Hidden In Shadows, A Fae and Vampire Romance: Shadow Court Chronicles, Book 1

Chapter 1.2: Poisonous Love

Monk's Bane was notoriously fast acting, especially with the quantity that had been used. She could feel her body begin to process and break down the poison until it was nothing but a harmless liquid floating in her stomach. If she had been normal, she would have collapsed by now. Instead, she decided that the farce had gone on long enough.

The ruse of being happy about her circumstances was getting old, and she was getting tired. She pushed her chair back and maneuvered her way off of the dais carefully. If she had been in her normal attire of leather and more leather, it wouldn't have been a problem but the gown she was in did not allow for easy movement.

It was a creation that was fit for a queen and had been created to showcase her beauty. The dress hugged her curvy, athletic body like a second skin, and the colors highlighted her creamy white skin. The first layer of the gown was a simple black silk, but the outer layer was a much more complex creation of white lace snowflakes for the Winter Court. The creation was beautiful and sophisticated, something she was not used to in her everyday wear. The only part of the gown that she did not appreciate was the ridiculously low back. It was cut so low, her ass crack was almost sticking out for the world to see. Thankfully, she had stopped the seamstress from going so far that it was a constantly out instead of the frustrating almost.

The only reason she had allowed the back to be cut that low was so that her barren tree tattoo could be admired. It was a beautiful piece of work that had begun to stain her skin when she had begun puberty and had only grown larger as she had aged. Now the tattoo took up her entire back and was even beginning to stretch itself to her sides and lower back. Her midnight black hair, with her signature silver and royal blue highlights, normally cascaded in waves to the small of her back but had been artistically arranged in an up-do so that her tattoo could be admired. No one had an explanation for the back piece, but she adored it.

Kieran, her Redcap bodyguard and constant companion, became her instant shadow the moment she moved. He was a huge monster that everyone moved out of the way for. Not that she could blame them. The man's jaw did unhinge so he could eat the things that truly annoyed him, and as he was six-foot-five and built like a tank, he tended to eat—a lot.

He had been with her since childhood and even as a child, she had loved the huge man with his ever-changing blood red eyes and his bleeding cap that he kept over his spiked black hair, dyed red with the blood of his first kill, and refreshed after every battle. His immense size and being a killer of men had frightened everyone but her. She had seen the kindness in him when no one else could have. She knew the truth but kept it from everyone. Their fear of him meant that she continued to be safe from them.

"Growing tired, Lyss?" his voice rumbled behind her.

"I refuse to continue to play the happy wife after the bastard just tried to poison me in the weakest assassination attempt I have ever seen. It's insulting."

She nodded and smiled to the drunken dancing Fae as she passed them. She wished that she could have joined them, but her temper was wearing thin. She was not suitable company for those who were already so far gone with magic and alcohol. She would be lucky if she could make it up to her room without having Kieran kill someone or taking the pleasure in doing it herself.

She was forced to tap her husband several times on the shoulder before he even bothered to turn around. The fear she saw in his eyes mollified her anger slightly. If she had not seen it, she would have had Kieran stab him out of spite. She had a strict policy of never getting her hands dirty unless she truly needed to, and Kieran seemed to enjoy taking care of her light work for her.

"I'm going to bed now, my dearest husband." Her voice was overly sweet as she spoke to him. Any casual listener would know by her tone that she was far from pleased with the evening "Please stay down here and enjoy the festivities and," She leaned close to his ear and her voice turned hard as steel. "Don't even think about joining my bed tonight unless you plan to have a knife run through your coward gullet."

He coughed nervously. "Um, yes. I will see you later then, my love."

She smiled serenely at him, but it did not reach her violet eyes. "Let's make that as late as possible. Sometime tomorrow evening would be what I prefer." She gave him a pat on his shoulder with a hard warning squeeze before she sauntered away from him.  

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The next part will be released on Wednesday November 25, 2015. If you want to read the whole book NOW Absolutely FREE. Just visit here http://hotromancestory.com/scc1-free-book-wp/ To grab your free copy of this book today.