Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(7)

“Angel!” I exclaimed, and if I’d had the energy to run, I would have met her halfway. As it was, I barely managed to hobble a few steps before I wanted to curl up and take a nap.

She must have seen me stumble, and using her wings and preternatural speed, she was at my side in less than a second. Wrapping her arms around me, she steadied me before I fell. “What happened?” she demanded, looking fierce in her battle armor. It reminded me of how she’d fought Shadow for me, right before the library had been attacked by a few dickhead shifters.

Angel was the sort of friend every woman deserved.

“After the battle with Shadow, I went into the dining hall to calm down,” she continued, “only to learn upon my return that the library had been attacked and you were taken. The barrier wouldn’t allow me to leave and track you on Earth. I’ve been trying ever since.”

Over her shoulder, I found Shadow’s eyes. “The barrier was blocked?”

He nodded, completely unsurprised. “I shut it all down until I knew what we were dealing with. An extra protection against any new threats while I was busy getting the current situation under control.”

Simmering anger brewed in his eyes, and his jaw was so rigid that I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear his teeth crack. The reminder that shifters had managed to sneak in under his watch was sending him into a dark place. And when Shadow went dark, bad things happened.

I turned back to Angel, hoping for a distraction. “Were you planning on heading to Earth to help? Once you got through the barrier?” She’d all but torn into the hall in a frenzy when Shadow had finally released it.

She shook her head. “No. Well, yes and no. I was coming to find you, but I also needed to see Shadow.” She stepped away, keeping one hand on me like she knew her energy was helping regulate mine. “The door is open,” she said.

It was at this moment my distracted mind snapped into gear. I froze as the absolute truth of what she’d just said penetrated my brain. There was only one door that anyone would speak about with such a combination of fear and distaste.

“Shadow Realm?” Shadow bit out, and he was as focused as me.

Angel nodded. “I don’t know how it happened, but the spell on the door is broken. It happened not long ago.”

Shadow looked at me, but it wasn’t necessary. I’d already done the math, and it was growing obvious that when I’d brought the mists and creatures from the realm to Earth, I’d done more than put my world in peril.

I’d finally opened the door that had been barred for nearly two thousand years.

The door to Shadow’s destiny.





4





I’d known Shadow for an indeterminate amount of time, but it was at least a year in Earth days, and I’d never seen him move as fast as he did in that moment.

He was literally here one second and gone the next, leaving behind nothing much more than a puff of smoke. If I had to guess, the shadows he controlled had absorbed him and were about to spit him out in the Library of Knowledge.

Lucien and Reece disappeared as well, and almost as quickly, while I was still staring open-jawed at the spot they had all been standing a micro-second earlier.

Angel didn’t leave me, tightening her hold around my body as I began hobbling toward the door. “Go,” I said, waving my hand forward. “Go and help them. I’ll get there in a minute.”

“No.” Her reply was short and not-that-sweet.

“Angel,” I said, forcing my legs to move faster. “You’re a warrior. Go battle or whatever you do. I’m holding you back.”

She snorted, some of the tension in her tight shoulders easing. “Side by side, girl. We fight side by side, remember? I would never leave a friend behind. And you don’t have to worry. The spell on the door has been broken for more than a few minutes, and so far nothing has walked through. They’re quite possibly not even aware in the realm that they’re free.”

One person would be aware, though. The one who’d cast the spell.

“I did this,” I admitted, needing her to know that I probably wasn’t worthy of her epic-as-fuck friendship. “I thought they’d killed Dannie, the woman who half-raised me, and I lost my shit. I might have possibly calledthemistsandabillionshadowcreatures.” In shame, I ran all the words together, but Angel’s quick mind followed along with ease.

“You did nothing wrong, Mera. Your life has been controlled by forces beyond you for a long time now. You’re reacting to the pressure cooker you’ve been placed under. No one should be surprised when you finally burst into flames.”

Wait? Did she know about that?

“Uh, so yeah. I kind of did burst into flames,” I admitted. “Fire raced across my skin, the same way Shadow’s power often reacts.”

She blinked at me, and it was clear that her previous comment hadn’t actually been a literal reference to the events on Earth.

“You and Shadow have a similar energy,” she finally said, her surprise fading as she thought it through. “Not like you’re related,” she added quickly, knowing me well enough by now to know that my mind immediately went there. “Your powers are compatible. It’s interesting, and… it makes sense that you ended up calling the shadows and the flames.”