Shadow World Read online

  Shadow World

  Gaja J. Kos

  Copyright © 2018 by Gaja J. Kos

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  ISBN: 9789619437438 (e-Book)

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  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Kolovrat Universe

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Gaja J. Kos

  Kolovrat Universe

  SHADE ASSASSIN series is a key part of the “Future” portion of the Kolovrat universe and, while it can be read completely on its own, is kind of a sister series to the Lotte Freundenberger books as they take place at roughly the same time.

  Several other works exist in the same Kolovrat sphere.

  Each series/standalone title can be read individually, or as a whole for a more complex insight into the universe where myth and reality blend into one.

  * * *

  PRESENT

  * * *

  BLACK WEREWOLVES SERIES

  Urban fantasy

  * * *

  Novels:

  The Dark Ones

  The 24hourlies

  The Shift

  The Ascension

  * * *

  Novellas:

  Never Forgotten

  Chased

  * * *

  Black Werewolves: Books 1–4

  * * *

  NIGHTWRAITH SERIES

  Paranormal romance

  * * *

  Windstorm

  Blackstorm

  Nightstorm

  * * *

  Nightwraith: The Complete Series

  * * *

  FUTURE

  * * *

  PARADISE OF SHADOWS AND DEVOTION

  Standalone paranormal romance

  * * *

  LOTTE FREUNDENBERGER SERIES

  Urban fantasy

  * * *

  Shadow Moon

  Darkening Moon

  Transient Moon

  * * *

  SHADE ASSASSIN

  Urban fantasy

  * * *

  Shadow World

  Shadow Lies

  * * *

  DESTINY RECLAIMED

  Urban fantasy standalone novella

  Chapter 1

  There are no cars in the Shadow World. No gentle hum of traffic to lull a person to sleep.

  The wake-up calls, on the other hand, apparently didn’t discriminate between the mortal and the demonic realm. Lucky me.

  My eyes snapped open at the unmistakable dull thunk of a knife embedding itself in my bedpost. I glanced at the silver gleam of the dagger a mere two inches from my head.

  A damn fine way to rouse a person and keep them from snoozing all at once.

  “Do you plan on throwing yourself off the sill, darling?” I drawled into the inky night the sickly yellow light of the lampposts barely touched. “Or will you get your ass inside already? It’s fucking drafty.”

  A dark chuckle curled into existence somewhere to my left, followed by the bright blaze of demon fire flickering at the tips of slender, feminine fingers. I suppressed a smile.

  Clad from head to toe in form-fitting black leather, and with dark hair to boot, Lena would have blended perfectly with the starless sky if it weren’t for the embers bathing her pale white skin, visible now that she’d shed the demonic shadows, in a warm glow. A mischievous gleam sparked in her blue-green eyes as she grinned.

  As pissed off as I was at the interruption—something the blast of damp air hinting at yet another storm made only worse—my fellow Shadow World denizen was always a welcome sight.

  Once I grimaced at the damn humidity still assaulting my bedroom, Lena climbed off the narrow ledge and shut the dingy wooden window behind her at last.

  “Admit it, Crina,” she purred while walking over in her trademark swagger. “You missed me.”

  I snorted, but didn’t try to conceal the amusement beneath. Or deny the truth.

  Though a few years older and from a different social standing, Lena was one of the few acquaintances I’d made in the Shadow World that I could actually call a friend. It was hard to resist her spitfire personality, and with our similar jobs, the groundwork for our budding relationship had been there from the start. Granted, I was more of a straight-out assassin and spy rather than a bounty hunter like her, but we both dealt with death.

  As far as common denominators went, it was a mighty fine one.

  I slammed my palm against the light switch and bathed the room in demure light so Lena could stop serving as my personal means of illumination, then yanked my pillow higher behind me. I propped myself against the fluffy goodness while making sure most of my exposed skin was still safely tucked under the covers. Damn moody weather.

  Only the slightest creak of the hardwood floor accompanied Lena’s steps as she prowled over.

  “You know us half-breeds have to stick together to keep the mean demons away,” I said in a conspirator’s tone.

  Although, like with our jobs, there was a mild difference in our “halfness.” Lena was part witch—Koldunya, to be specific—whereas I had no fucking clue what kind of non-demonic blood flowed in my veins. Just that it did.

  Something my father’s purebred ilk was all too eager to remind me of time and time again.

  “I think our knives and mad skills do that just fine on their own.” Lena threw herself on the edge of the mattress, chuckling. “Emar still twitches whenever your name comes up in casual conversation.”

  I shrugged. “What can I say, having your balls almost flayed tends to do that to a demon.”

  “Still regretting that almost part. You should have gone through with it for his endearing attempt to treat you like one of his old human slaves.”

  “True. But having the asshole believe I could come back any time to finish the job is a much sweeter payback than seeing him bleed. Gods know I didn’t want to actually touch his precious jewels ungloved.” I yanked the dagger from the wooden bedpost and eyed its fine make. “You know, I just might hold on to this one.”

  “That was the plan.”

  Any amusement I’d felt evaporated in an instant. If Lena was so eager to give me one of her treasured blades, I was fairly certain I knew which turn this conversation was going to take.

  It was one I definitely didn’t want to.

  More than likely seeing the revulsion that must have crept into my features, Lena placed a hand on my duvet-covered leg. “So sorry, Crina. I wish
I could say this was just a social call.”

  “Eh.” I waved off her apology, weighing the dagger in one hand. Excellent balance. “You’re just the messenger.”

  It wasn’t Lena’s fault she was Yelena’s daughter. Or that her mother was a serious thorn in my ass.

  A gust of howling wind whipped around the building.

  I scowled, then looked back at my guest. “So what does our lovely queen demand now?”

  Despite choosing to live in what most demons referred to as the mortal realm instead of our native one, I was still one of Yelena’s subjects. And, as such, under oath to do her bidding.

  Lena shoved away a strand of thick black hair and sighed. “It’s not so much her as the person responsible for her current snit. Your father.”

  “Ah, fuck.” I winced before I could stop myself. “What did the old bastard do now?”

  “I’d love to say the usual, but it seems he was found brokering deals with someone from Raya’s court.” She took the dagger from my hand, flipped it in the air, then handed it back with only the slightest dash of remorse. “Yelena is furious. I mean, it does sound like treason, although Vuyasin claims to the contrary.”

  Great. Just fucking great. “Does she have him locked up?”

  “Yeah. That’s why I’m here, actually. You can bail him out.”

  My eyebrows rose. Bail and treason weren’t exactly compatible. Then again, few things with Yelena were.

  “Whether you do it or not,” Lena went on, “is your call. Yelena just wanted you to know that if you don’t put him in line, she will.”

  Now this was just getting better and better.

  My father was far from a stickler for rules, even demonic ones, which were extremely lax compared to those people here lived by. But I always thought his sense of self-preservation was strong enough to at least keep him from doing anything that might bring on the full weight of our liege’s wrath. He was a murderer, a cheat, and had the occasional tendency to seek some sort of fucked-up magical high… Treason, however, wasn’t on his repertoire.

  Or at least it hadn’t been until now.

  Groaning, I set the dagger aside and doubled over until my forehead touched my slightly bent legs. I stayed like that until the rumble of energy within me subsided to acceptable levels, then straightened and thrust my mane of blonde curls back from my face. “I suppose getting a few more hours of shut-eye first is out of the question?”

  Lena studied me in silence, then drew one foot up on the edge of the bed. She rested her cheek on her knee, compassion turning her eyes more blue than green. “Yelena’s offer has a narrow timeframe.”

  “Of course it does.”

  “But you could let him stew, Crina.” She pinned me with a hard stare that obliterated any previous traces of softness. “Let the worthless piece of shit pay the price for once.”

  “No.” My answer came out more forcefully than I thought it would. I gave Lena an apologetic look, then shook my head. “Worthless piece of shit or not, I owe him.” The words tasted bitter on my tongue, like a dusty old lie that was way past its expiration date. Still, it didn’t change a thing. “Vuyasin could have thrown me out when my mother dumped me on his doorstep. He didn’t.”

  Lena guided her gaze around the small, but comfy room, her gaze catching on the various knickknacks and little luxuries that were, in spirit, far more human than demon. “Are you sure you wouldn’t have preferred growing up in this realm? Even if it was in foster care?”

  “Yeah, I would,” I said, my smile humorless. “But I don’t think this realm would have let me survive.”

  After a short trip to the bathroom, I found myself in the dusky bedroom once more, only this time, my outfit nearly matched Lena’s. The pants were leather, as was the jacket I threw over a short-sleeved black tee. Somehow, I always felt more comfortable when dressing the part during my necessary visits to the Shadow World. Especially if I wanted to go unnoticed during the brief time I wouldn’t be safely hidden in my alternate form while I dealt with the on-duty guard.

  I flicked on the main overhead light, and as soon as the yellow glow scattered the lingering dark, checked myself in the floor-length mirror attached to one of the vintage wardrobes that had come with the apartment. My hair was still a disheveled mess since I hadn’t bothered to blow-dry it before falling asleep. To tame or straighten it into something proper would take more time than I was willing to sacrifice right now. But aside from my locks, I looked pretty fucking decent for someone who’d got dragged from under the covers at two thirty in the morning.

  The seductive scent of Irish coffee filtered through the crack under my bedroom door. I latched onto it like a bloodhound, my lips curling up. Lena sure knew how to ease my crankiness.

  Hitting the main light switch on my way out, I prowled into the kitchenette. Lena held out my nearly overflowing mug in one hand as she poured another—a dull, regular black—for herself.

  I wrapped my fingers around the steamy goodness, then leaned against the table dominating the center of the small space. “Any new jobs?”

  “Slow season right now. Not that I’m complaining after spending two weeks in Finland tracking down a vamp.” She parked her butt against the counter and scrunched her nose. “The bounty was good. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about the hunt.”

  “Boring?”

  “Fuck yes.”

  “My condolences.”

  There really was nothing quite as sucky as a boring hunt. Well, being kicked out of bed in the middle of the night because of a shitbag father came close. Close, but not quite there.

  I shoved aside a plate and sat on the edge of the table, one leg dangling.

  “And your mom?” I asked wearily.

  Though I had a suspicion even speaking about the hag might hex my luck, I still had to know what was waiting for me in the Shadow World. Yelena had left me alone for longer than I’d ever expected, but that could—and probably would—change in the near future if my father kept stirring shit.

  Something passed across Lena’s face, too quick for me to catch. “She’s holding on the best she can without Tevan by her side.”

  As always, a series of shudders raked through me at the name. I hopped down from my perch just to momentarily keep my body busy, then pulled out a chair, and eased myself into it.

  We all avoided thinking about Tevan. With good reason, as unfair as it was to Yelena’s former second who really should have received nothing but our respect.

  I took a long sip of the perfect brew, eager to mask the foul taste in my mouth. Lena mirrored my action.

  “Still can’t believe someone actually ate his essence,” I said into the too-heavy silence.

  Several long years had passed since the incident—the bastards responsible dead at Lena and her mate’s hand—but the thought never failed to stir a fuckload of unease. Dead by being munched on wasn’t high on my list of ways to depart from this life, and it definitely didn’t help that Tevan was the one demon who’d kept Yelena in check. He was the anchor to her brilliant, but seriously unpredictable power.

  Used to be, anyway.

  “I try to check in on her regularly,” Lena said, the memory ghosting over her features, “but I can’t be there all the time. And her advisors”—she snorted—“you know what they’re like.”

  “Ass-kissing spineless slime?”

  Mirth scattered the remaining shadows and infused her eyes with light. “Precisely.”

  While she hadn’t given me a real answer, I chose not to pry. If the worst happened and Yelena derailed in earnest, I trusted Lena would tell me. Until then, liege or not, some things fell on the personal spectrum.

  I downed the remainder of my coffee as I stood up, then set the mug next to my still dirty dinner plate. Housekeeping wasn’t one of my stronger suits, but as long as I had dishes from just one meal lying around, I had every right to give myself a pat on the back for a job well done.

  Well, in all honesty, the fact that there w
as a Chinese restaurant just down the street from here helped a lot. Chucking containers into the trash I could handle.

  Most of the time.

  Grimacing, I turned back to Lena. “Want a ride to the old SW?”

  She placed her mug into the sink. “Nah, I’m good.” Her mouth twitched. “I’m headed home to Caz.”

  Ah, that would explain the curl to her lips.

  “And how is your dashing mate?” I drawled.

  “Still very much dashing. Still very much the incubus dragon.”

  That last was said with a purr that had my eyes rolling.

  Lena had really hit the jackpot in the mate department. Someone who accepted her for precisely who she was and had that whole mind-blowing-sex thing going on. Yeah, the rest of us could only dream of getting one or the other, never the entire package.

  Lately, though, it was more a big fat nothing for me.

  “Then what are you even still doing here, woman?” I spun her around by her shoulders and marched her out the kitchen, towards the front door. “Go get some of that sweet ass.”