The Shadow Champion: a vamp & demon story full of romance and ass kicking

The Shadow Champion

Hero’s Story

As soon as they were out through the club entrance, Hero released Adrienne. Her friend straightened from Hero’s shoulders, pulled out a ring of keys, and started walking to the black sedan parked by the sidewalk. Her movements were perfectly coordinated, revealing none of the clumsiness she had pretended earlier.

As Hero climbed into the passenger seat, she complained, “You still owe me twenty bucks. I could have made that vampire kiss me and you know it. He was totally eating up that whole nice girl act.” She paused, thinking about Dante, before continuing, “I knew you liked to win, but I never figured you for a cheater—butting in like that was totally not part of our deal.”

Adrienne’s liquid green eyes were hard as they glanced at Hero. “Shut up. I’ll give you the twenty later. Your uncle called, said he had something. A list of things to hunt.”

“He’s in the City of Inis, isn’t he?” Hero asked grumpily.

“Yes,” Adrienne answered simply.

Hero’s only reply was a long, unhappy groan.

Adrienne was a safe driver—she was a rule-follower—so she only pulled her eyes away from the road for a fraction of a second to give Hero an eyebrows-arched look. “I don’t understand why you dislike Inis so much. Queen Latona has been nothing but generous with you. She sheltered you and your uncle all those years ago.”

“You think I don’t know that? That’s why my uncle and I have agreed to dive back into the Shadowworld. I was enjoying my perfectly normal, demon-free freshman year in college when Latona called about her missing daughter.”

Adrienne’s eyes tensed at Hero’s casual use of the hive queen’s name and the almost callous reference to the kidnapped Princess Luciana.

Hero noticed Adrienne’s discomfort and she apologized, “Sorry. I have to get used to the whole ‘Your Highness’ thing again.” She looked out the car window and sighed in a tone of voice thick with memories. “God, ten years in the real world has really made me forget some things.”

“Real world? As much as you’d like to believe that vampires and demons are just mere figments of the imagination, they are very real.”

Hero shrugged. “I know.” She smiled impishly and said, “You know, you should try lightening up a bit. You didn’t used to be so serious.”

“Ten years makes a big difference. You know that I have been training to join the Elite Guard. How could I not be serious? It’s a very big responsibility. In fact, you should try to be a little more serious yourself. Princess Luciana is no joking matter.”

Hero sighed. “I know. She was good to me.” She subsided into silence, thinking about memories of a different time. She looked at Adrienne, a sad smile on her lips. “It’s hard to believe we’re so different now. I mean, we’re both human, both nineteen, both girls. I guess living in the darkness with vamps makes a big difference, huh?”

Adrienne glanced at Hero again. “You make it sound like living with them is such a terrible thing. It isn’t dark in the City of Inis—there are lights are everywhere.”

Hero knew better than to argue. Adrienne’s family had been living in Inis with the hive for centuries, possibly even millennia. Since the Dark Ages, favored human families were allowed to live among hives unharmed, acting as servants and soldiers. Those in the Elite Guard and the Royal Guard were always humans turned from the old families, like Adrienne’s.

Since female vampires, being undead, could only give birth to stillborn babies, hives grew through the power of the bite. To maintain order, only hive queens—and occasionally, council members—were allowed to create more vampires, even though any vampire had the capability. In fact, some members of the hive willingly underwent a simple surgical process to have their two venomous canines removed.