A Deal with the Shadow King (Curse of the Fae #1)

by Anya J. Cosgrove

Damian Morpheus Sombra, I pray to you. Shadow King, I implore you. Join me in flesh instead of in my dreams, and I will carve your name in my bones.

“Don’t forget. As long as you remain a maiden, he’s not allowed to touch you without your consent. I made sure that part of the deal was crystal clear.”

He promised the devil Fae that healed my mother that I would cross to the Shadow realm and live in Faerie two weeks out of four, for an entire year.

“Teaching me how to use deadly weapons is a stupid strategy on your king’s part.” “Are you planning to shoot me, kitten?”

Three’s treacherous bite of power tingles along the sensitive skin of my neck for hours

after he’s gone, and I’m left all flustered, daydreaming about when I will see him next.

“This arrangement is fluid, kitten. The king is the ultimate judge of the schedule.”

How many stories have I read in which a trickster Fae played, teased, and sauntered, leading a young maiden to her doom…

“What, then?” “Something else. Something broken.” A dark hint of tenderness laces the words like he’s talking about a long-lost lover.

“Don’t kid yourself, seedling. You’ve barely got enough magic to breathe the same air as the Shadow King.

The king lowers his voice. “I told him not to get attached to strays, but he doesn’t listen. Look at him, so insolent. Pretending he’s not dying to touch you himself. What a joke.”

“When we fuck, I’ll make him watch, and believe me…he’ll enjoy it.”

“Ugh. He’s an asshole.” One holds out a fluffy towel in front of him. “Here.”

“Familiar places come easily.” The foot of my Faerie bed appears through the fray, and I squint, but it’s there one moment and gone the next.

The king keeps dwellings in both the old world and the new. A ton of them, in fact.”

“Our magic is powerful, but sometimes I feel like it has forsaken me.”

“Were you a seed once?”

“Would you be less scared of me if I said yes?”

“Earlier. Were you saying I could become…like you?”

“The king is the most powerful being in the Shadowlands. To rule over people, you must prove you’re strong enough for them to know your name.”

“Careful, kitten.” “Why do you keep the mask on? You’re…perfect,” I ramble, stunned by his appearance. “You think I’m perfect?”

“Do you have any idea how imperfect I can be?”

“Need I remind you…the princess belongs to the king.”

“She’s meant to serve the king’s needs. If it’s better for the king for you to train her first, then that’s what you shall do.”

“The king’s needs come first. Always,” One says in one breath, the way you repeat a prayer—or rather a mantra.

“Push you? What are you going to do? Enchant me again? Make me undress for you? Dance for you?”

One looked about ready to tackle you down and tear your clothes off.”

“Have you seen yourself, Samhain?”

“If I was an evil bitch looking to steal your crown, I’d only need one look at you to know you’re ripe for the picking.”

“She weaved a dreamcatcher spider, and we both know she couldn’t have done it alone.”

know I haven’t laid eyes on you in decades, but how long has it been since you last saw me,

“Hush. I know better than to meddle in your affairs. I’ve learned my lesson. No arrow of mine will ever touch you again. You have my word.”

Whoever the poor girl is…you’re going to destroy her.” I step over the rowan threshold, not looking back. “Don’t I know it.”

“Shut up, all of you. The king is here.” The Shadow King himself appears on the mezzanine a moment later.

One bows his head, but he doesn’t kneel, and I catch Two rolling his eyes.

“Fiona said he’s cursed and can only eat when he fucks, otherwise food tastes like dirt to him.”

“The king and his knights. If they can’t marry, it means the king has them all to himself.”

inch he has over his opponent magnified. “Do not pretend to teach me about sacrifices.

But I can’t let her—or myself—believe there’s a chance to become whole again, because there isn’t.

“You think I’m angry when I’m with you. I’m not angry. I’m hungry for you. I’m meant to lure mortals into the Shadow realm and feed on their dreams and fantasies…meant to seduce them into coming back every night, and yet not so much that they don’t wake up.”

through it like the rest of us?” I say, crestfallen. She eyes me up and

Two drops a cherry stem inside his empty glass and pries Mara from our circle. “Let’s dance.”

The king’s bite of power sinks its claws inside me better than if he’d skewered me with a sword, and I jump at the chance to observe him more closely and fact-check a few tidbits of gossip. From this angle, I catch a glimpse of his neck and see no burns to speak of.

“What do you want from me?” I whisper.

“Nothing. Everything. Too little of what you owe, and more than you can spare.” He tilts his head in goodbye and walks off with the poise of a man who owns the room—and everyone in it.

“He might as well have pissed in a circle around you.”

you saw in One’s eyes.” “That’s it, I’m going to bed,” I say quickly.

“Bad, bad kitty.”

“Why did you miss the ball?

“You already know why you didn’t see me there.”