After our frozen adventures, Shadow disappeared, and I spent the next few days perusing the library, studying the directory, and sweeping the damn floors. Gaster was still a familiar, helpful, smiling face, and it almost felt as if we were growing toward being true friends. He’d even taken to having lunch with me occasionally.
Today, he was busy with a new disaster. Someone from Bolder had given into their animal instincts, and when the female had not reciprocated, there’d been a bit of a scuffle. Apparently, in Bolder, it was touch first, ask permission later, but they were encouraged to fight if they weren’t interested. I was slowly learning the rules, and this was one I’d seen up close and personal today.
The half-horse male and half-bear female had ended up destroying about three rows of books, and now the goblins were frantically returning their sacred place to order, overseen by Gaster.
Which left me eating lunch alone.
“Why do you sweep?”
I jerked my head up, blinking at the angel-faced chick who still always sat a few places down from me. After a quick glance around to make sure she was talking to me—even though I was the only idiot sweeping a self-cleaning library—I finally answered her.
“On orders of the Shadow Bastar—I mean Beast. The Shadow Beast.”
Her lips twitched as she played with her food. I’d never seen her take an actual bite despite the fact that we sat next to each other almost every day. I’d also never seen her in the library itself. She only appeared to come to this food hall and didn’t even eat.
“He’s trying to break you.”
I snorted before going back to eating the delicious chocolate cake in front of me. “He has no idea what it would take to break me.”
Her gaze was still on me, the weight of her power solid and somewhat familiar now. And it felt like a huge step forward that she’d taken the time to speak to me. Even if it had only been two sentences.
The next few days, she wasn’t at lunch, but she was on my mind. The enigma that was angel face. Maybe the next time she talked to me, I’d ask her some questions as well.
“The master has requested that you join him for dinner tonight,” Gaster said, smiling up at me as I swept between a row of books. At least I had been sweeping until that statement, and then the broom clattered toward the floor.
Inky, my constant companion, caught it before it hit the floor. “Thanks, dude,” I said with a smile, and Inky swelled to its larger size, jiggling as it went.
I’d been spending a lot of quality time with a smoke blob lately and was starting to think of Inky as a friend. Something I was in short supply of here.
Turning away, I forced a smile on my face “Why does he want me to go to dinner?” I asked Gaster.
He looked taken aback. “Mera, it’s a great honor to dine with the master. You should be excited.”
I shook my head. “And yet I’m not. Can I call in sick? It’s that time of the month, you know?”
In shifter talk, that time of the month could mean a full moon shift or I was about to shed the lining of my uterus. Either one worked if it got me out of dinner with Shadow.
Inky jiggled, laughing, and I narrowed my eyes. “You’re no help, buddy. You love that overgrown fireball. For once, I’d like an ally in my corner.”
Gaster and Inky continued to stare at me like they could not for the life of them understand why I wasn’t on Team Shadow. Fighting the urge to smack my hand against my forehead, I spun on my heel and stormed off toward my room. Entering the Beast’s lair, a sense of calm descended over me. There was something innately comforting about the dark wood library, with its always-burning fire, plethora of books, and masculine but not overwhelming décor. Since Shadow’s presence had been scarce, I was starting to think of it as mine. Even going as far as trying to research ways to kill a Shadow Beast so I could keep his lair.
What can I say? Shifters were possessive of anything they considered theirs, and this library had easily fallen into that category.
For the first time in days, Torin’s face flashed through my mind, and my wolf let out a soulful cry that had my eyes burning. Wolves were usually the most possessive of their true mates, but Torin and I had been doomed from the start.
At least staying busy helped to keep that asshole off my mind and ease the cracks in my soul from his rejection. Part of me longed to see him one last time—for closure or maybe just curiosity’s sake. Torin was ingrained in my energy, my soul, and purging him was going to take a fuck ton of time. In the meantime, Shadow and his shenanigans were a good distraction.
Back in my room, I stared into an ever-changing armoire. Tonight, it was filled with evening gowns, clearly in anticipation of Shadow’s dinner requisition. Reaching out, I ran my hand over the silky material. There was a gorgeous range of colors, and I would have chosen many of these outfits if left to my own devices. Not that I’d ever had an occasion to need any dress this fancy.
At first, I gravitated toward a modest black gown, with a sweetheart neckline and ankle-length hem. Staring at it briefly, I was about to pull it from the hanger when a surge of annoyance filled me. Shadow, once again, was forcing his will on me. He didn’t ask if I wanted to have dinner with him; he just demanded.
I would not slink in there like a demure mouse, under the thumb of her captor. Nope. Fuck that. The black dress was returned and in its place I chose a fiery red number that would normally clash with my hair. But, in this case, it was actually a perfect ombre match, starting dark at the plunging neckline before fading to a light strawberry near the hem.
Flawless. Not that I expected anything less from this magical place.
So my dress was sorted, and I was going all out with the rest as well. For the first time in days, my hair would come out of its scraggly bun, and I’d finally break out some of the fancy makeup in my drawers. Shadow wanted me at this dinner, and he was going to get me. Every fucking primped and perfected inch.
It was time to remind Shadow that I was no one’s pet.
