Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(22)

Good times. “Okay, cool. Let’s do this then.”

His lips twitched; his eyes filled with gold. “It won’t quite be that simple—there’re many creatures, royals, and freilds scattered across The Concordes. We must avoid them all until it becomes necessary to engage. It’s going to be a long, hard journey.”

I sighed, already exhausted. “Honestly, with all of your power, Shadow,” I said carelessly, “I expected a lot more killing and a lot less sneaking.” He’d told me why, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

He moved so fast, I blinked once before he was in my space, his hand around the back of my neck in what I was coming to think of as his personal brand of domination. His power forced me to walk toward him until we were touching, our bodies completely aligned.

“Watch it, pup,” he warned, breath fanning over me as my nipples—which were firmly planted against the hard planes of his stomach—stood to attention. My legs did the opposite, going quite wobbly. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. No one truly does. The one that holds my position is nothing but a proxy. Power doesn’t recognize you just because you try to trick it, and I will take back what’s mine.”

Fuck, did my vagina just flutter? Like, I should not have been turned on by this display of aggression and arrogance, but I was. My eyes lifted, and tilting my head back to see his face, I got caught on those lips of his. Now all I could think about was kissing him.

“Come on,” he said softly. “The longer we stay stationary, the easier we’ll be to spot.”

“Yes,” Angel said from close by. “I can only block our position for so long.”

Shadow released me. “Despite Sunshine’s doubts about me, the murdering will come soon enough, but until then, I’ll do my best to ensure no one finds us.”

He took another step away and I inhaled deeply, unsure if I’d breathed at all during the seconds he’d held me. I had to nip this attraction in the bud before Shadow had the power to convince me to stand buck-naked over those lava fields, ready to sacrifice the virgin for his power.

Because we all knew he was gonna try.

Fuck being that chick. Not even for the Shadow Beast.





11





Shadow and Angel started down the path from the hilly outcrop we’d been standing on, and just as I went to follow, an energy stirred behind me and I shot a glance over my shoulder. For a moment, a dark shape moved beneath the water, but it disappeared so quickly that I wondered if I’d imagined it.

Hurrying, I caught up to the others. “Does anything live in the waters here?” I asked.

Shadow glanced back. “The Depths are filled with many creatures you don’t want to meet. Best to stay on land.”

A trickle of unease traced down my spine. “Roger that, dude. Roger that.”

Shadow’s chest rumbled. “I’m not a dude, little wolf.”

Holding both hands out, I shrugged, the backpack moving with me. “Everything is a dude in my world, just with minor tone changes. You’re a dude, Angel’s a dude, Simone is a dude. When I stub my toe it’s a fucking hell, dude. All dudes.”

At this point, I’d used the word so much, it now sounded weird.

“I-I don’t…” Angel was at a loss for words, while Shadow just shook his head.

I stared between the two of them, truly not understanding what the issue was.

“You’re a reader,” Shadow bit out. “It’s one of your few redeeming features. So how about you use more than six words when having a conversation.”

My nose wrinkled. “Aw, come on. That’s a little harsh. I have a few more redeeming features. I mean, I’m an excellent dancer and my singing voice has been described as operatic.”

“You’re a horrendous singer,” he told me, deadpan.

I opened my mouth, but Angel got there first. “He’s right. It literally hurts my ears when you hum a tune.”

Forcing my facial expression into one of fake sadness, I sighed. “My feelings would be very hurt right now, if I wasn’t fully aware that I’ve never been able to carry a tune.”

Angel chuckled, the musical sound enough for me to know she probably did have the voice of an angel. I’d stick to singing loudly in the shower and scaring the crap out of anyone in close proximity.

Shadow, seemingly done, picked up the pace, his long legs eating up the distance down the hill. Okay, right! We were doing this, apparently. Time to head into The Concordes.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t feeling too uneasy. I trusted the two gods at my side would give us a decent shot at taking out anything that came our way. Plus, being here was still a hundred times better than being in Torma.

I’d take death over that any day.

Away from the cliff, we descended along a rocky path, and I was grateful for my wolf’s help with keeping balance. She was squirming uneasily in my chest, and I knew that meant it had been too long since I’d released her. “I might have to shift soon,” I warned them. “Will the energy for that be detectable?”

“I’ll shield you,” Shadow said, his gaze running over me, like he was searching for the wolf.

I paused. “You can do that?”

Shadow shook his head, an expression of incredulity on his face. “You continue to underestimate my control over shifters. Just because I’ve let you all basically go free to create your own fuckups, doesn’t mean I couldn’t turn puppeteer at any point. Your freedom is not guaranteed.”