Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(88)

What did that mean?

Before I could ask, he set me on my feet. “Come on. Let’s get some food. We have a day or two before we can leave Faerie, so we’re going to have to make ourselves at home.”

That was my sole focus then. “Can I survive here outside of this garden?”

Shadow was back to wearing his mask of mystery, nothing on his face except a resigned acceptance of being stuck with me.

“I’ll keep you alive, Sunshine.”

For some reason, that felt like a promise.

A promise, for once, I actually believed in.





49

Unlike Len, Shadow didn’t seem to stress about us leaving the magically hidden garden.

When we stepped out to find Inky on the other side of the sentinels, I understood why.

Between Shadow and Inky, nothing was going to take us on. Even the surrounding flowers appeared to be leaning back from us, creating a nice, clear path.

“What is Inky?” I asked Shadow as we stepped onto a garden path that appeared to have a massive house right at the end of it. Well, actually, house wasn’t right… it was a mega mansion. And it was floating. The fae knew how to do this living thing right… if ultimate luxury and magic was your thing, of course.

Shadow side-eyed me. “You can’t possibly think I’m going to tell you that. It’s tied to me, and I won’t give you any weapons against me.”

Hmm. So Inky might hold information about his weaknesses, somehow…

It was clear from Shadow’s expression that I wouldn’t be finding out one more thing about either of them today, so I gave up worrying and focused on seeing every part of Faerie that I could. Ever since I’d opened the doorway and heard that music, a need to come here had taken root inside me.

Like that music had seeped into my soul when I hadn’t been looking.

“How can I be here without suffering any ill effects?” I asked Shadow when we stopped before the floating palace. I wanted to examine the building so badly, but my focus was locked on the enigmatic beast beside me. As always, his mere presence eclipsed all else.

“You didn’t enter of your own free will, so Faerie can’t keep you.”

“Seriously? Len never told me that.” I thought this new information over. “Guess it explains the way he took me. He should have said something; I’d have been a lot more forgiving.” Instead, the fae had let me hit him and still apologized and admitted to a wrongdoing. Which was … interesting.

Shadow’s smile was warm, as it often was around his friends. “Magic is a living entity, and like all that exist, it has rules. Faerie is more magic than any of the worlds, and once you know the rules, it’s a perfect location to visit. If you don’t know them, though, it will eat you alive. Len would have had his reasons for going about it the way he did.”

Shit, now I felt bad. It had been a high-tension time, firstly fighting the hunters…

Wait!

“I touched the Shadow Hunters,” I blurted out, suddenly remembering the most recent odd occurrence in regard to me and my wolf. “And they didn’t steal my soul, or whatever was supposed to happen.”

Silence. A long echoing silence.

Dammit, say something. Something reassuring.

Instead, expression unreadable, Shadow dismissed me, turning to press his hands on the wall of the building. It stopped shimmering and glowing, as a set of stairs appeared, leading up to a large double set of front doors.

“Shadow,” I pushed, needing some reaction from him.

He paused, one foot on the first step. “Normal rules do not govern you, Sunshine. It is growing apparent that your origin is from the realm. There’s no other explanation for what you can do.”

I wanted to scream, the tension inside of me threatening to explode as it grew in intensity. “How?

The door has been locked for thousands of years! How would I get through? And I look just like my parents…?”

He turned back, staring down at me. “I have no idea what it means or how it is possible, and until we get the door open, we won’t find out.”

His eyes were telling me that this was the reason he’d been driving me so hard to stay on task, but we both knew that had been for him and no one else. Finding out what I was, had just turned into a fun side-adventure.

He made his way back to me, reaching out to touch my face. It was the oddest, almost gentle movement. “Don’t stress on it today. No answers will come from running it through your mind. Think of it this way… you’re still alive. Still fighting. You’ve survived what ninety percent of shifters wouldn’t, and that can’t be a bad thing. We’ll get to the truth eventually. Until then, just embrace the life you’re living.”

Fuck, I guess this ancient beast of a philosopher wasn’t wrong, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to take his advice.

For now.

Shadow started up the stairs again, and this time I followed, finally getting my chance to truly examine the stunning palace. I had to sigh as I looked over every aspect of it. It was straight from a fairytale—ironic, seeing as we were literally in a place called “Faerie”—with white stone walls, speckled through with glittering crystals, turrets, and multiple towers, topped off by various levels of elegant dark grey shingled rooves.

It was even larger than I’d thought initially, and as I followed Shadow up the stairs, I gasped at the sheer size of the double doors. They had to be twenty feet tall, and just as wide, and as both of them silently swung open to allow us entry, I was again staring around, wide-eyed.