King Of Shadows: The Shadowcrown Duet

by Kay Elle Parker

  Twice they had to stop and conceal the golem in the shadows—not the easiest task with Dhur’s bulk, limited space and shallow shadows, but both units of soldiers hurried past with a swift acknowledgement to Islador. No one dared risk the wrath of Kian, which went well in Isla’s favor.

  They reached Isla’s destination in good time, and he ushered Dhur into the room with a breath of relief. When Isla turned, he frowned at the unnatural thickness of shadows in the room.

  Allianna’s quarters were some of the lightest, airiest in the realm. Kian had insisted on it, unable to bear the thought of the baby girl, the toddler, the child growing up in constant shrouds of darkness. While Kian and Isla were born to the gloom of the realm, the weight of the shadows their name was built upon, Allianna had been born in the light and—it was thought at the time—required it to thrive in her new surroundings.

  No one could have guessed she was as at home in the darkness as she was in the light.

  But the shadows now converged around the bed, a hissing nest of snakes ready to strike. They were angry, protective, and even Isla was wary about approaching them. But approach them he did, keeping Dhur back with a lifted hand, his footfalls slow and steady and his body language easy.

  He whispered to them softly in their language, urging them to see him as anything but a threat. They knew him, after all, and second to Kian, he was essentially their master. They should have obeyed instantly, but only half retreated slightly, leaving one particular arm of shadow that grew impossibly bigger and darker.

  Isla had an idea of just what they were protecting, and hoped he was right.

  “Desist, my friends,” he murmured, raising both hands now and exposing his chest. Offering them his vulnerability in exchange for their ears. “Listen to me. We will not harm her. We are here as her allies. Can you not feel my love for her?”

  The biggest bastard hissed violently, leaning back with obvious intent to attack, but it froze and swung its head around back to the bed, disappearing back inside the writhing mass of its brothers. A few seconds later, the whole lot dispersed with a disapproving grumble that spoke of their displeasure, spreading out to the walls and hovering like ghostly sentinels.

  On the bed, Allianna sprawled on her stomach, naked and mumbling to herself. Her clothes, bloodied and torn, were scattered around her like victims of a crime scene. Her back and thighs were laced with vicious gouges, some crusted over while others still oozed precious life from the wounds.

  Islador could feel the magic emanating off her from where he stood, dark and delicious, and completely out of place inside the small mixed-breed female. “Is it safe to approach, Allianna?”

  Her hands twitched. “They won’t hurt you unless you hurt me.”

  Like he would ever. Could ever. He turned to Dhur. “Stand in front of the entrance, Dhur. If anyone tries to enter, keep them out. Don’t kill them unless you have to,” he added quietly, understanding the bloody toll already hanging on the golem’s head from the mortal plain. “Your hands don’t need to be stained more than they are.”

  Dhur’s acknowledgement of the reprieve was offered in a regal tip of his huge head. But his eyes were on the bed and the fragile young woman fouling the sheets with her life essence. “Who is she?”

  “This is Allianna. Queen of the Shadow realm, and your world for the next little while. She needs a strong guardian when I can’t be with her, Dhur. I need you to be that guardian and earn your ticket home.”

  The golem assessed her silently, his joints grinding as he lifted his massive hand to his jaw and stroked it contemplatively. “I’m not sure she needs guarding, boss. Those shadows are smitten with her, for one. There’s enough black magic firing through her veins to light the furnaces in hell, for another. What is she?”

  Isla frowned, puzzled. All he saw was his Allianna, his treasure, injured and alone. “Born to a mortal mother, sired by an archangel.”

  Dhur shook his head slowly. “She’s that, all right, boss. But she’s got a touch of demon hiding in there too. Must have to be able to survive being a conduit for that magic. Most would be dead after a few seconds; hell magic is potent and lethal in the wrong vessel.”

  What the fuck? Islador’s heart shattered at the thought of Allianna becoming like Kian, losing herself to the monster over time until she was unrecognizable. He stepped forward, intent on checking to see for himself, when her sweet, tired voice drifted from the sheets where her face was buried.

  “Your new friend is right, Isla. Took me a bit longer than thirty seconds to realize it, but he’s right. I did something...a vital thing...and stole some valuable assets. By doing so, I picked up part of the demon inside Kian so I could survive the next stages of this.” Allianna groaned as she rolled over, her face pinching as cold sheets pressed against her wrecked back. “It will all work out all right, I promise. Things are the way they’re meant to be.”

  Crystalline-blue eyes roamed over Dhur, widened comically. “You are a big lad, aren’t you? Where’d you find this hunky specimen of chiseled muscle, Islador?”

  “Mortal plain,” he muttered absently, still trying to wrap his head around the insanity of his precious, innocent Allianna bearing any resemblance to a demon. Around the ramifications of that. It was as horrifying as it was...comforting.

  For her to be tainted was a travesty, a crime against nature and the Almighty himself. And yet now he didn’t have to feel guilty about thinking dirty, lustful thoughts about a child of higher status, a woman of angelic origins. Now, she wasn’t immaculate; she was smudged with the darkness instead of blindingly, frighteningly pure.

  She stood on equal ground to the Shadow warriors.

  “Does he have a name?”

  Dhur rattled off his name, leaving Allianna blinking at him, then added, “But boss christened me Dhur. I must admit, I like it.”

  The big lump was already besotted with his new queen, Isla thought. Good, just as he should be. Regardless of whether she needed the extra protection or not, Allianna would have the golem at her side until any and all threats against her life were gone. “Dhur was sent to kill me by the necromancer. He and I came to an agreement.”

  Allianna laughed, then winced. “Oh, you don’t know the half of what the necromancer did, Isla. Trust me. An attempted assassination was the least of her achievements.”

  His ears pricked. “Was?”

  A proud, satisfied smile tugged at her lush mouth. “How do you think I ended up like this, Islador? Bitch had vicious nails, let me tell you. Ripping her heart from her chest was most gratifying.”

  He knew he was gaping at her, couldn’t help it. The image of Allianna taking on the tall, cloaked demon by herself and winning...fuck. She would be immortalized forever as the Warrior Queen of the Shadow realm. “You ripped her heart from her chest,” he repeated slowly. “You killed a centuries-old demon with your bare hands?”

  His treasure held the weapons in question up so he could see the grimy smears of gore still staining her pale skin. “Drank her powers dry first. Sucked every last drop of her from that hideous form and got seriously fucking high on it.” She laughed and the sound went straight to his cock. “She kneeled before the queen of the realm and I did my duty.”

  His gaze turned hungry. There was nothing more arousing than a female—his female—glowing with victory over a hard-earned, well-won battle in his opinion. His eyes stroked over the exposed flesh of her lithe body, his teeth scraping over his bottom lip as he imagined rewarding his precious girl with long, loving laps of his tongue from perk breasts to narrow thighs. “Good girl.”

  Those two words lit a feral fire inside her, he saw it rage to life in the depths of those blue eyes. She licked her lips, shifted restlessly on the covers as if to beckon him forward, then her features twisted in a grimace.

  Shit, he was a moron. Dreaming about fucking his triumphant queen while she bled from nasty wounds. He shook off his lust and glanced at Dhur. “On the door, big guy. No one in.”

&nb
sp; The golem gave him a sharp nod and ambled over to the chamber entrance, standing with his back to the room and his attention on his task. The sheer size of him would be enough to deter a friendly visitor; his impressive strength would annihilate a hostile one.

  “The necromancer made a mess of you,” Isla murmured, stepping toward the bed with care. He knew how much of a predator he could be when his prey sprawled naked and willing over soft sheets, and Allianna needed tending more than she needed his desire. “Will you let me take a look?”

  Allianna sighed and rolled her eyes. “They’re scratches, Islador. Already healing. They’re just a bit tender right now.” She waved him off as he continued to approach her, then froze from head to toe when his hand wrapped around her ankle.

  Islador cocked his head, his thumb stroking her slender joint. Tremors spasmed through her muscles. “Allianna?” Concerned, he studied her face as his fingers tightened fractionally. “Everything okay, baby?”

  She swallowed as though she was going to be sick, then gave him a weak, wavering smile that didn’t erase the apprehension in her eyes. “Everything’s fine. Just fine.” Her foot jerked slightly in his hold. “I’m just ticklish is all. Especially near my feet.”

  Islador didn’t buy it for a moment. Sadness and anger swelled inside him as the truth dawned on him. Testing her, he inched his palm up her calf slowly, caressing smooth skin, and kept his eyes on her face. Desolation burned in his gut when she paled, when her lower lip began to quiver.

  Kian had succeeded in breaking his queen.

  “Relax, my treasure,” Isla crooned, struggling to keep his voice low and easy. His hands wanted to clench into fists. “You know me. You trust me.” He lifted his hand away and growled when she instantly went limp. “What did he do to you?”

  Gone was the confident monarch, the triumphant woman. In their place was a child, hunted by memories she couldn’t bear. Allianna wouldn’t meet his eyes, and she rolled onto her side with a hiss as her wounds pulled on the sheets. For several long moments, there was only the sound of her ragged breaths.

  Islador’s brow arched when her body language altered, and she sat upright. She faced him again, once more a queen, and leveled him with a calm stare.

  “It wasn’t Kian, Isla. Kian...he’s trapped. The demon has him hostage in his own body, and there’s not a lot of hope we can save him. Antzel is too strong.” Her arms crossed over her chest. “A lot has happened, and I’ll fill you in on everything, but we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility of losing Kian.”

  “Losing him?” Isla scoffed. “I’ll fucking kill him myself.”

  “You don’t get it. Kian hasn’t been responsible for his actions since he took me back from the mortal plane. The closer the ritual came, the faster Antzel became the main entity in Kian’s body. I don’t know if completing the ceremony eradicated Kian entirely.” Wearily, Allianna ran her hands over her face. “I have to kill Antzel, regardless. Kian is simply...collateral damage.”

  Chapter Twelve

  It broke her more than she could say to call her love collateral damage. The little girl inside her who adored Kian, the teenager who worshipped him, and yes, the grown woman who loved him past the point of sanity...they cried tears for the loss of the man who encapsulated their existence.

  The other man in her life watched her with such concern, she mused. Did Isla think she’d lost her mind? No, he knew her too well for that. With a heavy breath, Allianna told him of everything that had happened since Kian—Antzel—had sent him away on the mission that should have seen the Second-in-command dead on the mortal plane.

  Leaving out the gory, inhuman details, of course. Only one of them should have that nightmare in their head, and Islador didn’t need to suffer the mental anguish of being helpless to save her when she’d needed him most. She didn’t want him to grieve or carry the weight of guilt. He carried that burden for so many other things already.

  She watched his expression flash from concern to skepticism when she recounted the impromptu meeting with her father, the devil and the Almighty. Her keen eyes picked up on the shift of his stance when she recalled how she’d run riot through Antzel’s mind at the crucial point and stolen so much of him, from powers to memories. And, she made him laugh when she took great delight in telling him how she’d laid the bite into Antzel’s flesh before he could mark her.

  Allianna gave him everything but the reason for why her body rejected his touch. Stupidly, she hadn’t thought about the aftereffects of Antzel’s actions, the repercussions she would endure after...well, after. Hadn’t expected her muscles to quiver, her heart to seize with panic. Definitely did not anticipate the fight or flight instinct that swamped her brain with flashing lights and sirens blaring.

  “So...the time has finally come then.” Islador shook his head slowly and gave her a sad smile. He eased onto the mattress beside her, perching on the edge as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Doesn’t seem like two minutes ago you were clinging to my leg as I walked down the hall, laughing and giggling.”

  Alli heard the longing in his voice, knew he wished they could go back to simpler, happier times. Sometimes she did too. But she was old enough now, smart enough, to understand that there could be better things ahead. Maybe not as simple, but they could be happy. “All grown up now, daddy,” she teased.

  Islador’s eyes darkened to pewter and his fingers twitched, but he made no move toward her. It must have taken phenomenal control on his part not to grab her, and she was grateful. “Yes, you are, treasure. Surpassed every hope I’ve ever had of what you would become.” He held out his hand, palm up.

  Allianna swallowed hard and slipped hers into it. He was so warm, his hand a reflection of his heart, and the palm was rough from use. Her lover was a brave man, a strong and loyal warrior, and his body spotlighted his prowess without saying a word. She jerked a little when his fingers closed over hers lightly, then forced herself to relax.

  “I’m so sorry the demon hurt you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Islador’s dark gray eyes heated with something violent. “I’m so sorry that fucker used Kian’s face to hide behind, Allianna.”

  “When I spoke with Kian that final time,” she said quietly, “it was like I’d stepped back in time twenty years. He was the man I’ve loved all my life, the Lord I’ve obeyed because my loyalty to him is so strong I can’t imagine going against him, for any reason. If I have to send him to hell with Antzel, Islador, then I’m glad I had those few moments with him as he once was.”

  Islador leaned down and lifted her hand so he could rest his forehead on it. “The idiot always loved you, Allianna. From the moment you were born, he idolized you the same way I did. He would be damn proud of you, I hope you know that. You’re every inch the queen he deserved.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed, deluged by the emotion his words invoked. All she’d dreamed of as a growing young woman was to have Kian’s attention on her, to bask in the warmth of his smile and pride in his green eyes, while she practiced non-too-subtle flirtation techniques on her other crush.

  There was still a secret she held close to her heart, one she wished she could divulge but didn’t dare. The paternity of her son would make Islador ecstatic, she had no doubts, but she couldn’t risk Antzel discovering the truth. One whisper worming into his ear rumoring he wasn’t the father of the child, and he would kill her son in order to replace him with one of his own demonic blood.

  Her eyes shot open when Islador’s hands closed on her shoulders. She hadn’t felt him release hers, which unnerved her. “Isla, please don’t...”

  The empathic look he gave her soothed and irritated. “Remember what I said about trusting me, treasure? Now would be a good time.” He coaxed her to turn using only that gentle grip, his breath hissing between his teeth when he saw the extent of her injuries. “These need cleaning and treating, Allianna. Part demon or not, these could get infected very quickly.”

  A little infection never killed anyone..
.

  Fuck. She let her head fall forward in defeat. Infection could kill anyone—human, demon or celestial—which she knew well enough. God only knew what Itzel had harbored beneath her talons, all manner of germs and poisons if Allianna’s imagination was correct.

  “I know you’re wary, Allianna. No one can deny you have every right to be. But I don’t have a demon inside me willing to use you callously for his own designs, and I have control over my...baser urges.” His thumbs stroked over tense muscles. “I live to protect my queen. I live to love my woman.”

  Allianna sagged in surrender. This man was the first to be inside her—technically. The man who held equal ground in her heart and the father of her son. If she couldn’t have faith in him, she was truly alone on this journey.

  Slowly, she nodded her acquiescence.

  “Clever girl.” Islador squeezed her shoulders lightly before he released her. “On your stomach, baby. I need to go get some things, so just relax. Oh, and Allianna? Don’t forget that big black lump by the door is as loyal to you as I am. He would kill me in a heartbeat if he thought I was hurting you. Wouldn’t you, Dhur?”

  The hulking golem chuckled darkly without moving. “No question, boss. I’d smoosh you into paste.”

  Islador grinned and almost made her lips twitch. “See? Dhur has your back, treasure. Don’t make a run for it while I’m gone.”

  Allianna watched him saunter away to her bathroom and let the ominous shudder roll through her. As though sensing her unease, her shadows came to her aid, winding sinuously around her and hugging her tight. They moved with her, laying her down on the bed like a lover and rolling her carefully onto her belly. They petted her reassuringly, tiny flutters over her damaged back.

  “I’ve never seen anyone have as much control over the shadows as you,” Islador murmured when he returned. His approach was so quiet, she hadn’t heard a single footfall. “They adore you, Allianna. Not even Kian owns their allegiance so devotedly.”