Lady of Darkness (Lady of Darkness #1)

Chapter 1 Scarlett

CHAPTER 1

SCARLETT

“Y ou are sure he will be here tonight?” a cool female voice asked, bored from where its bearer perched on a low garden wall.

“I have tracked him for weeks,” replied a voice of silk and honey. “He will be here.”

“You said the same thing an hour ago,” the first snarled, flipping a dagger in her hand.

“Then why did you ask me the same godsdamned question?”

“Kindly remember I get him first.”

“You always do,” the second voice crooned.

“Enough. Both of you.” An icy, third, female voice cut in through the bickering.

If the moon were out at all that night, it would have illuminated the three figures who sat in the shadows on that garden wall, waiting. Completely in black, from the boots to the hoods up over their heads, there were weapons gleaming on every inch of them. Steel daggers and swords. Bows and arrows. Hatchets and whips. Three women who knew how to use every single one of the weapons that adorned them with lethal efficiency. Three women who knew how to use their bodies as weapons— in all the ways a woman could use her body. Three women who were far more clever than most and that was perhaps their most valuable of weapons. Three women who had been raised together. Trained together. Three women feared by most. Nightmares come to life.

As it were, there was no moon out that night so the male, also dressed in black, did not see the women creeping along the wall as he passed them, despite constantly looking over his shoulder. The male did not hear the feet landing behind him softer than a cat. The male did not know he was not alone until a dagger was pressing into his back and that voice of silk and honey purred into his ear, “Hello, Dracon.”

The male swore and reached for his own blade at his side. Before his hand touched the hilt, the voice clicked her tongue. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“I’ve been waiting for you for weeks, you bitch,” the male sneered at her. “Ever since you let it be known that Death’s Shadow had begun trailing me.”

“Is that so?” she whispered softly.

“Yes, so let’s have it out like the trained professionals we are instead of you cowardly shoving a dagger through my back.”

“Hmm, as delightful as that does sound, I don’t think that will happen on this night.”

“Why not?”

The woman stepped back from him, releasing Dracon with a shove that had him stumbling a few steps. “Because tonight my sisters have joined me.” Even in the darkness, the woman could still see the male’s face drain of color.

“What?” he whispered.

A cruel smile spread across her face.

“One in particular has a score to settle with you.” The woman’s tone went dark and filled with wicked amusement as the other two women prowled from the shadows. She sniffed the air, her delicate nostrils flaring. “Why is it that you two make them piss themselves more than I do?”

“No.” The male’s breathing was ragged as he stumbled back from them. “No. I haven’t done anything to warrant this. No!”

“Well, that just isn’t true,” one of the women said sweetly as she stepped towards him.

“It is true! I’ve only done paying jobs. Just like you.” The male tripped over something as he backed away from them and fell to the stone ground. He continued to push himself away on his hands. “I’ve done nothing to warrant sending his Wraiths after me!”

The woman pulled a dagger from her side with a gloved hand, tapping the point against her fingertip. “He didn’t send us. Sometimes we collect our own debts, and I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.” Her voice was wildfire and snow and ice and shadows.

“Then clearly you lot aren’t as good as the rumors claim,” he sneered.

In less time than it took him to draw another breath, the dagger flew from her hand and went clear through his, pinning it to the ground beneath him.

He screamed in agony, reaching to pull out the dagger piercing him, but another boot came down on his other hand. He gasped around the pain.

“You’re right,” the woman who had thrown the dagger purred. “We’re better.”

The one he had called Death’s Shadow stalked toward him and wrenched the dagger from his hand. She tossed it back to the thrower, who caught it with ease, scowled, and grumbled, “Gods, it smells like him now.”

The other two women each hooked an arm under his shoulders and began dragging him along the path. The male was kicking his booted feet, twisting to and fro, trying any way to break their hold on him. They acted as if they were hauling a sack of potatoes. They’d been trained extensively on how to handle his kind.

And how to kill them.

“Where are you taking me? Where are we going?” he cried.

“Death’s Maiden has questions for you,” the third woman said as they threw him against the low garden wall. It was overgrown with thick ivy and thorns, and the male yelped as they cut into his palms, his skin, his face.

“No. Please, no,” he begged. “I will take the third over her!”

Death’s Maiden crouched before him, tilting his head back with her finger to peer into his eyes. “Oh, Death Incarnate shall have her turn…when I am done with you.” There was nothing human in her eyes as she surveyed the male before her. “Seven years ago you were hired to kill my mother…and me.”

At those words, the man began trembling. “You— You are the daughter. You are the one who— You’ve been missing for the last seven years.”

“Apparently, I’ve been found.”

She plunged a dagger up through the bottom of the man’s foot, right through his boot. The tip came out the other side, slicing through the laces.

The male screamed again, sobbing. “It was a paying job. He tricked me. I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know who you were killing? That seems highly unlikely,” Death’s Maiden said with a laugh tinged with madness. She pulled another dagger from her boot as she remained crouching before him. “Who was with you that day?”

“I cannot say,” he sobbed again.

“Well, that is a pity,” she sighed. Then she brought that dagger down into the male’s thigh.

“I cannot say,” he cried, breathing through his teeth around the pain. “I am forbidden. I am bound by ancient blood magic. I cannot say.”

“Foolery,” the third, Death Incarnate, snapped. “There is no one here who can do such magic. Magic is not found here.”

“There is,” the male gasped. “I swear it!”

“He lies,” she snarled, bringing her eyes to meet Death’s Maiden’s.

“Perhaps he does. I don’t give a shit.” She stood. “We have hours to discover if he is indeed feeding us lies.” Dracon began thrashing again, writhing on the ground. “Tell me, Dracon, did you know that your Fae magic will not heal you here?”

Dracon was trembling violently now. “I didn’t know your mother was who she was until it was too late. I swear it!”

Death’s Maiden only smirked. “Do you remember exactly how you killed my mother? How you took her apart piece by piece? Because I do. I was hidden in a trash bin in that alley and saw the whole fucking thing.”

Dracon began whimpering as the other two women came to her side. The three of them stood gazing down at him, cruelty on every line of their faces. They all drew daggers from their cloaks and advanced.

Dracon’s screams began anew.

Scarlett Monrhoe woke to Dracon’s screams still echoing in her mind. She rarely dreamt of that night anymore. This dream was actually a happy memory. She was usually jarred from the depths of slumber by nightmares that had her drenched in sweat and her throat raw from screaming. They were the reason she hadn’t slept well in months, so she wasn’t entirely surprised she’d fallen asleep in the middle of the day.

She sat draped over a chair with the early afternoon sun filtering into the parlor of the Tyndell Manor. The tea she’d been sipping on had long since grown cold beside her. The book she had been reading was still in her lap, open and waiting. It was a rather old leather-bound book she’d stumbled upon a few days ago. She’d been through the small Tyndell library numerous times and didn’t know how she’d missed the book when searching the shelves for something new, but there it had been, sticking out like a sore thumb on the shelf.

It was not just about the fallen kingdom of Avonleya. That kingdom had been on a continent across the sea but had been defeated when they sought to overthrow King Deimas and Queen Esmeray. The king and queen gave their lives for the war by using their magic to not only defeat and lock away the Avonleyans but also to protect them from the Fae Courts to the north and south of their human lands. Their sacrifices had provided the humans protection from the Fae who desired to enslave the mortals that shared the continent. This book, however, went into more detail about the conquered kingdoms: things she hadn’t been taught in her extensive studies, details about their strange magic, and the gods and long extinct bloodlines.

“Are you really going to just sit in here and read all day?” a young woman drawled from the doorway, her hip propped against the door frame. Her golden hair was braided and swept to the side. Scarlett smirked at Tava Tyndell, daughter of the Lord of the house. The two girls were very different. Scarlett was all confidence and swagger. Tava was entirely submissive and gentle on the outside, the way Ladies of nobility were trained to be from a young age, but she was clever enough and enjoyed getting into a little trouble with Scarlett every now and then. The fact that Scarlett wasn’t raised in a noble household accounted for their stark differences, but the girls were friends nonetheless.

“Unless you have something better in mind, I’m quite content to lounge in the sun all day, thank you very much,” Scarlett replied, her attention turning back to the book.

“She is waiting for you. Out in the training quarters,” Tava whispered, fidgeting with her spirit amulet at her neck. Three interlocked circles, side-by-side— the symbol of Falein, the goddess of cleverness and wisdom.

Scarlett slowly dragged her eyes back to her. “How long has she been here?”

Tava’s voice was hushed. “Only a few minutes. She nearly made my heart stop when she stepped from the shadows and sent me to you right away.”

“Is she alone?” Scarlett asked.

“I do not know, but we do not have much time. Drake and the other men are out hunting, and they will return soon,” Tava answered.

Scarlett uncoiled from the chair, tucking her book under her arm. “Lead the way.”

The girls walked silently from the parlor, nodding to a couple of passing servants in the hallway. They slipped out the back terrace doors and crossed the grounds to the training quarters.

The Tyndell Manor resided on a sprawling estate, complete with its own stables, garden, training quarters, and archery grounds. The manor itself was two stories with a dozen suites, several studies, sitting rooms and the like. Lord Tyndell was the noble of the manor, residing there with his two children, Drake and Tava. His wife, she had been told, had passed from a wasting disease when the children were young.

While Scarlett currently resided with nobility, she was not noble by blood. Not this type of nobility anyway. She had plenty of wealth thanks to her mother, who had been a highly sought after healer in the capital city until her death when Scarlett was nine. She had never known her father. When her mother died, she was taken in by the Fellowship across the street from the Healer’s Compound her mother had run. She had resided at the Fellowship until she had been sent to live with the Tyndells a year ago when she was eighteen.

Scarlett’s long dress swished across the grass as they hurried the final few feet and pushed open the doors to the training barracks. The main room was empty, and Scarlett glanced at Tava. The girl shrugged her shoulders, biting her bottom lip nervously. Scarlett huffed a loud sigh, then snarled to the empty room, “While I certainly have all the time in the world these days, I don’t particularly enjoy being summoned like a godsdamned dog.”

“So temperamental lately. Although, I guess that is nothing new,” a female voice drawled, flipping a dagger in her hand as she came into view from the darkest corner of the room. “For the love of Arius, did you take a stroll around the grounds before you came to see me?”

Scarlett rolled her eyes, throwing the woman a vulgar gesture as she meandered to the wall of weapons. Swords gleamed, their hilts varying from large and intricate to basic and dull. Hunting knives, bows and quivers full of arrows, daggers, and hatchets all adorned the wall.

“You’ve been living here nearly a year now, and you still haven’t learned how to act like a Lady?” the woman asked, coming up beside her. Two scimitars hung at her waist while a sword was strapped to her back.

“It would appear not,” Scarlett replied, picking up a basic sword. There was nothing special about it as she checked its balance. Deciding it would do for today, she turned to face the other. She was slightly taller than Scarlett and had pale skin with ashy blonde hair. Her eyes were the color of honey.

“Good,” she replied, a feral smile spreading across her face. “I’d hate to have to break in a new partner. The guys at the Fellowship just aren’t the same.”

“You mean none of them are as pretty to look at?” Scarlett asked, leading the way to one of the training rings.

“I mean,” the woman said, getting into a defensive sparring position, “that none of them are as wonderful as myself; and they bore me to no end, despite being plenty pretty to look at.”

“The self-love in this room is truly astounding,” Tava mused from her position by the building’s entrance, keeping watch.

Scarlett and the woman both laughed as they entered into a dance of thrusts, side steps, twirls, and lunges. Their swords sang as they whipped through the air. They were blurs, moving so fast you couldn’t tell where one stopped and the other began. Scarlett cursed as she realized a mistake too late, and the woman brought her sword down in a winning maneuver. The other woman snickered, lowering her sword. “You’re out of practice.”

“Unlike you, I don’t live in a keep full of thieves and assassins who can spar with me at all hours of the day,” Scarlett scowled.

“Now, now,” she chided, “we could have you gone from here tonight. You know what is required of you.”

“I have no desire to go from one prison to another,” Scarlett scoffed.

“He wants you to come home,” the woman said softly, closing the small distance between them so that Tava could not hear.

“That is no longer my home, Nuri.”

“And this place is?” she asked, her brows rising.

“No, but for now I am protected here, I suppose. Until I figure out…something else. Until I can disappear.”

“Please don’t do anything stupid.”

“You’re one to talk,” Scarlett replied with a pointed look.

“We’re not talking about me,” Nuri said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Come home, Scarlett. You want to disappear? No one knew you were alive for years there.”

“Yes, but again, I have a measure of protection here…from all of them.”

“You would be just as protected there. He has said so more than once. You just need to give in on this one thing,” Nuri insisted.

“I will not be shoved back into a cage of hiding,” Scarlett snarled.

“You’re in a cage now,” Nuri bit back, readying herself in the training ring again.

“Because he shoved me into one,” Scarlett replied, anger seeping into her tone.

“You shoved yourself into one and refuse to let yourself back out,” Nuri snapped.

Scarlett lunged at Nuri, initiating their next sparring match, and nearly tripped on her long gown.

“You wouldn’t have to wear such things at the Fellowship,” Nuri said with a smirk. “Just saying.”

“Tell me why you’re here, Nuri,” Scarlett ground out as she blocked Nuri’s thrust.

“He has an assignment for you,” she said, ducking to avoid Scarlett’s next move. She swiped out with her foot, and Scarlett jumped her attempt to knock her to the ground.

“You cannot be serious?” Scarlett whirled and thrust out with her sword.

“I would not joke about something like this,” Nuri replied as she shoved back against Scarlett’s block. “And neither would he. In fact, he has sent the assignment with a very enticing payment when completed.”

“I do not need any further funds from him ,” Scarlett seethed. “I need nothing from him, not anymore.”

“He knows this. Which is why he offers something else,” Nuri said. The girls were both breathing hard, equally skilled in almost every way. “Gods, it’s been an age since I’ve sparred with anyone of worth.” Nuri’s grin was one of wicked delight as they moved around the ring in a dance of maneuvers that can only come from intense training and practice.

“Apparently, I’m not as out of practice as one thought then,” Scarlett managed to get out between breaths.

“I mean, you’re still not at your best, but your mediocre is still better than most of those at the Fellowship,” Nuri said, somehow managing to shrug as she said it.

“Whatever,” Scarlett muttered, landing a blow with her foot to the girl’s stomach.

Nuri laughed as she held up her hands to stop the match. “A truce then, Sister. We do need to discuss this assignment.”

“You can tell the Assassin Lord he can take his assignment and shove it up his—”

“You haven’t even heard what he is offering you yet, Scarlett, and trust me. When you hear what he is offering for payment, I think you will change your mind.”

“I highly doubt that.”

Nuri closed the distance between them again and lowered her voice. “He has learned who hired Dracon.”

“I know who hired Dracon. I know who ordered my mother killed. We discovered that shortly after we took out Dracon,” Scarlett replied lethally.

“But he knows how to find him and will aid you in ending him.”

Scarlett nearly dropped her sword to the dirt floor of the training building. “He is lying.”

“He is not, Scarlett.” Nuri’s honey-colored eyes were fixed on her. “He knows, and he will tell you if you agree to and complete this assignment. He also said that if you agree to the assignment, you will be allowed back into the Syndicate to train and utilize our resources.”

“Did he tell you?”

“He’s not stupid,” Nuri drawled. “He knows I would tell you even if he forbade it.”

“Who is the assignment?”

“I am not to say anything unless you agree first.”

“Why? Am I to kill you that I must agree to such terms?”

“Of course not,” Nuri snapped. “Not that you could.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“I don’t think we know that at all.”

“Is this his target or the king’s?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know who the target is,” Nuri answered.

“How are you supposed to tell me the assignment then?”

“He will send it to you.”

“He’s always so fucking dramatic,” Scarlett grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“The men have returned,” Tava hissed from the doorway. “They just entered the stables.”

“What am I to tell him?” Nuri asked, pulling the hood of her cloak up and sheathing her blade at her back.

“For fuck’s sake, Nuri, of course I’m going to do it if he will aid me in this,” Scarlett snapped as she hurried across the floor to put the sword back. She turned to face her, but she had already vanished into the shadows.

“Hurry, Scarlett,” Tava whispered. “They are going to come out any time.”

Scarlett joined Tava, and they hurried from the training quarters but not fast enough.

As they stepped out into the sunshine once more, two men came from the stables at the same moment.

“Shit,” Tava muttered. The young Lady rarely swore, being of nobility and all. She turned to Scarlett and whispered, “Mikale is here.”

“I know,” Scarlett said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s fine. I can handle him.”

The Lairwood Family had long been the Hands to the king, and Mikale Lairwood was in line to be the Hand to the Crown Prince, Prince Callan. Mikale had also set his sights on Scarlett and made his intentions clear about a year ago. The same time she had come to reside at Tyndell Manor. Despite having refused him on more than one occasion, he was persistent; and because Lord Tyndell was the leader of the king’s armies, and Mikale was currently a Commander in said armies, she found herself in the young Lord’s presence far more often than she wished. However, the fact remained that she had no noble blood in her veins, and there was no way Lord Lairwood would approve of a union to anyone without noble blood in the family.

Mikale, however, was also the reason she was now living at the Tyndell Manor.

“At least Drake is with him,” Tava said tentatively.

“Yes,” Scarlett whispered. Drake wouldn’t do much though. She closed her eyes and willed the ice in her veins to calm, soothing the anger that threatened to spill from her mouth.

“Tava. Scarlett,” Drake greeted them as he neared, eyeing them suspiciously. “What are you two doing down here?”

“Looking for you, of course,” Tava replied to her brother.

“For?” he asked with a raised brow.

“I was hoping you were back so we could go riding,” Scarlett cut in with a wink at Drake.

“Go riding in dresses?” Mikale drawled with a sneer. “How demure you have become, Lady. ”

“You’d be surprised at the things I can do in a dress,” Scarlett replied coolly.

“I am sure I would be,” he answered, his eyes sweeping over the lavender colored gown that was fitted across the bodice before flowing to the ground. “Care to enlighten me?” He took a step closer to her.

“Come any closer to me, and you’ll find out exactly what I can do in a dress,” Scarlett said with calm fury.

Mikale’s lips twitched in amusement, and Scarlett saw red, her hands curling to fists at her sides.

“Take that next step, Mikale. We all know Scarlett would wipe the floor with your ass,” a man said, coming up behind Mikale and Drake. “And we’d all love to see it.”

Scarlett’s heart stumbled, and she couldn’t help the smile that filled her face as she breathed, “Cassius.”