Page 16

Chapter 15

Instigate a Reaction

Silvana

W alking through the door of my room, I immediately felt his presence. Part of me wasn’t surprised, while the other half was quite the opposite. I knew he’d been watching me the last few nights. I could feel his presence whenever he was near and I kept waiting for him to approach me.

He never did, though, he just stayed in the shadows watching me work.

Tonight, though? I did my best to instigate a reaction from him. I figured killing one of his men who’d been a traitor and leaving a note for him would do the trick. It seemed I was correct.

On one hand, the fact that he found me and was able to get into Cedar’s home was impressive. However, he’s the Fates-damned ruler of the court. It probably wasn’t that hard for him at the end of the day.

After a quick scan, I realized that he wasn’t in the sitting room, which meant he was in the bedroom—where he had no business being. I let out a breath. My inner brat begging for a chance here.

Fine. If he wants a show, I’ll give him one.

I’d spent the last two evenings going through surrounding towns looking for any remaining missing women, which I’d had no luck with. It was as if Joel dying sent out a distress call, and they all went into hiding. Tonight, all I managed to do was quickly end two vampires before they could take another young girl who was leaving the docks with her father and then kill Raiden’s traitor.

It was good, but still didn’t feel like enough.

Walking into my bedroom, I quickly saw he wasn’t on my bed, which left the chair in the corner of the room, currently bathed in darkness. He must believe his shadow magic to be powerful—sort of pathetic if I could still sense him, though.

I went toward the wardrobe where my clothes were kept and reached up and slowly untied the back of the corset that held my dress up. Letting the entire minuscule outfit drop to the ground, I stepped out of it. All that remained glued to my body were my sheer tights, boots, the cloth band around my breasts, and panties. Oh, and my four daggers.

I smirked at the thought of how this must look. Oh well, he clearly came for a show. I do nothing, if not provide when asked by our fearless leader.

I leaned down, keeping my ass toward the chair, and unlaced my boots one at a time. With my boots off, it was clear where all my weapons were located.

I pulled the first two, which happened to be my shadow stone blades, from the small holsters on the inside of my ankles and tossed them on the bed to be cleaned and sharpened later. The next two daggers were small silver blades, placed in holsters built into the sides of the cloth band around my breasts. I’d created them myself. Almost all of the hilt was tucked beneath the sides of the band, but the very bottom of the hilt and the cross guard stuck out just enough for me to quickly unhook them and throw them if needed.

Cedar didn’t understand how I didn’t stab myself, but it just took a lot of practice and work to ensure I knew exactly how to move with them against my skin. It also helped that these two weren’t made of shadow stone, so if I managed to get nicked, it didn’t hurt as badly.

I pulled the left dagger out and tossed it on the bed with the first two. Then as I pulled the right dagger out, instead of tossing it with the rest, I spun quickly and threw it toward the chair where I knew he resided.

Suddenly a vast majority of the shadows fell away to reveal Raiden sitting in the armchair, dagger clutched in front of his chest by the tip, a small smile gracing his face. He was dressed in tight black pants and a matching black button-up that appeared to be made of some sort of silk. The top two buttons were undone, though, and I could just make out what looked like tattoos across his chest. Curiosity had me thinking about how he was able to make them stay on his skin without healing. However, he did it, I imagine it was painful.

His long hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and I wondered what it would look like down, framing his face. I quickly shook the thoughts from my head, exactly as I’ve done for the last few days whenever the vision of him using his shadow magic on Joel appeared in my mind.

He was leaning back in the chair like he was when I first saw him at The Arcane Theater—as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if it was a normal night for him. Hell, maybe stalking unwitting females was a normal night for him.

“It’s rude to watch people without their knowledge.” I tried to imbue as much indignation into my tone as possible.

“Ah, this is true. But the little knife show I just received tells me you very much knew I was here and continued on by your own choosing.”

I could feel the blush rising across my cheeks as he spoke in that low, gravelly tone. I didn’t turn back to face him when I say. “Suddenly I’m wishing I threw that dagger a little faster.”

I heard him rise from the chair and cross the small room toward me. He stopped just shy of pressing his entire body against mine—his front was almost pressed to my back. I could feel the heat pouring off of him. How long ago did he arrive to wait for me here? I should have asked him. Let him know that I knew he’d been watching me—but I didn’t.

Raiden slowly ran the tip of my dagger down the side of my right arm and then dropped it onto the bed with the others. I could feel the goosebumps rise along my arm as if it were him touching me and not the tip of my own weapon.

“Throw it as fast as you want, little ice queen. It’ll take more than one measly dagger to keep you from me.” His voice was low, and I could feel his body just barely pressing against mine as he moved in closer behind me. I tried to keep my breathing even and controlled—refusing to let him know how much his words and his pure heat affected me. How much his presence affected me.

When we worked together to torture and question Joel, it took everything in me to remain calm and focused. To not leave Joel pinned to the wall to watch as I stripped down and fucked Raiden there amidst the dead we’d killed together. I’d had dreams about doing exactly that.

Part of me wondered what it would be like to have a male who truly matched me in every sense of the word. One that didn’t make me feel as if my feelings and thoughts were invalid or too much.

I flinched slightly as he ran his hand from my wrist up my arm, stopping to rest his hand at the base of my throat. The contrast between the dagger before and his hand sent a shock through my body. His thumb began to gently rub small circles against my collarbone. If he moved his hand up any higher, it would be wrapped around my throat. Part of me wondered if that was what he was after—my submission. “That was quite the gift you left me in that alley tonight.”

I did my utmost to remain calm and not let my voice betray what was happening lower. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, My Lord. He was a traitor and deserved more than I offered him.”

His thumb suddenly stopped and he let out a breath I didn’t realize he’d been holding. As if he was bracing himself for what I may say and wasn’t expecting what I did. He was so close now that I could feel his breath whisper against my skin. “Thank you, my ice queen.”

I quickly spun around, removing his hold on me. If I could create some space between us, maybe I’d be able to have a civil conversation. Preferably one that didn’t result in us naked in my bed. Looking up at his face, I did my best to let my tone of voice portray the portrait of exasperation. Instead of the tone that screamed please fuck me immediately, and I don’t mind if you use those shadows and fangs to do so .

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it because your court is lacking and needs to do better about keeping the shitty spies out of your rankings. You need to remind them who is in charge here, My Lord.” I let my eyes wander down the front of him where his pants let it be known exactly how my ‘little show’ affected him and then back up to his face.

He gritted his teeth and walked closer to me again. But he didn’t stop and before I could push him back, I was backed up against the wardrobe with him pressed against me. My lack of clothing was the first thing to come back to mind as his body was pressed against mine. The evidence I pointed out a few moments ago was now pressed against my hip bone.

Raiden’s hand trailed up my body until it wrapped around my throat, exactly how I had imagined it would before. I leaned my head back against the wood to look up at him. His dark eyes were like pools of never-ending midnight; I felt as if I could fall headfirst into them and gleefully never try to escape.

“I need you to get one thing very clear in your mind, my little ice queen. I have no problem letting my court or any of my subjects know exactly who is in charge.” His hand squeezed my throat tighter, cutting off my oxygen. “And that includes bratty little females who need to be reminded of their place in my court.” His voice was deep and gravelly. It had my core clenching, and I knew he could smell it.

He quickly released my throat, and I inhaled a breath. Blinking a few times, I realized that his body was still pressed against mine and it was very clear to me that I was not the only one affected by this exchange. I could feel his cock growing stiffer at my hip and it took everything in my arsenal of self-control not to rub myself against him like a cat in heat.

Raiden’s hand came up and sat along my jaw. He looked into my eyes, and for a moment I wondered if he was going to kiss me. Honestly, at the rate this was going, I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. This male drove me downright insane, but I wasn’t sure how much of it was in a negative way. It felt like it was more in the sense of, I’m not sure if I want to throw things at him or hold him at knife point until he drops to his knees for me, ready to worship me like the queen he’s named me.

But just as quickly as the thought appeared in my head, he let go and stepped away from me.

He looked down toward the floor for a moment, his hands clenching into a fist and releasing a few times. I could see the shadows shifting around his feet as he tried to regain control. “I came tonight because I want to work together. In an official capacity.”

He looked back at my face and I took a deep breath. “You? The ruler of the Court of Shadows? Want to work with me? A vigilante killer who’s taken out half the males in your court?”

He let out a dry laugh. “Yes. As you said so bluntly before, darling, I need to work harder at keeping the spies out of my court.”

“And how would that work exactly?”

“For starters, I want you at the manor. I’d like for you to meet my circle. It would be easier if we could go over everything we know and plan during the day so that at night, we can go out. Between my knowledge of the court and your ability to… interrogate, we should be able to solve this problem in no time.”

I felt as if being in close proximity to this male was a terrible idea. But he wasn’t wrong. Being able to dive into more during the day, safely, would be ideal.

“So where am I going exactly?” I asked after a moment, trying to play it coy.

He smirked. “You know where I live, Silvana. Let’s not play games with each other. I expect you there before sunrise. The guards are aware that you’ll be coming.” With that, he turned around and walked out of my bedroom. A few moments later, I heard the front door open and close. I felt his presence drop off the second the door closed, so I knew he was gone.

It wasn’t until then I realized that was the first time he’d said my name. And the way my name sounded coming out of his mouth? That was a dangerous game all on its own.

* * *

I ’d started to leave Cedar’s house four separate times since Raiden had left. I understood why he wanted me to stay at the manor, it made perfect sense.

However, I’d spent over a hundred years now avoiding any and all court politics. It felt safer that way, and he wanted me to stay with him. It wasn’t sitting well in my stomach.

I knew I’d be safe with him, but the part about him being the ruler of the Court of Shadows put me on edge.

I let out a breath and looked at my bag. I’d packed the normal clothes I went out hunting in, a few sets of comfier clothes, my weapons, and that summed up my packing list.

I knew I needed to just go, get this mission over with, and then maybe I’d go to the Court of Ravens for a while, help Cedar fly around, and find his sire so he could drive a stake into his heart. Those types of things.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I grabbed my bag and headed toward Raiden’s manor.

I hadn’t gotten a good look at it when I’d left Allie there. I was a female on a mission and not a lot of darkness to do it in, so the look of the place the ruler of the Court of Shadows called home wasn’t interesting to me.

Now, however, I was interested.

It didn’t take me long to get to the edge of Darkmoor and find his sprawling estate. It was on the edge of the city, Darkmoor on one side, a vast forest on the other.

The immense home was the picturesque version of what every rich vampire would wish to call home. Dark gray Gothic architecture with pointed towers, stained glass windows along the front, and pointed arches along the doorways and windows. There were green and brown vines growing up the sides of the home with intermingled blood-red roses throughout. If I was being honest, I’d be more likely to call it a castle, not a manor.

I rolled my eyes and crossed the bridge toward the front doors. The two guards out front had nodded to me, and there was a tall male with tan skin and green eyes waiting for me beside the door.

A smile lit up his face. “Welcome, Silvana. We’ve been waiting for you.”