Page 19

Chapter 18

Wild, Beautiful, and Vicious

Raiden

S leep had eluded me most of the day, which was unfortunate. At my age, sleep wasn’t truly required. I could get by with a quarter or less of the day every couple of days. Even so, I felt like it gave my mind time to shut off—not that it had been doing much of that since my ice queen showed up in my life. My dreams had been purely haunted by nothing but how her hair shined under the moonlight as she was covered in another male’s blood.

Taking a moment, I pushed my mind back on to what I had to do, instead of what I wished I was doing. I slid into a pair of black trousers and a loose-fitting black shirt that cut down my chest to the middle of my sternum. Part of me hoped she would enjoy the small bit of my tattoos she’d be able to see beneath my shirt. Smiling to myself, I put on my black boots and set out from my chambers.

I’d already sent Bastian a note when I’d risen to show Silvana to the library, and Micah would bring Allie. I wasn’t fully sure what to expect from this evening. It would either be the perfect storm of all our minds coming together and working fluidly, or half my library would end up frozen from the temper I knew boiled under Silvana’s ivory skin.

No better time than now to find out, though.

I walked toward the library, asking one of my housekeepers to bring us four glasses of blood and some food for Allie. Maybe the tension would be lower if everyone was well-fed.

Walking into my favorite place inside the manor, I wasn’t shocked to find Bastian in a chair reviewing some of the files I’d made up for him. I was shocked to find so much emotion exuding from Silvana, though. I walked toward where she was standing beside one of the windows overlooking the Forest of Feronia.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I asked. She glanced over toward me before looking back out the window. “It reminds me of you—the forest here. Wild, beautiful, and vicious.” A small smile graced her face.

“Did you know Feronia means untamed in the old language?” I asked.

She looked up at me then. “No, I didn’t.” She looked out the window for another moment before looking back up at me. “So, My Lord, what exactly is the plan? Why am I here, instead of out there killing the useless males of your court?” she asked. She didn’t sound sarcastic or angry, but the way she said ‘My Lord’ made me want to force her to her knees for the inherent sass she was intent on using to build a wall between us.

Deciding space may be my best bet for now, before I acted on those wishes in front of my inner circle, I walked over to one of the long tables. Unpacking my notes, I laid them out on the table so I could make sure I didn’t miss anything. I made copies for everyone here so they could go over them again later.

Micah and Allie walked in as I was unpacking—Micah holding the tray full of blood and Allie her food. “Alina caught us on our way down. Food was good thinking, Raiden,” Micah stated.

He handed me a crystal goblet filled with blood, and I nodded my thanks to him. He quickly passed out the others to Bastian and Silvana, while Allie sat across from me at the table with her plate of food.

Silvana grabbed the high-back chair next to Bastian, while Micah sat down at the long table next to Allie.

I looked around at everyone. “Introductions are needed, I believe. Silvana, Bastian, you’ve met already. In case he didn’t tell you, he’s my third-in-command, as well as the general to my Shadow Brigade.”

She nodded, staring at him. “Yeah, that fits.”

I chuckled under my breath and then gestured toward Micah. “Next to Allie is Micah. He’s my second-in-command. He does… well, everything.” I shrugged. “You already know Allie.”

“Okay, Raiden. Now that that’s finished, lay it all out,” Bastian stated from his seat, notes in one hand and glass in the other. He took a long sip and then looked at me, clearly anticipating what I was about to dive into.

I took a deep breath and looked around the room, only partially ready to divulge my theory. I knew this first part wasn’t going to go over well. I looked over at my ice queen. Her white-blonde hair was in a loose braid today, thrown over her shoulder, and it hung down against her chest. Her crystal blue eyes were staring at me expectantly and there was a tint of red in her lips and cheeks that only increased as she drank from her glass.

“Silvana, who turned you?” I asked plainly. Might as well jump into the fire there.

Her eyes widened for a moment and she set her glass down on the table next to her. “Is that where we’re starting, My Lord? A history lesson on the new girl?” Anger permeated her voice.

I looked down at the table for a moment to attempt to gather my thoughts better so I could explain.

“She doesn’t know, Raiden,” Allie said gently.

Both Silvana and I stared at her, but Silvana was the first to speak. “Allie, keep your visions to yourself please,” she gritted out.

Allie smiled at her friend gently and went back to eating her food.

“What does she mean, you don’t know?” Micah asked.

She got up from her chair and started pacing in front of the windows, her arms crossed against her chest. I thought back to the story she told Joel, and I could feel my anger spiking along with my shadows. I could feel her anxiety cracking through the mental walls she was trying to keep up.

“Everyone else out. Now,” I growled. Micah and Bastian stared at me for a moment, before collecting the notes I made them and their glasses and leaving.

Allie smiled, laying a hand on my chest. “Patience, My Lord. Trust the threads.” Then she followed Micah out.

“Trust the threads.” I wish I knew what that meant. Instead, I focused all of my energy on the female in front of me.

“Silvana, come and sit down.” My tone was gentle but imbued with the fact that I was not arguing about this.

She looked over her shoulder at me for a moment before sitting back in her chair while I took Bastian’s.

“What does Allie mean?” I asked.

“She means that I don’t fucking know. Okay? I know nothing. I woke up one night, covered in my own blood and snow, fighting for my life, starving, in the middle of the woods in the Court of Wolves. I have no memory of how I arrived there, who turned me, or my life before that night.” She stared out one of the windows for a moment before quietly continuing. “I have nightmares where bits and pieces come back to me, Raiden, none of which are positive. I know I had a sister.” She shrugged and continued staring out the window, silent, her knees pulled up to her chest in a defensive position.

It took everything in my power to stay grounded where I was. My shadows were writhing beneath my skin to comfort her, while simultaneously they wanted to hurt anyone who dared hurt a hair on her beautiful head. Seeing the strong, confident, powerful female before me curled up like this was slowly killing me.

“What happened when you woke up?”

She looked back at me and whatever she saw in my eyes must have placated her. “I wandered through the woods for a long time. I knew on some level I was hungry and wanted blood. Eventually, I wandered into a town. I walked through the streets and there was this man dragging a woman into an alley. She was bleeding.” She looked back toward the window. “It took every ounce of willpower to not go after her, Raiden. She smelled… so good. But when I saw her tears? I grabbed him and just ripped his throat out. Something inside of me changed.”

“What happened to the woman?” I wasn’t sure why that was my next question, but it felt important.

The smile that curved along her lips told me I was correct. “She hugged me and then went home to her two children. She was on her way home from the tavern she worked at, and her mother had them at home. She said her husband had been killed recently—he was part of the Court of Wolves army. She was all her kids had left. I watched her the entire way until she made it inside safely.”

I reached across and tentatively took her hand into mine. Sparks shot up my arm and I gritted my teeth so as not to react. Now wasn’t the time. “That’s nearly impossible for a newly turned vampire, Silvana, you should be incredibly proud.” I meant every word of it. When I was freshly turned, I couldn’t be around humans for many months without wanting to drain them dry.

She smiled sadly, looking down at our intertwined hands. “I was more scared of what was happening to me than anything else. I had nowhere to turn, and I wandered south for ages before meeting Cedar. We became friends quickly, and he helped me a lot. He’s been the brother I never knew I desperately needed.”

“I’m glad you have each other.” I pulled my hand away, although it wasn’t even close to what I wanted to do. “I’m going to gather the others so we can go over everything, and when we’re done, I’d like to take you on a tour of the grounds. If you’re interested, of course.”

She stared down at her now empty hand before looking over at me again. “That sounds nice, Raiden, thank you.”

I reluctantly rose from my chair and headed out to grab the rest of our group. Thankfully none of them went far. Welcoming them back into the library, I closed the door behind me and went back to the table.

Once everyone was seated again, I cleared my throat. “Okay, well, now that I don’t have to worry about how this news will go over, I can continue.”

A small smile graced Silvana’s face, but it was Bastian who chimed in. “So, you believe it’s Keres who’s behind the attacks?”

I looked around the room for a moment, seeing everyone was on the same page, before dropping my head. I let my shadows leave my body in a hurry as they covered the walls and windows, making it so nothing could leave the room. I recapped all the information that Micah and I had gathered thus far—the kidnappings, the connections to the women having vampires in their family lines, what Joel and the others told Silvana and me, and so on.

“I believe Keres is kidnapping hybrids, turning them, and using them to produce more powerful born vampires to take over Kostbare.” It was so quiet, you could hear the blood rushing through Allie’s veins if you tried. All four of them stared at me for a few moments before looking around at each other.

“Well… that makes sense,” Silvana said. I was almost shocked to hear that she was the first one to speak and didn’t think I was insane. Now everyone was staring at her. “Well, what else? Keres is known as a bit of a recluse. No one knows what he does up in those mountains. You said it yourself, Joel told us he’d heard about the breeding. All the women have vampires in their family lines. It all connects.” She shrugged and sat back in her chair, picking her glass back up and taking a drink.

Something akin to pride ran through my chest, and I couldn’t help the smile that hit my face. I looked around at the others, waiting for them to have some sort of thoughts.

Bastian shrugged. “Well, I’ve always hated that one anyway. What’s next? Storm the ice palace? Rip off his head? Send in Silvana to take over?”

My eyes narrowed at the last comment. “The only place Silvana is going, is here,” I growled.

Bastian held up his hands in defense, a brazen smile on his face as if he knew exactly what he was doing. I didn’t look at Silvana for a reaction; part of me was scared that my possessiveness would scare her away, while the other half of me wished she’d try to leave just so I had an excuse to chase her.

“I have no desire to enter the Court of Ice, let alone rule over it,” Silvana muttered.

I glanced over at her, a brow arched, and she smiled from behind her glass.

Micah cleared his throat. “If you two are done eye-fucking each other, I’d like to continue this discussion.” A blush crept up onto Silvana’s cheeks and I glared at him as he continued. “What is truly the plan, Raiden? Do you want us to send in some people and see what they can uncover?”

“Let me talk to Cedar.” Silvana jumped up. “Think about it. He’s a raven shifter; he’d be able to get in and out quickly. Plus, he does jobs all over all four courts. He has ins everywhere he goes. Still send in some of your people. The more eyes we can get, the better. But Cedar is someone we know can do this.”

“She isn’t wrong, Raiden. I’ve talked to some of the coven leaders about him,” Bastian said. “While we’re at it, we should send a few people to the other two courts as well.”

Micah nodded in agreement. “Also, we need to send a letter to Paine letting him know what we know.”

I sat down in the chair behind me and ran my hands over my face. “Silvana, do you think Cedar could deliver a message for me to the ruler of the Court of Ravens first?”

She nodded. “Of course. I’ll send him a message now.” She rose from her chair and Bastian followed her.

“I’ll show you where the birds are to send it out,” he said, and they left.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at Micah. I knew he had more to say.

“Can’t you see their threads?” Allie asked him softly.

He arched a brow at her. “Their threads?”

She nodded, smiling. “Of course. They’re gold and shining even more brightly since we came back into the library.”

Visionaries could be… strange at times. Often speaking in riddles, and at the moment, I lacked the determination to figure out what our “threads” was that she was referring to. I had too much else going on, and as much as I wanted to claim my ice queen right there on that table—I needed to take care of my court too, and I needed her help to do it.

I looked at Micah, waiting.

“She’s giving off an array of things, Raiden. She’s anxious and stressed, but also eager. There’s also a great deal of… lust. I will not elaborate on that. But there isn’t anything that would point in the direction of her being a traitor,” he said.

Allie stared at him for a moment, her mouth slightly ajar. “A traitor? She’s Raiden’s soul-bonded, Micah. Who would she betray us to?”

Micah and I both stared at her for a long moment.

“She’s my…” I whispered. It all clicked in my head at once. The threads Allie kept talking about. Being able to sense her and her feelings. The undying need to claim her. The inexplicable pull. “She’s my mate?”