Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(27)

Sam paused, right beside another pile of broken dreams. “Look, I’m not one to believe in magic, but after today… there’s not a hope in hell we’re still on Earth. I’d bet my left tit on it.”

“My left tit is my favorite,” I told her. “But I’d still bet it because I agree with you.”

She snorted. “Good to know.”

But was it? Because not being on Earth changed the whole narrative here, and I wasn’t sure where we were going to end up once we uncovered the truth of this place.

The farther we walked into the broken library, the larger the wreckage was, until we almost couldn’t make it any deeper into the room.

“How is there no one here?” Sam asked, pushing up on her toes to try to get a better look. “Do you think they all died during this destruction?”

“I don’t know,” I said, frustration and confusion warring within me. I’d been so sure my truth was here, but all I’d found was a broken library. Maybe it was an allegory for my brain because right now I felt like I was one step away from being nothing more than what I saw here.

“Maybe we should try to climb over that largest pile,” Sam said, stepping closer to kick some of the shelving out of the way. “We shouldn’t give up yet—”

She was cut off by a faint sound, a scuffle, near to where we stood. Sam and I exchanged a quick, wide-eyed look, before we both hurried forward. “Hello?” I called, starting to lift books and wooden fragments off the side closest to where I’d heard the sound. “Is anyone there? We’re digging you out.”

There was another scuffle, and with it came the faintest scent of old moss and earthy soil. Those were not library scents, but rather a living entity. “There’s someone under there,” I said with urgency, and Sam and I worked frantically to move the items off the pile.

It took us a few minutes to lessen the heaviest part, and by this time, the scuffling was louder. “I really hope it’s not a giant rat,” Sam said, staring down with a look of unease. “I have my doubts anything else could survive under that much weight. Unless it was small enough to move between the pieces.”

If it was a larger being, they would have to be exceptionally strong to survive. Strong and possibly dangerous. Still, I couldn’t leave anyone trapped and hurt when I could help; it wasn’t in my nature.

With that in mind, Sam and I scrambled to get the final layers of debris off, and much to our surprise, the cloud helped as well, zipping down to scoop up the heaviest objects, its misty substance apparently able to solidify and wrap around shelving, to drag it from the pile.

The physical work helped to keep my mind from wandering into panic territory, though I did find a second to hope that this was a new clue to uncover.

I’d come looking for answers, and at this point, I only had more questions, but as long as we were moving in the right direction, I would keep on pushing.

I had no other choice.





16





It took us another ten minutes at least to get the being free. It was not a rat, or a cockroach, or any other critter, but it also wasn’t a human or shifter, that much we knew for sure.

Despite her previous fear of what we might uncover, Sam was the first to dive down and help them up. I was slower because I couldn’t stop staring at the hairless, three-foot-tall… little dude?

Roughly humanoid, it had gnarled and toughened skin. Despite its small stature, it had to be very strong because there were no visible injuries from being buried under a very large and heavy pile of books and shelving.

When the creature was in a sitting position, it wiped the last of the dust from its face, smiling at Sam before it turned to me. When its huge eyes locked on mine, the dark, unblinking orbs sent trills of unease through me.

Just when I was about to step away, it said, “Mera?”

For a beat, I freaked out before remembering this was exactly what I’d been waiting for. Evidence that I’d been here before. Dropping to my knees, I reached out and grabbed on to its hands, and the firm grip that almost crushed my fingers confirmed how strong the creature was.

“You know me?” I choked out. “You’ve met me before?”

Our gazes remained locked for a long moment in time before the being nodded. “I know you very well, Mera Callahan, of the Torma shifters.”

A tear escaped from me, and I sucked in a shuddering breath, trying to get myself under control, lest I fall down and cry on this poor guy.

The creature smiled at me, a crooked curve of thin lips that strangely calmed me. “And before you ask, my name is Gaster. I’m a goblin of the demi-fae of Faerie, and I identify as male, in what you would understand gender to be.”

I swallowed hard. “How did you know I had all of those questions running through my mind…? Wait a fucking minute. Did you just say ‘Faerie?’”

His smile grew. “You have not changed, my girl. With or without your memories, you’ll always need labels.”

The smoke cloud drifted closer, wrapping around Gaster. I leaned away, unsure if it was going to attack or not. Gaster laughed, a rough, grating sound. “Ah, yes, I should have known Inky would find you.”

I looked between him and… Inky?

“The smoke cloud has a name?” I asked, my aching brain trying to piece it all together.