Simone pushed through for one more hug. “Promise me you’ll stay safe and return to me,” she said against my neck, her voice hoarse.
“I promise,” I replied, not knowing if I’d just lied to her again. I would do my absolute best, if that made a difference. “Stay close to Lucien and Midnight,” I told her as we parted. “They will keep you safe.”
Her eyes darted to the vampire, who was without his characteristic smirk for once. “Yeah, I think I can manage that,” she said softly.
I leaned in. “Not too close, you little hussy.”
She lifted her eyebrows at me but didn’t reply as she stepped back.
Midnight wrapped around me one more time, and I sucked up the comfort. Thank you for staying and protecting Simone. She’s my family.
Yeah, maybe I could rock the mental connection at a time like this.
Be safe, my bonded one. I’ll come the moment you need me.
That made me feel better, like I had a guardian angel. Well, a second one after Angel.
And don’t fear this world. It’s different, but you are more than capable of handling it. And it needs you. It hasn’t been easy in the realm since the Supreme Being disappeared.
Nodding, I swallowed hard, forcing the fear down. Logically, I knew the realm was a lot like Earth, and it smelled good, and I had already adopted more than one creature born from its energy, but logic had no place when it came to irrational fear.
It was home to Midnight, Inky, and Shadow. I was also fairly certain that Angel had been there before at some point, too. I was the only one about to step into the unknown. The fear of that was far stronger than I’d expected.
Midnight sent one last burst of comforting warmth into me, and I sucked it up, feeling a strange sense of melancholy about being parted from my mist. A mist I’d been bonded to for all of an hour. It was the oddest sensation, the feeling that I’d known Midnight forever, and yet… I hadn’t.
I wouldn’t be selfish, though. Keeping Simone safe in this unknown world was worth whatever discomfort arose in my separation from the mist.
Shadow caught my eye as he reached down, his hands wrapping around my waist so he could haul me up and over his shoulder. He was so strong that he threw me around with no effort, and the control with which he held me was both terrifying and incredibly sexy. I was into it, no denying, but I preferred to walk.
In this situation, though, he was the one who controlled these doors, so I didn’t fight. No point getting my ass dumped off in an in-between spot, leaving me stuck.
It could happen. Literally could happen, according to some of the books I’d read.
These pathways were tricky, and one needed to be very sure of what they were doing before they stepped into them. A fact I hadn’t known my first day with Shadow when I’d tried to escape into Faerie.
My wolf howled as we strode into the darkness, but it wasn’t from fear. She was excited for this adventure, and that could only mean one thing: she was going to get me into trouble at some point.
Shadow ran a hand along my spine, and almost like he was stroking the wolf in that movement, she calmed. It was growing clearer as time went on that she loved Shadow. Her capitulation toward him was concerning because her moods definitely influenced my own, and I didn’t want to completely give ourselves up to him. He was too domineering, and I sensed that if I gave in to him, I’d lose a large part of myself forever.
Try telling that to my wolf, though, who continued treating Shadow like he was our beloved and trusted alpha.
I supposed he was our god, so it made sense… while also being frustrating.
Focusing again on our journey, I noted that the darkness hadn’t lifted yet, but the sweeter-than-honey scent grew stronger. Shadow remained calm, no sign of his flames or any surge in his energy, so I remained calm as well.
Still…
Why was there no freaking light?
I’d seen this world through Midnight’s memories, and it had been just as bright as Earth, with a sun-like illumination in the sky. So far, the reality was far from that… Shadow Realm was living up to its name.
“It’s always the darkest right before the sun shines,” Shadow murmured.
I stilled, my pulse the only part of me racing.
“Is there a hidden meaning in that statement?” I shot back, louder than intended.
His hold across my hips tightened. “Just wait for it, Sunshine.”
I used to hate that nickname; my chest tightening every time he said it, bringing bad memories to the surface. I’d always been “Sunny” to my dad, and Sunshine was close enough that it had hurt to hear.
It had burned.
At some point, that changed, and now when the rumble of my nickname left his lips, caressing my ears with his deep baritones, the burning I felt was of a completely different nature.
My eyes closed, and then I remembered I was about to see a new world and forced them open again. The darkness slithered away in a similar manner to the first time I’d seen Shadow in Torma. His mere presence had caused all light to fade into misty energy, until Shadow had sucked that darkness back into himself.
It felt like something similar happened here as a whirlwind whipped around us, gathering up the shadows of this world, and then we were in the light.
The “sunshine,” so much brighter than I’d expected after such an eternal night, was blinding and warm. For a brief second, I felt my bond with Midnight, my love for Simone and Angel, and the burning ache Shadow caused inside of me.
All the good things in my world burst to life in a single, brilliant drop of light. The scent made sense then, even as it faded once we were here. A scent of home and love.
“Don’t let it fool you,” Shadow whispered, his voice rebooting my senses into their normal semi-cynical setting. “The darkness of the realm exist above and below the light. In some way, this entire world is an illusion.”
I looked to where Inky was drifting along beside us. “Our mists are not the same,” he added. “Being bonded changes them. They absorb what makes us exist, and they feel when we do. The leicher and ether mists feel nothing and act only as a pure power. They will not consider your circumstances or hear your pleas. They will take and destroy if that suits their purpose.”
Okay then. Only slightly terrifying. Especially considering we were apparently walking across a blanket of these mists and another blanket covered us from above. It reminded me of the disembodied voice that I’d heard when I sent that wall of darkness from Earth. If the mists didn’t have a presence like that of Inky and Midnight, then what had that voice been?
Maybe Shadow didn’t truly know what the mists were capable of? A fact that might spell our downfall.
Before I could get too worked up, Angel appeared at our side, having found the way through the dark path, all without touching Shadow. I had zero idea how she’d followed, but once again, her kickass power was impressive. To say the very least.
“What part of the realm are we in right now?” I asked them.
We’d arrived on a rocky outcrop, facing what looked like a mass of water. I noted that it was a bright green compared to Earth’s bluer oceans—possibly due to the minty vibe of the sky here—and there was no sign of waves or disturbance across the waterline.
The glassy, unbroken surface was almost eerie. And the weather here was very moderate, so I wondered if they had seasons such as we did back home. I’d thought so from Midnight’s vision, but there was no sign of any particular season where we stood.
“The Shadow Realm is smaller than Earth,” Shadow said, standing beside me as we stared out into the unnatural water. “It has three main landmasses and five outlier islands. The islands themselves are about the size of the current United Kingdom. I’ve brought us to the mainland: The Concordes. This is where the five families of royals exist, all with their own territory.”
Midnight had told me some of this, but I didn’t clue Shadow in on this knowledge. I wanted to know everything about this world that had, until this point, been completely off limits to me.
Shadow waved his hand to Inky, and when the mist swirled in front of us, I choked on my next breath as it turned into a map. The synapses inside were a roughly sketched, basic outline of the world. There was one large landmass in the center—The Concordes, clearly—with five much smaller islands scattered below it. The top right and top left corner had other landmasses, and I figured these were the other two of the three lands that made up this world.
“The Concordes,” Shadow pointed to the largest land as expected, “and we’re currently in the kingdom of Fraple. It’s the easternmost territory, which borders on Trinity. That is where my family resides.”
Trinity was the largest of the five kingdoms, situated near the center. It seemed to run from the top to the bottom of The Concordes, following a… trench maybe? It was hard to tell in the monochromatic Inky map, but it was clearly some sort of divide.
“The other royal territories aren’t of any concern,” Shadow added. “We won’t cross them on our journey. So for now, we just have to worry about Fraple and Trinity.”
I nodded. “What are the five outliers?”
Shadow crossed his arms. “They’re the lands that reject the royal way, trying to exist on their own without creatures or mist influence.” He pointed to each on the map. “Rodan, Green Isle, Dety, Samsan Grove, and the Isle of Rechest.”
I nodded. “The royals don’t try to force them back under their control?”
Angel laughed drily while keeping a vigilant watch on our backs, as if an attack were forthcoming. “They tried, but the beings there resisted, and eventually, the royals grew bored. The outliers have no true power without creatures, so the royals let them be.”
Shadow nodded. “Yes, but much could have changed in thousands of years. I put nothing past my sister.”
“Especially without the Supreme Being,” Angel added. “Who should have ruled them all and kept the balance in this world.”
Without Shadow.
He laughed, a dry, sardonic chuckle. “I was supposed to be crowned on my twenty-second year here, but that was the day I was betrayed.”
Twenty-two. That number had been significant to the Shadow Realm, and that was no doubt the reason he’d incorporated it into shifter law as well.
Finally had my answer.
“So if you could rule them all,” I asked, trying to understand, “then would all of The Concordes have been your home?”
“I would have ruled from Trinity. The largest land with the lava chasm, giving me direct access to the mists.”
Access to the mists sounded like access to the power. And it seemed I also had my answer about that divide I’d seen. The lava chasm.
“What are the two lands up top?”
Shadow reached out and ran his hand over Inky, disrupting the map in the same instant. “One is a land of birth, the other of death.”
I paused, waiting for more information, but he was apparently done. I had a weird, ominous feeling about what those two lands were, and I recalled Midnight’s story about the place where the two mists joined. The Grey Lands? Was that in one of those two?
At least I had the basic idea of how the realm was setup, and hopefully during our adventures, I’d learn even more.
“So, we’re walking to Trinity?” I asked.
Shadow nodded, turning away from the view to face into the land. A land we would soon be journeying across. “We must keep our power usage to a minimum. For my attack to be the most effective, I need as much surprise on my side as possible. Until I know for sure I’ve been found out, it’s stealth mode only.”
Good times. “Okay, cool. Let’s do this then.”
His lips twitched; his eyes filled with gold. “It won’t quite be that simple—there’re many creatures, royals, and freilds scattered across The Concordes. We must avoid them all until it becomes necessary to engage. It’s going to be a long, hard journey.”
I sighed, already exhausted. “Honestly, with all of your power, Shadow,” I said carelessly, “I expected a lot more killing and a lot less sneaking.” He’d told me why, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.
He moved so fast, I blinked once before he was in my space, his hand around the back of my neck in what I was coming to think of as his personal brand of domination. His power forced me to walk toward him until we were touching, our bodies completely aligned.
“Watch it, pup,” he warned, breath fanning over me as my nipples—which were firmly planted against the hard planes of his stomach—stood to attention. My legs did the opposite, going quite wobbly. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. No one truly does. The one that holds my position is nothing but a proxy. Power doesn’t recognize you just because you try to trick it, and I will take back what’s mine.”
Fuck, did my vagina just flutter? Like, I should not have been turned on by this display of aggression and arrogance, but I was. My eyes lifted, and tilting my head back to see his face, I got caught on those lips of his. Now all I could think about was kissing him.
“Come on,” he said softly. “The longer we stay stationary, the easier we’ll be to spot.”
“Yes,” Angel said from close by. “I can only block our position for so long.”
Shadow released me. “Despite Sunshine’s doubts about me, the murdering will come soon enough, but until then, I’ll do my best to ensure no one finds us.”
He took another step away and I inhaled deeply, unsure if I’d breathed at all during the seconds he’d held me. I had to nip this attraction in the bud before Shadow had the power to convince me to stand buck-naked over those lava fields, ready to sacrifice the virgin for his power.
Because we all knew he was gonna try.
Fuck being that chick. Not even for the Shadow Beast.
