King Of Shadows: The Shadowcrown Duet

by Kay Elle Parker

  Hope filled her. Like the warmth of the sun hitting her body after a night frozen under a starlit sky, it burned slowly, spread through her veins. If it made her glow, she wouldn’t be surprised. “Yeah? What did I do?”

  Lucifer tapped a fingertip on her nose. “Don’t be coy, little queen. Your son and heir has a Shadow warrior for a sire. The future of the realm will be markedly different from what any of us envisioned.”

  Islador. Allianna wept, both hands pressed to her stomach. The life inside her wouldn’t fester with Antzel’s evil, it would be brave and honorable like its father. Islador’s genes would be passed on down the line. It made her ridiculously happy and yet...there was sadness, knowing Kian would be lost. His genes, his wit, his...everything, just gone as he would be.

  Happy tears turned to sorrow.

  “We three are here, Allianna, to guide you if you need it. Once Antzel returns to hell, it will be my pleasure to deal with him as traitors should be. You will be Queen of Shadows, and your Shadow warrior will rule by your side as you raise your son to govern the realm. As long as the realm remains under control, without any of the drama we’ve watched over the last quarter-century, you will be left to manage your realm and your life as you see fit.” Lucifer reached out and hooked a tear from her cheek, licked it. “Oh, you have the most turbulent emotions when your guards fall.”

  “Kian? What will you do to Kian?”

  Black eyes flared red, and she thought Lucifer might actually show her his true colors rather than this charming façade. “Kian will come to me. What has transpired over the years was not solely his fault, and it would be unfair to punish him for it. But he will be made to take responsibility for what he has done.”

  “If I begged you not to? If I can deliver Antzel to you without killing Kian? Would you spare him?” Desperation laced her voice. “After all I’m giving to save heaven and hell, can you not offer me him in return?”

  Three eyebrows quirked.

  She didn’t care if they thought she was stupid. Right now she was naked and broken in ways she didn’t completely understand, but she knew this was the one opportunity she would have to spare Kian an eternity of suffering in hell. The Lord of Shadows would be left to rot while she sat on his throne and ruled his kingdom.

  It didn’t sit well with her, and she knew it would weigh heavy on Islador.

  To her shock, the Almighty gestured Lucifer aside and gracefully took the devil’s place at her side. He studied her carefully with those amazing eyes, then reached out and brushed strands of hair away from her face with the barest whisper of a touch.

  “Kian is damned,” he told her without preamble. His voice was unusual, nothing like thunder striking from a mountain as she’d imagined it would be. He was unbelievably quiet, as though he knew he needn’t raise his voice because everyone would strain to hear the softest word he spoke. “His fate is sealed. Antzel and Kian are irrevocably entwined into one entity; the demon continues to consume Kian’s soul even now. Once the soul is gone...Antzel will have the body he desires.”

  “He is mine,” Allianna told him stubbornly. “He wears my mark.”

  The Almighty nodded. “When he dies and the bonds between you break, you will be free, my child. Just as the Shadow warrior Antzel claimed will be free. Loving both men equally does not mean you cannot love one wholly. Forget your Lord of Shadows, Allianna. He is lost.”

  “Bullshit!” There was no way she would give up on Kian until the demon devoured him; she knew he was in there, and if she could save him without jeopardizing the mission, she damn well would. A queen didn’t leave her men to die without good fucking reason. “I thought you were supposed to be the shepherd, the one who guarded his flock to the last lamb. No matter what he is, Kian is one of your flock, and he is in the mouth of the fucking wolf.”

  “A good shepherd knows when to abandon the one in favor of the many, my child. I believe Kian himself would tell you that. Your biggest ally here is that one,” he inclined his head toward Lucifer, who preened with unabashed glee. “Remiel and I are of no use to you in the Shadow realm. The only help I can give you is while you are here.”

  Bitterness soured her mouth. “What are you doing here then?”

  “I wanted to see the daughter of one of my chosen warriors, to meet her and appreciate what she has become.” He grabbed her wrists, wrapping long, slender artist’s fingers around the fragile limbs. “Stronger, I think, than your father. Perhaps even than Gabriel, who is both powerful and fearless. Resilient under pressure and the threat of personal harm.”

  His fingers began to pulse with white light, like a heartbeat that flowed into her and beat alongside hers. Lightning jolts of energy zipped through her, arrowing instinctively to the areas which throbbed with pain. Bit by bit, the pain eased away, and Allianna sagged into the bed in relief.

  Until the pain was gone, she hadn’t realized how much she hurt.

  “Loyal to those around you, and a soul that inspires loyalty—an admirable trait for a queen.” The Almighty squeezed her wrists gently, then laid them down on the bed. “Your Kian will forgive you, my child, for letting him go. When a man loves a woman as deeply as he loves you, he will forgive her anything.”

  Ridiculously sleepy, Alli blinked at him. “Will I forgive myself?”

  “That’s a question only time can answer, my child. Now, be prepared when you wake, Allianna. The demon is angry and has more of his ilk searching the realms for you. You hopped through quite a few portals in your escape.”

  More demons on her trail, she thought with a resigned sigh. They could go straight back to hell with their master if they believed she’d go back without a fight. Kian’s kingdom might be her intended destination, but she’d hate to give them the impression she was cowed.

  Snuggling deeper under the covers, she drifted, hearing voices argue over her. The devil, the angel and God. Things couldn’t really get much stranger. Her lips curved as sleep dragged her under and away, listening to their voices as she slipped deep.

  *

  Islador watched the town go up in smoke. He grieved for the mortals murdered for no other reason than they were expendable. He mourned for the scavengers who’d been born in the same shadows as him and yet had their lives take a different turn. His jaw was tense as more houses folded inwards as flames devoured them.

  They had to leave, and soon.

  While the town was deserted and appeared to be some distance away from its neighbors, the thick black smoke and sheer height of the fire would be sure to draw attention. The smell of burning flesh stung his nose and made him hungry, which appalled him.

  Dhur stood with the rest of the Shadow warriors, the onyx face set in miserable lines. It was good to know the rocky beast could feel compassion for others, and remorse for this atrocity despite the fact he really had nothing to do with it but be a scapegoat.

  Muttering one last prayer to send the fallen on their way to wherever they were destined, Islador turned away from the blaze and nodded to Achlid. “With me. Find the deserters and then we go home.”

  Achlid jerked his head toward the ridge. “Don’t have to look far, Islador.”

  Four shadows perched on the ridge. Isla rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You know I should take their heads, leave them here to burn in the fire. One coward is bad enough, but four? Have my training methods slipped, Achlid?”

  “Young ones,” his friend replied with a shrug. “First time out of the realm on a real mission and come face to face with a massacre. Leniency might be more appropriate under these circumstances than beheading.”

  “Hmmm.” Truth be told, he had no desire to shed more blood after seeing what had been done to the town. He could live the rest of his life without spilling another drop. “Go fetch them down here, Achlid. Quicker for them to come here than it will be trying to get Dhur up there.”

  They both eyed the golem speculatively.

  “He’s a big fucker,” Achlid mused, rubbing his chin. “You plan on
showing him to the Lord or just trying to stash him somewhere?”

  “Honestly? Hadn’t given it a thought.” But he had just been struck with a good one. He stuck two fingers in his mouth and let rip with three sharp whistles, then gestured sharply with his hand for the four men on the hill to come down. “We’ll need him. And it’s just cruel to leave the poor bastard here waiting for demons to come kill him.”

  “Not to mention a waste,” Achlid commented. His attention focused on something else, and Isla was relieved to see the four strays from his team trudging up behind them. “That makes the team counted for, boss, as well as your plus-one. We ready to go?”

  “Hell yeah. I’ll open, you guys go through. Leave Dhur with me, I’ll close the portal behind the two of us. Debriefing in an hour?” Islador wanted to check on Allianna as soon as he got back.

  “See you on the other side.”

  Closing his eyes and envisioning his treasure, Islador called the portal and directed it back to the Shadow realm. It would open in the main hall, the biggest space he could think of to park Dhur for a while until he figured out where the big beast would be happiest. When he opened his eyes again, half his men were through and the others were rapidly popping into the hole Isla had ripped open in the fabric of time and space.

  Finally there was just Dhur remaining. Gripping one rock-solid arm, Islador grinned up at his new ally. “Step through the portal, Dhur, but don’t move until I say so. I need to close the portal before we go anywhere, okay?”

  The golem nodded slowly. “I’ve travelled by portal before, just not a lot.”

  “That’s fine. I’ve got you.” They walked into the portal, Dhur stretching the edges more than Isla liked, but he shut it behind them with no problems. He tugged on the massive arm, and when Dhur shuffled forward, they were sucked into the stream back home, landing with a thud in the main hall.

  Dhur shook the walls as he touched ground.

  They arrived into chaos. Shadow warriors that should have been under Isla’s command were running to and fro like headless chickens, as though the realm were under attack. More than one freaked out at the sight of the golem, but the rest seemed more concerned with whatever disaster had struck in Isla’s absence.

  “Go stand out of the way while I get this under control,” he ordered the golem quickly. “No one will bother you.”

  “It’s not usually this frantic?”

  “No,” Isla replied grimly. “No, it is not.”

  “Okay then, boss.” The golem thudded his wall across the room, perching himself in a dark corner and peering out at the hustle and bustle with interest. If someone didn’t know to look for the massive creature, he wouldn’t be seen.

  With his new charge tucked safely away, Isla grabbed a scurrying soldier and yanked him to an abrupt halt. “What the fuck is going on here?”

  The soldier looked relieved to see him. “Orders came down yesterday from the Lord of Shadows. His bride had a mental breakdown, attacked the Lord and his advisor, then fled the realm using the portal system. We’ve been dispatched throughout every realm to find her before she hurts herself further—her mental state is said to be precarious. The Lord wants her found.”

  I bet he does, the fucking idiot. “How did she gain access to the portal system? She doesn’t have those skills. Is she working with someone?”

  “Not that we’ve been made aware of. I’m sorry, sir, but I need to catch up with my unit. Perhaps you’d be best speaking to the Lord for more pertinent details.” The soldier rushed off as soon as Isla released him.

  “Fucking hell, Allianna, what have you done?” Islador murmured to himself, surveying the swarm of shadow warriors crossing the hall. Whatever it was, she had brought down Kian’s madness down on her head. “Dhur, stay there! I won’t be long.”

  One huge hand lifted, the thumb upright.

  Isla took off running for Kian’s chambers, dodging people left and right as he went against the flow. Some were bloodied, no doubt finding themselves in skirmishes with the natives of other realms as they hunted without permission on others’ territory.

  Wicked images of all the bad things that could have happened in his absence flashed through his head as he took steps several at a time, racing toward Kian and answers as fast as he could. He was sweaty and furious by the time he reached the grand doors of the Lord’s quarters, his fist shaking with adrenaline as he rapped hard on the door.

  It was yanked open sharply, and surprise whipped over Kian’s taut face before something like joy replaced it. Just for a split second. Then his eyes took on the slight red glow that gave the demon away, and it stared at him angrily. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been commanding you home since yesterday.”

  “Yesterday? My shoulder started itching not thirty, thirty-five minutes ago. There were troops I needed to get home safely before I could come.” Isla walked inside when Kian stepped back. “Have you any idea where she went? How she got access to the portals?”

  Kian slammed the door. “Wherever she went, she couldn’t have gotten far. The bitch will be holed up somewhere, nursing her wounds. I’ve got units on the go performing sweeps on any and all realms they come across. She is going to regret being alive.”

  A steel bar smacked into his shoulders at the venom in Kian’s tone. It made him tight, braced for an explosion that wouldn’t be long coming. Allianna had bested the demon and the demon...well, the demon was a sore loser. “Tell me what happened. If I know where her head was at when she ran, maybe I can find her.”

  “There is no maybe, Islador. You will find the whore and drag her back here kicking and screaming if needs be.” Kian paced, picking up random items and launching them at the walls where they shattered or bounced, and joined the casualties of his earlier tantrums already scattered over the chamber floor.

  But the demon began to talk, to build a picture with huge gaping holes in the canvas, and Islador clawed at his temper valiantly to stop it from ripping out of his chest and annihilating the demon, regardless of whether Kian landed in the fallout.

  When Kian’s obscene mouth ended the sordid tale, Islador stalked past the Lord of Shadows and into the altar chamber. He was gratified to hear Kian stutter out a quick question nervously, but ignored him.

  “Fucking hell, Allianna,” Isla breathed in horror, walking up to the altar and standing at the foot of it, imagining his treasure strapped down and vulnerable past a point any living thing should ever be vulnerable. “What did you do to her, Kian?”

  There was blood crusted on all four cuffs, some still tacky to the touch. Lifting his red-smeared fingers to his nose, Isla could smell the fear Allianna had left behind. Tears had dried at the head of the slab, leaving the faintest salty residue, and there was a pool of drying blood and cum at the end nearest Isla, leading to a puddle on the floor and a trail he tracked across the chamber to the far wall. He found skin on the rough stones, more blood, and another puddle where his treasure had been laid, in pain and alone.

  Kian cleared his throat.

  Isla glanced up in disgust, unable to hide it. “You threw her across the room?”

  The demon shrugged his shoulder carelessly. “Fucking bitch shouldn’t have bitten me.”

  “You put her through hours of hell and the one thing she does is bite you? I’d consider myself lucky, Kian—you know what she’s capable of.” Keeping his voice steady was a difficult task. He wanted to rage at his friend, but it was becoming clear that Kian was gone. “How close to death was she, Kian?”

  The demon couldn’t meet his eyes, Isla noted. Not a good sign. “I don’t know what you mean. Dead bitches can’t open portals.”

  “I mean, Allianna wouldn’t have walked away from a fight, injured or not, unless her wounds were dire. There’s skin and blood on the wall, so you threw her hard enough to hurt her on top of everything else. So I’m asking, how close to death was she when she passed through the portal?”

  It was Kian’s anguished gaze that finally met his, t
he green haunted with sorrow and regret. “More than halfway there, Isla. I fucking broke her.”

  Chapter Ten

  Allianna was not impressed to find herself waking in yet another bed, snuggled deep under the covers, warm and toasty and content. Not when she recognized the bed, the sheets, the room she woke in as the ones she’d lived her life around.

  She’d dreamed in this bed, masturbated frequently to visions of Kian in this bed, and became a woman in this bed. It was her safe place, her private sanctum, but now it just felt as though she was the sacrificial lamb dropped into the lion’s den, waiting to have her throat ripped out.

  There was no sign of the three apparitions she’d had such detailed conversations with in her dream—a dream she could remember succinctly, which was unusual. Normally her slumbering activities were cloudy and distant when she woke.

  Not today. Today, every word was crystal clear.

  Feet thundered up and down the hallway outside her room, rousing her fully from the lingering dregs of sleep. Shoving the covers away, she was pitifully relieved to see she was unmarked, her body free of aches and pains, and most importantly of all, she was clean from top to toe.

  With a long, slow breath, Alli swung her feet to the floor and rose, stretching as she walked to her wardrobe. If she was never naked in front of another living person again, she wouldn’t care. All she craved right now was underwear and clothes.

  It was surprising how protected she felt as she snapped her panties into place, letting the elastic of her thigh-highs ping against her hips. A flimsy barrier at best but better than being exposed. That sense of protection deepened considerably as she tugged on socks and the black jeans that hugged her ass and made her feel powerful. When she tied the laces on her steel-toe capped boots, pieces of herself clicked back into order.

  She chose a black sports bra and red tank top, pairing them with a black long-sleeved shirt. Fully dressed, armed with her usual attitude, she embraced the changes in herself. Time was running down and she didn’t stand a chance of winning against Antzel if she couldn’t open herself, body and mind, to the alterations she’d brought upon her own head.