Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(38)

Not understanding him, my wolf just plowed on ahead. He shouted again, and this time shot us with an energy that spilled from his long fingers. Our flames surged higher to try burn it off before it hit us, but that didn’t work.

His magic slammed into our side, and even though I’d never actually been shot, I could only imagine it felt very similar to what had just hit me. We were catapulted backward, our flames wicking out in an instant.

Whatever had hit us looked like a black tar as it settled against the fur on my side, before starting to spread over the rest of me.

The man shouted again, sounding satisfied. From my current position, sprawled on the ground, it looked like he held more of the dark tar. Not wanting to be attacked again, I struggled to get to my feet, finding the task more difficult than anticipated.

As he got closer, still yelling, the shadow creatures descended on him and attacked. He fought back, but there were too many, and he was taken down almost instantly. My wonderful and protective creatures.

But they were a moment too late. The dark sludge covered over half of me now, and while I had no idea what would happen when it reached my face, something told me it wasn’t going to be good.

Shift back, I begged my wolf, but all I got was a whimper in response.

The sludge had cut off our source of power, and very soon, would probably cut off my life as well.

The creatures, finished with the guy, were circling me again, and I felt their protectiveness. They were keeping me as safe as they knew how to, and whatever loyalty they’d felt to the ones who had owned them—the royals I’d stolen them from—was long gone, transferred to my wolf as she’d called them home. Called them to us because we were some sort of damn shadow whisperer.

“Mera!”

It was his voice again, and my wolf struggled, fighting the creeping darkness.

A fruitless fight.

I knew when Shadow arrived, the creatures only parting for him when he used his energy to drag them out of the way. I had no idea how much of me was covered, but I guessed about eighty percent, with just my neck and head free.

The fury on his face was all I could see, and surprisingly, it calmed me. It was insanity to think that my white knight had arrived to save the day. Firstly, I was not a fan of knights—as previously stated. And secondly, Shadow was anything other than a savior; he was the devil in the night—also, previously stated.

But I found that his face being the last one I saw wasn’t the worst sight. He’d betrayed me less than most, and that was a fucking achievement. And when Angel appeared over his shoulder looking truly frightened for maybe the first time since I’d known her, I was even more relieved to have a friend by my side.

A howl escaped my wolf because verbal goodbyes were really tough when one didn’t have vocal cords. Could they see in my eyes how much they both meant to me? How blessed I felt to have been thrown over a Shadow Bastard’s shoulder and dragged into a world of books, magic, and… love.

“No,” Shadow snapped. “Get that fucking look off your face, little wolf. You’re going nowhere.”

He lifted me with ease, and then he was running.

“What are you doing?” Angel shouted, taking to the air above him.

The creatures might have been following—I couldn’t tell as the darkness crept over the top of my head toward my eyes. The sound of battle was around us, and I could only assume inhabitants of the village were trying to attack, while the creatures kept them at bay.

Or maybe it was Shadow, deflecting them with barely more than a thought.

His fury was spinning out of control, bursting from him in flames and dark mist, breaking this town to rubble. I’d always wanted a mate who would burn the world down for me, and it looked like I’d get to pretend I had one for a few more minutes.

Inky appeared in my line of sight, and it seemed that it was assisting in burning the town to ash. Great fucking job, Mera. No way was Shadow getting into the royal compound undetected now, and I hoped that he’d still manage to achieve his revenge.

He deserved it. Even if I wouldn’t be here to hear about it.

Shadow was roaring. I could feel his chest shaking, but there was no sound. My ears were completely blocked now, and as the last of the sludge dripped into my eyes, I opened my mouth and let out another howl.

Felt like a fitting way to go.





18





My expected death never arrived.

There was no end once I was encased in a dark cocoon of tar, which held me in stasis, like a coma victim who was still aware but couldn’t move.

I wanted to scream. To shift. To push through what held me, but I was lost to the dark magic of my prison. The outside world didn’t exist, at least not at first, and then it was freezing cold. So icy it stole my breath, until it was gone, replaced with a heat so intense, I wondered if I was being baked alive.

The hot and cold continued for so long that it could have been days or years or lifetimes. In this waking coma, time had little relevance, and my thoughts were sporadic and scattered, as if oxygen deprivation was getting to me, and I could no longer think in linear lines.

My wolf slipped farther inside as time went on, and at some point, I lost her, returning to my human form.

“Fight, Mera! Come on, Sunshine. You are stronger than the leicher scourge.”

I heard him. The first outside noise that had penetrated my prison since I’d been encased, and while I had no idea what leicher scourge was, I liked the concept of fighting it.