Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(33)

“I’ve missed you too,” I said, straightening. “More than I can say. It was like a part of my soul died when Dannie stole my memories, and I won’t get that part back until we fix it all.”

He nodded, taking a moment to compose himself before he stepped away from me. “Best of luck with your mission, Mera Callahan.”

I shot him a cheeky smile. “You got it, Gaster. Also, can you look after Sam for me? Maybe you can find a way to communicate with her?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

When I repeated that to my new friend, she waved me off. “We’ll figure it out. Miming always works.”

Unable to resist the tugging in my center any longer, I finally followed my heart’s—and soul’s—desire and stepped toward the portal. I had no idea what I was about to find on the other side, but not even a million insane goddesses could have stopped me from walking through.

Inky, the only one permitted to enter with me, stayed right behind me as I reached out a hand. The moment my fingers touched the barrier, a zap knocked me back a few steps.

What in the hell?

Peering closer, I finally noticed that the portal was laced through with tiny specks of fire; Shadow had upped his barriers. Thankfully, my own powers were free now, and I knew exactly how to access my fire.

Without any effort, I drew the flames protectively around my skin, hearing a low gasp from behind me. Sam would no doubt have some questions for me when I returned. If I returned.

This time when I placed my hand into the barrier, the zap of electricity raced across my skin like an old friend. I had missed that zap so badly, relishing in the feel of it tingling over my skin and sliding through my body to settle between my legs, hot and heavy and aching.

Shadow.

With the whisper of his name in my head, I pushed harder against the portal’s security, until the resistance faded, and I was finally able to step through. Inky remained with me, and it was comforting to have my buddy there.

Especially when the lair came into view.

I’d been expecting the worst after seeing the Library of Knowledge, preparing myself for more destruction, but… that wasn’t the case in the lair. Taking a step into the darkness, my wolf rose up to help me see, and it still took me a moment to figure out what he’d done.

The lack of light in here was a combination of shadows and mists, layered over every surface by the Shadow Beast himself. He’d created a web of darkness, designed to trap and destroy any who entered its midst.

My fire, which had died down across my skin, flared again, giving me the ability to both see and cut through the web of shadows. The room was icy cold as I moved deeper into it, and I had the sense that if I were any normal human or shifter, the cold would have killed me.

Even as it was, with literal fire burning around me, my breath still puffed out in a visible cloud before me. Inky pressed closer as we both felt the beating heart of another deep in this cave of death.

Gaster hadn’t been wrong about Shadow.

He was no longer my beast. He was the true beast of shifter nightmares. The creature who stalked us in the night and destroyed any who crossed his path. And maybe a year ago that truth would have had me turning tail and running like a scared bitch, but after all I’d been through with Shadow, I’d never give up on him now.

I needed him.

Fuck, the worlds needed him.

Without Shadow, his mother would probably destroy us all in her manic need for order and control. I hadn’t forgotten what Gaster had said… The stone was only going to continue corrupting its host until there was no sign of the Dannie I knew and loved.

If anyone knew how to stop that from happening, it was Shadow. I just had to find him first.

The farther I crept into the room, the colder it got. How the fuck that was even possible, I had no idea, but apparently there was a new level of frozen nipples in Antarctica that Shadow had discovered.

“Shadow,” I called after creeping for way too long. “Come out of your damn labyrinth of a library and talk to me.”

A moment of silence. A moment before a roar blasted through the shelves, the force knocking me back; I would have landed on my ass if Inky hadn’t caught me from behind. Straightening, I shook off the lingering effects of beast magic, returning his roar with one of my own.

“Listen up, you cranky bastard. I’m not your enemy,” I bellowed, feeling him move closer. I stood my ground. “I get it, Shadow, I really do. I’m fairly pissed at Dannie as well, but your mom isn’t in her right mind, so I need you back in your right mind so we can help her.”

Despite what Dannie had done to me, I didn’t hate her. I was hurt, but I also understood that she’d been trying to save us when she’d swallowed that stone. She probably had saved me, since I’d been about to grab it, and who knew what that would have done to someone who was half-shifter.

The power corrupting her was not entirely her fault, and she deserved a chance to be saved.

His roars faded as I sensed him stalking closer. The connection I always felt to him burst to life as my fire grew larger, spreading out from me like it was reaching for the beast.

The fire was the only reason I knew when he was about to attack. It deflected the first slash of his power, and as I dove to the side, I slapped back at him with my own energy. As I scrambled to my feet, Inky got involved, swelling up into a large curtain between us. Shadow stepped into the light of my fire, his misty magic sliding away so I could see every naked inch of him.