Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(93)

I called up the full force of my new power, which shot my height up over six feet, my skin rippling out into red and gold as my feathered, flaming wings grew larger than ever. I then topped it all off with my wolf-human face.

The shock was instant and complete and… I liked it.

There was no name for me. No previous knowledge of one who was a wolf phoenix, but here I was, and I would not be apologizing for my newfound state.

Shadow, who so far hadn’t allowed me to stray far from his side, cupped my wolf-human face. “Perfection,” he growled. “My true match and mate.”

He shifted in an instant, and then he was Anubis, towering over me. My power went nuts, our bond near visible as energy strummed between us. It was neither the time nor the place to lose ourselves in that, so we had to pull away and focus on the others.

Our pack continued to stare at us, shaking their heads as another Egyptian “god” popped into existence, and they weren’t the only ones as the locals crept out of wherever they’d been hiding.

Shadow and I wore our flames differently—mine were mostly trailing along my wings while his ran across his arms, but we were clearly imbued with the fiery power of the Nexus. When the locals bowed down before us, as if we were literal gods, I felt a twinge of unease in my chest.

This sort of blind worship didn’t sit well with me, but I knew it was the only way for them to comprehend the truth of what we were. To slot us into a category so they could understand and not fear us.

“Please stand,” I said, my voice deeper and stronger than in my other form. “You don’t need to bow. Not when you were brave enough to help us against the Danamain. We appreciate your help.”

They didn’t straighten immediately, but they did eventually resume their upright positions, the closest ones finally meeting my gaze. They held it for a beat before giving me a single nod, then turning to leave the clearing. A hushed sort of chatter followed, and I heard enough to know that they were marveling at what they’d just witnessed.

A great sense of imposter syndrome hit me, but I decided not to have a midlife crisis yet. I’d save that for after we dealt with one power-hungry goddess.

Shadow and I released our power to return to our human forms, and he turned his back on the others, blocking me from sight so I could dress again. At this rate, I was going to drain his magic just by needing new pants every ten minutes. I made a note to try to learn how to create clothing myself.

When I was dressed, I turned to look for Dannie, experiencing a brief moment of panic at not immediately seeing a visible golden fortress. It wasn’t until I moved further into the clearing, following her energy, that I found her… surrounded by an army of shadow creatures? Snarling and braying, they formed a veritable barricade between us and the goddess, who was also hidden by a dark mass—

“Midnight!”

My call broke Midnight free from its position around the gold prison, and through our bond, I felt the repair of all those tattered ends. The cool mist washed over my skin, solidifying us strongly.

Mera.

I missed you, I said at the same time.

We both let out a low hum of contentment, relishing in the bond for a few precious moments. I didn’t remember, Midnight finally said, sparks flying across its dark misty form. I forgot our bond, and then I was part of the power of the library, unable to break free until you called me.

This was the issue that Shadow had wanted me to see. The issue I’d left in the wake of my death. When I’d pulled on my bonds in my dying moments, I’d dragged all the beings connected to those bonds into the realm. More specifically the outlier island.

Our bond was always stronger than yours to the library, I told Midnight. The library could not hold you, no matter how deep you were entrenched in its magic.

So very true, Midnight said, before it suddenly swelled up, sparking and shooting harder than ever. At first, I thought we were under attack, but then I saw Inky had moved closer, startling my mist. The pair swirled around each other, hesitant at first, and then… holy fuck me, I was going to cry.

They hugged.

A misty hug, with jiggling and sparking, and obvious signs they were happy to see each other again. Shadow let out a low chuckle, moving in to wipe my tears away. “Still my Mera,” he murmured. “Your rebirth is the greatest gift I’ve been given, and I would take any form of you in my life, but to know that you’re still your true self brings me a sense of relief.”

“You are still Mera,” Angel confirmed, pressing into my other side. “I feel the exact same pull toward you that I felt the very first day you collapsed into the dining room chair near me.”

A snort of laughter escaped me. “Sweeping is hard. I really hated sweeping.”

Shadow smiled, my torture clearly a fond memory for him. The bastard. “I couldn’t have made a better choice in breaking you.”

“You wish, asshole.”

At this point, our bickering was foreplay, but again, no time for that fun.

“How long will the cage hold her?” I asked, gesturing to Dannie.

Now that Midnight was relieved of guard duty, I was able to see the glowing cage. It was still, no sign that the any part of it was alive, but I knew Dannie would be fighting under that fortress. She was stubborn and strong in every form.

“It will only hold another few hours,” Shadow said. “She was stronger than we anticipated, having already taken steps toward becoming a Nexus, and if you hadn’t been here to reinforce the strength of the cage, it would never have contained her. No matter how well we weaved the fortress.”