Daughter of Gods and Shadows by Jayde Brooks Read Free Book Online

a rare sighting of a Guardian would pass by her. The once-great alliances were all but shattered now, and the races—what was left of them—had dispersed into lives overshadowed by humans. She believed in her heart, though, that they would all join together again to fight against the Demon. The truth was that all she could do was hope.
    The Fall had changed everything for Ancients. When her beloved Theia was destroyed, some Ancients fell to this world; others had jumped, believing that they were leaping to their deaths. She, like so many of them, came here believing that she’d meet her end as well, but that didn’t happen. Nothing was the same for any of them, though.
    Humankind didn’t know it, but much of their history and many of their legends had been born of Ancients. Egyptian hieroglyphics, Native American symbols, even their democratic systems were based on practices that Ancients brought with them from Theia. Metalsmithing was an Ancient art form, mastered by the Valkyrie races and introduced to human culture, as was mining.
    Human legends of werewolves and phantoms were born from early human interaction with Ancients before the few mystics who were left created the spell of glamour to hide the Ancients true form from human eyes.
    The dominant race on Theia was that of Shifters. There were many different types of Shifters, some limited by size or shape, others capable of shifting into one form of creature. Weres were Shifters, though they hated being called by that name. Khale was the Great Shifter because she was the only one without limits.
    Humans were easily frightened by the things that couldn’t be explained. They panicked when coming into contact with someone different from them, sometimes, even panicking over differences in their own human race: gender, race, sexual orientation. And they judged harshly, which proved to be dangerous for lesser Ancients like the Pixies and Vampyrs. Humans killed when they judged, when they panicked. Katie, of course, was never in any danger, but she understood why the lesser Theians chose to remain closeted.
    She finished up the last of her fries and decided that it was time to go back to her apartment on the Upper East Side.
    *   *   *
    â€œMiss Smith,” Ron, the doorman, said pleasantly, tipping his hat and holding the door open for her.
    Katie smiled back. “Thank you, Ron. You look very handsome today.”
    He blushed. “And you look lovely yourself.”
    Of course she did. She was twenty-five. Katie Smith had determined some time ago that twenty-five was the age she wanted to be for now. Humans had a thing about age. Telling people she was twenty-five garnered plenty of appreciative nods and smiles and remarkes of “Oh, I remember when,” so she made up her mind that she’d stay twenty-five until she discovered some other age-driven experience she was interested in trying.
    Katie owned every apartment on the twenty-first floor, because she liked the views and could live in any of them depending on her moods. The one she lived in now was on the end with a beautiful skyline that took her breath away at night. Actually, it didn’t literally take her breath away, but she liked using that metaphor because humans used it all the time and it sounded dramatic.
    She was considered wealthy. Most Ancients lived the way she did, unless they chose not to. Because they lived longer than humans, they had the benefit of time to collect things humans considered valuable: land, art, gemstones, and precious metals. When this world was young, it was full of treasures that could easily be found on mountainsides or in rivers. They stored such things, and as time passed, the value in them increased, allowing them to afford the comforts this world had to offer.
    She stopped at the door next to her apartment. Most times, she walked right past it, almost forgetting that it was even there—that she was there. Katie had