Page 32

Chapter 31

All His Secrets

Silvana

I could hear Cedar saying my name, over and over. Trying to get my full attention, but I couldn’t focus on his voice. I was busy focusing on the internal battle that was waging in my soul, trying to find the other piece of myself that was suddenly missing.

A sharp pain brought me back to the here and now. Swinging my head back to focus on what was in front of me, I realized Cedar had slapped me.

“Are you back?” he asked, his voice full of concern.

I nodded in response.

“Can you feel him at all?”

I shook my head.

“Okay, stay here with Bastian. He isn’t waking up and I’m not sure why. Maybe the blade was coated in something, but he’s unconscious. His wound isn’t bleeding anymore, so that’s a plus. I’m going to shift and see if I can follow whatever trail they left behind.” I realized his hands had been on my shoulders the entire time, squeezing on and off.

“I don’t understand how they could’ve taken him, Cedar,” I whispered.

“I know, Silv, I know. It’s going to be okay, though. We’ll figure it out.” He was nodding his head, trying to instill some sort of faith and hope in me. But I couldn’t seem to get my mind off of how hollow I felt.

Aeric cleared his throat, and I saw Cedar look behind me at him. “Delano is gone too.”

“Stay here with them, I have to at least do a once-over through the city. They had to have been ready to take him—it’s doubtful they were on foot,” Cedar said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

“Of course,” Aeric replied.

Cedar got up and walked closer to Aeric. “Please know, that if I come back to either of them being harmed because you were in on this with Delano, I will hunt you to the ends of this world, slice the skin from your bones, let you heal, and then do it all over again—forever.”

I glanced back in enough time to see Aeric visibly pale at the threat. I didn’t need to see Cedar’s face to know just how serious he was. He’d always given off gentle energy to those around us until he didn’t anymore.

Cedar left out of the front door, leaving me alone with an unconscious Bastian, and Aeric, whom I’ve known for all of half a night. Letting out a deep breath, I moved and sat next to Bastian. He was starting to get some color back in his olive skin. I picked up the shadow stone blade that Cedar left beside him and licked a bit of the blood off the tip. The coppery taste hit my tongue and I immediately spit it out. Something about it was just… wrong.

“Aeric, did we ever figure out what the wolf venom the Outcasts were using actually was?” I looked up at him as he paced the floor. He stopped and looked at me.

“Well, not exactly, no. We know it’s some sort of silver mixed with the drug venom that the… less savory members in the Court of Wolves created and deal out in the taverns there. They tried to bring it here, but, well.” He smirked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s just say Raiden didn’t let them in the court very far with it. That’s why we were all so shocked that the Eternal Outcasts made it as far as they did. Raiden isn’t one to let anything like that happen in his court, you know?” He looked just as confused as I felt about it because I knew that to be true.

I always had work to do in the Court of Wolves. The Court of Ravens was a moderate amount. The Court of Shadows, though? I normally only came here to spend time along The Black Sea. Something about the energy here made my soul happy. Now I guess I could chalk that up to my soul searching for Raiden.

I looked down at my left wrist, running my fingers over the black line work that made up a full loop of roses wrapping around my entire wrist. The soul-bond mark, that once we found it, caused a bout of hysterical laughter to erupt from both of us. It wasn’t overwhelming like Raiden said he’d seen some of them between mates. Nevertheless, it was front and center. Not easy to miss for anyone. His matched, of course. It only added to the line work he already had inked along his body.

He said he’d had an artist ink his tattoos with black ink mixed in with ground shadow stone. I asked if it hurt, and he laughed telling me of course it had. But he’d wanted something to cover up the scars from his previous life.

“I’ll find you, my love,” I whispered through the bond. I wasn’t sure if he could hear me, but if he could… well, he needed to know I wasn’t going to stop. For anything.

I’d burn it all down for him.

* * *

I t took a bit, but Cedar finally came shuffling back through the door. It had taken all of my willpower not to go search for him, and if I hadn’t been here with an unconscious Bastian, I would have.

He pushed a bloody and beaten Delano through the front door of the house, and I jumped to my feet, shadow stone dagger already in my hand.

“Sorry it took me a bit, Silv. I found this one roaming the streets. Apparently, he’d used up his usefulness and instead of bolting like a smart little lackey, he decided to stick around.” Cedar kicked Delano farther into the room, the male grunting under the pain as he slid across the wooden floor.

I walked over and used my foot to roll him onto his back. He glared up at me, his brown eyes filled with distaste. “Where is Raiden?” I growled.

“Fuck you. It’s your fault he was even taken, so you have no one to blame but yourself. Just had to be into shit that didn’t have to do with you,” Delano replied, his words slightly slurred.

I knelt down next to his bleeding body and held my dagger to his throat. “Where is my mate?” I pressed the blade against his skin, willing him to speak, but he just stared at me.

“That’s fine. Another question. What’s on the blade?” I asked him instead.

“Wolf venom,” he fumed.

I smirked, pleased with this information. “Good. You’re coming with us, Delano, and we’re going to have loads of fun.” I shoved the dagger Cedar had pulled from Bastian’s back through the front of Delano’s throat. He tried to scream in pain, but nothing came out. After a few moments, he passed out.

I rose to my feet, looking over at Cedar and Aeric. Cedar was leaning against the far wall, his posture saying he was relaxed but his face saying anything but. Aeric was still pacing.

“Aeric—speak. All that pacing has to have given you some clue as to what the fuck your friend over here was planning,” I raged.

Aeric stopped in the middle of the room and stared at me for a moment. “May I speak plainly, My Lady?”

“Don’t call me that, and please. I don’t have time to waste. I’m assuming since Cedar came back with this shit and not my male, that he didn’t find anything else,” I stated.

Cedar folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the floor. I didn’t blame him, which I hoped he knew, but I was also lacking the energy to be kind. The shock was wearing off, and anger was taking its place. Anger I could work with. Anger was my default setting. Sitting here on the floor, shocked and speechless, wasn’t me. I wasn’t interested in being that female—ever again.

Aeric cleared his throat. “I… uhm… well I think it was a setup.”

“Speak quicker before I decide you’re more useful dead,” I retorted.

“Right, well, I overheard you four talking about the fact that you’d been here before for a… job. Before you came to the Court of Shadows. I don’t particularly believe in coincidences, ya know? So what if it was a setup? You’d already been here, you’d feel comfortable just barging in. They only left three males here with three girls whom they’d just taken. I’m assuming if we dove into their backgrounds, they aren’t even candidates to be taken. What if it was all a ploy to take Raiden and set you off?” Aeric took a breath and when I didn’t make a move to kill him, he continued. “I’m not sure how much Delano has told anyone else about his powers, but I heard rumors in our training camp when I was part of Raiden’s Shadow Brigade that he was able to… steal people’s shadow magic.”

Cedar stood up quickly and looked over at us. “What do you mean? He’s a devolver?”

“What the fuck is a devolver? Did you just make that up?” I asked sharply.

Cedar rolled his eyes. “No, Silv. For fuck’s sake. A devolver has the ability to essentially borrow someone else’s magic. While they do, though, the person they take it from doesn’t have any of their abilities. So if Aeric is right, and Delano is a devolver, it would explain how he was able to take him. He essentially rendered him powerless and that pain you felt upstairs? What if it was him getting hit with a shadow stone blade dipped in the wolf venom like Bastian was?”

“They would’ve just carried him right out of here,” I muttered more to myself. “Cedar, how are we getting him back? That’s all great, having a theory on how he was taken, but what now?”

“We’re going home. Bastian needs time to wake up, and you need space to torture this one.” Cedar kicked Delano in the ribs. “We’re going to burn all of this shit down and leave a path of destruction in our wake until you find him. Sound good?”

I nodded my head.

“Okay, Aeric. If you could collect the girls from upstairs. We can drop them off at the safe house on our way back to the manor. I’ll take Bastian, Silv… well. Just drag Delano. If you want.” He shrugged and hauled Bastian over his shoulder.

I couldn’t wait to slice this male open and find out all of his secrets. It was going to be a blast.

“One step closer, My Lord,” I sent through the bond.