A Kiss of Shadow (Court of Starlight and Darkness #2)(3)

“I heard her talking about it,” Meria said. “The Truth Teller told her to come to the competition. So she did.”

“And yet, she didn’t win.”

Meria shrugged. “Maybe she was meant to compete for another reason. There’s a lot to be gained from being a competitor.” She gestured to the beautiful apartment around her. “Like a fresh start.”

“Does Evelyn also have an apartment?”

“On this very street. Let’s go see if she’ll help us.”

“Now?”

“No time like the present. And you want to know, right?”

“Desperately.” So desperately that I didn’t mind bugging Evelyn late at night.

With any luck, she wouldn’t bite my head off.





2





Lore



* * *



I stared blindly at the book in front of me. I’d selected it in an attempt to keep my mind off of Sia.

It hadn’t worked.

She hadn’t left my thoughts since the competition yesterday.

It was killing me.

Next to me, Wolf rumbled low in his throat. I rubbed his head. “Someone’s coming, eh?”

He rumbled again, and I heard the footsteps in the hall. A moment later, a knock sounded at the door. I turned, welcoming the distraction.

Thank fates.

“Come in.”

Vusario entered my study. The seer was dressed in a cloak the color of blood. Dark shadows hung beneath his black eyes. “My lord.”

“Vusario. What do you need?”

“I’ve come to discuss arrangements to go to the High Court for your wedding.”

“We’re not going. You know the High Court is full of backstabbers and threats. We’ll do the wedding here.”

Shock flashed across Vusario’s face. “That’s unheard of. The marriage will be more powerful with the support of the other members of the High Court. You need them.”

“No, I don’t. I need is to fulfill the prophecy and defeat the witch with the deathly magic. The High Court doesn’t play into it.”

I hated the damned High Court. The leaders of each of the fae kingdoms had a seat, me included. And though there were alliances to be found there, it was more common to find a knife in your back.

Especially since Sia was now queen. She wielded a power we didn’t understand, and my spies suggested there was at least one member of the High Court who would like to see her dead.

The idea of her death made me break out in a cold sweat.

“Of course the Council plays into it,” Vusario said. “Are you willing to risk war with them by violating the terms of the alliances we’ve formed?”

“They can be dealt with. No one would rise against us. Not after what I did to the Court of the Northern Fae.” I still occasionally felt guilt over the harshness of my vengeance. I’d killed anyone who had resisted, and many had. Their court had shattered afterward, and those left had moved far away.

Some said the extent of my vengeance had been too much, and there were times I agreed.

In the middle of the room, Vusario shifted on his feet, a frown creasing his brow. It was more emotion than he usually showed.

“Sire, we must attend.”

“Why are you so insistent about this?”

“The witch with the deathly magic will be there.”

His words sent a bolt of shock through me. “What?”

“The vision just appeared. It’s what I was coming to tell you. I was just so shocked that you weren’t already planning to go.”

“Why would she be there?” The witch wasn’t fae.

“I do not know. But if we go, we can apprehend her before she arrives here.”

This changed everything.

I couldn’t argue with his logic, and the appeal was too great. I could still vividly remember the devastation caused by the Court of the Northern Fae when they’d decimated one of our outlying villages. The images still haunted me.

I couldn’t let the dark witch do the same—not if I could stop her before she arrived.

“Fine. We’ll go. But we’ll bring guards.” A lot of them. I’d have them watching Sia’s back every minute of the day. If anything happened to her, I’d have their heads.





Sia



* * *



Meria led me down the stairs and onto the street. I nodded at Dain, who waited in the shadows of a doorway in a nearby alley.

“Evelyn lives in the building two doors down,” she said.

We stopped in front of a red door set in a building made of slightly darker stone than Meria’s. The stonework on the side was of flowers instead of vines, but it was just as beautiful.

“Evelyn,” Meria shouted.

“Seriously?” I asked her. “That’s how you get her attention? You’re going to wake the neighborhood.”

“It’s not like we’re on comms charm terms,” she said.

I touched the golden earring at my earlobe. Meria had given it to me, and it was a bit like a cellphone that connected directly to her through magic. We were definitely not that close with Evelyn.

“Evelyn!”

A window on the third floor opened and Evelyn’s head popped out. “Keep your pants on!”