Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(97)

“Shadow,” I said abruptly, stopping him in his tracks. “I can’t leave without checking on my friends. I know you said you’d take care of Dannie… Do you promise she’s okay?”

I was watching him closely, searching for the truth in his eyes. “She was gone when I paid Torma a visit,” he told me. “Rumors were flowing that she escaped, and I could not scent her nearby or feel her energy.” His eyes weren’t lying, but I also didn’t feel reassured by this information. Or lack thereof, really. “She’s a crafty one,” he added, like he knew her, “and something tells me they only held her in the first place because she allowed them to. She’ll be fine. You’ll see her again.”

I held his gaze, but he didn’t waver. Not that my stare was going to break Shadow, but I had to show how serious I was. He nodded like he respected the fact, and I wondered if this was another step forward in our relationship. The lines were blurring, and I didn’t know how to manage my emotions about that.

“Let’s get these creatures back to the library,” Shadow said, reminding me what we’d actually been here for.

“Yep,” I said, taking one last breath of familiar air, a mild longing for my pack sliding through me before I shed it as easily as I shed my wolf when we were done with a shift. Part of me couldn’t even remember being in Torma, but my wolf missed her pack, and truth be told, a tiny slice of me did, too.

As we stepped into the white hall, leaving behind the wintery lands of Earth, I followed Shadow, who didn’t waste any time. Fire filled the hall with light and heat until eventually we reached the next prison. Shadow released the creatures into an extra-large room, and after they tumbled from the fire, he sealed the door with his energy. Energy that looked a lot like Inky—a smoke cloud settling over the entrance. Shadow and Inky’s energy were the same, and that didn’t surprise me one bit. I’d already figured out that whatever Inky was, it was tied irrevocably to the Shadow Beast, and they could never be separated entirely.

“I’ll have dinner brought to the lair,” Shadow said once our task was complete.

I couldn’t help my chuckle. “What did you call all of your shit before you met me?”

He didn’t laugh, but his expression was amused. “It’s a human trait to want to label everything.

Some things just are, without need of title or proper noun.”

That felt weird to me, but I didn’t argue because it probably was a human trait. When we entered the library of knowledge, it was business as usual. Various inhabitants from the worlds scattered about, researching everything and giving me a small glimpse into cultures I’d probably never get to see myself.

The familiarity was nice, though, like the shadow creature business might have finally been behind us, and we even had a solid game plan going forward.

Everything was looking up. For once.





53

Before we reached the lair, we were ambushed by Gaster. The goblin was overly enthusiastic by the news that the shadow problem was over for now, and that we had a plan to return them to the realm.

Shadow remained reserved with the goblin, giving short answers… if he answered at all. No one but me pushed the big brute, happy to accept that whatever he said was law. If the goblin knew that Shadow’s sole focus was really getting himself back to the Shadow Realm, to enact revenge on those who had wronged him, some of his enthusiasm might fade.

Or… probably not.

The blind trust they all had in Shadow was astonishing.

When we were about to step through to the lair, I heard my name echo through the room, and when I turned, I gasped at Angel, who was decked out like a fucking warrior. Girl was head-to-toe in what had to be custom-made silver and red armor molded to her body, fixed around the wings, with so many blades on her person, I lost count of the handles sticking out of various places.

“What happened?” I burst out, hurrying toward her. “Did Honor Meadows break out in war?”

She didn’t say a word, just threw her arms around me, hugging me like she thought she’d never see me again. I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t care because this was one of the best hugs I’d ever had. I sank into her and held on for life, needing the emotional connection that only a female friend could give you. Dudes and sex were great and all, but if you’d never had a ride-or-die bestie, you were missing out on a connection that couldn’t be replicated.

One we needed for survival.

“You were gone,” she said when she pulled away, her voice broken even if her eyes were dry. “I searched the lands and questioned them all, but no one knew what had happened. And our damn bond… It better start maturing because I can’t handle the stress of you wandering around on your own.”

Shadow joined us then, and in an instant, the grieving friend was gone, replaced by a badass warrior. Weapons were in her hands so fast, I couldn’t track the movement, and she didn’t even hesitate to attack him. What I took from this, and appreciated the most, was that Shadow didn’t act like it was a laughable matter to have her as an opponent. He paid her the sort of attention she deserved, treating her like a worthy adversary, as the pair sparred.

Shadow procured a black and smoky blade from thin air, and I wondered briefly if it was Inky, manifested into another form. Usually, it would be close by, but I couldn’t see it anywhere else.