City of Shadows Read Online Free Page A

having them.
    Music drummed into my skull. The air thinned and the crowd swelled, pushing against my carefully constructed facade of normalcy. Add to that the ache in my shoulder and the bruise pulling on my ribs, and I was in no condition to be hunting wayward fae. Reign was right. That didn’t mean I was going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing it.
    The music cut off so quickly it left my ears ringing. Murmurs rippled about the bar, and then a deeply resonating voice carved through the quiet like a death knell.
    â€œBy decree of the Fae Authority, any and all fae found on these premises are now under arrest.” Silence smothered everyone and everything. “Resistance will be met with deadly force.”
    I jerked onto my tiptoes. The fae known as the General loomed inside the entrance doorway, flanked by six red and black clad Fae Authority warriors. Each stood still as watchmen, daggers glinting at their thighs. Not a smile, not a flicker of anything in their eyes but complete devotion to their cause. The general—well over six feet of perfect fae genetics complete with sharp cheekbones and a jawline so severe you’d crack your knuckles taking a swing at him—scanned the crowd with laser-like eyesight.
    I ducked my head low and tried to make myself small and uninteresting. The last time we’d met, I’d been trying to kill him with every muscle, every thought, every intention. Now, wounded and somewhat less “charged” with the queen’s draíocht, I was in no condition for round two. I hadn’t technically survived the first round.
    Whispers filtered through the crowd. The fae here knew the general by reputation, if not immediately by sight. The chances that he’d been just passing by were slim. He was here for a reason. That reason couldn’t be me, but there was a fae here who’d slipped by the FA at least once already.
    Lover boy bolted from his seat. He made it all of five feet before an FA dagger sliced through the air and punched him in the throat, pirouetting him. He staggered and crumpled to his knees. A few bleats of alarm from the crowd punctuated an otherwise heavy silence.
    If I moved, I’d be seen. My best chance was to stay still, keep my head down, and weather the storm; maybe slip out the back exit—
    â€œYou!” Andrews’s bark snapped my head up. “You fae son of a bitch!”
    Oh God, no.
I tried to get a good look at what was happening but the crowd erupted. People scattered and surged, some pouring through the back door, some clawing at others to get away. Fighting my way forward, ignoring the burn of pain in my shoulder, I caught glimpses of Andrews lunging for the general. I pushed ahead. He was going to get himself killed. What was he thinking? My fingers twitched, daggers calling to me. When I finally extracted myself from the horde, the FA had Andrews on his knees, his arms yanked behind him. A fae had one hand twisted in his hair and the other was drawn back, long fingers curling into a fist.
    â€œDon’t!” I slid my daggers free, grateful for the cool steel against my warm palms.
    The warriors’ heads whipped up. Indignation burned in their fae eyes. They recognized me.
    â€œIf anyone hurts him, they’ll be dancing with the queen’s killer.” Adrenalin surged through me and, deep inside where I locked all the uncertainties and fear away, hidden desires stirred awake.
    The general’s silvery eyes narrowed on me. “Construct,” he snarled.
    â€œHello again, General.”

Chapter Two
    The general’s laughter was the sort to simultaneously seduce and terrify. I’d heard it before, not so long ago, when we’d both been covered in each other’s blood.
    He had the kind of narrow, haughty face you’d expect an ancient knife-wielding badass to have. He could have been thirty or three hundred. Considering how all the fae seemed to revere him, his age was