Night Shade Novels & Stories

Her shift ended promptly at eleven o'clock; she was strictly permitted to work only four hours a night to balance her demanding training schedule. With the arrival of the graveyard shift bartender, Seven clocked out. She hurried to the employee locker room, shedding her damp uniform and pulling on a comfortable, oversized black hoodie and worn jeans. Instead of leaving through the glamorous front entrance, she opted for the rear exit—a heavy metal door that opened into a dark, labyrinthine alleyway behind the commercial strip. It was an operational habit she had formed over the years; she preferred the shadows over the bright, exposed lights of the main street.

It has to be. Anders steps forward, his tone solemn as he begins to explain. “Tonight’s test is the Night of Shadows. Under the influence of the moon, you’ll be exposed to the worst version of your mate. You must not run from or attack this version, but embrace them.” His words settle like cold iron in my chest. He dips his fingers into a bowl and marks our foreheads with silvery dust that glows faintly against our skin. I recognize the scent—moondust mixed with sage.

“Not good that he wants to strangle you. Just… good to know. I wasn’t sure if you were like… best friends or partners or… I don’t know.” Domenico’s lips twitched upward again. “Brothers. For better or worse.” I nodded, feeling braver now that I hadn’t been kicked out or glared at yet. And because my mouth clearly had a death wish, the second question tumbled out before I could stop it. “And… why do you always wear shades? Even inside?” Another beat of silence. Longer this time. Heavy enough to make my stomach twist a little. Domenico’s fingers stilled against the counter.

Once inside, I leaned against the wall and allowed myself a moment of weakness. My hands were shaking. Me. An ancient vampire who'd faced down werewolf packs and hunter guilds without flinching. Shaking because a twenty-year-old college student had smiled at me. "Get yourself together, Nightshade," I muttered. "She's a target. A mission. Nothing more." But when I closed my eyes, I saw her face. The way her blue eyes had searched mine, looking for deception and finding... what? What had she seen in me? I pulled out my phone and sent a brief text to my sister Selene: Contact made. Target confirmed as White Luna descendant. Appears unaware of full abilities. Will continue assessment.

“Yes, it was Nightshade.” I raised my brows, never having heard of Nightshade before. “What is Nightshade?” “A strong and very deadly poison that’s difficult to detect. It has no scent or taste… It’s slow-moving and there’s no known cure for it,” he said, his eyes finding mine and narrowing. “Well, until now that is.” My cheeks flushed. Not only was I able to detect the Nightshade immediately, but I was also able to cure it. I stared down at my hands, not sure what any of this means.

“And then when he succeeds in opening the chest, you'll challenge him to a duel.” “But mom, you just said he's stronger than all our warriors combined, how do you expect me to single handedly fight him?” Damien asked. “You won't be fighting in your wolf's form, challenge him to a sword fight… I'ld deep your sword in Nightshade potion, you don't have to pierce him deep, just make sure your sword gets to cut him on any part of his body and the poison will immediately spread throughout his body, reaching his heart in no time. He wouldn't have the energy to fight back and eventually he'll die on the spot… everyone would forget about him in the blink of an eye.” I felt the pause in the room as Lu

He set it gently on the wooden table between them. Aurora looked down at the tiny glass bottle, her eyebrows drawing together in curiosity. "What is that?" "It is called Night-shade’s Tear," Malakor whispered, a wicked, cruel grin spreading across his scarred face. "It is a rare, slow-acting poison grown only in the deep western swamps. It has no taste, no smell, and no color. When dropped into tea or soup, it acts so slowly that even the sharpest royal healers cannot detect it until it is too late."

She nods to Shade but answers me, "We don't need to worry about that. Zachariah has a gift sitting back in your room for tonight." Shade gets to his feet and disappears into the back room again, coming back out not long later with 3 small bottles of something. One was gold nail polish, one looked like it had a black powder of some type in it and the other seemed to be a clear cover polish. He started with the gold, doing all my nails, he then used the black powder which once on the gold looked like little stars scattered over my nails, and then he covered them with the clear polish, sealing them all together.

I fucking hate drama. "We'll figure it out man. By the way, don't make any plans for tonight. Mom wants you over for dinner. Max and I will head out at about five." "She making those chocolate chip cookies with the Hershey's kiss?" Shane asks. After another ten minutes of promising him that those cookies will indeed be there, I head over to the bar. I need a shot of something and the empty Jack Daniel's bottle in my hand is no longer doing anything. I'm currently on my third shot when a hand pats my shoulder roughly, spilling some of my drink.

A perfect plain jane. The dress fell to my knees and flowed lower in the back. I wore a pair of black high heels that buckled around my ankles. Long sparkling earring hung at my ears behind the large waves of hair. My make-up was dark and sharp, but not overdone. Instead of hiding my eye like most night club make-up did, it accentuated it, making my blue eyes pop in a grayish color. I held my forearms out. The Aurora and Night sword were tattooed on my inner forearms.