“Mera,” Shadow said, his voice as serious as I’d ever heard it. “Step away from the mist.”
I snorted, crossing my arms. “I’m afraid you’re too late for this lecture. About the same as advising a dude to wear a condom after his chick is already pregnant.”
Shadow paused, his head tilting left and then right as he examined us closely, trying to get a look in from every angle. I could have saved him the trouble by telling him that no matter which angle he used to look, Midnight and I were very much bonded, and nothing was changing that.
“It’s bonded to me.” Impatience was my middle name.
He shook his head. “Impossible.”
My smile was definitely not filled with joy. “You keep saying that about me. Maybe at this stage, we can agree that nothing is truly impossible when it comes to my fuckups.”
His eyes were flinty as he shook his head again. “Mera, that mist is not from the leicher like Inky. It’s the antithesis of Inky, and I have no control over its power.”
I knew this to some degree, thanks to my own mist.
“Where is Midnight from?”
His brow furrowed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course you’ve already named it.”
I smiled sweetly. “Don’t pretend you’re surprised by that.”
He shot me a deadpan stare in return. “Your mist is from the ether region. A high-up mist that blankets from above, while the leicher covers from below.”
“They join at the point of origin,” I reminded him. “So maybe it’ll be okay.”
He blinked. “That translation is rough, but yes, it works.”
I understood then that Midnight had been communicating in English, clearly, because I’d comprehended it. And that some of the realm words had no literal translation. Shadow got it, though, and that was all that mattered.
“The mists of Leicher are much more controllable than the Ether region.”
That was a warning.
Inky swelled, growing super large until it was a wall behind Shadow. Midnight apparently didn’t like that, bursting to life in a purple haze of whatthefuckery.
“It’s dick measuring time,” I said, somewhat amused. My eyes met Shadow’s. “You gonna whip yours out too? You might be the underdog here, but I’d still put some money on you.”
His lips twitched. “Anyone ever tell you your smartass mouth is going to get you killed?”
Another snort of laughter. “Old news, my friend. Very old news.”
Shadow actually grinned, the first true smile since he’d entered the room to find me once again breaking the laws of his world. Focusing on the plump, perfect planes of his lips, I wondered how, for the love of shifters, I was lusting over the devil?
“Your mist is communicating with Inky,” Shadow said suddenly, his eyes locked on the two of them towering above us.
We are reaching a truce to coexist with you both.
I nodded. “It’s going well, right? A truce is the best we could hope for.”
Shadow looked like he needed a moment to wrap his head around what was happening here. “Your mere existence is upsetting the delicate balance of these worlds, and I have no idea if we’ll all survive the fallout when whatever is coming makes itself known.”
I took a step closer to him. “What is coming?”
His face gave away no secrets. “I have no idea, but one thing is clear: Nothing will be the same now that you’ve embraced your destiny. We’re about to find out the true shine of your light, Sunshine.” His smile was mocking. “Let the games begin.”
For some reason, this didn’t send me into a tailspin of panic and existential dread. My upbringing in Torma pack had prepared me well for this life, and the thought that I might not make it to the next moonrise had always been my constant.
This was just the next challenge, and I’d deal with whatever terrible shit happened… well, when it happened.
“It’ll be fine,” I told Shadow. “Let’s put our positive thoughts out into the world. We’ve got this.”
His laughter was low and unexpected. “You are delightfully human at times. Naïve, but I enjoy the break from normalcy.”
“I aim to please.” And at least he didn’t have his hand around my throat today, so we were making progress.
Inky and Midnight, having finished their standoff “conversation,” shrunk down to small clouds of smoke again, each wrapping around their bonded partner. Despite my misgivings about this bond, there was a facet of comfort in its presence, and I’d only had about ten minutes to get used to it.
Shadow was just staring, those flames in his eyes flickering brightly. “I’ve never known another to bond to the mists. It’s beyond rare. “
“How did you?”
His expression morphed and I almost took a step back. For a brief moment in time, he personified death, a mask of darkness shrouding his features. “I’m the Supreme Being, the true heir.” He had told me this before, but not in much detail. “I was betrayed the day I should have received my power, and as I was sent from my world, I dragged Inky with me. We bonded, and he’s been with me ever since.”
I pointed at myself and then at him. “We’re way more similar than I bet you’d like to admit.” A horrific thought hit me, one that Angel had touched on, but maybe she’d misread the genetics. “You don’t think were related, right?”
Jesus, I didn’t have the mental capacity to handle that truth.
Shadow laughed. “We’re not. My kin are well known to me, and I plan on killing a decent amount of them.”
Phew. “Good to know.” A pause. “Also, you’re a touch scary.”
Shadow shrugged. “I am what I am. If you can’t handle me, that’s your issue.”
That stopped me short, for the pure beauty of his statement. For my entire life, I’d tried to shrink myself to fit in, to make others comfortable and happy and accepting of who I was. But Shadow was unapologetically himself, and if it was too much for me, then that was my issue.
Years of blaming myself, when all along… The issue didn’t lie with me.
The revelation was breathtaking. And painful. And the best gift Shadow had given me.
“I can handle it,” I told him truthfully. “You’re not too much for me.”
He tilted his head, unsure, but there was a low, simmering ember deep in his eyes.
Midnight pressed into me, and I felt its confusion. You like him?
“Yes.”
Shadow let Inky twirl around him. “You need to work on your mental communication skills.”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m cool with it being all one-sided in that regard. There’s only so much of this magical shit that I can get used to. So I’ll be speaking out loud for the foreseeable future.”
He didn’t seem to be upset by that. “I want to hear your thoughts. Don’t start hiding them from me.”
“No plans to,” I promised.
I’d never held back from Shadow—well, almost never—from the first moment we’d crossed paths. It had probably brought me close to death a time or two, but now I saw that it had also endeared me to the beast. Over time, he’d come to appreciate my brand of quirkiness, and apparently… I wasn’t too much for him, either.
It was odd that what had started as one of the worst days of my life, ended as one of the best. In this second, I felt happy and accepted.
For how long? Well, fate was a nasty bitch. And the sun was often the brightest right before a storm.
Luckily, I was well-equipped with both a raincoat and knee-high galoshes to handle whatever wild weather was thrown my way.
