Holding on to the control of the creatures as we left Torma was almost the end of me. I’d just about reached my limit by the time we arrived at the long, white hallway that connected Earth to the Library of Knowledge.
Between the three musketeers and me, we dragged the hundreds along the hall, while Shadow spent what felt like forever, searching the rooms until he found one he was satisfied would hold them.
“It’ll have to do for now, until Mera gets her strength back,” he said. “Then we can try her plan of returning them through whatever path connects her to the realm.”
At this point, I had all but passed out, my brain only coming back online when Shadow growled at Reece.
“Give her to me.” Those words were low and dark. “I need to warm her up and get some energy flowing into her again.”
Reece let out a low chuckle, and since my eyes were all but glued shut, I couldn’t see their expressions. I hated that, but for now, their words would have to tell me everything.
“I can warm her up,” Lucien said from the side. “It’s my specialty.”
There was movement and a heavy thud, followed by Lucien’s groan. “Just kidding, brother. You know how I roll.”
I didn’t know how he rolled, but it really didn’t matter because I was now in Shadow’s arms, and it was here that I felt far too fucking comfortable. “Walk,” I managed to choke out. I couldn’t lose myself to the beast. At least not until I knew more about him. I might believe he didn’t have anything to do with Dannie’s death, but he still knew way more than he was letting on. Until I knew it as well, it was best to be cautious.
He just held me closer, his arms strong bands under my ass and across my back. “Release them, Mera,” he said, the mild Scottish burr in his voice deepening for a moment. “You need to let go, or they’ll take you into the mists with them.”
That was too terrifying an idea after everything I’d seen tonight.
“They’re definitely contained in the prison?” I managed to choke out, my exhaustion complete.
“They are,” he confirmed.
I hesitated and Shadow sighed. “You have no choice but to trust me. Release them or die; those are your options.”
Dammit. The big fucker had me there.
You are free.
Instinct took over in my near-dead state, and I didn’t fight it like I might have normally. The moment my hold on them faded out, a literal boost of energy cleared my head, and I jerked upright, my eyes open.
“Let me down,” I demanded, the blinding white of the hallway making me blink watery eyes as I glared up at the beast.
“Shut up,” Shadow snapped, not even glancing at my A-Game resting bitch face. An epic look wasted once again.
“Just like old times,” I grumbled, trying to dredge up enough energy to fight him.
Pretty sure he said something about annoying shifters, which was drowned out by Reece’s laughter.
“Give up, Mera,” the desert deity said, and I wasn’t sure when we’d become such good friends, but at some point, he’d thawed toward me, acting nothing like the original asshole I’d met in the lair. “Shadow cannot be bested when he sets his mind to a task. Let him take care of you.”
I snorted and then groaned, pressing a hand to my forehead. “I don’t need a Shadow nurse. I can sort my own shit out, thanks very much.”
Digging my elbows into his chest, I tried to leverage myself away, but his hold didn’t give an inch. Not. One. Fucking. Inch.
Did he have to be powerful in all ways? It was overkill.
“Sunshine, just… I need to do this, okay?”
He almost sounded sad, and it halted my struggle as I tilted my head back to see him. “Did you kill Dannie? Or in any way contribute to her death?”
Now that I wasn’t distracted with hundreds of creatures, my head much clearer, I needed to ask again.
His steps slowed. “She’s not dead.”
I just blinked at him, trying to figure out if my ears had malfunctioned.
“Don’t—” I broke off as my throat got tight. “Please don’t lie to make me feel better… Her blood was everywhere. And the pack used her knowledge or energy or something to get into the library and shut it all down.”
“Those bastards took her blood,” he confirmed, “and since she was born in the Shadow Realm, they used it to concoct the potion that knocked me and the library out for a few minutes. It was also powerful enough to block the doorway because it reacted to anything that was connected to me. It wasn’t until your power called me that I could break through the blocking spell.”
I was blinking at him. Over and over. “Dannie is from the Shadow Realm?” I whispered.
What in the fuck? How in the fuck?
Shadow nodded. “Yes. I don’t know the finer details of it, but I recognized her power.”
I shook my head like that would clear the jumble of thoughts in there. It didn’t help.
Maybe it was best to focus on the part that was even more important. “You promise she’s not dead?” I was crying. I tried hard not to cry these days, and especially not in front of Shadow, but the sobs just burst up from my chest and didn’t stop coming.
“Fuck,” Shadow said softly, and then he was shifting my position so he could hug me. My legs wrapped around his waist as he held me tightly.
“She’s not dead? You promise?” I repeated, sobbing into the spot between his neck and shoulder. The heat of his power wrapped around me, but I didn’t even care in my distraught state.
His chest shook as an annoyed rumble escaped him. “She’s not dead, Sunshine. I don’t know who she is or how she made it into your world, but once I smelled her blood, I knew she was from the Shadow Realm. I’ve been trying to track her ever since, but there’s no sign of where she ended up.”
“How much blood?” I asked, sniffling. “And how can you be sure she’s—”
He cut me off. “I’ve told you before, no Shadow Realm being can be killed by shifters, even if they believe they had the power to do it. She’s out there somewhere, reforming, to one day be your Dannie again.”
My tears had started to dry now, but I kept my head buried against Shadow’s shoulder. He strode forward again, and it should have been weird and uncomfortable for him to keep holding me this way, but I was an emotional wreck, weak and mentally shaken, so I let it happen. For a few minutes, I soaked up his comfort, but that all came to an end.
“I can walk.”
He didn’t argue, setting me on my feet. I wobbled for a beat, but he allowed me to find my own strength, and as I wiped away the tears on my face, I noticed Reece and Lucien hovering just behind their friend.
“Thank fuck,” Lucien said, his hands held in tight fists at his side. “I never know what to do when women cry. I’m glad Shadow was here.”
I narrowed my eyes just as Reece barked out a laugh. “I had no idea Shadow knew what to do with a crying woman, either. Usually, he just silences them with his power so he can’t hear their sobs any longer.”
The beast himself crossed his arms, staring both of his friends down, and their laughter died off, even if the smiles remained. They didn’t fear him, but they respected him. Shadow was lucky to have friends like his. Speaking of…
“I will need to see Simone very soon,” I warned him. “Whenever you explain to me exactly what just happened on Earth, I want her to be part of it.”
Reece and Lucien were already shaking their heads. “Shadow will never allow another human—”
The desert deity was cut off when Shadow said, “I will make it happen.”
All three of us were shocked into silence, and I tried to clear my dry throat. “Thank you,” I told Shadow, feeling as if we’d reached a place of mutual respect that we hadn’t visited before.
Maybe it was my power matching his for a brief moment on Earth, or how I’d apparently called him when I’d lost my shit. Or maybe it was another secret that I wasn’t aware of yet. Only time would tell, and it appeared that I was finally going to learn more about the Shadow Realm, the mists, and these creatures I continued to call into my world.
Had Dannie known what I was all along? She’d definitely taken an interest in me from her first arrival in Torma, and it hurt to think that maybe it had all been a ruse. She’d been a mother figure, but maybe like my real mom, she really hadn’t given a fuck about me.
What had her endgame been, though? In the ten or so years we’d known each other, she’d never asked me for anything. She’d given me a job, paid me well, protected me, and cared for me when life had been knocking me down. I found it hard to believe that was all just an act.
Hopefully one day, I’d get a chance to ask her.
“You need to rest,” Shadow told me, and he wasn’t wrong since I’d once again just drifted off in my fuzzy brain.
“Yes. Right.”
We started to walk along the hall, and I was getting more than one concerned look from the three dudes around me, but before anyone could bring it up, a figure burst from the veil connected to the library and flew toward us.
“Angel!” I exclaimed, and if I’d had the energy to run, I would have met her halfway. As it was, I barely managed to hobble a few steps before I wanted to curl up and take a nap.
She must have seen me stumble, and using her wings and preternatural speed, she was at my side in less than a second. Wrapping her arms around me, she steadied me before I fell. “What happened?” she demanded, looking fierce in her battle armor. It reminded me of how she’d fought Shadow for me, right before the library had been attacked by a few dickhead shifters.
Angel was the sort of friend every woman deserved.
“After the battle with Shadow, I went into the dining hall to calm down,” she continued, “only to learn upon my return that the library had been attacked and you were taken. The barrier wouldn’t allow me to leave and track you on Earth. I’ve been trying ever since.”
Over her shoulder, I found Shadow’s eyes. “The barrier was blocked?”
He nodded, completely unsurprised. “I shut it all down until I knew what we were dealing with. An extra protection against any new threats while I was busy getting the current situation under control.”
Simmering anger brewed in his eyes, and his jaw was so rigid that I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear his teeth crack. The reminder that shifters had managed to sneak in under his watch was sending him into a dark place. And when Shadow went dark, bad things happened.
I turned back to Angel, hoping for a distraction. “Were you planning on heading to Earth to help? Once you got through the barrier?” She’d all but torn into the hall in a frenzy when Shadow had finally released it.
She shook her head. “No. Well, yes and no. I was coming to find you, but I also needed to see Shadow.” She stepped away, keeping one hand on me like she knew her energy was helping regulate mine. “The door is open,” she said.
It was at this moment my distracted mind snapped into gear. I froze as the absolute truth of what she’d just said penetrated my brain. There was only one door that anyone would speak about with such a combination of fear and distaste.
“Shadow Realm?” Shadow bit out, and he was as focused as me.
Angel nodded. “I don’t know how it happened, but the spell on the door is broken. It happened not long ago.”
Shadow looked at me, but it wasn’t necessary. I’d already done the math, and it was growing obvious that when I’d brought the mists and creatures from the realm to Earth, I’d done more than put my world in peril.
I’d finally opened the door that had been barred for nearly two thousand years.
The door to Shadow’s destiny.
