Shadow Hunter (Court of Life and Death Book 2)

by Melody Rose

  She’d straightened my hair, so it fell dramatically over my shoulders, which I had to admit I was a fan of, actually. I liked the waves my hair naturally had, but something about it being so straight felt intimidating and powerful. In return for forcing the corset and heels on me, she’d agreed to let me wear as little makeup as possible, which meant just a touch of dark purple and black eyeshadow, mascara, and dark lipstick. Oh, and whatever she insisted on putting on my eyebrows. I never understood why I needed makeup on my eyebrows.

  “Okay, as much as I feel like I’m going to pass out,” I turned to the side in the mirror and couldn’t help but smile. “You did a fucking good job, Linds!”

  She squealed and clapped, hugging me from the side so she could admire her work in the mirror. “I did! Can you believe I designed that all by myself?”

  She was already dressed. Her gray skin was surprisingly complemented by a light pink dress that was tight as everything she normally wore on top, but it flared out to be loose and quite romantic at the waist and went down to the floor on her. She’d pulled her curls up into a sophisticated bun which, coupled with the long silver chain earrings she wore, drew attention to the curves and angles of her neck, shoulders, and collarbones. She’d always insisted something about how that was irresistible when played up correctly, but I tended to zone out when she mentioned stuff like that.

  As I looked at myself in the mirror, I thought that we looked more like we were going to some kind of ball than a party. Then it hit me.

  “Shit.”

  “What?” she blinked. Realization spread across my face, then on hers as she realized herself that I knew.

  “Linds-”

  “Okay, no, you just- ugh! No, don’t even-”

  “Lindsay!”

  “Shh!” she hissed. “It’ll be fun! But you have to act surprised!”

  “What the hell is this for?”

  “It’s a surprise!” she grinned, taking my hand in hers and pulling me toward the door. “Don’t tell them you figured it out, or I might quite literally have to avoid Death all night, and that’s not how I want to spend my first royal ball.”

  I groaned as she dragged me out and went to rub my face with my hands when she screeched at me.

  “Ah, ah, ah! Don’t you dare ruin all the time I spent on your face!”

  I sighed and settled for rolling my eyes as we headed for the main room. From down the hall, I could hear live music and voices. My heart beat faster, and I began to wonder how difficult it would be to world jump to the Moonstone Castle without anyone noticing.

  If you leave, we’ll have to chase you. I heard Syrion’s voice in my head. Then again, that might be fun.

  You guys are so dead, I responded to both him and Daath, whose consciousness I could also sense.

  Relax, the King of Death purred. You’ll have a ball.

  Ha. Ha. Ha.

  I rolled my eyes as Lindsay and I reached the door and she pushed it open. The music grew louder, and before me, the hall was filled with every creature I could imagine and just about everyone I’d ever met. Against the far wall, there was a small orchestra playing music. Across from them, there was a wall of waiters holding trays with drinks, which seemed massively silly to me when tables existed, and on the dais where their thrones sat stood Daath and Syrion.

  Though they normally dressed quite formally, even they looked more grand than usual. I didn’t know why I thought this, but I got the sense that Lindsay had gone out of her way to design their wardrobes, as well. They each wore black dress pants and topcoats in their respective colors of black and white with dramatic gold buttons down the center and gold patterns embroidered on one shoulder and the opposite sleeve. I couldn’t help but smile at how handsome they looked, but the longer I admired their outfits, the quicker I realized Lindsay had to have designed them. There was no other way they’d ever have chosen clothes for themselves that fit so tightly. I could practically see the definition of their pecs through the coats.

  The Kings made their way over to us and bowed.

  “Thank you, Lindsay,” Syrion nodded.

  “We’ll discuss how she figured the whole thing out later,” Daath said with a sickeningly sweet smile and a threatening tone. I rolled my eyes and hit his arm gently. He was joking, of course, but she wouldn’t get that.

  “I figured out that we were going to a ball because she was dressing me for a ball. Give me some credit for having more than one brain cell and leave my best friend alone.”

  Lindsay looked pale at Daath’s joke, but smiled and laughed at my response. “I always wanted a best friend who’d face Death for me. I never imagined it would be so literal, but hey.” She shrugged.

  I smiled and hugged her. “Thank you for helping me get ready. No doubt, I’d have been the worst dressed person here if I was getting ready on my own.”

  “On the contrary,” Daath smiled. “You look stunning in anything and everything.”

  “And nothing,” Syrion added playfully.

  I smirked at them. “You’re just trying to win me back over after threatening Linds. I’m not entirely convinced yet. I think I’ll spend the whole night dancing with her just to make you two pay.”

  They laughed as I swung my arm around my best friend, whose attention I’d already lost as she watched an Unseelie man walk across the room. I looked at her and rolled my eyes.

  “Go get him. And don’t drool too much.”

  She blushed but giggled as she kissed my cheek. “Love ya!”

  “Love you too,” I laughed as she wandered off to seduce the fae. I rested my hands on my hips as I looked at the Lords of the Night. “Well, what exactly is this supposed to be for? She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Darling,” Syrion smiled. “This is your Coronation Ball.”

  My smile fell, and I felt my cheeks flush red. “My what?”

  Daath laughed at my expression and grabbed the edge of my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You’re so cute when you look like that. Flustered is a nice color on you.”

  “Oh, stop that!” I blushed harder, swatting his hand away. “You really mean it? Everyone is here for me?”

  “Yes,” Syrion nodded. “They’re here to celebrate you. We invited everyone we could think of, and they’re all anxious to see you.”

  “What?” I blinked, glancing around the room, focusing on the guests for the first time. Scattered amongst the sea of faces, which included all the reapers I’d ever met, were Maluc and Hestus, Siena, Gloria, Petunia, Serriah, and against the wall behind Daath and Syrion stood Kalian, his eyes on me.

  “Go,” Syrion said, coming over to kiss me quickly. “Go talk to everyone. They’re all here for you. We won’t be so selfish as to keep you to ourselves.”

  I smiled and squeezed his hand, kissing Daath on the cheek before walking over to Kalian.

  He stood up from leaning against the wall and smiled when he saw me coming. As I made my way over to him, he bowed low, at which I rolled my eyes.

  “Your Highness.”

  “Stop that,” I scoffed. “I’m Myrcedes to you. And that’s an order.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, standing back up straight. “Well, Myrcedes, would you permit me to tell you how stunning you look tonight?”

  I blushed again and smiled. “I would.”

  “Good,” he nodded, stepping in to close the gap between us. He ever so gently placed his hand on the back of my head and pulled me in for a long kiss. When he finally pulled away, he whispered. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

  My blush intensified, and I smiled, feeling like an absolute idiot. “You don’t look bad yourself, General.”

  Actually, he looked wonderful. He was wearing his armor again, the gold-plated one that was molded perfectly for the shape of his chest. If I didn’t actually know that was his uniform, I’d have assumed Lindsay designed that one too. Whoever decided that the fae army’s uniform would be literal gold shaped to their chests, abs
and all, must have been a succubus, or just a very horny fashion designer.

  “I haven’t seen you in this since the day we met,” I smiled. “It’s nice to see you like this again.”

  “It’s nice to wear this again,” he smiled. “Though, I must admit… I kept one pair of jeans. Just one, though, and only for days when I’m visiting you!”

  I laughed as he got defensive and shook my head. “Fine, I suppose I’ll excuse it then.” I’d bet it would be a month before the other fae caught him in them, and in a couple of years, they’d be all the rage amongst the magical creatures. “Thank you for coming, Kalian.”

  “You think I’d miss any event in your honor? After everything you’ve done for me?” he smiled. “I’ll go my entire life never being able to thank you enough.”

  “It was nothing,” I shook my head and laughed. I wasn’t used to the idea of someone owing me their life, though, in the past few months, that had become the case for quite a few people.

  “No,” he shook his head. “To stand by would have been nothing. That would have been easy. You’ve never done that, though.” He smiled ever so softly at me. “And the world is better for it.”

  I laughed nervously and shook my head. “Okay, I appreciate everything you’re saying, but it’s already hard to breathe in this damn corset, and I don’t want to look like a tomato all night, so no more sappy talk!”

  “Fine,” he laughed. I could feel his laugh vibrate on his metal chest plate, where it rested against my torso. “Then, may I have this dance?”

  “I can’t dance,” I started to shake my head when he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the floor, anyway. “Kalian? Kali- no, really, this is a bad idea, Kal!”

  “So what?” he laughed, pulling me into his arms. “I’ve had worse ideas than dancing with a gorgeous woman.”

  I blushed and leaned into him as he led me in the dance slowly. Sometimes, we’d get into a comfortable groove, so he would try to speed up or spin me, but that resulted immediately in his foot getting stepped on every time, so finally, he settled for a slow, simple, almost boring pace. It didn’t matter. It was nice enough to be with him.

  After a while, Hestus interrupted our dance, quickly joined by Maluc. At first, they offered to dance with me, but I warned them how many times I’d stepped on Kalian, so they settled for getting me something to drink instead. It wasn’t long into my conversation with the gargoyle twins that Siena found her way to us.

  For a while, I cycled through conversations with them, Gloria, Lindsay, and a few of the reapers that I’d met in the castle a few times who wanted to ask a thousand questions about how I could travel to the Bay of Souls without needing the connection of a recently deceased Spirit. Almost everyone who spoke anything other than English would break out into their foreign language in the middle of a conversation to see if I could respond in kind. For a few of them, I could. There was a very old Seelie who spoke the ancient fae language and wanted to know what I remembered of my life as a fae. Another reaper spoke modern Greek, so we had a rocky conversation as we realized my knowledge of the language was several centuries old. Maluc spoke to me in a gargoyle dialect for fifteen minutes, uninterrupted, before he finally took a breath long enough for me to break in and tell him I had no idea what he was saying.

  After a while, a hush fell across the room as Daath and Syrion ascended to the dais. I glanced over and shot them a look that said, “What the hell are you doing?”

  They merely smiled.

  “Good evening, everyone,” Daath began. “Thank you all for coming tonight. And thank you all for managing to keep this event secret as long as you did.” He found Lindsay in the crowd and winked. “I believe you all know why we’re here.”

  “Recently,” Syrion said, “We discovered that we were wrong to announce our beloved as the Queen of Earth. She is, in fact, Queen of the Middle Worlds.”

  “For thousands of years, as Kings of the Night, you’ve all considered yourselves our subjects, as have we. However, we’re overjoyed to welcome your true Queen, the one you all should come to know as your ruler as long as you live.”

  “Myrcedes, please join us,” Syrion smiled.

  I started to shake my head when Lindsay and Siena appeared out of nowhere beside me and pushed me toward the front of the room. I shot them a look but joined the Kings on stage. Fuck it. I might as well act like a Queen if they were going to treat me like one, right?

  “The Jewel Palace is the place for rulers of the fae realm,” Syrion said. “The Moonstone Castle is for the ruler of the Underworld. Likewise, you need a fortress of your own, my love.”

  I furrowed my brow and looked back and forth between the men, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

  Daath smiled and lifted his hand, gesturing to the room around us. “From now on, the House of Stars will be the official castle of Myrcedes, Queen of the Middle Worlds, the embodiment of Spirit.”

  I felt my jaw drop, and I looked at them like they were mad. “You’re kidding. Daath, I know how hard it was for you to make this. This place belongs to y-”

  “To you,” he nodded, a smile on his face.

  “You’ll always have a bed, a throne, and a room at the Moonstone Castle,” Syrion added. “But, this one is yours.”

  The Kings both snapped, and I saw something shift in my peripherals. I turned to see their own thrones, the ones that had been in this room since the first day I’d set foot in here, disappear. In their place, the onyx and moonstone seats were replaced with a single throne made of stars, just like the crowns they wore, just like the one they’d given to me.

  I heard the room gasp behind me at the beauty of the new addition, but at that moment, I didn’t realize anyone else existed. For a moment, it was only Daath, Syrion, and me. The men I loved with all my heart had gone to such great lengths to make space for me in their lives in a way that no one ever had. I felt tears in my eyes and wiped them before they could fall, then turned to Syrion and hugged him tightly, repeating the gesture with Daath.

  “Come on,” I whispered softly to each of them. “Disappear with me for a minute.”

  They each smiled and clapped along with the rest of the crowd until everyone’s attention faded and we could descend back to the floor in peace. Once I felt like no eyes were on me, I slipped out one of the doors and jumped back to my room. In the following moments, Daath and Syrion did the same, separately, to be as inconspicuous as possible.

  “Darling, what’s wrong?” Syrion asked as he appeared in the room with Daath and me.

  I quickly shook my head and smiled. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong. I just… wanted to be alone with you both.”

  Daath smiled and stroked my hair. “Are you happy, little owl?”

  I closed my eyes and took a breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. And it’s all because of you two.”

  “No,” Syrion said quickly, stroking my shoulder. “That’s not true. It’s us who’ve never been happier, and everything we do is because of how much we adore you, love.”

  I wrapped my arms around them both at the same time, taking in this moment with them beside me, finally knowing who I was and what I was meant to do. I still had to continue my work on Earth, and in the coming months and years, I would need to work out arrangements with every other realm in the Middle World, so I wasn’t done by any means. However, tonight was just about us.

  Over their shoulders, I looked out the massive window at the sky. There was a star shooting past at that moment, and I smiled.

  In a moment, a memory rushed back. I recalled the day I’d traveled to the Bay of Souls and everything Alless had told me when I asked of the Upper World.

  “Syrion,” I said quickly, pulling back from them. “I… I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. When I went to meet Alless, I asked her about the prophecy. She kept talking about the Under, Middle, and Upper Worlds, so I asked her why no one talked about the Upper World, why you never go there, why-”

&nbs
p; He cut me off and nodded. “There’s a lot about that place that’s still a mystery. Until the day Minerva died, I… to be honest, I didn’t believe it existed.”

  “But it does!” I took his hand. “I asked her about it. She said that no one can go to the Upper World until you do, but you couldn’t world-jump like normal. I asked her what I could do, how I could help you get there, and… she told me I couldn’t,” I sighed, looking between the Kings. Daath seemed to be the most confused and intrigued out of the three of us. “She said you had to do it on your own. But that’s okay. I know you can.”

  Syrion’s expression had been thoughtful up until that point, and then it softened into a loving smile.

  “I can’t believe I’m just learning about this,” Daath frowned. “But, whatever you need to do, Syrion, I don’t have a single doubt you can do it.”

  He smiled and touched his brother’s shoulder. A look of revelation appeared on Daath’s face. “That’s what you’ve been keeping to yourself, isn’t it?”

  The white-haired King sighed and nodded. “Yes. I didn’t know how to tell you. It felt so strange. For as long as we’ve lived, you’ve been Death. I’ve been Death’s brother. I had no qualms with that. My purpose was to serve you. And after millennia of knowing that, to find out that I… that I’m more… it was a lot to come to terms with.”

  “Syrion, I never thought of you as-”

  “I know,” he smiled at his brother. “I know you didn’t. But I did, and it was never a bad thing to me. I liked existing with you as my purpose. But now there’s so much more than that. All of those questions we answered millions of years ago about who we were, why we were here, what we were supposed to do as Kings of the Night, I had those questions all over again. Myrcedes, once I saw how much you learned from the Floor of Dreams, I started to go crazy. I felt like every minute of existence was plagued with questions of my own.”