Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(65)

Ixana nodded before turning to Shadow. “Does that work for you?”

He wanted to argue, it was so fucking clear on his face, but he just nodded. Letting me go.

He. Let. Me. Go. All so he could go back to playing happily married family with the ice queen, discussing their plans.

I could not stay here and watch this relationship rekindle. I wasn’t a strong enough, gracious enough, or good enough person for that. Nope, I had to escape, and then hold out long enough for Midnight and Angel to arrive.

There was a second reason I was leaving as well. If either of them thought they could use my power to gather the creatures they needed…

It was a big fat hell no.

My sole aim was to figure out what I was, what my power was, and how both had come to be. The moment I knew that, I was hauling my ass out of this world and heading back to my library.

Shadow wouldn’t need either library here, shacked up with his ice queen.

“Are you okay?” Birdy asked as I stormed along after her.

“Yes, totally okay. Ready to find my room.”

Some of the color had returned to her feathers now, and she had quite the bright… plume? Her hair, instead of being like mine, was this fancy-ass crest that started on top of her head and then trailed down her spine. It was wickedly cool, and the fact that she wore clothing over her feathers amused me to no end. Did they have something to cover that their feathers didn’t? Or was it part of making them more humanoid?

I’d probably never know and at this stage was just going to accept it without questioning everything. One day soon, this world and its inhabitants would no longer be my problem.

The halls Birdy led me along were as white and winding as the first entrance, and I knew there was not a fuck in hell I’d find my way out of this maze. “You can actually ask for guidance at any time,” Birdy said when I made a comment about it. She reached out and placed a hand on the wall, long claws tapping on the white panel. “Exit to main street,” she said.

The spot under her palm lit up, and then the light started to move along the wall, fast enough that it was gone in a few minutes. “If you followed the light, it would lead you out. I’m not supposed to tell anyone about that little secret, but honestly, I don’t have time to keep babysitting you, so it’s best if you can get around on your own.”

What. An. Idiot.

Birdy had just handed me an absolute weapon—my freedom—and she didn’t even realize what she’d done. Which was totally okay with me.

“Your secret is safe with me,” I said, genuinely happy.

We headed upstairs after that, and when we hit the second floor, the space opened dramatically. “This is where the guests stay,” Birdy told me, stopping at a blank wall.

I looked around, my eyes taking in the full expanse of the area I could see. “You’ve lost me.”

A tweeting sort of huff escaped her beaked mouth. “Place your hand on the wall.”

I did that, and beneath my palm lit up like it had for Birdy.

“Say, ‘Room.’”

“Room.” See, I could do as I was told.

The light exploded, and I stepped back, wrenching my hand free on instinct. The doorway formed a moment later, and I was shoved from behind and sent stumbling inside. Disregarding the fact that Birdy had touched me without my permission—someone was in trouble—I attempted to figure out what the heck I was staring at.

It was an… igloo. Basically the only thing I could compare it to. Curved icy walls, with white floors, and a ton of thick pelts in the middle of the area. It was not as cold as I’d expected as I walked farther inside to examine the space. Looking back once, I realized that the door behind me had closed without a sound, and Birdy was nowhere to be seen.

I was finally alone with my messy thoughts. Great.

The pelts were amazingly soft and warm when I dug my hands into them, and I was super tempted to bury deep and have a nap. But I wanted to check out the rest of my room before I relaxed.

What if there were threats in here I wasn’t aware of?

The main area in this round room held only those thick pelts, at least five in total, so I wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold ground thankfully. At first, it appeared to just be the one round room until I ran my hands across the wall and found another opening. Should have guessed there’d be more optical illusions. Queen of Illusions was Ixana’s middle name.

The second room held the bathroom? It had a huge hole in the icy floor, and the water in there was hot and inviting. On the other side of this room was another hole, and I couldn’t be sure, but I had a feeling that was the toilet… maybe? That was what I’d be using it for, so hopefully it wasn’t actually a laundry chute.

Awkward.

I had no other clothing to change into, so I decided to wait on the bath situation, in lieu of having a nap first. It had been exhausting dealing with my emotions since they’d decided to explode inside of me and drip acid through my soul in painful dribbles.

Yeah, I was being super dramatic, but there was real hurt inside of me that I wasn’t mentally or emotionally able to deal with today. It was just too much. The last ten years had been bad enough, but now there was this, and maybe… just maybe, I’d finally learned what it was like to truly be broken by someone I trusted.

I could still feel the zap of Shadow’s power, the cold burn in his eyes, and the way his name for me had turned from ‘Sunshine’ into ‘Mera.’