Should Alessandra face a or an assassin first?
"You're staring again," a voice like shifting gravel whispered near her ear.
The Shadow King, Kallias, moved through the crowd like a predator through tall grass. He was physically unreachable—swathed in a literal aura of shadows that kept everyone at a five-foot distance. To touch him was to die, or so the rumors claimed. To Alessandra, it was simply a puzzle to be solved. The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
"He touches nothing he doesn't intend to destroy," the guard replied.
"I don't do 'safe,'" she smiled, her eyes bright with the thrill of the hunt. "It's far too boring." To help me tailor the next part of this story, tell me: Should Alessandra face a or an assassin first
"And I," Alessandra whispered, leaning into the freezing cold of his aura, "am the girl who is going to help you rule them. Or take them from you. I haven't quite decided yet."
The shadows in the Slytherin-esque court of the Shadow King didn't just flicker; they breathed. Alessandra Stathos stood at the edge of the ballroom, her gown a midnight silk that felt like armor. She didn't want the King’s heart because she loved him—she wanted it because he was the only thing standing between her and a crown of her own. He was physically unreachable—swathed in a literal aura
"Perhaps your darkness just hasn't met the right kind of light," she countered, her hand hovering inches from the barrier of ink-black smoke. "Or perhaps you're just lonely up there on your pedestal of gloom."