“Tell me what my family have been up to.”
Not a surprising question. Shadow had been waiting a long time to destroy his sister and information from Ixana might give him an advantage.
She straightened even further if that were possible. It was either a steel rod down her spine or a stick up her as—
“That is why I pulled you out so suddenly,” she said in a rush, interrupting my super important petty as fuck thoughts. “Cristell has ruled with complete control and fear since you left, and in that time, your family has amassed a lot of power in their corner. The other kingdoms are so weak comparatively, giving yours the ultimate control. There’s no fairness or justice any longer, and since your sister has been on the throne, they have gathered so many creatures that it would be next to impossible to defeat them without help.”
Shadow shot to his feet, the solid table shifting with the movement. “Return my stone to me, and the power I should have always had is what I’ll use to defeat Cristell.”
I had no idea where the staff—and Shadow’s stone more importantly—even was. It had disappeared from sight the moment we’d followed her into this room. Ixana was a smart little witch, concealing her one reason to hold the beast here. I mean, outside of their true mate thing.
Yeah, whatever.
“Here’s the truth,” Ixana said, her voice softer than ever. “I can’t give you the stone.”
Shadow’s flames filled the room, so red against the white landscape. “You are very good with illusion, Ixana, I remember well, and I can’t take it from you without you showing it to me, but I can destroy the foundation of the world you’ve built here. Don’t test me.” She was getting the same warning as Cat-man, and it was not an empty threat.
Ixana swallowed but didn’t back down. “It’s the only power I have right now to keep my people safe from The Grey Lands,” she got out in a rush. “And honestly, as much as I’ve prayed for this moment with you, I cannot sacrifice them all for our bond. Not yet at least.”
“So… what is the plan?” Shadow bit out. “How do we amass this power you think I need to best my sister?”
Wishful thinking that she had one. Well, one that didn’t involve Shadow moving in here, lots of boning, and a bunch of fire-ice babies.
“We must gather even more creatures,” she said.
Well, color me fucking surprised. She did have a plan.
“If we gather enough, combined with your power and the bloodstone, you will have the means to take them on. Once the royal family falls, I have nothing more to worry about, and the stone is useless to me. Your family has hunted me since you were taken, and only here do they not touch me. Once they’re gone, I can return to The Concordes.”
Shadow’s face was calm. His eyes were not. I wondered if she knew the signs since it had been a damn long time since they’d been together, and I would have bet everything I owned—except my library—Shadow had been a hell of a lot kinder before he’d been booted out into the universe and forced to survive.
She didn’t know this version of him, one that was a rotten bastard, with enough power to be considered a fucking god in multiple worlds. He didn’t like to be denied shit, and he sure as hell didn’t like to put a halt to his plans again.
“Okay,” he said, retaking his seat.
Sorry, what? I shook my head, like I could clear my ears out. Had he just said okay?
“How many creatures do we need?”
He had! He’d fucking said okay, and now they were discussing their plans like a married couple.
“You will need at least a thousand,” she replied, excitement finally crossing her face. “I’ve built a paradise here, but beyond my village, the rest of The Grey Lands is as you remember. Barren and dangerous. We will find our creatures out there.”
Shadow’s jaw was twitching. “A thousand? What’s your plan to bond that many to us?”
Before she could answer, I got to my feet, drawing their attention. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer of freshening up,” I said saltily. “There’s a lot of bullshit in the air, and I think a bit landed on me.”
Ixana looked confused, so there was maybe not a great translation available for that little dig. Shame. Shadow, on the other hand, understood me perfectly.
“Mera,” he growled.
I smiled sweetly at him. “Yes, Darkor?”
He didn’t like me using his name, not at all, as his fingers tapped a hole into the side of the table, and if I’d been closer, the heat on his body would have had me positively sweating.
“Don’t push me, little wolf,” he murmured, and my stupid heart clenched for a beat.
“Wouldn’t think of it,” I replied, managing to keep my tone even.
Ixana, clearly done with our verbal foreplay, waved her guard over. “Please show the shifter to her room, and if anyone touches her without her permission, I will personally send them out beyond the fence.”
The bird-girl she’d called over to guide me actually paled. Her yellow-feathered face turned into a peach color, and that was the weirdest shit I’d seen today. “I will guard her with my life,” Birdy said.
Ixana nodded before turning to Shadow. “Does that work for you?”
He wanted to argue, it was so fucking clear on his face, but he just nodded. Letting me go.
He. Let. Me. Go. All so he could go back to playing happily married family with the ice queen, discussing their plans.
I could not stay here and watch this relationship rekindle. I wasn’t a strong enough, gracious enough, or good enough person for that. Nope, I had to escape, and then hold out long enough for Midnight and Angel to arrive.
There was a second reason I was leaving as well. If either of them thought they could use my power to gather the creatures they needed…
It was a big fat hell no.
My sole aim was to figure out what I was, what my power was, and how both had come to be. The moment I knew that, I was hauling my ass out of this world and heading back to my library.
Shadow wouldn’t need either library here, shacked up with his ice queen.
“Are you okay?” Birdy asked as I stormed along after her.
“Yes, totally okay. Ready to find my room.”
Some of the color had returned to her feathers now, and she had quite the bright… plume? Her hair, instead of being like mine, was this fancy-ass crest that started on top of her head and then trailed down her spine. It was wickedly cool, and the fact that she wore clothing over her feathers amused me to no end. Did they have something to cover that their feathers didn’t? Or was it part of making them more humanoid?
I’d probably never know and at this stage was just going to accept it without questioning everything. One day soon, this world and its inhabitants would no longer be my problem.
The halls Birdy led me along were as white and winding as the first entrance, and I knew there was not a fuck in hell I’d find my way out of this maze. “You can actually ask for guidance at any time,” Birdy said when I made a comment about it. She reached out and placed a hand on the wall, long claws tapping on the white panel. “Exit to main street,” she said.
The spot under her palm lit up, and then the light started to move along the wall, fast enough that it was gone in a few minutes. “If you followed the light, it would lead you out. I’m not supposed to tell anyone about that little secret, but honestly, I don’t have time to keep babysitting you, so it’s best if you can get around on your own.”
What. An. Idiot.
Birdy had just handed me an absolute weapon—my freedom—and she didn’t even realize what she’d done. Which was totally okay with me.
“Your secret is safe with me,” I said, genuinely happy.
We headed upstairs after that, and when we hit the second floor, the space opened dramatically. “This is where the guests stay,” Birdy told me, stopping at a blank wall.
I looked around, my eyes taking in the full expanse of the area I could see. “You’ve lost me.”
A tweeting sort of huff escaped her beaked mouth. “Place your hand on the wall.”
I did that, and beneath my palm lit up like it had for Birdy.
“Say, ‘Room.’”
“Room.” See, I could do as I was told.
The light exploded, and I stepped back, wrenching my hand free on instinct. The doorway formed a moment later, and I was shoved from behind and sent stumbling inside. Disregarding the fact that Birdy had touched me without my permission—someone was in trouble—I attempted to figure out what the heck I was staring at.
It was an… igloo. Basically the only thing I could compare it to. Curved icy walls, with white floors, and a ton of thick pelts in the middle of the area. It was not as cold as I’d expected as I walked farther inside to examine the space. Looking back once, I realized that the door behind me had closed without a sound, and Birdy was nowhere to be seen.
I was finally alone with my messy thoughts. Great.
The pelts were amazingly soft and warm when I dug my hands into them, and I was super tempted to bury deep and have a nap. But I wanted to check out the rest of my room before I relaxed.
What if there were threats in here I wasn’t aware of?
The main area in this round room held only those thick pelts, at least five in total, so I wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold ground thankfully. At first, it appeared to just be the one round room until I ran my hands across the wall and found another opening. Should have guessed there’d be more optical illusions. Queen of Illusions was Ixana’s middle name.
The second room held the bathroom? It had a huge hole in the icy floor, and the water in there was hot and inviting. On the other side of this room was another hole, and I couldn’t be sure, but I had a feeling that was the toilet… maybe? That was what I’d be using it for, so hopefully it wasn’t actually a laundry chute.
Awkward.
I had no other clothing to change into, so I decided to wait on the bath situation, in lieu of having a nap first. It had been exhausting dealing with my emotions since they’d decided to explode inside of me and drip acid through my soul in painful dribbles.
Yeah, I was being super dramatic, but there was real hurt inside of me that I wasn’t mentally or emotionally able to deal with today. It was just too much. The last ten years had been bad enough, but now there was this, and maybe… just maybe, I’d finally learned what it was like to truly be broken by someone I trusted.
I could still feel the zap of Shadow’s power, the cold burn in his eyes, and the way his name for me had turned from ‘Sunshine’ into ‘Mera.’
It all hurt, and if a nap helped me escape, I was taking it. Hopefully by the time I woke up, Midnight would be here, and I could figure out my next move. Without a beast by my side.
