Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

As we crossed the short distance to the other ship, the sky was already lightening. The new-moon was nearing, its bright red curving out of the edge of the bluer dark-moon.

Darin waited for us, his second-in-command to the right, both standing in what I had dubbed the “ship stance,’ slightly wider legs with hands on hips as they stared out across the horizon. Something told me we’d all be doing a lot of “ship stance” over the next few days.

‘Welcome,’ he said, when I landed on the deck and tucked my wings away. ‘Nice to see you again.’

I smiled, but when he stepped to my side, closer than was necessary, I found myself moving out of his way and striding to the center of the deck. Reece, looking pleased for once, landed beside me, his sands disappearing.

‘Where are our supplies,’ he said to Darin as way of greeting.

The Guardian was no longer smiling, his expression blank as he stared at Reece, and I recognized the start of two males about to lose their minds in some stupid dominance contest. Ignoring them completely, I turned to his second in command, the redheaded female he’d sent from the tent before. ‘Where can I pick up the items?’ I asked her.

‘This way,’ she said shortly, making her way toward the back of their ship.

She wasn’t particularly friendly, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to make friends.

As we crossed the deck, I noted that their ship looked wider and larger than ours, which would be useful in some situations but not when speed was of the essence. Thankfully, we had first passage, so they wouldn’t slow us down. The redhead left me in a small storage room near a set of stairs that led down into their ship, and I wasted no time grabbing up a couple of the white bags inside.

Reece showed up a second later. “That’s enough,” he told me. “My sands can carry the bulk. You just get back to our ship.”

Wanting to argue with him because he was pissing me off with his moods, I spun, only to find he was much closer than I’d anticipated. Normally I would have felt the heat of his sandy protection, but at the moment those protections were busy gathering bags. Our eyes met, and before I could say a word, his arm went around my back to pull us together with enough force that I actually let out a low gasp.

As I arched against him, he let out a low groan. ‘Dammit, Lale,’ he murmured, clearing his throat. ‘Soon.’

He released me with a muttered curse, and needing some space, I stumbled forward on momentarily weak legs before reaching out to gather bags again. As I passed the desert god, he shot me a look that promised to finish what had been started in here, and I was feeling every inch of his touch by the time I emerged onto the main deck.

Darin, who stood near the storage room waiting for us, wore an unreadable expression as he held out a hand. ‘Do you need some help?’ he asked.

I shook my head, frustrated for so many reasons. ‘I’m stronger than I look. Don’t underestimate me.’

He held up both hands, expression softening. ‘My apologies. I was taught to offer assistance whether it’s needed or not.’

In the Honor Meadows that would probably get a being killed. But Desertlandians were different, and I had to respect that while in their world.

‘Cultural differences,’ I offered in an attempt to not be a bitch. My wings sprung free as I shot a small smile his way. ‘See you in the sacred lands. Safe travels.’

‘You too,’ he said, inclining his head.

I pushed up off the deck and took to the sky, the four bags held tightly in my grip. During our absence, the two ships had drifted further apart, and from this vantage point I could see it would take extra time for Reece to get us back into position to take the East River.

Once I was over the main deck, I dropped down near Mera, Shadow, and Lucien.

‘Was everything okay over there?’ Mera asked me, moving to my side.

‘Yes, perfectly fine,’ I said, placing the bags on the deck. ‘Judging by the weight, and the amount I left behind, we have at least six or seven moons worth of supplies. It should be more than enough.’

Shadow used his energy to unwind the ties at the top of one, and as he looked inside, he nodded. ‘There’s food and water, along with energy pods.’

I peered around him to see the dark green seeds, each about the size of my palm. ‘The energy pods grow only in Faerie,’ Shadow explained to Mera, ‘but they’re probably the most tradable commodity between all the worlds.’

Powerful energy boosters, I’d never needed to use them before since I could always gather energy from the land itself. My rebirth did change my need for more than regular energy, though, so having the pods as a boost if needed would definitely be useful.

“We should save those until right before we hit the Delfora,” I said.

“Good idea,” Shadow replied, shifting them into a small bag, even as Mera reached down to grab one.

Turning it over in her hand, she examined it from all angles.

‘You split there,’ I said, pointing to a nearly invisible line along one side. “Eat the seed inside the hard shell.”

‘It looks like a green mango seed,’ she said, running her thumb over it. ‘But it feels fuzzy, like a peach skin. So weird, but I really want to try one.’

‘Maybe not while pregnant with a god baby,’ I suggested. ‘They can have an unusual effect on the energy of some beings, especially ones with an already complicated power base.’

Mera let out an exaggerated sigh. ‘Could there be a more accurate description of me than has a complicated power base?‘

I had to laugh because her powers would be nothing on her child’s. Reece landed on the deck a second later, the sands bringing the rest of the bags with him. There must have been a few more hidden away because I counted many more than I’d originally noticed.

‘We have clothing, food, medical, and a few weapons,’ he said. ‘Looks like they gathered everything they could in the short amount of time, and now we must leave.’

Mera dropped her seed into the bag just as a particularly large swell of the sand rocked the ship. Being as off balanced as she was these days, she almost face-planted, but Shadow and I both caught her. Once again, I was reminded that Mera didn’t need me the way she had when we originally met. Back when Shadow was her enemy.

He now held the number one place in her life as her protector and closest friend, and that was totally okay. That was the way it was meant to be, and it didn’t lessen my bond with Mera—a fact that had taken me a while to come to terms with.

‘Holy shit, thank you!’ Mera exclaimed, holding onto Shadow. ‘I’m not used to the extra thirty pounds up front.’

Lucien, who was crossing from the back of the ship, let out a bark of laughter before clearing his throat. Mera pointed her finger at him. ‘Shut it, vamp. It’s thirty pounds, and I won’t hear another word about it.’

The vampire’s smile was wide, fangs visible. ‘I was going to say that you don’t look like you’ve gained a pound over twenty. And you’re always beautiful.’

Mera narrowed her eyes on him. ‘Nice save,’ she finally murmured.

By this time, Reece was back on the upper deck and the powerful engines were kicking in again as he got us on track. It was clear he’d spent a lot of time on these ships, and we were in the best hands to get us safely to the Delfora.

“As cool as this is,” Mera said as we all started to move the bags into our storage hull so they wouldn’t scatter as we sailed, ‘Are you all really sure that we shouldn’t be going faster? Even if it’s not the doorways, what about wings or Reece’s sands?”

Shadow crossed his arms. “Both possibilities, but why drain power when there’s no point in rushing? Not to mention, we have no idea what an influx of power usage near the Delfora could set in motion. Everything is out of balance with Tsuma’s gathered energy ritual.”

Mera nodded. “Right, right. I forgot the part where we’d just be twiddling our hands in the sacred lands until Tsuma and the others showed up.”

With a whoosh of wings, Galleli landed to join us on the main deck. It will be in our best interests to reach the Delfora at the same time as Tsuma, he said. Staying in the Delfora for too long would crush our powerbases as we battle the energy swelling there.

With those words, our ship surged forward, the roar of the engines louder than ever as Reece put all the power into moving us onto the treacherous East River. Apparently the fastest and best path in our current predicament.

We were finally on our way.