Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(80)

“Midnight too,” Angel added from where she was perched uncomfortably on the edge of Inky. She did not like to be carried, in any way, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her fly off soon. “I believe that when you really need your mist, the true strength of your bond will destroy the barriers between you.”

Her eyes held memories of our time apart, and how she’d been resistant to me at first.

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” I finally said. “Hopefully, Dannie will be reasonable.”

They all thought I was being na?ve, and maybe I was, but that didn’t mean I was ready to give up yet. Dannie the Wanderer had been part of my life since the day I’d been created in the Nexus, and then for much of my time as a shifter. She had never let me down until she’d swallowed the stone, so that had to mean if we could get rid of the stone, the true Dannie might once again return to us. Come on, paranormal romance story arc. Don’t let me down now.





43





The water was never-ending. So vast and smooth, it was only as I caught sight of all of the bitey beasts in its depths that I found my stomach roiling with nerves. What if there was nothing left in the realm at all? Dannie might have sunk every land mass, taking with them all the inhabitants of the realm. How, even with power warping her mind, could she think this was a balanced world? It just made no sense.

I wasn’t the only worried one, the silence tense as all the powerful beings kept watch from the various sides of Inky. Thankfully, before I could overthink and freak out further, Shadow exhaled roughly, and with a wave of his hands opened a small portal in front of us. “We don’t have the time to spare,” he muttered, even though they’d all silently agreed not to waste any energy. Apparently, when it was a choice between time and energy, Shadow was making the hard calls.

The Concordes appeared below us and thank the gods it was not underwater. At least not the parts where we were, right above the lava chasm. Shadow had brought us to Trinity, the land of his birth, and the territory closest to the mists of the chasm.

Inky slowed as it dropped down toward the castle that had been Shadow’s childhood home. It appeared to be somewhat intact, but every building that had been around it was leveled into nothing more than ash. This was the destruction Shadow had wrought when he’d lost it. Even the great forests that had surrounded and protected his family home were no more.

He’d left most of the castle, but everything else around it was dust.

I watched my mate closely, but whatever he was feeling was well-hidden behind his stoic fa?ade. He appeared to be a calm and watchful god, preparing himself for whatever his mother might throw at us. I wished I could compartmentalize on that level, but at least I knew I’d be able to pull him free of this when we were all done. When my Shadow could return and feel all the feelings.

Inky landed, but no phoenix goddess appeared. It was eerily silent as we stepped off the mist, all of us closing in ranks, waiting for someone or something to jump out at us.

I kept my energy close at hand, my wolf restless for a change; we knew we were stepping into what would be a fairly epic final battle.

Shadow moved forward first, and it was so empty here compared to my last experience with the grounds around the castle. That day there had been a battle, with Ixana’s soldiers trying to give their leader the time she’d needed to sacrifice my creatures to power her stone and create her own Nexus. Her bullshit need for power was why we were in this position in the first place because—

It hit me then, and I gasped. Shadow was at my side in an instant, his expression fierce as he wrapped his hands around my biceps. “What’s wrong? What do you sense?”

“She’s doing exactly what Ixana was trying to do,” I murmured, finally understanding. Shadow lifted my chin so I had to meet his fire-strewn gaze. “Dannie is creating her own Nexus. One that incorporates the mists of the chasm, along with the previous Nexus, and the power of the fae stone. She wants a Nexus that she will control as the highest power.”

The moment I’d said it out loud, I felt the truth of it deep in my soul. In the place inside of me that had been born of the Nexus too. The swirls in my stomach since we’d stepped onto the land here were not just nerves over this battle… I was feeling Dannie’s power. The Nexus power.

Shadow stared as if hoping to find the lie in my words, but we both knew he wouldn’t.

“There’s no reasoning with her,” he finally bit out, warning me. “If she’s gone this far, then she’s lost to the power of the sunburst stone.”

“The stone was not designed to be contained like this,” Len said from where he stood off to the side of us. “It’s why the loss of it has been a never-ending stressor for my family. The amount of power it is capable of holding makes it a formidable weapon. It was imperative it never fall into the hands that would use it as a weapon instead of a defense.”

Angel crossed her arms, her face drawn. “Dannie’s issue is that she merged it with her own power. Whatever reasoning she possessed was lost the moment she allowed a foreign energy to morph her own. Every being in this world has a counter. It’s a balance and checks game we all have to play, but suddenly, Dannie has no checks.”

“Actually,” Lucien said with a scowl, “she does have one. Us. We’re fairly formidable together and I believe together, we have a shot at ending her reign of terror.”