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Chapter 17

Wild Blood-Red Roses

Silvana

“Ohhh, Silvie darling. It’s time.” The voice echoed through the halls. I could just hear him from where I was hiding. I’d been there a hundred times before, hiding in my own home. Hiding from him — from what was expected of me. I couldn’t follow through. I knew I was supposed to. I should have just grinned and dealt with the hand the Fates had handed me, but I couldn’t.

Cora told me I needed to be stronger. That Father would expect it of me, but she was so young still. She didn’t truly grasp what she was asking of me. I swallowed the bile trying to work its way up my throat. I knew he’d find me soon, but if I moved from here, he’d find me even quicker.

I tried to move backward — farther away from the light. I was hidden deep in a storage closet beneath a stairwell. The light didn’t reach the back and there was no fire nearby, which I thought kept him from being able to sense me so easily.

Shivers started to rack my body as I pulled my knees to my chest and leaned my head against them.

It would be okay. I was okay. I would get through this. For Cora. For Mama and Papa. For the people who were depending on me. I could do this.

Suddenly the door to the closet swung open and I heard him walking back toward me. I tried to push myself farther back into the corner, but it was no use. The smirk on his face devastated me because I knew what was coming.

“Hello, little dove. Come out here and let’s play.” He gripped my arm tightly and dragged me out of the closet. His second-in-command was there staring at me with disgust clear on his face. When we were back into the light, Master twisted my arm behind my back, and I swear I felt his hand start to heat. “Now, don’t make this complicated, Silvie. Walk toward your chambers like you’re supposed to as my gift, and let’s play. If not, I’m sure Cora is still awake.”

I swallowed again and nodded my head. He hated it when I spoke. He just wanted acknowledgment. He started muttering praise from beside me. Words about how much he loved me. I kept my head down and I focused on walking back to my chambers, trying to ignore the heat on my arm that was burning through my sleeve to my skin. It was nothing compared to what I knew was coming.

* * *

S itting straight up in bed, I took a deep breath and pushed the memories back into the recesses of my mind. I didn’t have time to dwell in that head space today.

It took me a moment to realize where exactly I was. Looking around the room, I could feel that the sun was still a while from dipping below the horizon. Which meant I’d need to meet Raiden soon.

I realized I was covered in a fine layer of sweat and grime, so I got out of bed and headed for the shower. I had taken a quick look at the bathroom earlier when I’d arrived. It was easily one of the nicest rooms I’d ever been in, and I just knew there was hot water. The entrance brought you into the middle of the bathroom, with a midnight-colored stone soaking tub big enough for five of me and deep enough to sink completely in. It might as well be a personal pool. There was also a stand-up shower in the opposite corner, along with a sink and toilet. All in matching stone. The floor was a black marble and the walls were a dark gray wood, with accents along it all in silver to match the bedroom.

I glanced at the door opposite mine and bit my bottom lip. “Honestly, Silvana, you’ll have to venture through the door and figure it out yourself.” His words flew back through my mind and my core tightened. That male would be the end of me, I just knew it.

I let out a deep breath and turned the shower on. I was right, thank the Fates, hot water.

Stepping inside, my mind went blank to get me through the mindless task of getting ready for the evening without mentally checking out at the same time.

I’d been having these dreams of my past life for decades now. I always woke up not remembering anything but bits and pieces, words and blurry shapes, but never faces. I knew my parents were gone, I knew I had a sister, and I knew the male who’d taken us hadn’t been… kind. I knew I was lucky to survive. But, I also knew I’d never be that person again. The person who just walked with him and accepted that as my life—as my fate.

However, many things that should have come easily, didn’t—where we’d lived beforehand, what my mother looked like, when I’d been turned, how I’d escaped.

I released a breath and forced my mind away from the past that I couldn’t fully piece together, and I gave myself a moment to enjoy the novelty that was water pressure and heated water. Slowly coming back to life, my thoughts started drifting to another male. I tried to steer those thoughts away from him, but he was quickly becoming the main focus of my waking and sleeping thoughts—not that I’d ever tell him that aloud.

Leaning back against the shower wall, all that kept passing through my mind were the visions of him helping me at The Arcane Theater. The way he destroyed the male he saw coming at me with my own dagger. I leaned my head back on the wall and closed my eyes, running my hand over my breast and down my hip bone. The thoughts of him helping me torture and kill Joel. I knew I needed to push my mind elsewhere—on to anyone else. Anything else. But the visions wouldn’t stop coming.

I ran my fingers through my heat, spreading the wetness that had already begun accumulating. He confessed to watching me kill Rogan, he’d begun trying to find me after that. Not to arrest me or imprison me—no, he wanted something much more nefarious.

My fingers skimmed over my clit, and I gasped as I started to picture my fingers as his mouth.

He was knelt in the shower before me, my leg thrown over his shoulder as he ran his tongue through my heat all the way up to my clit. His deep onyx eyes stared up at me through thick lashes. A growl vibrated through his chest when I tried to dig my fingers into his hair to ride his face.

He released a few shadows from his grasp to hold my hands above my head so he could have me just the way he wanted. Another shadow sneaked around my throat and constricted my breathing as he pulled my clit into his mouth. I closed my eyes and tried to move my hips against his mouth, but his massive hands gripped around my waist — refusing to let me move.

“Patience, my little ice queen, I’ll get you there when I wish for you to arrive and not a moment sooner,” he growled against my soaked cunt.

An orgasm hit me almost violently, as I blinked a few times trying to remember where I was, and brought my breathing back down to normal. I slowly caught my breath and rinsed off again, trying to shake off what I just allowed myself to do.

Turning off the water, I stepped out of the shower and dried off quickly. I wasn’t sure how much time I actually had before whomever Raiden was sending would arrive. Donning a pair of black leggings, a thick black sweater, and my black boots, I slid my two shadow stone daggers into my boots. Normally I’d let my hair air-dry out, but I didn’t have time this evening, so I braided it into a simple plait. I was ready to face the world—or in this case, Raiden and the rest of his inner shadow court.

Taking a deep breath, I walked back into my chambers and toward the windows. I’d stayed up for a bit after Raiden left, just standing beside the windows as his shadows covered them, feeling the heat from the sun radiate through. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt the heat of the sun on my skin. There were many things I missed, or I would miss if I could remember having it before I’d been turned. But the sun was one of the top ones.

I could still enjoy food if it was offered to me. Sex was of course still available. But the sun? I couldn’t remember it. All of the random memories that came back to me through my dreams, the miscellaneous flashbacks, none of them had been me enjoying a day in the sun with my sister or helping my mother tend the garden. Nothing I’d heard of human families doing together.

I was always hopeful something would slide through, but it hadn’t. Not yet anyway.

A gentle knock at my door brought me back down from my thoughts. Raiden sent one of his lackeys to come and collect me after all. I hadn’t left my chambers since I’d been shown to them. Any other time, I more than likely would have. It wasn’t every day one had the opportunity to explore the entire home of a court ruler. However, collecting my thoughts and making a plan on how best to ignore the way the shadow court ruler made my insides feel seemed like a better use of my time.

Upon opening the door I saw the same male that had brought me here before sunrise. A small smile on his face. He was a bit shorter than Raiden. His skin reminded me of the color of the trees when you peeled bark from them to see what lay underneath. His eyes were what truly stood out, though. They were a stunning shade of dark forest-green that against his skin tone almost looked unnatural.

“Raiden asked me to show you the way to the library. I’m Bastian, by the way. I don’t think I actually introduced myself before,” he said.

I nodded. “I appreciate the guide, Bastian. I’m Silvana, but I’m sure His Lordship already told you that.”

He chuckled and stepped back, waving his arm for me to follow beside him. “I feel like he’s finally met his match after all.”

I arched a brow, confused. “What does that mean?”

Bastian was still smiling as he led me down the hall toward a set of stairs. The entire building was stunning. Walking across the small bridge that led to the front door, I felt like my soul had finally found that slice of heaven I’d always longed for. Of course, it’d be here of all places.

From the dark, graying stone, to the ivy and roses growing up the sides of the castle—because that’s what this was. I didn’t care what Raiden called it, a castle was a better term in my opinion. There was a dense fog covering a great bit of the building itself, but you could just feel the power and tranquility here.

I glanced back at Bastian, patiently waiting for him to explain himself, but I had a feeling he had no intention of doing so. So, I chose a different avenue of questions.

“How’s Allie?” I asked.

The smile still hadn’t left the male’s face. What exactly was his purpose here? He seemed like he knew too much and enjoyed it.

“She’s doing quite well, actually. She’ll be in the library with Raiden and Micah, waiting for you, I’m sure. She’s been a great help to Micah while gathering information,” Bastian stated.

“Is Raiden not going to find her somewhere safe to go?” I expected him to get her out of the city. Not let his friends keep her as a pet. I could feel my anger rising, and Bastian noticed.

He stopped in the middle of the stairway and looked at me, the smile finally falling from his face. “To be clear, Silvana, no one has forced Allie to stay here. She asked to stay and help. This is where she wanted to be, so we let her do so. In return, she’s provided us with an insurmountable font of information. She’s been well taken care of, given space when needed, her own chambers, and more. You can ask her yourself if you’re so worried.”

Bastian turned and continued up the stairs before I could reply. Clearly, I’d offended him. Letting out a breath, I followed him. Pissing off the people that worked with Raiden wouldn’t do me a single favor, so that was unfortunate.

We continued down another hallway until we came to a set of double doors that were already opened. He didn’t stop until he was inside the room and sitting in a comfortable-looking high-back chair that resembled the ones in my room.

I struggled not to roll my eyes at the miniature tantrum he was throwing and instead looked around the room he brought me to.

He wasn’t lying, it was a library in every sense of the word. The smell of books permeated the air, and it brought a small smile to my face. The room was one giant square. Bookshelves stacked from the floor up two levels worth of wall. I assumed this was the back of the manor because of the high ceilings. The shelves took up both lengths of the wall to my left and right, and continued behind me, only ending where the doorway was. A few ladders intermingled throughout to help those of us without wings reach the higher shelves. There were two long rectangular wooden tables that each seated eight chairs on either side of the doorway. Beyond that, the high-back chairs where Bastian retreated were strewn throughout the rest of the library, with small wooden tables beside each. However, what gave me pause were the floor-to-ceiling windows opposite the door I was standing in.

There was no fireplace in this room, which made sense given the contents. Instead, there were eight evenly spaced windows. Shaped in long rectangles, they were as wide as two of me. I slowly walked over to one of them and peered outside. Finding I was correct about the location, because instead of the city lights of Darkmoor lighting up the streets below, it was a view of the sprawling rose gardens that led up to the dense woods that surrounded Raiden’s property.

Raiden’s shadows had already left the back of the house since the sun was setting toward the front of the manor, so you could see the colors playing out in the cloudy sky above the forest.

I let out a small breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. It had been so long since I’d even dared to look outside while the sun was setting, let alone anywhere as beautiful.

The gardens below were filled with wild blood-red roses that sprawled along the small cobblestone walkways. They were the same ones that crawled up the walls of the manor. I imagined they were stunning in the middle of the day when the sun peeked through the dark clouds.

While I was busy trying to take in every single view I could, while the sun was still up, I began to feel his presence before I heard him, as usual since we met. Shoving down all of the emotions I was feeling, I prepared for the mental battle I was sure was about to ensue.