Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(63)

Though judging by his cool-as-a-cucumber expression, he wasn’t bothered at all.

“Ixana, this is Mera Callahan, one of the shifters I created.”

She eyed me like I’d just been shit out of Dino-boy’s ass, her petite little nose wrinkling. Up close, her skin was quite blue, not like the fronds, but it was noticeable. And her eyes, those icy-blue eyes, were freaking me out with their laser intensity. She didn’t feel powerful like Shadow, but there was a frosty crush in the air whenever she moved, the scent of freshly fallen snow following her around.

“It’s, uh, nice to meet you,” she said.

I’d figured out pretty quickly that Shadow’s translation spell was rewording everything into the sort of colloquialism I would understand. Because there was no way this formal bitch talked like that.

Shadow and Ixana were watching me, so I loudly dropped my boots to the floor, pleased to see mud and debris remained on the pristine crystal table. “Wish I could say the same.”

Shadow’s chest rumbled and I narrowed my eyes on him. “What? She kidnapped my ass and you know how I feel about that. A simple invitation would have me feeling much more gracious, and since she isn’t my true mate, I’m not going to just forgive and forget.”

Fuck, the amount of unsaid shit in that petty ass statement could have filled a 747 jumbo jet, but before we could really throw down, the ice queen fell back on diplomacy.

“Yes, sorry. I do owe you both an apology for the way I brought you here, but I was afraid to miss my chance, and if you ended up in the royal compound, you would have been beyond my reach.”

Dammit. Why was she not snapping back? Right now, I looked like the childish, petty asshole in the room. And even though I was sensing undercurrents of evil from this lady, there was not a shred of evidence that she was anything other than the gracious and kindly benevolent leader before us.

I had to dial it back. Until such a time I had evidence of her underhanded ways.

“What did you want to tell me, Ixana?” Shadow asked, diverting attention from me before I could say something else horrible. Bastard knew me too well. “You obviously brought me here for a reason.”

“I mean…” She blinked, looking a little shell-shocked. “Were you not here to find me? I have been waiting, building our army, all for the moment I knew you’d return to this world and take back what was ours.”

Shadow didn’t say anything, his face unreadable. “Shadow,” I pushed, my fake smile firmly in place. “Why don’t you answer the nice lady?”

Ixana flashed me a glare before refixing her affable expression. “Would you like to freshen up? I can have someone show you to a guest room and bring some food. You must be exhausted.”

“No,” Shadow rumbled. “She stays here. She can hear all of this, and I don’t trust your guards yet.”

Ixana didn’t like that, but she didn’t argue. I wondered if she’d been the deferential type when they’d been together. “I’m definitely staying,” I said with faked enthusiasm. “Shadow and his mate taking back what is theirs is totally my jam. Super excited.”

If looks could kill, they’d both be having a shot at it. Luckily, I had thicker skin that that.

Ixana released a long breath. “Okay, well, I guess I best start with my side of this story.” Another deep breath. “The day of your crowning, Darkor, I was waiting in the wings to congratulate you. I wanted to see you before the moment we reaffirmed the bonds we felt at birth.”

Nice, they’d been true mates since fucking birth. How sweet—cough, cough, gross cough.

I was really proud of how well I was handling this situation so far.

“I saw your sister give you the cup. I didn’t know it held a stasis spell until you took a drink and fell.” There were tears in her eyes, and I found myself somewhat moved by the stupid tale. Did she have to be an excellent storyteller as well? With just the right touch of emotion in her voice?

Fuck her and her perfection.

“I had your stone,” she continued.

Shadow sat straighter. “Why did you have my stone?”

Her big, blue eyes did a lot of blinking at that one. “Well, I was going to be the one to bond it to your mist mark. Right?”

Shadow didn’t look convinced of that, but he also didn’t argue.

“And when it was clear you were in trouble,” Ixana hurried to add, “I rushed off with the stone so Cristell wouldn’t get it as well.”

What the fuck had she been doing running like a coward when her mate was in danger? If I’d held any respect for her, it would be gone now. I mean, there was a decent chance that the rules here were protect-the-power-first or some shit.

I’d never be that person.

Shadow looked around. “And you ended up here? Creating… your new world?”

If he was angry about her story, he wasn’t showing it.

“I’ve gathered a lot of power over the years,” she said, and her smile was a touch creepy as it tilted up her pale-ass lips. “Experimented where I should not have, using power from the creatures that walk this land, and the few followers I managed to take with me. I was determined to build an army that all would fear.”

All the while her mate had been locked out of this realm and she’d done fucking nothing to try to get to him. Bullshit if you asked me.