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

Chapter 6.1: Raven

She wasn't alone. She knew that immediately as she struggled free of the grasp of sleep. Her eyes flew open as she surveyed the room. She wasn't in the bedroom but on the loveseat in the library. Apparently, the Nightwalker carried her as far as he had been willing to, the library. He had covered her nakedness with a throw blanket, she was grateful for that much, but it didn't stop the goosebumps from the slight chill in the air, despite the fire burning in the fireplace.

She saw a figure standing in the shadows and knew without a doubt that it meant her no harm. She felt no malice from the creature. The only thing she could sense was a mixture of satisfaction and curiosity.

She sat up, pulling the blanket to cover herself, more for warmth than modesty, and glared into the shadows. "Planning on coming into the light any time soon or do you plan to do the creepy stalker thing all night long?"

The figure stepped into the light and all she could do was stare in shock. The figure that appeared was a man that physically resembled her so much, she could only speculate that he was related to her in some way. He was taller than she was by a couple inches, and his lithe frame was covered in a pair of snug leather pants and a leather vest. His intricately braided silver hair contained royal blue and black highlights, and it fell to the small of his back. His violet eyes contained yellow specks that floated around his iris, unlike her eyes, which had silver specks. There were subtle differences between them, but there was no mistaking that they shared blood.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Me?" he asked as he wandered around the room with a jovial bounce in his step and pausing to look at shiny things scattered on bookshelves. "I'm your older brother, Quinton."

Learning that you were a changeling was one thing but being confronted with the actual evidence of it was another. She schooled her features to be blank and got down to the business of finding out why he was there.

"What are doing here?" She watched him slip a tiny silver egg into his pocket that he had swiped off of a bookshelf. "Put that back. This is not my place, and I don't know what kind of spell Sam has on her property."

He pouted at her but did as she asked. "I'm here because I'm curious as hell. We all felt the binding on you break. I just happen to be quicker than our little sister, so I came to see what you are like. You are, after all, the successor to Father."

She tilted her head as she looked at him with curiosity. "Why am I his successor? Shouldn't that be you since you are older?"

"Nope! I'm a bastard. In all honesty, I wouldn't want the crown even if I could have it. Too much like work for my taste."

She couldn't help but smile at him. He didn't have the air of seriousness that she was used to. Most Fae had mischievousness to them but most of the time, they were stuck up snobs of frustrating levels. He seemed to be made up of nothing more than mischief and joy. She didn't want to like him immediately, but she couldn't help herself.

"So there will be no plotting by you to overthrow me and take the throne from me?"

"Nah. Hell, even plotting to overthrow someone is too much work for me. I can't even imagine what it would be like to go through with a coup," he uttered with a shiver of revulsion. "So, little sister, I'm dying to know: Will you allow me to look at your back?"

It was a strange question, but she didn't see any harm in it. She stood, turned her back to him, and dropped the throw low enough for him to see the tattoo. She never heard him move, he was that silent, but she felt his sure hands on her back, tracing the lines of the trees. As she slept, the tree had expanded even more. She could see the limbs reaching towards her breasts, lying quietly on her rib cage.

"I take it that the Raven is a new addition to the tree?"

She turned her head to see what he was talking about, but it was sitting in a position where she couldn't see it. She shuffled over to the fireplace, where a mirror sat over the mantle, and twisted to see if she could see what he was talking about. On one of the upper branches, right between her shoulder blades, sat a raven with its wings spread like it was about to take flight, and then it blinked at her.

What the hell?

"The Morrigan was the one who removed the binding, wasn't she?"

"Yes." She reached back to touch the raven and snatched her fingers back as soon as she made contact with it. The thing had freaking pecked her. She looked at her ring finger and was shocked to see a small hole that was bleeding. It's all a little too strange for me, she thought as she sucked the blood off of her finger.

"Father is going to be pissed as hell. He told her that she was to leave you the hell alone."

"How is he going to tell a goddess what to do? Is he crazy? I'm not sure I can handle knowing that I have a crazy father."

He snorted in amusement. "He's not crazy. He has leverage. He holds us grandkids over her head if she doesn't listen to him."

Eyes wide, she gaped at him in shock. "Are you trying to tell me that the Morrigan is our grandmother?!"

"Yep. That is actually how the Court of Shadows came into existence. Gram decided to shack up with some unknown dude, and our father was born. Neither the Unseelie nor Seelie Court would take him due to his parentage, so Father decided to make his own court and thus the Court of Shadows was born."

She scurried over to the love seat and sat cross-legged on it like an excited child. "You have to tell me everything! I don't know anything about the Shadow Court. What is our specialty? Do we have any weaknesses? What is the Court like? What is our plane like? What are our parents like? What is our sister like? And why was I sent away?"  

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The next part will be released on Friday February 12, 2016. 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.