Princess of Shadows: A Dark Fae Fantasy Romance Read online

  In actuality, they did glow, but the glow was so subtle that a human would never pick up on it. That subtlety was enough to draw a man’s attention away from the body and let her weave her spell over them.

  “What do you need this time?” Ast questioned. Her tone was annoyed, but she had a smile on her face.

  “I can’t just stop by to see an old friend?” I replied, giving her a wide grin.

  “I’d hope not. Especially with what I’ve been hearing. Is the Assassin’s Guild really on your tail?”

  “I was hoping that they weren’t actually still hunting me. Should have lost them yesterday.”

  Ast pulled on a pair of tights that hugged her body. Then, she pulled a silver sequined top on. She caught me looking at her pants and turned to shake her ass towards me.

  “New ‘exercise’ leggings. Greatest perk of being around mortals. They make the best clothes.” She certainly wasn’t trying to seduce me. Neither of us could feed on the other, and sex was rarely ever for more than to sate the constant hunger.

  We were both creatures born to seduce the world, and as one professional to another, I had a hard time denying that the leggings looked good on her.

  “Worst perk is that you’re only allowed appetizers,” I noted, giving the naked man in the bed a glance.

  “Not all of us want to play in the Courts, Bastian. Come to my office and tell me what you need since we both know you need something. You wouldn’t have come here without a purpose.”

  “We don’t need to go to your office. I need you to take a friend of mine shopping. Keep her busy for a little bit, but make sure she has plenty of clothes. And maybe you could do something to hide her wings.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? The rumors are true? You deliberately disobeyed Seraphina’s orders to kill the half-fairy?”

  “She’s not half. She’s a full-blooded fairy with both light and dark bloodlines.”

  That stopped Ast. She put her hands on her hips and very slowly said, “Is she strong enough to fill the void?”

  I shrugged. “I can’t tell. Maybe. It looks more and more like it every day, but what I know is that I fed on her only once, and she brought me from the beginning of mists to this.”

  Ast crossed the room and stared into my eyes, seeing the light blue. “Only once?” she asked as she stepped backward, shaking her head.

  I nodded. “It was her first time, but yes, only once.”

  “I’ll take her to Elora’s. Won’t be much shopping, but I’ll get her some clothes. Don’t let Damian know, though. That fucking vampire talks too much.”

  “Show me where she is. Please don’t tell me you left the poor girl out in the alley.”

  “I can’t shadow walk into the building. I made sure of that when you bought the place.”

  She huffed and said, “Fine. Introduce us and get on with your business you unchivalrous ass.” I chuckled and led her to where Rose was waiting for us in the alley.

  “What in the hell are you wearing, child?” Ast said as she reached for Rose’s hand. Rose pulled back immediately.

  “Rose, this is Astriel. She’s the friend I was talking about. She needs to touch you to create the illusion.”

  Rose glanced from me to Ast and sighed as she put her hand out. Ast touched her and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Then the wings seemed to disappear. Every once in a while, they would flutter, and I’d catch a glimpse of a shimmering light. If you knew what to look for, you’d see them, but otherwise, they were as good as invisible.

  Then the rest of her began to shimmer slightly, and the tunic transformed into a simple black dress. Her feet became covered by shoes that weren’t there. Her hair transformed from the tangled mess into a long straight braid that ran down to the middle of her back.

  None of it was real. That was the thing about succubi. Everything was illusions with them. Unlike my abilities, Ast’s were unable to interact with the world.

  She let go of Rose’s hand and said, “Rose, I’m going to take you to get some clothes. Then we’ll get you all cleaned up. And I’ll brush your hair for you.”

  Rose glanced at her with a frown and took a deep breath. “Okay. I think I can manage to brush my hair though. I may not be a million years old like you two, but I’m not a toddler. I just need a shower.”

  I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the way that Ast’s motherly tendencies were shattered. “She’s a sassy little fairy, isn’t she?” she said.

  “Alright. You can shower and brush your own hair. But I will be getting your clothes for the Immortal Realm. This is an embarrassment.”

  Rose nodded, and I said, “I have to run an errand, but I’ll catch up in a bit. You’re safe with Astriel, Rose. Listen to her. Please?”

  Rose gave me a half-smile and said, “Fine. But only if we can have some breakfast. I’m starving. You do eat normal food too, right? Not just humans?”

  Ast raised her eyebrows. “Come on little fairy, there’s a cafe down the street that’s got the best late-night breakfasts I’ve found this side of London.”

  Chapter 13

  Sebastian

  The immortal side of London was hidden deep in the city, set in shops with marks on windows and doors to let the other immortals know that they dealt in magic. There was no law against immortals living in this Realm. Except that they were required to keep it hidden from humans.

  It had been the law since the very beginning when the realms had split. We had left the Mortal Realm when the humans had begun picking up iron and steel and turning it into weapons. We were far more powerful, but they were so numerous that our numbers dwindled quickly in the wars that followed.

  Most types of Fae have only a handful of children over the course of millennia. Fairies were no exception, and as the ruling class, they decided early on that our casualties were far too numerous to stay here. They requested that everyone travel through the portals that were set up and hidden. Requested, not required.

  Many refused due to their prey being on this side. Others because they liked living with humans. And then there were the ones that simply disliked fairies. Like vampires.

  Like Damian. I stood in front of his shop, glancing up at the symbol. Jewelry. No mark of which Court he associated with, so he must be plying his trade with both sides these days. Glittering gold and silver filled jewelry cases just inside the shop’s windows. I glanced to either side to make sure that no one was on this particular cobblestone street, and I tried to shift through the doorway.

  Pain shot through my body as a hidden sheet of steel stopped me. I cursed and tried the door. The handle turned, and I walked into the shop just as any human would have.

  A thin man walked down the stairs dressed in a suit minus the coat, tie neatly clipped to his vest with a burgundy silk shirt underneath.

  His steps were silent. One of the perks of being a vampire was complete control over the physical body. They were one of the deadliest predators if you didn’t know they were there and would have made the perfect assassins if they had been able to shadow walk.

  I’d known Damian for a very long time. And he was one of the slowest Fae to adapt to this world when it changed. Glancing at the register, I noted how old it was. It looked to be at least a century old, kept in pristine condition. Made of brass, one of the metals that the Fae could touch without pain, the entire machine was mechanical.

  “Good evening, Sebastian,” Damian said as he ran a pale hand through his short black hair. He kept his nails long. They were hard as diamonds and one of the most important weapons a vampire had. Unlike other Fae, they used little actual magic. Instead, they relied on physical strength and speed. Very few creatures were as effective as a vampire when magic was taken out of the equation.

  “I was expecting you, so I left the door unlocked. I hear that you’re looking to hide a recent acquaintance.”

  Damian was well connected with the immortals on this side, but I was still surprised that he knew so much about what I was
doing. If he knew, then that meant that Seraphina and Nyx might know as well.

  “Not in the mood for small talk?” I asked stepping closer to Damian. “It’s been a century since we last talked.” His eyes flared, but his expression remained unnervingly flat.

  “I’d prefer that you left my shop as quickly as possible. Nyx has a reputation for leaving a trail of blood in his wake, and I happen to prefer not to be a part of it.”

  “I wouldn’t have come here with a tail if it weren’t important. You know that.” I didn’t turn away as he walked around the counter even though a compulsion flowed through me. A generous Fae must have gifted him a compulsion trinket that he’d just tried to use.

  It wasn’t uncommon for Fae to pay Damian in favors, but feeling the strength of that compulsion surprised me. Few powerful Fae lived in this Realm, and I knew of almost all of them. Most had a tie to one of the Courts. Whoever had made this for him was someone new or someone from the other side.

  He didn’t seem to notice that the trinket hadn’t worked, but he did hesitate. I waited patiently as he moved just a little bit slower, not wanting to show his secret hiding place for magical jewelry.

  Finally, he turned to a cabinet and pulled a drawer out. All the way out. He reached behind it, into the actual wall, and slid another drawer out. I watched him set it on the glass counter without making a sound.

  He held up a simple necklace made of a strange silver metal I’d never seen before. The chain seemed slightly thicker than most jewelry he made. Hanging from the chain were medium sized circle-cut sapphires with diamonds set around them in a sunburst pattern.

  In the very center hung a massive diamond that was also cut in a circle. It hung from a long chain made of that strange metal. Gleaming in the perfect light of the jewelry shop, the entire thing sparkled like a necklace that royalty would wear.

  This would cost just as much as something royalty would wear. Unlike simple necklaces, this was an illegal one. Those sapphires would have been filled with the magical essence of another being, and it would slowly let out the scent like an oil burner set on a very low setting. The diamond in the center would be used to trap Rose’s scent before it left her body. The entire necklace would hang slightly lower than most so that the diamond would rest right between her breasts.

  It wasn’t meant to be beautiful even though it was. It was meant to hide Rose. Only a skilled artificer like Damian would know how to make this and infuse it correctly. Damian didn’t have any magic of his own, but he knew how to work with distilled magic like a scientist from this world would work with various chemicals.

  “Tell me about it,” I said. “Then we can talk about price.”

  He nodded. “The diamond will hold the essence of the person until it is filled. For you, it would take almost a hundred years to fill that particular diamond. I do not know how long it will take for her to fill it.”

  “The sapphires will slowly release the scent of a Selkie. They’re common enough, and they live on land regularly, so that shouldn’t arouse suspicion. You’ll obviously need to relocate her near a shoreline, but other than that, there are minimal limitations on her placement.”

  “And how long will the sapphires last?” I asked.

  “At least a hundred years. At least. I don’t want to have to refill them any more than I have to. If she has the eye of Nyx and Seraphina, they won’t stop hunting her anytime soon.”

  I nodded. “Understandable. What is it going to cost?”

  Damian didn’t hesitate. “A dagger.”

  The words hung in the air. It was a well-known secret that I held a set of Assassin’s Guild daggers, given to me by Nyx.

  They were special and one of my most valuable possessions. Just making a dagger from obsidian was an easy thing to do. They also were nearly worthless. They were easy to break and more than that, they were no different than any glass dagger.

  The difference was in the power that they’d been enchanted with. An enchantment that only one man had ever learned how to do, and he’d only been able to do it to something made of obsidian.

  Obsidian could hold magical power just like a crystal could. These particular daggers were able to siphon the power from any being struck by them. This caused the magical power to flow from a wound into the bearer of the dagger, giving them more strength while draining their enemy.

  This made them some of the most powerful weapons in the Immortal Realm. “There has to be something else,” I said. “Be reasonable.”

  “No. That is the price of this piece. If you believe it’s an unreasonable price, find another artificer.”

  I stared him down. No woman was worth an obsidian dagger. Except for a Queen. A Queen that could stand up to Seraphina. If I’d been sure that Rose was that Queen, I’d have given the dagger over without question. But I wasn’t sure.

  I gritted my teeth and held out my hand, the dagger appearing from mist. “Why shouldn’t I just kill you and take the necklace?” I snarled.

  “I thought we were friends, Sebastian,” he said, not showing even a slight anxiety at having that dagger pointed at him. At the same time, fire glinted in his eyes as his muscles prepared to react.

  “That’s not a friendly price. I’ll give you nearly anything you ask, but you ask too much this time, Damian.”

  “That is the price of the necklace. Take it or leave it. Or kill me and deal with the difficulty of finding an artificer to handle that diamond when it is full. Those are your choices.”

  An instant later, I tossed the dagger onto the counter. “Take the damned dagger. I will be finding another artificer, Damian. One who knows not to push me too far.”

  He nodded and slid the necklace across the counter, and I snatched it up. I stalked out of the shop, and when I glanced back at Damian, he was holding the dagger as though it were some kind of crystal vase, terrified that he would break it.

  That dagger would allow him to protect himself better than almost anything else. He was already faster, stronger, and stealthier than most of the Fae. Even me. If he could drain his enemy as well, it would make him a force to be reckoned with.

  I hoped that Rose was worth it. I was at a severe disadvantage if Nyx finally caught up to us. I stepped out of the shop, breathing in the misty air and tried to reconcile the loss of a weapon that I’d held for a thousand years.

  It would be worth it. At least I hoped it would.

  Chapter 14

  Rose

  “Two full English breakfasts,” Astriel said to the waitress, a younger woman who looked like she had experienced more than a few of the less than pleasant parts of the world. The waitress gave her an odd look, and Astriel smiled seductively at her. The waitress seemed to jump at the smile and said, “That may take a little bit. We don’t get a lot of breakfast orders at this time of night.”

  “I know, hon. Run along and get the order in. We’re going to sit and talk a bit anyway.”

  The waitress nodded to Astriel and scampered off. Then Astriel leaned forward. “How long have you had wings? Most of your kind learn to hide them quickly enough.”

  “I woke up with them a few hours ago,” I said nervously. This was a friend of Sebastian’s that he’d said to trust. I tried to remind myself that I should be less nervous around her, but everything about her pushed me into a fight or flight reaction.

  She walked with the confidence of knowing that every person who saw her was drawn to her. It was obvious why. She was probably the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, and she made me feel like a troll next to her. Granted, I’d lived my life thinking I was hideous. I was always the ugly friend. Next to Sasha. Even next to Tiffany.

  The one who couldn’t convince a guy to date her in three years of college.

  I knew that my face wasn’t odd anymore. I was pretty. I told myself that for the hundredth time since I met Astriel.

  I still didn’t have those curves. I was normal, not some mix of pornstar and high fashion supermodel like Astriel. Was she normal for
Fae?

  “Oh…” she said. “So, what’d you think of the Immortal Realm?” she asked with a smirk. “I’m guessing that Bastian took you there, and you claimed your power?”

  I nodded. “It’s kind of weird. We saw a unicorn, and it tried to kill me.”

  She grinned. “They tend to do that. I’ve always wondered if they grew that horn because they’re such giant dicks that they needed a second one on their head.”

  I couldn’t help but giggle at the remark. “Tell me about yourself, hon. You’ve managed to get one of my best friends into a hell of a lot of trouble, so I’d like to know at least a little about you.”

  “I’m just a normal girl. I grew up in the foster system. I studied hard and got into college. I don’t know what else you want to know.”

  “Well, first of all, you’re anything but normal. Wings of shadow don’t grow on normal girls. You’re full-blooded fairy. That means that you were born to rule over half of the Fae. Born to rule over people like me. That happens to be one of many reasons I don’t get over to their side very often.”

  “Why do fairies rule over the rest of the Fae?” I asked.

  “Because they’re the most numerous and most powerful of the Fae. There are maybe fifty full-blooded succubi like me. And we’re mostly useless when it comes to battle. There are even fewer incubi. Vampires don’t have the juice to rule. Shifters don’t want to. Each and every group has at least one reason why they couldn’t or shouldn’t rule. Except fairies. Plus, fairies like to get up in everyone’s business. It’s natural for them.”

  “Oh.” I paused realizing what she’d said. “You’re a succubus? Like, you have sex with people and they die? Kind of like Sebastian?”

  “No. I don’t kill my food. Keeps them from coming back. They just feel really really tired. Most attribute it to the mind-blowing sex, but others don’t even notice the relationship.”