Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Maximinus’ Study, Draca Kingdom
Daire, Alpha Shadow Fae King
“Sweet fae.” Maximinus’ quill scratches across the parchment.
He is seated behind his large desk, which is cluttered with relics, talismans, and powerful items of arcane, ancient magic that set my teeth on edge.
The burning sun bathes the opulent room of frescoes and gold and silver statues of dragons, which feel a shade too alive.
Maximinus looks more like a scribe than the bloody sadistic sorcerer he truly is.
“Why do you always persist on making me do this to you?”
I ruffle my bedraggled feathers from my place kneeling naked in front of the desk. “Do what…?”
When Maximinus flicks his wrist without looking up at me, the iron in my veins, with which he poisoned me as soon as I came to the Shadow Court, flares to life.
I had to bloody ask.
I scream.
Shadow tendrils creep up my throat and then down the backs of my hands.
Iron surges through my bloodstream, sick and wrong.
“Boss,” I gasp.
“Hmm?” Scratch, scratch, scratch. “Poor thing, that sounds painful.”
May the Shadow Devils choke him on his own knot.
“Fuck.” I thrash on the floor.
My back arches.
A conspiracy of ravens swoops down to the window in alarm. They rap on the glass with their strong bills, trying to reach me.
My ravens raise their voices in musical, croaking songs.
It is their formal greeting to me, while they glare with deadly intent at Maximinus. If my ravens broke in here, they would peck out his eyes, but not before Maximinus killed them with his metallicum magic.
My throat is tight because I thought that I may never see my ravens again, my loyal friends.
I shake my head at them.
They ruffle their shaggy throat feathers, unhappily flying further into the court gardens.
“Don’t you have an apology for me? No? Then please keep it down.
I have a letter to write to invite King Lanlin to visit.
He is pretty like you are but unfortunately, is even more barbarous.
I am looking forward to civilizing him with the same methods as work on you, when I have him caged, of course.
It appears that you already have a plan to seduce him.
I should have expected that from a whorish fae.
Are you worried that he’ll take your spot as my top assassin?
But you’re dying. I need someone to replace you. ”
Of course.
Maximinus transformed me into his secret assassin. I should have guessed that he would be planning to find a way to do the same to the most dangerous vampire in the realms.
Arsehole.
I squirm onto my stomach, slamming my fevered forehead onto the cool marble to try and drive away the pain.
It doesn’t help.
I slap my palms against the floor, howling as my wrist snaps.
“Boss… I’m sorry…” I raise my head to look at Maximinus, but the world is blurred to shadows.
How soon before I fully lose my vision? Finally, the sound of the quill on parchment stills in excited anticipation of my humiliation.
“I’m sorry…that you’re a bloody abusive, traitorous, cowardly war criminal who doesn’t have the bollocks to test his magical powers against anyone who could challenge you without binding theirs first.”
Silence.
Then agony, as the poisonous iron invades every part of me at once.
Agony like I have never felt before.
I tip my head back, my wings stretch out, taut on either side of me, and I scream and scream and…
It’s freeing.
I’m flying.
Floating.
Is this dying?
My vision blurs further. Then it fades to gray…to black…as I pass out.
When I take a shuddering breath, blinking my eyes open, I stare up at the ceiling.
My lungs burn.
How long was I unconscious? Moments? Minutes? Hours?
My body still buzzes with pain. But it’s reduced to a level that I can manage, no more than my dislocated wrist or a unit of dragon warriors slicing my back to ribbons with their swords.
It’s terrifying that I can only see a blur of shapes around me, however, barely outlines.
What if I stay like this? How will I be able to protect Freya? Will the Bloods with their advanced senses be able to tell?
Will Freya truly keep me in her pack, when she is now a Queen and her other Kings are as powerful as Aurelius and Lanlin?
I won’t let her down.
I grit my teeth, shaking, as I push myself up onto my knees.
Scratch, scratch, scratch,
Maximinus is writing again.
I told my Spark not to fight Maximinus.
On the sacred ash, I should have taken my own bloody advice.
I am dying.
I can’t fight that either. I will burn with the Shadow Devils and be parted forever from my wolf because I know that she will fly to join with her ancestors in the moon.
The Shadow Gods would be lucky to have her.
But I will make sure that she is safe and loved first. I’ll do anything to ensure that my soulmate is happy and supported, after I’m gone.
It’s my last wish.
I thought that she had that when she was bonded to Aurelius as his Queen.
But now…?
I feel a tear chase down my cheek and quickly wipe it away before Maximinus can see it.
I never believed Aurelius to be the villain that he thought himself to be. But I don’t believe this Lanlin is the monster either.
How do I get these idiots to accept that they need to become a pack for my Omega?
How do I revive my Winter Court for my people?
How long do I have left?
“Is that all you’ve got, boss?” I tilt up my chin.
A sigh. “I’ll need to refine my training for Lanlin. No matter what I do, you stubbornly remain a disobedient brat.”
“Flatterer.”
My joints ache. My throat has been shredded by my screams.
I stiffen on the alert when I hear a chair being scraped back, followed by heavy footfalls around the desk.
I refuse to flinch at the sound of the footfalls drawing closer to me.
I can hear Maximinus’ breathing and smell the heavy, unpleasant miasma of his pheromones.
It’s lucky that a fae’s senses are so enhanced that even without my sight, I can manage by sound and smell alone. Plus, these dragons crash around, which is why I am such a better assassin than they are.
I have heard that Lanlin is even lighter in his movements than I am…he can turn to smoke.
No wonder he is an efficient killer.
“Can you see this?” Maximinus sounds amused.
I bet the arsehole is waving his fingers around in front of my face.
“May the Shadow Devils swallow you sideways,” I mutter. “Of course I can, boss.”
Maximinus chuckles. “Being blind makes you a worse liar. Your face is far too expressive.”
I flap my wings in agitation. “Should I learn from you? You know, I’m disappointed after our close working relationship that you tried to have my pretty head parted from my shoulders. I thought that you’d started to become fond of me, boss.”
“Fond of imagining you dying blind and in agony like your family, friends and court did at my hand.”
“Nay, don’t you dare talk sexy to me.”
Maximinus backhands me, but I don’t fall.
Instead, I viciously grin, delighting in spitting the blood in his direction.
He hisses in disgust — bullseye. “Filthy savage.”
“It’s unfair to throw in some degradation kink, when I’m naked and can’t even hide how hard you’re making me.”
“Slut. And you will be the Shadow Vampire King’s.” Maximinus grips me by my curls, and I grit my teeth. My skin crawls. The gentle way that he strokes my hair makes me wince more than his hit did. “This is a new look.”
“Do you like it? It’s called the preventing my throat from being torn out style.”
“It suits you. Sweet to hide the serpent with fangs underneath.”
I bare my sharp canines at him. “It’s why I’m called Dove now.”
“As if a violent bandit raven like you could ever be a dove.”
“That’s why it’s called a disguise.”
“And who gave you permission to hide your identity?”
“My survival instinct.”
A long moment, then finally, Maximinus lets go of my hair.
I take a steadying breath.
I strain to listen.
Where is he?
Suddenly, I hear the swish of movement as he turns away, the march of footfalls, then the slam of a drawer being opened.
What is he doing?
“Stand up,” Maximinus orders.
Shakily, I struggle to push myself to my feet. My muscles burn. The soles of my feet are cold on the marble floor.
I cradle my injured wrist against my chest, before taking a deep breath and pushing the joint back into place.
I double over with a howl.
“Our healers could have done that,” Maximinus comments.
“Would you have sent for one?”
“Of course not.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself in the arse.”
“Silence. Also, stand still, or I will bind you with enchanted chains.” Maximinus’ voice is suddenly far closer than I was expecting, as I dealt with the pain in my wrist. When he begins to slip a silky, satin robe over my head, I rear back. “Oi, I’m not a doll.”
“You are.” Maximinus forces the robe over me. I can feel the soft material and the flutter of ribbons, which he adjusts fussily. “There. A pretty sacrifice. How could any vampire not want to feed from you now?”
My heart rate spikes, but I shrug my shoulders. “I am bitable.”
“I just need one final detail to the letter to ensure that Lanlin will have no choice but to give up everything to agree to this peace deal.” Maximinus sounds too smug for my liking.
I strain to see through the shadows that surround me, as something whispers through the air.
“A Shadow Vampire’s sense of smell is better than that of any other race. ”
Unexpectedly, I sense the tingle of cursed magic surrounding my damaged wrist. I suck in a sharp breath, just before metal slices into my skin.
I hiss at the shallow cut.
I try to pull back but I sniff in shock, both smelling and feeling my blood magically snaking from me.
It’s invasive.
Horrific.
A violation worse than the iron inside me.
“Stop it, bastard.” I wrap my wing around my cut wrist, knowing that the blood must be staining my white feathers red.
“There,” Maximinus says, sounding satisfied, “sealed with your blood. It’s meant to smell and taste like nectar to those parasites.”