Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

The next few hours were rough to say the very least. Whatever energy had been building below reacted to us leaving the Ostealon, and at some points, we were forced to cling to the sides to keep from being thrown overboard.

‘I think we know why this is not a regularly used route,’ I groaned to Alistair, who stood near me at the back of the ship.

He turned from where he’d been gazing into the sands below, and as he straightened, he lifted a glass container of liforina, tipping it over his head for the second time in ten minutes. ‘The power is making it worse, but this part of the East River is definitely wild without any help. It cannot be tamed.’

Hence why he’d been fascinatedly staring into the depths for hours. Alistair was well known for attempting to tame the strongest and angriest waters. He did so with little regard for his life because this was how he actually felt alive. Unlike the rest of us, he was not eternal, even if his warrior race was still very long-lived. It was the knowledge that he would eventually die which had him embracing life to the fullest, living like he might die tomorrow.

‘Is it getting drier?’ I asked when he dumped a second bottle on his head, the patches on his skin easing as he absorbed the liquid through his pores.

His expression was grimmer. ‘Yeah, the air is drier here than back near the Ostealon. There’re fewer aquifers, and that makes the air and sand itself more arid.’

“You know the Delfora is the driest of all, right?”

Alistair met my gaze, and there was a soft determination in his expression. “I know, but I still can’t allow my brothers to take this journey without me.”

I really wished that, just this once, he would. ‘Make sure that we always have enough liquid for you to hydrate,” was all I ended up saying.

He smiled, those expressive eyes warm, and I was reminded of how kind he could be. For a warrior, Alistair had a surprisingly soft demeanor. ‘It will be fine; don’t worry about me.’

And yet I did. I worried about all of them now, fussing about like a damn mother hen looking after her flock, all the while knowing that Reece waited in the wings, ready to sweep them out from under me. My very own wolf in the henhouse.

Refusing to think about that Desertlandian again, I focused on the changing sands, noting that there were some reds mingling with the Ostealon’s colors now. We were edging closer to the Rohami sands, and knowing I had questions that needed answers, I left Alistair and stumbled my way across the main deck toward the upper level.

At first, I made almost no progress against the roll of the ship, and while I was tempted to use my wings, the strength of the winds here would send me into the sky, draining my energy as I fought to return. Eventually I decided to tap into my energy stores, sending a jolt down into my legs to stick my boots to the deck.

With that assistance, I managed to cross the area, and as I reached the stairs, I released the magic and used the smooth, glass-infused railing for assistance. As the energy I’d used seeped from me, it didn’t return to my center; instead, it soared into the world to rejoin the collective.

We’d all taken a shot at explaining how this worked to Mera, but in truth, it all boiled down to a few simple facts. One: Magic was the ability to harness the natural, free energies of any world. Two: If you knew how, you could take that energy and transform it into whatever you needed, be that endurance, strength, transfiguration, or teleportation. Three: Once the free energy has been taken and used, it would release back into the world, unless you figured out how to harness it again, which most beings could not do without destroying themselves through a form of energy blowback.

All of my “used” family power would now be in the collective of the Honor Meadows, recycling itself to be sent out again, part of the lifeforce that kept our world functioning and spinning. That collective was shared in small increments every wet season, but it took a long time to rebuild it and it was never quite the same. Many of the layers of my world had been formed by members of my family, and once they were lost, there was no return.

When the layer was gone, so was my last connection to them.

Halfway up the stairs, the ship did a particularly strong lurch to the left, but I kept my feet by gripping the side rails. When we evened out again, I used my natural speed and hurried up the last steps as fast as I could. On the top deck, the winds were much stronger, but the views more than made up for that with a stunning vision of rivers and deserts spanning out for miles.

I could see many colors, from the ochres we’d left behind to the pale oranges of Yemin far off to the east and the reds of Rohami coming up to the north-east. And straight ahead was our final destination, too far away to see yet, but I knew the Guardians and Delfora were waiting out there for our arrival.

Reece was alone on the top deck, and even though there was no chance he didn’t hear me stumbling over, he never turned my way. Was there a chance that even with our new arrangement, and that mind-blowing sex, he was actually acting colder?

‘Hey,’ I said, almost falling into him but, thankfully, catching myself last minute. ‘Smooth sailing so far.’ I really hated small talk. It was a waste of my time and energy, but he had me so off-kilter and out of whack that here we were.

Reece still didn’t look at me, completely focused on the destination in front of us. ‘It’ll calm down soon. We’re almost in front of the natural energy of Ostealon, which is mixing with Tsuma’s spell. At that point our speed will decrease until the power below us builds again, but at least we’ll be able to walk about without face-planting.”

He still wasn’t looking at me, but he was talking normally, so I went with it. “Does this stream cross through any other dynasties?’

‘Not really,” he said. ‘It leaves the Ostealon and spends most of its time in the deep sands, but you will catch glimpses of Rohami in the distance. The Guardians is our first land destination before hitting the Delfora. I’d estimate at our current speed, and considering it will slow once we get away from the heavier currents of the East River, it’ll be about five moons.’

We didn’t have much of a window to make it to the Delfora before the power moon, but if that was the case, Tsuma wouldn’t either. She only had a short head start on us, and we were on the fastest river. The East River was only for princeps normally, and Tsuma would have drawn attention by using it, so we had that advantage.

‘Okay,’ I replied, any other questions forgotten in this awkward energy between us. Needing to escape, I was almost back to the steps when he finally released the wheel and lever he’d been using to guide us and called my name.

When I looked over my shoulder, he was in a strong ship stance, looking unaffected by the currents. “How’s Mera?” he asked.

Was he the one making small talk now? And why was I relieved not to have to leave just yet? ‘She’s miserable and trying to rest,’ I said. ‘Shadow is working on convincing her to leave, but she insists that she hasn’t seen anything yet and they need to wait until the sands calm so she can experience the true majesty of your world.’

A fraction of his rigid demeanor softened. ‘What are the odds that she stays on this ship until we reach the Guardians?’

That got a smile out of me. ‘Len and I have a bet going. My power is on her making it to the Delfora. He thinks she’ll be gone in a few moons.’

‘Len should know better than to bet against you,’ he said, his voice dropping lower as he took a step toward me. He seemed unconcerned about leaving the steering apparatus, which was explained when his sands turned visible and streamed out from him to wrap around the wheel. Of course, as he took another step forward, the damn boat lurched at almost a forty-five-degree angle—was it his sand’s first freaking day steering a boat?—but he didn’t falter, solid as a desert cliff.

He reached me in a single breath of time, crowding his big body into mine.

‘What are you doing?’ I murmured, tilting my head back to see his eyes and whatever emotions they held.

Reece leaned down to brush his lips across my cheekbone. ‘Stay away from my friends,’ he murmured as his power tingled into mine.

I swallowed hard as anger and arousal slammed into me. “You have got to be kidd—”

‘You know the damn rules.” He cut me off. “This’—his hands swept down my shoulders, and since I’d removed my armor earlier, he had free access to cup my breasts, thumbs brushing over the nipples that were ready and standing at attention under the tunic—’is mine.’

I had to swallow again because this drier air was getting to me… Yep, it was definitely the air.

My voice was husky. ‘It was just a bet.’

His hands slid down my stomach, slowly making their way to the junction of my thighs. He pressed against my clit, sliding his fingers across the throbbing bundle of nerves. ‘That’s the only reason you’re both walking around. Unpunished.’

I managed to snort out a laugh, desperate for casual disdain. ‘Oh, right? And how would you punish us?’ This fucker had another fight on his hands if he thought he could control me, even if his current actions were turning me into a quivering ball of need.

‘Len would learn the hard way not to disregard my orders,’ Reece said calmly, ‘and you would be tied to my bed until you remembered the rules of this agreement.’

I opened my mouth to blast him, but my body was already on fire at the thought of being under his control like that. As much as I was strong and built for battle, there was a part of me that craved a moment to release that control. To give myself to the pleasure I knew Reece would bring to my life.

With a shake of my head, I knocked his hand away, ignoring the parts inside me screaming to let him do whatever the hell he wanted. ‘You can try, asshole,’ I managed to say without sounding like a breathless fool. ‘Try and see what happens.’

‘Flirt with my friends and see what happens,’ Reece shot back. ‘You know I don’t share well, Lale. You’ve known me longer than almost anyone else in the worlds. We might have ignored it for a time, and others also might have forgotten, but you were mine before anyone else’s. And for now, I’ve reinstated the old rules.’

He returned to the wheel, leaving me there frozen like the very fool I had been trying not to be. Others might have forgotten. It wasn’t just others… He was talking about the bond that, until just recently, I’d also forgotten. A bond that he’d blessed in front of their higher energies, and that meant something. Desert Lands claimings were soul-deep bonds that tied powerful mates, families, and… even friends together.

I’ve reinstated the old rules.

Holy shit. What were the old rules? I didn’t remember the rules of these bonds, having been so young when it’d happened. No doubt they’d been written somewhere… probably at the time of the early Desertlandians. The time of the ancients.

‘What are the old rules?’ I asked his back.

Reece lifted his head higher, those broad shoulders blocking my view of what lay ahead. ‘You’ll find out soon. They’re written in the Delfora on the stones of my ancestors.’

I waited for him to continue, but there was nothing else said.

Six moons. I would have to wait six moons to find out what that meant, and part of me wondered if my life would ever be the same.