Page 8

Chapter 7

Raging Killer Female

Raiden

W alking into the manor, I found Micah in his office exactly where I knew he’d be.

It’d been a little over an hour since the sun rose into the sky, and I’d spent the rest of the night and day prior sketching her face to perfection.

Micah leaned over his desk, parchment spread out before him.

“I’m glad to see you made it back in one piece this morning, My Lord.” His tone oozed sarcasm. Apparently, he was still angry about the incident at The Arcane Theater. Normally I would care—tonight wasn’t normal for me, though.

I walked over and set the picture I’d drawn on top of whatever he was reading. “I need her found. I need to know everything about her. Where she’s from, who sired her, where she normally resides, what she does for money, who she spends time with, all of it.”

Micah stared down at the picture for a moment before his gaze drifted upward toward my own. “And who exactly is she, Raiden?” he asked cautiously.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, Micah.” Anger splashed into my tone and my fists clenched. I needed to find her. I almost went after her—if I were anyone else, I would have in an instant. But I’m not just anyone. I’m one of the four rulers of Kostbare. An entire court depends on me, and I can’t just go chasing after a female because she’s piqued my interest. I needed to learn more about her first; think about this more. I needed time to ask myself why I was already planning a future with a female I didn’t even know.

Forcing myself to take a breath, I released my hands and sat in the chair across from him. Bringing my ankle up to rest on the opposite knee, I set my hands on the armrests of the black high-back leather chair I was seated in. I glanced around the office, trying to find a way to explain how I was feeling to my longest friend.

Micah’s office has been the same for centuries now. All dark wood—bookcases, his desk, the floor. The tall brass candelabras were well placed around the corners of the room to provide a softly lit atmosphere. The chairs were all high-back and dark leather, providing comfort but still an edge of sophistication that not many possessed anymore.

He was leaning back in his own chair, watching me carefully. I knew he wouldn’t speak until I did. He was giving me time to gather my thoughts. After spending over five hundred years together, he knew me better than anyone. I wasn’t the best with words or emotions. I’d been known across Kostbare to lash out with my magic and ask questions later. With this, though… with this, I felt the need to be honest with my second, my friend.

“I saw her at the theater last night. I don’t know why, but I was drawn to her immediately, Micah.” I looked across the room at nothing in particular. Maybe if I didn’t look him in the eye this would come out easier. “I watched her leave with another man, and something made me get up and follow them. I told myself it was because I was worried she’d be hurt, but really part of me wanted to claim her. Kidnap her. Take her back here with me. I don’t know, Micah.” I released a pent-up breath, relieving some of the tightness in my chest.

I ran my hands over my face as Micah stated, “Well, you clearly didn’t kidnap her unless she’s in a hole somewhere. So, what happened?”

I forced myself to look at him. “I watched her from the shadows. She tortured the man she was with until he bled out in the alley. It was… well, it was magnificent, honestly. She mentioned that Rogan, that was his name, was the second-in-command and had quite the list of women he was connected to, so I didn’t intervene. I just watched her be absolutely brilliant.” I realized there was a smile plastered to my face, and I felt like a prepubescent boy with an infatuation for this female.

Micah’s brow furrowed. “Did you say Rogan?”

“That’s what she called him.” The thought of her taking out more of my possible enemies with that sweet smile on her face made me feel a way I hadn’t felt in many years. I shifted slightly as my pants started feeling tighter for the second time in so many hours. This was all assuming he was indeed an enemy, and she wasn’t some female serial killer that I let get away. I shook my head at the thought, refusing to even go down that path in my mind.

Micah reached over the top of his desk to hand me the piece of parchment he’d been reading when I walked in. “I’ve been having some of our more trusted people investigate the females’ disappearances, as you asked. They brought me this before the sun rose.”

I read the letter he handed over to me. It had a few names listed on it, including Rogan. The numbers next to his name were smaller than what the female listed out to him, so that was interesting. I wondered where she’d gotten her information from. I read the rest of the list. I didn’t recognize any other names on it, but their numbers are also smaller than his.

“The female mentioned numbers to him. She read him off his crimes as he bled out.” I smirked as the image passed through my mind again. “But her numbers were higher than those listed here.” I handed him back the parchment and he sat back in his chair, glancing over the list again.

“How much higher? How would she even know what his numbers were?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know who she is, as you know. She said he was responsible for six missing and twelve dead, but she believed his numbers were even higher than that. It was hard for him to confirm with a gaping hole in his throat.”

His gaze quickly snapped back to mine. “Wait—you said while he bled out?”

I felt the smile curve against my lips as I envisioned it all over again in my head. It just played back again and again on a loop. “Yes. It was glorious. I can’t think of a better word for it. She had a shadow stone blade and then used ice magic to freeze open the wound. It was… Fuck me, Micah. It was absolute magic.”

Micah’s eyes were wide as he listened to my explanation. “As happy as I am that you’re clearly besotted with this raging killer female, we need to figure out who she is and how she was able to obtain a shadow stone blade, Raiden. That can’t be in the hands of just anyone.”

I understood his anxiety over it. Shadow stone was a complicated metal created by combining shadow, fire, and ice magic. It also required a talented blacksmith to be able to handle all the magic together while working with the metal. Normally it wasn’t successful, but when it was the metal could be made into blades, chains, and so on. The chains had the ability to block magic altogether, while the weapons had the ability to block magic and have us healing at the rate of humans.

I smirked. “I know that. I’ll handle it. Just focus on finding out who she is. Maybe she can help us fill in some gaps on how she knew Rogan’s numbers better than we do. I don’t take kindly to this female knowing more about what’s going on in my court than I do.”

I rose from my chair, feeling better now that I’d shared with Micah, and I had him on the path to finding my new queen.

* * *

M y hands ached as I did my best to pull the ropes tied to my father’s fishing net back into our boat. The sun was just cresting over the horizon, and we’d already been at this for hours now.

“Come on, boy! Pull it in quicker or the fish’ll jump out!” Father yelled from the other end of our raft.

Our boat was on the smaller side compared to the other fishermen on the dock, but Father said that it didn’t matter. It only matters how much work you’re willing to put in to feed the family. At fifteen years old, I was willing to put in the work to keep my little sister, Ophelia, fed and happy. Mother too, of course, but Ophelia was only eight. She still didn’t fully understand why some days Father and I brought back enough to keep us fed for days, and other times we returned with nothing.

If we didn’t bring enough back to sell to the fish merchants at the docks to cover the costs of living, we returned with nothing. I hated those days. Going to bed on an empty stomach and working the next morning was hard.

So, I gripped my hands tighter on the nets and pulled as hard as my body would allow.

When it felt like many moons had passed, we were finally going back to shore, my entire body aching.

“You did good today, my son,” Father said and patted me on the shoulder gently. I think he knew how badly my muscles ached.

I’d been going out with him since I was ten, but even after five years on this tiny boat, my muscles still ached after a long morning and I still slept like the dead after we arrived home and my mother fussed over me.

Father and I sold the majority of our catch to our favorite fish merchants along the dock and then gathered up our supplies to head back home. The cobblestone streets were wet and dreary as the sun peeked through the gray clouds above.

Our home was only a few blocks from the docks, thankfully. I’m not sure how much farther my legs would have carried me.

I saw the graying brick ahead and my heart felt lighter already. Our home was one of many in the city of Darkmoor. Father said that one day the vampires would rule this city because the sun hates it here, just like they do. But right now, it’s just humans like us.

I walked up the stone steps to our front door and took off my wet shoes before entering. Even though I tower over my mother, she’d still have my hide if I tracked water and sea muck through her home.

Dark brown braids whipped around the corner of the kitchen door and bound for me. Thankfully, I thought to drop my things first, because Ophelia hurled herself into my arms before I could stop her.

“Phillie, I’m covered in sea muck,” I said with a laugh.

Her dark blue eyes gazed up at me, a huge smile beaming my way. I chuckled at the sight. She’d lost one of her top front teeth recently, so the giant holes in her smile made her that much cuter to me.

I knew most big brothers found their little siblings annoying, and that was fine for them. I never thought I’d have any brothers or sisters, so when Mother and Father told me they were having Ophelia all those years after me, I couldn’t have been happier. Father made me promise when she was born to always look after her like a big brother should, and I took that promise very seriously.

“Ray! You brought back breakfast. That deserves a hug,” Ophelia said after finally releasing me from her tiny grasp.

I smiled, taking the fish I’d been carting with my father into the kitchen to my mother.

Father was already there, arms wrapped around my mother as she started to prep everything she needed for breakfast.

Blue eyes that matched Ophelia’s perfectly glanced across the room at me kindly. “Go get cleaned up to eat, Ray,” my mother said with a smile.

I looked around at my family, realizing just how lucky I was. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

* * *

I blinked my eyes a few times, slowly letting the sleep dissipate from my mind.

It had been so long since I’d dreamed of them, that I almost didn’t wish to wake from the memory. Normally when I’d see Ophelia in my dreams, it would be her body—broken and bloody; not so much her smiling face. It would be my mother’s bloody and tear-stricken face crumbled on the kitchen floor, and my father… I forced myself to end that train of thought. It didn’t do well to dwell on the past.

Stretching out my still tired limbs, I rose from my bed. I didn’t have time to take a stroll down memory lane right now. More bodies had been reported and my court had to take precedence over my dead past.