl. She lived in a town quite a way from here. She had a mother, a father, and a little sister. But one day, a man showed up at her door. He offered her father all the things he’d ever wanted. Money, jewels, land—you get it. In exchange he wanted his eldest daughter, so what was the father to do? He handed her over, of course.” The slice down his chest had finally started healing over, so I sliced two more lines on either side of the new scar. Joel gritted his teeth, and I smiled at the tears running down his face.

“Now, this male had secrets—don’t they all? He betrayed the girl’s parents. Instead of riches and gold, he took both the man’s daughters and then killed the man and his wife in their beds while they slept. He then took both the daughters to live with him in a faraway town covered in ice and frost, high in the mountaintops—never letting them leave.” I sighed and started carving small little lines up his sides as I continued my tale, ignoring his attempts to squirm and whimper.

“Once the girls were stuck in his home, his true colors came to light. They thought he was horrid before, but they had no idea what he was capable of. He wanted them to breed—the livestock had it better, Joel. Do you understand? The girl, she knew she was first, of course, being older. Her little sister hadn’t bled yet, so she had time before she’d be expected to perform.” I scoffed at the thought. “But the oldest girl, well, she was ready and ripe for the taking, as they say. Every night he’d come for her. At first, she just cried. Cried and cried and cried. Begged for her mother. Begged for death. Begged for salvation. But nothing came. Everyone in that castle heard her beg for help, but no one came. Do you know what that’s like, Joel? To scream and cry? To beg the Fates above to just make it all stop? Only to have absolutely no one answer you?”

I sliced him a little deeper between the ribs this time and shoved my index finger inside until I could feel his rib bones beneath my fingertip. He screamed louder, tears still rolling down his stained face. “Yeah, I’ll bet you do know what it’s like. At least now.”

Pulling my finger out, I licked the blood off, and he stopped screaming. Dropping his head to his chest, he started breathing heavier.

“So, Joel, are you sure you have nothing else to relay back to us? I’ve got all night, after all, and I want anything you can offer me on the group calling themselves the Eternal Outcasts.”

He started shaking his head and gritting his teeth. I sliced just under where his ribs ended. Then I shoved my first two fingers inside, curled them around his rib bone, and pulled them toward me beneath his skin. He screamed louder and smacked his head on the wall behind him.

“Okay, okay, okay! Fuck—please. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. P-please…” he said, whispering by the end.

I pulled my fingers from inside him, licking the blood off once more.

“You said they show up with wolf venom? What does that mean? I wasn’t aware wolves had venom to dose people up with,” I asked.

Joel was breathing heavily, apparently, he was not talented when it came to coping with pain. “It’s just what it’s called. It’s some sort of silver mixed with a tranquilizer drug. It was created in the Court of Wolves—hence the name. They used it to get high for a while in small doses, but we found out in higher doses it can knock a vampire on their asses for a full day.”

I glanced back at Raiden, his brow was furrowed, and his arms crossed over his chest as he listened. “So where do they go from here?” I asked.

“I swear to you, I don’t know.” I started to slice on the other side of his rib cage, and Joel started shaking. “No—no—no! Wait! I don’t know where they go, but I do know it isn’t just here. It’s in the other courts too! Wolves and Ravens for sure! I have some friends there working. Please, no more. Just kill me.” His head was dropped to his chest again, and I could smell the tears running down his face.

“We’re going to need names, Joel,” Raiden said from behind me.

Joel nodded quickly and started rattling off name after name. There were twelve in total, all the top people he’d worked with in the other courts.

“Are we good now?” Joel whimpered.

I reached up and grabbed the back of his head by the hair to pull him up. “I’m not going to kill you, Joel. I’m going to demolish you.” I dropped the dagger to the floor and shoved two of my fingers into the new hole in his torso, pulling on his rib bone again. Holding his hair tight, I reached up and started licking the tears from his face as he screamed.

After a few moments of this, I pulled away and his head flopped back down to his chest. The male had no fight left whatsoever and it was sadly easy to break him.

“Do you know what the point of it all is, Joel? What is the goal?” I asked.

He was trying to catch his breath, so I let him while I picked my dagger up off the floor.

“The head guy—I don’t know who he is! They always just call him The Victor. But someone said he was trying to breed with the female vampires. But that was just a rumor. We just think it’s to create chaos, ya know? He wants to shake things up and have vampires rule over everyone again like the old days with the vampire king.”

Looking over at Raiden, he doesn’t look confused by this news at all. “Breeding?” I asked him.

Raiden finally spoke. “Born vampires are real, but they’re incredibly rare. There are only a few lines left, and they’re heavily guarded. Rarely seen before they take over as head of their family. Before, many centuries ago, they were the rulers of the courts. The families who formed the courts were pure-blooded vampires. None of them have been seen for many centuries, though. There are other families who have born children, of course, but it was typically the royalty that people took note of.”

“News to me,” I muttered before turning my attention back to Joel. “Well, Joel, this really has been fun for me, but I’m over it.”

I pulled out my second dagger from my boot and shoved it between two of his upper right ribs until it jammed into his lung. “Good things vampires don’t actually need to breathe, right? Although I imagine it’s a bit uncomfortable. Most of us don’t actually learn how to cope without oxygen.”

Joel was trying to gasp for breath, but since only one lung was able to inflate, it sounded like it was a bit painful. Taking out my other dagger, I stabbed him in the side of the throat through his trachea. “Are we having fun yet, Joel?” His eyes were squeezed shut as his head smacked against the wall behind him.

I sighed, realizing he couldn’t scream anymore. It was sort of pointless and I was hungry. Drinking vampire blood doesn’t quench your hunger unless it’s from your mate. At least that’s what I’d always heard. I reached up to the dagger in Joel’s throat and ripped it straight through toward me, so it cut his throat in half. Warm and sticky blood splashed over my face and chest as Joel stopped making obnoxious grunting sounds. Maybe his body finally gave out.

Taking the dagger and stabbing him in the heart for good measure, I took a step back, admiring my handy work. Raiden’s shadows were still holding him to the wall. “I almost wish he wasn’t hurt before. His inability to heal quickly took quite a bit of fun out of it for me. Anyway—you good to clean this up? Death shadows and shit?”

I pulled my other dagger from his body, placing them both back in my boots, and started to head toward the door.

“What happened to the girl? The one from the story,” Raiden asked from behind me.

I turned around to look at him, blood splattered all over my face. I knew I probably looked exactly like the crazed killer he thought he was after. “She died, My Lord. But then she was reborn with claws and teeth. She was reborn without the same morals that held her back before. Now she doesn’t cry—she just kills. They created the monster they always wanted.”

I started walking toward the entrance of the room, I needed to bathe. I hated the feeling of blood in my hair.

“Did I not earn your name, my ice queen?” he called out before I could exit.

I smiled slightly. Of course he wouldn’t give up that easily. I turned over my shoulder, looking at him as he stood next to what was left of Joel’s body, his shadows slowly devouring it. He was a bit crazy under that calm exterior after all.

“Silvana.” With that, I walked out.