Page 24

Chapter 23

Shadow Stone Blade

Raiden

P art of me had had enough — waking up every evening in a cold sweat, the endless searching for the men responsible for ruining my entire life, working meaningless jobs because going near the docks made me sick with anxiety.

The other part of me knew I couldn’t stop. Not until I’d reached my goal and killed every single one of them.

So far I’d killed two of the five men who’d taken everything from me, but it had been nearly ten years now.

Ten. Fates-damned. Years.

I huffed out a sarcastic laugh under my breath and leaned against the bartop, throwing a hand up for Aldo to bring me another pint.

The older man set the piss-yellow beverage in front of me, the glass not even getting frosty, so I knew it was warm. Staring at the bubbles rolling up from the bottom, I wanted to hit something. Or someone. I wasn’t even that picky. I just wanted to do something.

“Did you hear? They’re recruiting down by the docks.”

“What? How? I heard they can’t even go into the sunlight.”

“They don’t. They’re down there all night looking for men and women who want to join their ranks! The army is recruiting or something.”

I normally did my best to stay in the corner of the tavern and not draw even a drop of attention my way. It made it easier to eavesdrop and find leads on who killed them all.

The two males down the bar from me? They didn’t share the same affliction, apparently. The two of them were more than happy to let the entire tavern hear what they were talking about. So, I wasn’t shocked when another male rose from his chair, a menacing look in his eye.

“We don’t need no talk about those undead fuckers in this place. Take it somewhere else,” he growled and pointed to the door.

The two males at the bar looked at each other for a moment, before the first turned around and stood in front of the angry one.

“Why should I? You don’t think living forever would be nice? And I hear they’re strong as hell, and I know quite a few fuckers I’d love to off without a trace. Ya with me?” He laughed and smacked his friend’s arm as he joined in on the joke.

The angry man wasn’t having it, though. He stepped in closer and if it were me, I would’ve sat back down. But maybe Aldo had served this man too much of his piss beer because he just wasn’t taking the hint.

“If you want to sell your soul to the undead bloodsuckers, be my guest. But do it quietly while the rest of us enjoy our dinner.” His voice was menacing, and maybe the first male had finally gotten the hint because he sat back on his stool and turned around toward the bar without another word.

Shaking my head, I turned back to my beer. The beer that I didn’t need to be drinking. I needed to be out on the streets, looking for anything that may lead me in the right direction.

“I was just saying, if I had the power to not let anyone fuck with me? Why wouldn’t you take that?” the male said to his friend quietly. His friend shrugged in clear agreement, but they seemed to drop the conversation there.

I hadn’t been down to the docks since a week after I’d last worked with my father. I tried to go down and get some work done — even devastated and heartbroken, I knew I had to eat. But just the sound of the waves crashing against the old wood made my stomach tighten. I couldn’t make it any closer.

I’d talked to one of the fish merchants my father had befriended and asked him to sell all my father’s fishing gear. He’d split the profits with me, and I had tried to stay far away from there since.

I was a coward — I realized quickly. An absolute coward.

I threw some coin down on the bartop for Aldo and began forcing my feet toward the docks.

* * *

L eaned back in my office chair, it was taking every ounce of willpower not to spiral. I truly hadn’t felt like that since before I decided to meet V at the docks all those years ago.

I looked around the room I’d decided to hold myself hostage in. My office was just like the rest of the manor—dark colors with velvet upholstered furniture. My desk was made of a dark wood, almost black, with gold finishes. Timeless elegance. The windows to my left looked out onto the gardens. Part of me felt like I’d been staring out at this view just to torture myself more. This office was the last place I wanted to be right now, but I’d decided it was better to distract myself with work—and torture myself, apparently—than it was to focus on the fact that I hadn’t seen her since she walked away from me in that same forest outside my window.

I’d let Bastian and Micah talk everything over with Cedar, giving him the letter for Paine, the information he needed on where to go, what we needed to know, and how he was to report back, that sort of thing. It was mostly them who came up with the plans anyway. I just gave approval when needed.

Thankfully, my men didn’t need me right now.

Was I being a coward? Potentially, yes. But I was also trying not to push her. I’d made my stance on it all clear. I wanted her with every fiber of my being. I’d do anything for her. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so there I sat. In my high-back black velvet chair, at my desk, with a glass full of blood and no idea where to go from there.

I hadn’t felt like a coward in over six hundred years, yet there I was. Hiding from a small vicious female that the Fates had decided to tie me to. What a lovely joke in the grand scheme of things.

A knock on the door brought me out of my brooding state. I cleared my throat before releasing a few shadows to swing the door open.

A tall male with deep tawny-colored skin and chocolate brown eyes walked into my office. His gaze quickly went over the room, as if he’d been trained to note all the windows, doors, and possible exits. He had a deep scar that went from his brow and down the side of his face that could’ve only been left on a vampire of his power with a shadow stone blade. Interesting.

I knew immediately that he was Cedar. He gave off the aura of protection that my ice queen had told me about the night we’d stood in the garden under the moonlight, talking until just before the sun rose. I wasn’t sure how that had only been two evenings ago, but somehow it had.

I nodded my head toward the male across the room from me and waved my hand toward the chair in front of me, asking him to sit down.

“What can I do for you, Cedar?” I asked, my tone pleasant but firm.

Cedar shut the door behind him before sitting in the chair I’d offered. He leaned back, his legs wide. By all accounts, he looked comfortable. But I knew better. This male was ready for anything that may come his way.

“It’s come to my attention that you believe you and Silvana are mates,” he said plainly. I liked that, a male who just jumped right to the point without the frills and niceties. The people in the court politics of Kostbare could learn some things from him. “Before you ask, she doesn’t know I’m here meeting with you,” he added on quickly.

“I wasn’t going to ask, honestly.”

Cedar nodded slowly. “Good. That’s a point in your favor.”

I stared at him from across my desk for a moment. “I didn’t realize we were keeping points, Cedar. What did you wish to talk about?”

“You believe you and Silvana are mates and?—”

“I don’t believe we are mates, Cedar, I know we are mates,” I interrupted.

He let out a breath before continuing. “Yes, I understand that. I meant no offense. I just… I need you to understand something before you move forward. This isn’t me being the big brother I’ve been to her for a hundred years now or the only family she has. This is me acting in the best interest of what I believe will be a situation to truly help her.”

I nodded my head slowly, acknowledging him while asking him to continue. I could be wrong, but it sounded as if he was on my side. Which was unexpected.

He looked away for a moment, toward the windows, and I started to wonder what exactly Silvana had told him about us.

“Has she told you how we met yet? Silv and I?” Cedar asked quietly.

I arched a brow at him. “No, she hasn’t. She doesn’t talk about her past much at all.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, she wouldn’t.” He smirked. “A little more than a hundred years ago now, I was in a tavern, asking people I shouldn’t have spoken to questions about things I shouldn’t have been asking. I’ve been… rather obsessed with finding the one who sired me. I have his name, at least I think it’s his name. But I’ve never actually found him or met him.” Cedar leaned his head back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling as if this next part would hurt him.

“I was on my way out when one of the males I’d questioned snuck up on me. He shoved me into an alley and dragged a knife from my hip up to my ribs.” He lifted his shirt, showing me his left side. The scar was a deep, red, jagged mark exactly where he described. He dropped his shirt and leaned back in the chair again. “The pain was… indescribable. It turned out to be a shadow stone blade. I tried to fight back, but it was pretty useless at that point. I fell to the ground, and he hovered over me, marking my face next. Said that it would be even harder for people to talk to me if I was ugly.” He laughed, although it wasn’t with humor.

Letting out a deep breath, he ran a few fingers along his face. “I’ve embraced it now, but for a while, it was… hard. But anyway. The male started to kick me, laughing. I think some of his friends had joined in, I’m not sure. It was all a bit blurry after a few moments. But I do remember her. She was… a feral fucking thing.” He smiled, real this time as he recalled my ice queen. “She came out of nowhere. Before I knew it, the males around me were dead or almost dead on the ground around me. The one who had gutted me… she kept him alive long enough to find out why he had attacked me. I guess I was getting too close, so I had to go.”

He looked back at my face, into my eyes. “She gave me her blood and helped stitch me up, right there in the alley. Said she knew that I’d kill a human trying to heal and hers was enough to at least help stop the bleeding… she had no idea, Raiden, that that was such a personal thing to do. She just… saw someone dying and jumped in to help.” He cleared his throat that I knew was full of emotion. “I let her keep the shadow stone blade, I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. We’ve been together ever since. I’ve taught her what I’ve learned on my own and through others. She’s the greatest friend I’ve ever had by my side, and I’d burn every single court to the ground to protect her from heartbreak.”

I was silent for a moment as I took it all in. None of it truly surprised me, except that she didn’t know how personal blood sharing was between vampires. As soon as a vampire drank from the vein of another, they were able to track that vampire until death. It weakened after a time, but it was still there, and the more powerful the vampire, the more likely they were to be able to pull up that bond.

“I believe you, Cedar. I know how much you love her. I understand that our bond isn’t like yours, but I do love her. Everything about her. I need you to understand that I would burn my own court to the ground for her. The other three? I’d do much worse.”

That brought a smile to his face. “I’m not going to dive into her personal business, because that is for her to explain to you when she’s ready. It isn’t my place. I don’t mind telling you that story, because it’s my story to tell. But I will say… don’t give up on her just because she pushes back. Okay? Be willing to get knocked on your ass a few times, potentially risk your life in the process, but don’t give up on her, Raiden,” Cedar said. His eyes were pleading and it pulled at my heart. I imagined this was how I would’ve acted with my sister—not that I ever had the opportunity to find out.

I looked down at my hands for a moment, gathering my thoughts, and burying old emotions that hadn’t haunted me in centuries.

“Thank you, Cedar,” I finally said. “Did you receive everything you needed from Micah and Bastian?”

“I did, yes. I’m going to fly out soon. Try to get this letter to Paine before the sun comes up.” He stood, looking toward the door for a moment before turning back toward me. “She was disappointed you weren’t there earlier, by the way. She’d never admit to it, of course, but I’ve known her forever. I know the tells. So maybe don’t hide in here too long.” He smirked and headed out of the door.

Thinking back over everything Cedar said, I realized one thing for absolute certain. He was right about the fact that I couldn’t give up. Not if I truly wanted to claim this female as my own.

So, I did what any self-respecting vampire would. I finished off my glass of blood, and I got up to go and find my female.

The game of hiding has finished.