Ixana’s guards arrived soon after, weighed down with dark brown crossbody bags. The design looked awkward until it was on, and then the evenly distributed weight had it resting comfortably. The outside of the bag was thick and coarse, made from what appeared to be dried plant, and they felt strong and durable. Easily able to carry the supplies inside.
“There is food,” she said. “Mainly for those who are a little weaker.” Dig, dig. “And some padded rugs, for those who require extra rest.” Dig, dig, dig. “Hopefully, it won’t be too heavy.”
“Oh, you are just the sweetest soul to ever live,” I said with a broad smile. “Bless your heart.”
I’d never lived in the south, but I watched television, and I enjoyed using hidden digs against her too.
“Oh, okay,” she said, moving herself to perch on the wall. “Shall we leave then?”
“We shall,” I replied grandly.
She smiled, a slow, devious bullshit sort of smile, and then she stepped off the side, landing smoothly, even though it had been a quarter of a mile drop at least. No way I could top that, and frankly, I was growing exhausted by this imaginary rivalry I’d created with her.
“Would you like help down?” Shadow drew my attention, and as I tilted my head back to see him, I was surprised to notice the fatigue just visible around his eyes. Shadow always seemed larger than life, and as an immortal, he’d never look old, but he was weighed down.
I wasn’t helping the situation acting like a child.
“Midnight can take me,” I said softly, shooting him a small smile. “I’ll see you at the bottom.”
He reached out and brushed his thumb across my cheek, before he leaned in closer. “Ixana is up to something,” he murmured in his low rumble, “and I’m sorry that I screwed up when we first arrived here. In not wanting to tip her off, I hurt you, and that’s not okay. I promise I won’t do it again.”
Before I could reply… or catch my damn breath, he turned and stepped off the side. I watched him all the way, and when he landed as smoothly as Ixana, I turned to Angel, blinking rapidly. “Holy shit, did he just say that?”
He’d been so open and honest. The secretive side that was so much a part of his personality fading out briefly as he shared a truth with me. And he’d apologized. Two guesses how often that usually happened.
“Despite our differences, I have a lot of respect for Shadow,” Angel said, her gaze drifting over the side to look below. “It’s worth trusting him to do the right thing. He knows how to handle Ixana.”
She wasn’t wrong, but a part of me still wondered if he might be a little blinded by the true mate bond. It was a strong connection, as I knew all too well. But at least I hadn’t completely lost him to her, and that was worth taking the next step forward. Worth having a little faith. Even if there was still one rather large issue in our midst… Ixana.
“Hopefully this entire journey isn’t a trap set by the Queen of Illusions,” I said wearily, feeling as ancient as Shadow.
Angel considered my words. “She’s definitely up to something, but it feels a lot like that something is about Shadow and their mate bond.”
“I agree, and truth be told, I really do want to know if my weird-ass power is from this Nexus.”
Angel nudged me. “You’re not weird. And you are worthy of Shadow. Don’t lose sight of either of those facts in this quest you’re on.”
She took off along the side of the wall, gliding down even more gracefully than the other two. Inky had gone after Shadow, so all that was left was Midnight and me. As the mist swirled around me, brushing our energies together, I let out a sigh to rival Shadow’s.
I’ve acted like an idiot, I told the mist, and Angel hit the damn nail on the head. It was my insecurities causing me to act so defensively and childish. And for what? I wouldn’t want a man because I got him through underhanded vindictive means. If Shadow was meant for me, he would be with me.
Midnight’s reply was immediate. You are too hard on yourself. Angel uses her millennia of knowledge to form these conclusions, and she is not in love. Love is neither rational nor calm. You have acted completely in character, and it was nice for Shadow to see someone fighting for him, even in your roundabout way of doing it. He appreciates that.
That gave me pause. Have you been talking to Inky?
Where else would its insight into what Shadow might appreciate have come from?
There was an almost indignant huff. We converse when required.
That made me laugh. You’ll be old friends before long and maybe that’s step one to lessening the divide between the two mists.
Another huff told me everything I needed to know about Midnight’s thoughts on that.
“Come on,” I said out loud. “They’ll be waiting for me.”
Midnight wrapped its warmth around me, hugging me tightly, before it picked me up and carried me right over the edge. As we soared up and then out from the wall, all I could see was the grey landscape, and far off in the distance was a glut of creatures. So many that my nerves soared to the same height as Midnight. They were vastly overestimating my abilities if they thought I could control that many creatures.
You have done it before, and you will again.
It had required me to lose control of my wolf, though, and the difficulty of hauling her back after that incident still frightened me.
When we finally landed, Ixana glared at me. “Took you long enough! We don’t have time to sightsee. This is extremely important, and you’re treating the entire venture like you’re on vacation.”
My first reaction was to remind her that she needed me more than I needed her, but since I was trying out this not being a jealous hag thing, I just smiled. “Sorry about that. Midnight and I had a chat and then it took me on the scenic route. Hopefully, that few-minutes delay won’t cause too much issue.”
Ixana huffed. “I’m sure it will be fine. We’re losing daylight hours, but a few minutes is okay.”
I didn’t argue, just tightened my side-bag. In all honesty, an excited buzz had started between my wolf and me at the thought we might finally have some answers. Like, how did we control the flames? How did we control the shadow creatures? Why did we feel a bond to a land we’d never been to until now?
If there were answers here, then I wanted them. I needed them.
“Are you not bringing any guards?” Angel asked Ixana. “They can’t be happy about you venturing beyond the wall without them.”
Frustration was the defining emotion on the royal’s face. “I’m their queen. Sometimes they need a little reminder of that. Besides”—her smile grew larger, smug even—“I’m not alone. I have my true mate, and no one can protect me better than the one who was born to that position.”
It hurt. It really fucking hurt. But I didn’t snap back with something smartass. I just remained silent, my gaze outward as I examined the world we were about to step into.
Being a bigger person sucked. The end.
From above, The Grey Lands had looked barren, and down here was no better. Unlike in the lava fields, there was no current of power beneath the surface here, either. Something was sapping this particular land of its power, and eventually, it would kill the creatures. Why didn’t the royals care about that? If the creatures fell, so would their power and immortality.
Frustrated with everything I was learning, I marched forward with Midnight at my side. I didn’t bother to wait for the others, instinct driving me into this land.
When I was half a dozen steps in, I felt Shadow at my back. “Where are you going?” he asked. “You don’t know the way to the Nexus.”
“I feel it,” I said softly. “In the same place the path to this world originates within my own energy. So, yeah, I do know the way… I just don’t know why I know the way.”
My path must have been the right one because Ixana didn’t argue, falling in behind us. She tried at first to engage Shadow in conversation, but he was not in the mood. She didn’t know that about him yet, of course, but when he was like this, you might as well chat with a brick wall. All you’d get were some annoyed grunts and rumbles. The big fucker did not handle inane chatter at the best of times. Let alone when he was mulling shit over in his head.
Of course, usually I took that on as a challenge, but today, Ixana was the one with incessant questions and comments. I kept waiting for Shadow to demand she shut up, like he did with me, but that moment never came. He even fucking answered her on occasion, and once again, I was battling stupid jealousy.
After some time, I started to pray for creatures to appear, anything to break up the bonding that Shadow and his mate appeared to be doing. Despite his earlier words, if he was playing a part, he was doing it all too well.
Maybe I can call the creatures to me.
Midnight brushed over my shoulder, hearing that thought through our connection. It wasn’t exactly mind reading, but when I projected something loud enough, it traveled along our bond.
You can definitely call them. Might be a good experiment.
Drawing from the energy guiding me on this journey, I closed my eyes briefly, tugging on the power, like one would with a dog leash, pulling them closer. At first, I thought it failed, because we were still just trudging through a land without a single creature in sight, until…
“Oh, no!” Ixana exclaimed. “They’re never this close to my city. My repelling spell is designed to detract them.”
Oh, whoops.
A line of shadow creatures appeared in the distance, all the same species, and it was one I knew very well. Abervoq. One of the most dangerous creatures that could exist. Apparently.
The one I’d met on Earth had been the same height as Shadow, but the group approaching us now was more varied. All of them had the same general look, with their top halves like bulls’—horns, snouts, large eyes—and their bottom halves akin to shaggy bears. Their fur, for the most part, was dark like the abervoq from Earth, but there was a huge variation in the shades. Some falling more toward brown, and others almost blue-black.
Ixana had stopped walking, and I was fairly certain she was hiding behind Shadow. “There are too many abervoqs to best without having first gathered other creatures,” she whimpered.
Shadow didn’t answer her, but his flames had appeared, so he wasn’t completely comfortable with this, either. “Mera, get behind me,” he said.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. I’d called these damn creatures for a reason, and while I hadn’t been aiming for the highest echelons of the creature chain here, this was what I had to deal with. Time to see if I could put my power to actual use.
My energy flowed from me as I drew them forward, having not a fucking clue what I was supposed to do, but working on instinct anyway. Seemed instinct was all I had these days.
“Mera!” he snapped. “What the hell are you doing?”
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the line of abervoqs, but I did manage to answer him. “We want this dealt with as quickly as possible, right? Well, if I can control them, then we’ll have the strongest at our disposal for the rest of the journey.”
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise—if these guys were the baddest of the bunch, might as well start with them. I didn’t like the thought of bonding them when I wanted their freedom above all else, but for now, there was no other option. This was step one in securing their freedom. I sensed it deep inside, in the energy of the realm.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Shadow bit out, trying to grab hold of me. Midnight got in his way, swelling up into a massive cloud of mist. I heard more curses, but I could no longer see the beast.
Midnight remained at my back as I strolled forward alone—the others blocked by my mist, which was sparking like crazy in its huge cloud form. Angel wasn’t happy about it, if her shouting was any indication, but I was already on this path, instinct still pushing me forward.
My wolf surged to the surface, and as we dropped our head back and howled, I felt a partial shift come over me. The howl continued, even as my jaw elongated, and when that happened, the tone of my cry changed. Power flowed with it, and I remembered clearly howling this exact same way back in Torma… when I knocked the wolves down.
The creatures cowered before me, and it was a powerful, heady feeling to stand above such strong beings who feared me. Caught up in the power, I didn’t flinch as they knelt before me; instead, I walked between them, pressing my hands to each of their bull heads.
The moment I touched them, there was a zap between us, and I knew they were mine. Mine to control. Mine to protect. Mine to save. I just had to figure out how to restore what had been lost in this land. And how to stop the royals from using the creatures for their own gains. Ironic, yes, when I had to use them at this minute, but I would not hold them forever.
They would walk free here again, if it was the last thing I did.
It felt like a mission I’d never known existed, but now that this realization had hit me, it was clear and strong: there was no other destiny for me. My mind was consumed in a way I’d only felt once before, when I’d touched the spelled door to the Shadow Realm. When the darkness had crept into my being, and while I’d expunged most of it, it had left this small crack in my soul—the only way I could think to describe it. Like a sliver of space, waiting to be filled so I would once again be complete.
This was what had to take its place, my destiny as protector of the shadow creatures.
Protector. Guardian. Mother.
The abervoqs brayed before me, and I threw my head back and joined them, my wolf still riding across my skin in our partial shift. Nothing was going to interrupt this bonding session, or so I thought until a flaming beast smashed through Midnight’s shield and landed snarling on the ground before me.
“Holy fuck,” I breathed, the words garbled around my wolf jaw.
I’d waited what felt like an eternity to see Shadow’s true form, and now that I had, there was so much, I almost couldn’t take him all in.
A monster shrouded in darkness.
He had a huge wolf head, humanoid-shaped body, with thick, curved legs beneath him, and the entirety of his being was on fire. A flaming wolf, but like the ancient god version of it, and when those black orbs of eyes met mine, he stalked forward.
He stood at least six feet taller than I did, at the largest size I’d ever seen from him, but even when he moved closer, I felt no fear.
A connection sprang to life between us, like it had been waiting for us to meet in these forms. Shadow and I were alike, in so many ways, and only now, as his power reached for mine and he attempted to wrest me back from what he believed was the darkness here, did I truly see our similarities.
The abervoqs rose, ready to defend me against a beast whom I knew could destroy them all. Shadow was still the ultimate power and had very little to fear here, except for his true mate. Now that I was connected to the power of this land, I saw her darkness. She had been stealing from the land and creatures for years to power her own world, and whatever her game was now, I was going to figure it out.
This army was not hers. And I would be using it to ensure that no creatures ever had to be prisoners again. Shit was going to change around here.
I was the reckoning the royals had never seen coming.
