Prologue
Alandra
The Mundane Plane, Seattle
An abandoned house somewhere in the city
I typically had little patience for Light Bringers, and the royal ones in particular got on my last nerve.
While invisible, watching the three of them nearly consumed by one of my fellow Shadren should have been fun. But it wasn’t. Mostly because the super sexy Light Bringer with the silver eyes, the one I’d been — not stalking, but keeping an eye on — looked to be in real pain.
Where I came from, the Dark Tribes had split a long time ago into: Shadren, my kind; Dark Lords, emo-type assholes with attitude; and Djinn, fun Darklings who liked screwing with the Light Bringers — our enemies.
Light Bringers liked to think themselves better than everyone because of their association with the Light bands of energy, totally disregarding the fact that nature loved balance. Not Light, not Dark.
Technically speaking, we Shadren, a mixture of both, were the closest to balance as you could get.
Someone screamed, and I focused once more on the fight before me in this odd world with no magic. Being here would have been fun if I didn’t have to worry about these Light Bringers dying.
The Dark Lord, a big, creepy sorcerer who’d recently become besties with my aunt, kept trying to kill the blue-eyed Light Bringer.
And yes, I had to mention them by eye color, because these Light Bringers were identical quadruplet princes. Gorgeous, dark-haired, muscular warriors of Light who hated anything dark.
Since I was a creature of Shadow, that included me, I guessed.
I watched my charge, Aerolus, the Wind Mage, do his best to get free of the monster feeding on him.
But no one could control the Nocumat, a being of Shadow energy made of red goo, for lack of a better term. The Nocumat could assume any form and devoured anything it — he — felt like.
I waited and watched the drama unfold. The Dark Lord and his minions kept trying to kill the River Prince and his human mate, a woman with surprising power. A Djinn appeared and threw himself into the fray.
Magic splashed all around. The Dark Lord's minions kept dying, and they stank something fierce.
I tapped my foot, still waiting as the other two Light Bringers tried to fight the Nocumat, doing him no damage at all while being slowly consumed.
Man, I was so bored.
Then the Djinn vanished with the Dark Lord. With all the minions dead, I was in no danger. Well, not from anyone Dark.
Assuming the likeness of my aunt, I appeared before everyone and totally blew my invisible cover. But it had to be done. The Nocumat was an adolescent with a crappy sense of humor. If I didn’t do something, he’d eat the Light Bringers and make all my hard work for nothing.
“Enough already, Oxcen,” I snapped.
Oh, my queen. Apologies, but the Dark Lord invited me to play. He sounded sulky in my mind, his kind not able to speak with words.
I noticed Aerolus gaping at me and shook my head at him. The dumbass. “All you had to do was call me by name.” Which he should have known if he’d followed the many clues I’d been leaving him.
I stepped over the River Prince’s human mate, treading lightly over Oxcen, who’d spread himself all over the floor.
It’s time to go home, Oxcen.
But Queen Lidra, I don’t want to go.
Out loud, I said, “I don’t care. You shouldn’t have encouraged the fair one to call on you. Wait until I tell your mother what you’ve done. She hates the Dark Lords.”
Oxcen quickly lost shape and contracted, freeing the Light Bringers he had been clinging to. He rolled back into himself until only a drop remained. I clasped the charm around my throat and sent Oxcen home.
Then I called upon the Shadows and froze the others in time. I noted Aerolus’ confusion and said, “He can’t hear us or see us. Or move.” I motioned to the Earth Lord, the prince with brown eyes and a fun sense of humor.
