Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(8)

I stumbled. “Seriously? You don’t think my reaction was a little excessive? I’m full on kicking my own ass at the moment over how I acted.”

She shrugged. “When my family was destroyed, I went on a destructive campaign that lasted sixty years. You got yourself together pretty fast, in my opinion.”

Sixty. Years.

Yeah, okay, so maybe she did get it and wasn’t judging me at all. It was actually nice to have someone in my corner, and maybe when we got to the bottom of the mystery of what the actual fuck I was, Angel and I could spend some time working on our bond. I’d like to see it step up to the next level, just in case she ever needed me for the same support she always offered me.

For now, though, we had far greater concerns to overthink and unnecessarily stress about.

“What do you expect will happen now that the Shadow Realm door is no longer barred?” I asked when we reached the veil leading into the library.

Angel didn’t answer until we’d stepped through to the other side. “No one has any idea. It’s been barred longer than most have lived, and for the rest of us, only time will tell what has changed in that realm.”

Well, damn. That was legitimately not even a tiny bit reassuring.

Just as she walked toward the crowds gathered near the Shadow Realm door, I had a sudden thought. Turning to the magical white button, I slapped my hand against it. “Directory.”

When the blueprint of the library appeared, I wasted no time pressing the Shadow Realm door. Angel returned to my side, and if her expression was any indication, she was as curious as I was to see if it said the same thing as last time: Shadow Realm: Information unknown. Critical error.

There was a ding, and we both stared in silence.

“That’s new,” she breathed.

Shadow Realm: Built on the ancient mists of yin and yang energy. The royals are the supreme rulers, keeping under their control the creatures, except those that roam in The Grey Lands.

“Holy shit,” I said, eyeballing the directory like it held all the answers. “The doorway is really open.”

The truth of that had finally hit me. The realm was freaking open. Shadow would have no more use for me. He could finally get his revenge, and… what would become of me and my life here?

Why did I suddenly feel like I was about to be homeless? Even worse, kicked out of my favorite places in the world: the libraries. My heart squeezed tightly, and my hands started to sweat as I wrung them together.

I could give up a lot, but I wasn’t sure I could stop living among the knowledge and beauty and ancient history so prevalent in the Library of Knowledge and the lair. This place had burrowed its way into my soul, and I couldn’t let it go.

It would destroy me.

“Let us go see what has transpired with this new development,” Angel said, nudging me toward the main section of the library.

Feeling like I was the ancient, thousand-year-old being, I sighed. “Formal talk, hey? Must be serious.”

She managed not to roll her eyes at me, but I knew she wanted to. She was just too mature and badass to bother with such a human gesture. “I’m just worried about what we might walk into, and whether or not I can protect you. We need all the information we can gather because eventually something will exit from the realm, and right now you’re vulnerable.”

I snorted, hobbling after her like I was eighty years older than my current age of… Twenty-three. At some point, I’d had a birthday, but no one cared when most of my friends were in their thousands. “You know I’m the one who broke through the lock on the door”—with zero idea of how I did it—“and controlled a bunch of shadow creatures so that Shadow could get them locked away. I think I’m the one who’ll be taking care of all of you.”

She laughed, a beautiful tinkling sound. At the same time, she sent her wings out to stop the crowds from knocking into us. “Big talk from someone walking at a ninety-degree angle.”

“Gods, I would kill for an energy boost of some form,” I moaned. “It’s weird because I’m exhausted, but it’s more than just a physical thing. It feels almost soul deep.”

The closer we moved to the Shadow Realm door, the more crowded the area got. Angel eventually had to tuck her wings back in because there was literally no room for them. We started pushing our way forward.

“Tell me everything that happened from when you were captured by the shifters,” she said, taking in the scene, tendrils of worry finally seeping into her tone.

Sticking close to Angel, since she was the muscle getting us through, I detailed quickly—and quietly—what had transpired from the moment I’d left the library in the arms of two dumbfuck shifters. Shifters I still had to murder.

I finished up with how I’d called the mists and creatures, which had finally torn through the spell on the realm doorway.

Angel listened to the entire story before speaking. “Do you believe Shadow when he says that Dannie was born in his realm and couldn’t have been killed?”

“I have to until proven otherwise. For my own sanity.” Most of the pain was dulled now, just a sliver of aching hollowness that would remain until I saw her again.

She nodded. “I haven’t known him to be a liar,” she admitted. “I mean, he would conceal information if he felt it wasn’t relevant, or for other reasons—he’s a secretive beast. But I don’t know him to outright lie.”