Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(37)

Knowing my luck, psycho gods were probably into collecting fingernails or eyeballs.

Weird bastards.

But nope, instead, he was keeping me so we could go hunting shadow creatures together.

It didn’t make sense. There was more going on here that I wasn’t aware of, and no way in hell was I letting my guard down around that fallen-angel-looking psychopath.

If anything, I was only going to double down on figuring out his weakness. Everyone had one, and when I figured out Shadow’s, I would use it to crumble his world to its foundation. Dust. Atoms.

Micro-organisms.

I’d be the harbinger of death to fire eyes, square cut jaws, and a mop of curls.

Then I’d laugh all the way to my freedom.

Popping to my feet, feeling a little better with my new game plan, I looked around my prison.

Truth be told, prison was a little harsh; it was a large room with a half-decent-looking bed at the far end. Ten steps up from the crappy bedroom I’d had back home.

Opening the antique armoire with gold and silver inlaid detailing across the curved top, I blinked at the decent array of clothing inside. Rifling through, it was clear that everything in there was my size and style. Jeans, shorts, tanks, and a few comfy sweaters. The Room of Need did more than just provide; it appeared to read minds and memories to make sure everything was as you’d choose yourself.

Super fucking creepy. But helpful.

And right now, helpful was all I could ask for.

There was a small bathroom attached to the bedroom, and in the drawers I found toiletries and makeup. High-end Earth brands, the sort I’d drool over in magazines but would never have been able to afford on my own.

The perks would be amazing if they didn’t come with a megalomaniac jailer.

Since Shadow had made his usual dramatic exit, I decided to take a quick shower and get myself cleaned up. Shedding the ragged shirt, I sighed as the hot water beat against my tense muscles, and for a moment, I allowed myself to fall apart.

Just a moment.

My shoulder slammed against the tiles as my head dropped forward and I clenched my hands tightly. I can do this. I can survive this. After Torma, I can survive anything.

From the ashes, the phoenix will rise.

A mantra was all a chick needed to make it through life. Right?

Once I was clean, dressed in underwear with zero holes— whaattt?—jeans and a simple white shirt, I felt like I was ready to figure out my place in this strange world. My new tennis shoes were silent as I headed toward the door, my hand settling on the ancient black handle, expecting it would be locked when I tried to press the lever. Except it clicked open, and I stepped out to find Inky chilling there, like the creepy version of Casper the Ghost.

“Wow, fancy meeting you here,” I said with fake enthusiasm. “I missed you in the hour we were apart, Inky. Don’t ever leave me again.”

It swirled higher, sliding around my new clothes, like it was trying to figure out what I was wearing. “This is how I normally look when I’m not half-naked,” I said with a smirk.

The black shadow swelled to double its size and seemed to almost… jiggle. I was going to call that its laughing move because anything else was too terrifying to contemplate.

The larger it grew, the more definition I could see inside of what I’d previously thought of as just swirls of shadowy smoke. It looked like a huge brain, with electrical pulses shooting between synapses. Human brains were not my specialty or anything, but it did make me wonder if Inky was way more sentient than I’d originally thought.

There was no way it was just an offshoot of the Shadow Beast… Inky was definitely its own special brand of supernatural creature.

“What are you?” I asked, my curiosity had those words bursting from me. “You’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Fuck knows why I did the next thing, but sometimes my brain is slow. There’s no other explanation for why I voluntarily touched the black smoke. As my fingertips glided through the darkness, an icy chill shot up my arm before I was knocked back onto my ass like someone had punted me halfway across the room.

“Shit!” I gasped, trying to shake the chill off as I awkwardly got to my feet. “I legit did not expect that.” Inky had touched me before, but apparently, it wasn’t a two-way street. Or maybe that was just my first and only warning not to venture where I wasn’t invited.

Inky shrank smaller but was definitely still jiggling. Smug bastard, just like Shadow .

Deciding I’d wasted enough time procrastinating, I made my way past the smoke entity and into the Library of Knowledge. When I stepped through the veil, a goblin was waiting for me right on the other side.

“Gah.” I jumped back, almost tumbling into Shadow’s lair again. “Don’t stand so close, Gaster.”

He bowed low. “My apologies, Miss Mera. I’ve been waiting for your return so that I can continue the tour and outline your duties.”

It felt a lot like I was about to be inducted for my first day of work, but if it led to more knowledge and a chance to find a way to separate myself from the dick of all deities, then I’d take whatever he threw at me. If this library held the knowledge of the world… there had to be something in here that defined the Shadow Bastard’s weaknesses.

“Lead the way!” I said with enthusiasm. Gaster blinked at me, those odd eyes capturing my attention as a sheen of green coated the black before it vanished.