Cat-man was set on his feet, and Shadow made sure to stand between me and the creature. Maybe he’d seen that look the cat had bestowed on me before, or maybe he was remembering all the times I’d been the target. Either way, I didn’t mind having a buffer.
A possessive, shifter god of a buffer. Could do worse.
Shadow barked out some words at Cat-man, and while I couldn’t tell what they were, I knew it was a command. The cat’s claws briefly appeared on blue-pawed hands. Baby claws compared to Shadow’s, and the cat seemed to know that, choosing the smarter route and not attacking.
When we stepped off the side of the stone platform onto snowy ground, I was surprised at the sudden bite of cold in the air. The Concordes had rocked a moderate temperature, not too hot or cold, so this new chill was almost refreshing in its intensity. My energy buzzed beneath my skin, and as astonishing as it was—fire and ice shouldn’t exist together, right?—there was a part of me that felt complete. Like another piece of my puzzle was slipping into place, and maybe, just maybe, one day soon, I’d have the entire image.
Shadow must have felt me slow as I looked around, relishing in the energy flowing up through the soles of my booted feet to the top of my head.
“I feel strengthened by this land,” I said quietly when he slowed near me. “I don’t understand why, though. Fire should be my thing, right?”
Cat-man turned as well, and even though I was fairly certain he hadn’t heard me, and most probably didn’t speak English, I shut up. There was already too much going on here that scared me, and I didn’t want to add to that by giving these beings additional ammunition to use against me.
“It might be the mist connection,” Shadow murmured. “It’s strongest here where they converge.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. But why are we here? What does this queen want with us?”
His lips thinned as his face darkened. “I have no idea, and that rarely happens to me. This entire situation is sending my warning systems into overdrive.”
“Mine too,” I whispered back.
It wasn’t that Shadow looked rattled, because he didn’t, but the knowledge that he was uneasy was enough to have my stress levels sky high.
The chill in the air became more pronounced as we moved further into the winter wonderland looking city. The beauty here was awe-inspiring. Every house and dwelling was shaped like a snowflake, and just like a snowflake, each of them had a unique pattern that spanned the exterior of its icy structure. I had no idea how the interior worked with such odd structural shape, but the outside was nothing short of spectacular.
Inhabitants soon started to make themselves known, appearing on the street and peeking out of their snowflakes, and every single one of them was like Cat-man. Well, not a cat, exactly, but some sort of animal-humanoid hybrid, a near seamless blend of the two.
Cats, wolves, lots of reptiles, a few birdy sorts with unusual beak-mouths, and many others who had absolutely zero comparison to Earth’s animals.
“Did you know this village existed?”
The vibe he’d always given about The Grey Lands was a desolate place, dystopian even, where creatures roamed, and there was nothing but war and fighting. Not a fairytale city with perfect snowflake houses.
“I was only in the realm for twenty-two years,” he said, leaning toward me while his eyes took stock of every being surrounding us, “and while I did venture through many lands, I didn’t make it here. But none of my research ever indicated a village like this existed within The Grey Lands.”
Seemed it was a mystery we would unravel together.
When we were quite deep in the city, many gazes were focused on us. Their animalistic features scrunched in what I could only assume was suspicion. I mean, who could blame them?
Shadow was a huge man, and he was a royal. I had a feeling they didn’t like those here, since there was no sign of anyone else like the beast man beside me. It was eerily quiet as well, not a word spoken to us, or even amongst themselves.
Just a tingle of unease floating on the breeze that sent my senses into high alert.
Cat-man continued to lead us along snow-covered, rocky streets, and I was just wondering at the end destination, when we turned a corner to face the “castle.” Like the other buildings, it was made of snowflakes—a ton of them. I actually paused to take in the true artistic beauty of it, with “falling flakes” starting high in the sky and cascading down to form the front of the building.
Cat-man spoke up, saying something to Shadow.
“This is where their queen lives,” he passed on to me. “She’s the one who wants to see us and is guaranteeing our safety for the day.”
I nodded. “Okay, not like we have much choice. I just wish I could understand the language.”
Shadow looked at me thoughtfully. “I might be able to help with that. I’ve never tried it on a shifter before, but there’s a chance the same energy that I used on the universal translator in the library, would work on you as well.”
I almost jumped on Shadow in my enthusiasm, throwing my arms around him, which startled Cat-man, who stumbled back with a hiss and scowl. Way to be a cat cliché.
“Yes, thank you so much, dude!” I gushed at Shadow. “I’ve been so worried that we’d get separated, and I’d be completely fucked without anyone to translate. I know Midnight is on its way, but until then…”
Shadow rumbled, his hands wrapping around me with just enough bite that I felt other parts of my body respond. Damn him and his too-sexy-for-his-own-good nature.
“Firstly, don’t call me ‘dude,’ Sunshine. I am not your dude.”
I swallowed roughly, trying hard to bring my temperature back to regular levels. “As I’ve told you, everything is a dude.”
His arms wrapped around me tighter, and I realized just how often he did this now. He used to push, push, push, always keeping me away from him, but now… He drew me closer to his heat. It was freezing deep in snow town, but standing in Shadow’s embrace, I could have closed my eyes and fallen asleep, warm and secure.
“This is an experiment,” he rumbled, his breath washing over my skin—goosebumps following the sensation. Shadow’s hands came up to cup my cheeks, trapping me in place so he could inflict his torture on me. The pain was sharp and immediate, clawing through my skin and into my brain. I fought back a scream, not wanting to alert everyone in the vicinity, and have a bunch of furry beings rushing into our personal space.
“Hold on, Mera,” he said, his eyes locked on mine, no doubt seeing the pain reflected there. “I’m rearranging some of your brain chemistry and it’s not without its challenges.”
He was doing what the fuck now?
Gritting my teeth, I glared murder at him, and while I tried to cuss him out because rearranging someone’s brain chemistry was sort of an act you asked permission for, I couldn’t get the words to emerge through the searing brand of pain.
Cat-man, looking curious and worried, moved forward. He said something in his musical language that I couldn’t understand, and Shadow snapped something back at him, and then…
“Our most supreme leader… be kept waiting!”
Holy fuck, it was… working! The words were fuzzy, but I understood Cat-man for the first time. The pain faded in the same instant, and as Shadow stepped away, I shook off the last lingering sensation of being violated.
The disorientation remained, so I closed my eyes and shook my head again.
“Mera, look at me,” Shadow commanded.
My eyes shot open, and he nodded and smiled. “That wasn’t English, but you understood me?”
Well, fuck me sideways. “I understood you perfectly.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You just replied in Greek.”
I tilted my head, my eyes narrowing. “Are you sure?”
He smirked, but not in humor. “Are you questioning me, Sunshine?”
I knew better than to answer him.
“Your energy has adapted,” he continued, “and for now, you should be able to both understand and reply in the native language of whoever you’re conversing with. Not bad work, if I do say so myself.”
Arrogant beast.
“Here’s hoping there are no weird side effects,” I said shortly, “since you just jumped right in and rearranged my brain. I already had enough problems with the weirdness in there, thank you very much, and now I have to be on alert for all its new shenanigans.”
Shadow shot me a deadpan stare. “You’ll be fine.”
Resisting the urge to punch him because I still knew there was a limit to how far I could go with Shadow, I just rolled my eyes at his not-so-subtle way of calling me a drama queen. And even if he wasn’t wrong about that, it was rude to point it out.
“Are you able to leave now?” Cat-man was done waiting, his hands on his hips, tufts of blue fur peeking through where his shirt had lifted. I had a sudden thought that maybe the beings here were furred and feathered to protect them from the icy temperatures. What we were seeing here, might all be a form of evolution.
“You will shut the fuck up and not question us again,” Shadow rumbled at the cat-man. “We’ll move when we’re ready to move.”
I heard it in English, but the lyrical words told me it was a language from the realm.
“I’ll just be over here,” Cat-man said, spinning on a furred foot and taking off toward the snowflakes castle.
It was a nice change to have Shadow’s annoyance directed elsewhere. I could get used to that, and as long as this ruler we were off to meet didn’t try to kill us, I was interested to see what we’d find when we arrived inside the castle.
