Shadow Hunter (Court of Life and Death Book 2)

by Melody Rose

  “No!” I said quickly, reaching to take her hand and accidentally knocking the plate. I just barely caught it before it shattered against the steps. She knelt down and picked up the fork I dropped and sat on the top step.

  “No,” I reassured her. “I’m not, I’m not upset about that at all.” I placed a hand on her cheek and stroked it gently.

  “You seem upset,” she frowned.

  I looked down, dropping my hand and sighing. I sat the plate down and knelt on a step a few feet down, rubbing my face. “I’m… I’m not sure what to do right now.”

  I left a silence in the air as I tried to gather my thoughts. Finally, she broke it by asking, “What do you mean?”

  I rested my head against the stone wall behind me. “I’ve been in the army since I was old enough to join. I’ve been a General for about one hundred thousand years. And all that time, I served the will of one person…” I felt the heat in my face. “That person is gone. My position is gone. My home is…” I rubbed my face and sighed.

  I felt her move against the wall next to me and place her hand on my shoulder. “Kal, how long has this been bothering you?”

  I swallowed hard and rested against my chin. “Since the day I decided to turn against her. Mostly… since the trial. To have my whole life just…” I bit my lip to keep it from shaking.

  Myrcedes’ arm slid around my shoulders, and she leaned against me. The small gesture fixed nothing, but it was the first small form of comfort I’d received in the midst of all of this. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to keep control.

  We just sat there for what felt like ages. I didn’t have anything else to say that wouldn't send me over an edge I wanted to stay far away from. Myrcedes probably didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t need her to say anything. It was relief enough to admit to how I’d been feeling and what had been consuming me for weeks and to have someone acknowledge it without judgment.

  “Oi!” We heard a voice say after a while and looked down the stairs to see Gloria. “Is that one of my plates?” She gasped with excitement. “Is that my Myrcy girl?”

  Myrcedes beamed and patted my shoulder before hopping down the stairs to throw her arms around Gloria. “Oh, I missed you!”

  “I missed you too,” the short wraith cooed. “How come you’ve been gone so long? Isn’t Earth saved yet? How bad can it be?”

  “I’m working on it,” the Queen laughed. “Kal helped me a lot today.”

  “Oh, good boy!” Gloria smiled like she was talking about a dog. From almost anyone else that would have bothered me, but she was too sweet to take offense to. “Now, can you help me by giving me my plate back?”

  I blinked before I laughed and handed her the mess of ceramic. “Sorry, Gloria. I was a bit clumsy earlier.”

  “Don’t apologize, child!” she tapped my shoulder playfully. “General, do you mind if I steal my Myrcy girl? I haven’t seen her in weeks.”

  Myrcedes laughed. “He was actually going to come with-”

  “No,” I shook my head. “I don’t mind a bit.” Myrcedes looked at me in confusion, but I merely smiled and nodded at her. “Enjoy your catching up.”

  I enjoyed my time with Myrcedes, and I looked forward to more of it, but I needed some time to myself at the moment to process all that had happened in the past few hours, anyway.

  19

  Myrcedes

  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe the state of things without you here,” the motherly wraith said as she carried the plate down the stairs to the kitchen. “Mercy, Myrcy! It’s merciless! Everything just runs smoother when you’re here. Oh, I know you have so many important things to do up there on Earth, I do. I still wish you’d abandon all of that important work and just stay here all the time, though.” She smiled playfully as we entered the kitchen, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Gloria reminded me of my adoptive mother, who’d taken me in after Minerva had killed my family. She was completely human and had no idea about the supernatural world I was now a part of, but she and Gloria shared the same cheer, love, and desire to take care of others.

  The cook fixed me a plate of warm food as she caught me up on all the business in the castle. Apparently, Maluc and Hestus had gotten into an argument that had been heated for all of fifteen minutes before they were laughing with each other again. The gargoyle brothers had also been making an effort to be friendly to Kalian; as soon as she said that, I knew they were only trying to do so out of respect for my wishes. I’d asked them to keep him company before I’d left for my extended trip to Earth. Brayanna, one of the Daughters of Aphrodite, the club of women who’d taken up residence in the Moonstone Castle purely for the purpose of waiting around to fuck Daath and Syrion, had gotten caught having sex with an incubus in public on the grounds three times within one week, so as punishment she had to scrub the floors and the walls in all three of the rooms. Siena had been quite obvious in her attempts to seduce Kalian, and, apparently, he’d reacted as cool and stony as you’d expect an army General to, and I couldn’t help but crack an amused smile at that.

  As soon as I was made acutely aware of every move everyone had made while I’d been absent, Gloria switched topics. She always wanted to hear about Earth, how it had changed, what people were wearing and doing, and what I was up to. I gave her a rather shallow summary when it came to the stories of evil magic and vivid nightmares, which was honestly all I’d been consumed with for days. Well, that and making coffee.

  “Oh!” She clapped. “I gave Serriah that mug you wanted her to have!”

  “Did she like it?” I raised my eyebrows in anticipation. Daath said it was the dumbest thing he’d ever seen. I wanted to let her know I was grateful for her help in the fae realm, but I just hadn’t had the time to do anything substantial. Clueless for where to find elf-related things, I’d happened to find a year-round Christmas store, and that was where I saw the silly old thing. I thought it was precious, but Daath’s teasing left me nervous.

  “Like it? Myrcy girl, she loved it! She said she’d never seen anything so cute!”

  I felt my whole body relax, and I smiled. There were obviously bigger things to be worried about at the moment than the reception of a gift, but maybe that was why the small victory came as such a massive relief.

  After I was overfull of snacks, I excused myself to find Daath and Syrion. They needed to catch me up on everything they had learned from the council members and Serriah. Syrion sent me a message that they were in his room. I knocked on the moonstone door to his chambers. There were only three moonstone doors in the castle, one leading to each of our rooms. Theirs were across from one another, while mine was in an entirely separate wing. Initially, the room they’d given me had a regular door made of wood, but on the same day they’d gifted me with the purple moonstone throne, they’d switched out my bedroom door, as well. The cosmetic shift had no real effect on anything other than to serve as a symbol of importance, which mattered more to them than it did to me, but I appreciated the thought, nonetheless.

  The pale moonstone door opened to Daath and Syrion, both sitting on a white couch. We didn’t spend much time in Syrion’s room, as generally the three of us congregated in mine, but it was beautiful. His walls were a light off-white color, so it wasn’t overwhelming, but I knew that white was a color that comforted him and always had. His floor was an ash gray, and the furniture was all very sleek. I’d never actually tell him this, but his otherworldly, ethereal bedroom honestly resembled something I’d see on Pinterest.

  I sat across from the boys on the ottoman in front of them. “How did it go with Serriah?”

  “Well,” Syrion nodded. “She’s doing her best. We’ll need to establish another solution soon.”

  “I’d say it’s not our responsibility,” Daath interjected, “but seeing as how we currently have eight of their ten council members in our dungeon, we haven’t left them much option. The other two aren’t qualified to rule as monarchs.”

  “What qualifies someone to r
ule?” I cocked my head.

  “There’s an ancient form of fae magic that isn’t practiced anymore,” the onyx-eyed brother explained. “At some point, a few millennia ago, the younger fae were born unable to perform it. It’s a bit stronger, and that makes it dangerous, so the council decided that the person in power should be able to wield it. The two youngest council members can’t.”

  “And the other eight?” I felt myself stiffen a bit. This was what I really came to talk about.

  “They were all involved,” Syrion nodded. I felt a pit in my stomach and my mind filled with thoughts of aggression. Eight of them, in the dungeon right now, my prisoners. It would take less than five minutes to reduce them to ash, the same way I had their precious leader.

  “Hold on,” Daath interrupted my thoughts, and I realized he’d heard them. “We still have some more information.”

  “What?” I frowned. I’d been more concerned with figuring out which of them were involved in the plot against me.

  “The prophecy.” Syrion combed his hand through his white hair, pushing it from his eyes. “It didn’t make sense. If it was foretold, then there was supposed to be a record of it. Someone else would have known.”

  “Right. Have you found out anything?”

  Daath nodded. “One of the council members’ memory wasn’t as locked as the others. A Seelie made the prophecy. Minerva kept a small school of prophets because she thought it would give her a leg up in times of turmoil, but it doesn’t quite work like that. Real prophecies are rare and quite random. When this was foretold, the school informed Minerva.”

  “Apparently,” Syrion jumped in, “she knew she could use it to her advantage. The prophet was supposed to record it, and it was her job to inform as many people as she could about the prophecy. Before that could happen, Minerva killed the girl and stole the memories from those who had already heard it.”

  “So, what was the full prophecy?” I felt my heart rate rise. I had so many questions about this that I never thought would be answered.

  The pale, black-haired King shook his head. “We don’t have it. It was buried too well. The council member we got this information from never heard the prophecy which is probably why Minerva didn’t hide her memories as well.”

  I slumped into myself as he spoke. So I still didn’t have an answer.

  “But we know who was involved,” Daath continued. “And we have our answer for why this was the best-kept secret in the universe. That’s enough, little owl, isn’t it?”

  “My Queen,” Syrion’s voice was bright, and I knew he wanted to cheer me up. “We can tell you exactly to what extent every council member was involved, and their sentence and punishment are entirely up to you.”

  I didn’t respond. They were silent, and I was sure they were trying to figure out what to do. Something just wasn’t right. I still had unanswered questions about this whole situation, about my nightmare, and how to stop it.

  I finally broke the silence to say, “I need more answers.”

  Daath furrowed his brow, and pity painted his face. “I swear to you. We’ve taken everything from those fae that they have to give.”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Not from them.”

  20

  Myrcedes

  I nodded to the Kings as I opened the door to the Floor of Dreams, my eyes locked on them until it was completely closed. I turned to look at the hall and took a few steps forward. In the corner of my eye, I could see my reflection in the moonstone walls.

  My reflection and I moved in time with one another, but I wasn’t quite sure which one of us drove the action. I paused at the same time she did and turned to lock eyes with the figure. Despite the strange appearance that made her seem stony and even a bit fuzzy, the eyes were clear, as if only that part of me was reflected by a real mirror.

  “Can you tell me what the prophecy was and what it means?”

  As I asked the question, my reflection’s mouth didn’t move. In response, she walked forward, closing the gap between us. She walked past me toward a door, and the freestanding reflection opened it, beckoning me to follow her. I stepped through the door and froze, seeing the scene from my last visit to the Floor of Dreams. I flinched at the sirens and screams ringing through the air. My reflection looked at me but said nothing.

  I felt as though something was pressing against my chest. I tried to breathe harder to fight against it, but the feeling persisted. “I’m trying to stop this. I’m doing my best.”

  My reflection returned a look of confusion, and she shook her head. “You’ve misunderstood.”

  I frowned, my breath still heavy. With a mere blink, I opened my eyes and saw a door behind her that I hadn’t noticed before. She opened it and led me through once again. This time, I saw the fae world. We were in front of the palace, and instead of the orange sky full of fire that I saw on Earth, the sky was a sickly green color. I’d never seen a tornado, but I’d seen pictures of the way they could turn the sky green, and this was worse. All the trees and the grass in the area were dead and pale. I turned to look at the palace, and it looked completely intact, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the case.

  “What’s happened here? Where are the people you showed me before?”

  “There was a mutiny,” I heard the reflection speak behind me, “after a civil war broke out. The magic you’ve been trying to dispel on Earth? This is what happens when too much of it concentrates in one place.” She walked up to stand next to me. “Nobody won. Everyone suffered.”

  “Kalian was-”

  “Beheaded. Along with Serriah. They both called out loyalty to your name before the blade came down.”

  I felt a surge of tears, and my hand jumped up to cover my mouth. I closed my eyes to hold back the tears, and when I opened them, there was once again another door. I didn’t want to go through it, but I knew I had no choice. I followed my reflection to a place I’d never seen before. I looked up at a pitch-black sky. The only light was from candles that seemed to litter the ground every few feet for miles, only interrupted by bodies and debris. We stood next to a place that clearly used to have a house, but it had been leveled.

  “Where is this?”

  “You haven’t been here. Just as humans have their realm and the fae have theirs, this is where witches reside.”

  “Is it always dark?” There was no light in the sky at all.

  “Right now,” my reflection nodded. “They destroyed the sun. Too much power was channeled away from it, and it burnt out. The candles were their best solution.”

  “How many more places am I going to see?” I turned directly to face her. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could see. My reflection, which looked positively spooky as she glinted in the candlelight, knelt to pick up one of the burning candles. She turned, and I noticed another door I had missed before. This time, I opened it myself and stepped through, eager to leave the darkness. This place had trees as wide as buildings and grass that reached my thighs. “Giants?”

  “And ogres,” she nodded. “They’re the same thing, really.”

  “What’s wrong here?” Everything looked fine. It was twilight, but that alone didn’t suggest something wrong.

  My reflection shook her head. “There are no more ogres. The realm itself is fine. The land wasn’t ruined.”

  “What do you mean there are no- what happened?” I frowned.

  “They were considered a threat. Other creatures thought they were too dangerous. When turmoil began, they were eliminated. It was the only time the other creatures agreed on anything before the rest of the realms were destroyed.”

  I looked around the empty world. It seemed so peaceful but knowing why just made me feel sick. “Please… tell me how to fix this.” I failed to keep my voice from quivering as I spoke.

  My reflection placed her hand on my shoulder, bringing my attention back to her. “You don’t fix it.”

  Tears flooded from my eyes. “I have to!”

  “No,” she shook her he
ad. “You misunderstand. These things may come to pass, but you don’t fix them when they do. You must stop them before it gets to that.”

  I felt like I was shaking from anger and fear, but something told me to trust her. She was so calm, in the face of a world so bleak and dead…

  “What causes these things to happen?”

  A small smile spread across her face as though I’d asked the right question. “This happens when there is no one to unite them all.”

  I felt more confused at her words. So, was the realm of the fae not the only one to have lost a King or Queen? “I don’t understand.”

  She looked around as something shifted. I felt a loud thud, and the ground seemed to vibrate beneath us. Without ever having experienced this before, I knew immediately that these were the steps of ogres. They were here; they were alive. Whatever pressure had been gripping my chest finally began to release its hold on me, but I still didn’t understand.

  “They need a leader.”

  I blinked. “Who? The ogres?”

  She shook her head. “You are a culmination of your existence thus far, Spirit.” That was a mouthful. “No matter what occurs, you will go to extreme lengths to stop the suffering of the innocents. That is what will save the realms.”

  Everything she said was confusing, and I felt like I only had a shallow understanding of what she was telling me. So, I could stop all of these awful things from happening, I just still didn’t know how.

  “So, what does that mean for the prophecy?” I looked around the world at the ogres in the distance, and a small smile pulled at my face. There was no answer. I turned but didn’t see my reflection. “Hello?”

  The world shifted one more time. It began to fade, and in its place, I saw the moonstone walls. There was no reflection in them this time. I walked forward and touched the wall, but there was nothing.