Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

Reece found us clothing first—basic shift shirts and light loose pants. Once we were dressed, I explored his home, which was exactly as I remembered it. Huge open windows to let in the moonlight and desert breezes, sparse furnishings and thick rugs on every floor giving the sense of being away from the sands, even if they were still filling all the corners.

After a time, he started to edge me toward his back garden, but on our way out we passed his wall of weapons and sacred pieces. I ground to a halt and stared at a very familiar set, displayed center stage.

“What in the worlds?” I gasped, stepping forward to brush my hand over my armor.

It dominated the wall, surrounded by a frame of red glass, which looked smooth and worn, as if it had been touched many times. Turning to see him, I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to get it together. “You had my armor?” I breathed. “You never told me.”

His expression was soft and warm, but there was pain burning deep in his blue eyes. “When you died in the Shadow Realm, I lost my mind.” He let out a harsh breath. “I didn’t allow anyone to touch your armor, and since I couldn’t figure out how to return it to the Honor Meadows, I sent it here.”

He brushed his hand over the smooth glass. “This was my comfort, and the moment I decided that I was done hiding in the past, I forced Mera to come to the Ostealon, knowing it would ensure you were also there. I never intended to let you leave.”

I was gasping again, feeling like my eyes were so wide that my eyeballs could pop right the fuck out. “You… You did?”

Now he was laughing at me. “You never had a chance, mate. Even when you thought we had a ‘hate-fucking’ arrangement, I always knew it was the beginning of our love journey. Hate be damned.”

I was so puffed up with emotions I wondered if maybe I was going to float away. Pushing myself as high as I could, I wrapped my arms around him, holding on tight and feeling every one of my blessings. Reece hugged me back with as much strength, and at this point I doubted we needed to cement this bond. We’d done that all on our own, but since we were here…

Outside in his yard, there were huge fences on all sides, giving a sense of privacy among the many pamolsa trees and desert flowers. This had always been a peaceful oasis, and not much had changed in the many years, outside of the trees along the back wall being about fifty feet taller.

In front of them was a small sand pond, the fast-moving energy there home to some tretas swimming about. These dark red, fish-lizard creatures were friendly, and when we walked by, a few jumped out of the sand by way of greeting.

Reece led me to a carved red bench in front of the largest pamolsa plant. As we sat, the memories hit me hard, and I remembered how young and full of hope we’d been that night we’d promised to bond our power for the rest of our days. “How do you know the language of the ancients?” I asked him. Even that day, his words had been spoken in their lilting tongue.

His gaze never left mine. ‘I was born knowing it, and while my parents warned me never to use it outside of the Delfora, that day I couldn’t help myself.’

‘Like the words written across your skin?’

Those spectacular lashes briefly swept closed before our gazes met again. ‘Yes. It was a constant reminder that I’d lost you. I punished myself as hard as I punished you.’

“Until the sands fade,” I repeated. He’d etched that there with our names.

“There’s more.”

That got my full attention. “What else?”

His lips brushed across mine. “Love, Lale. It was always love.”

Tears were not generally part of my disposition, and yet I felt them slide down my cheeks at the poignant confession. ‘I’ve loved you for almost my entire life,’ I said, my voice showing no signs of my overwhelmingly emotional state. ‘And now that our bond has been realized, I feel complete. Even without my family power, there’s no weakness within me.” My hand lifted his shirt so I could trace the words across his skin. ‘I want these words on me too.’

Reece’s eyes darkened. ‘I’ll need Len’s help, but I will make the marks. No one else touches your skin.’

Possessive bastard. ‘Deal.’

Okay, I kind of liked it.

We stood then, the bond humming powerfully between us, stoked brighter by the third member of our family that in some unknown amount of time would join our world—a blessing that almost made our centuries apart worth it.

‘Your power feels stronger,” I noted, tilting my head to examine him closer. “It’s beating within our bond like a power moon.”

He didn’t show surprise at my statement. ‘Between your power and the moons, I believe that I had been reformed stronger and closer to the Delfora. The gods will have more of a fight on their hands next time.”

I waved him off, even as my chest tightened. “No next time, please.”

His face hardened, and it could have been my imagination, but it felt like the world got darker too. ‘Their future is uncertain. I will not let them rise again.’

‘It would be more difficult, right?’ I asked quickly. ‘The third pillar adds another layer of security, and there’re no power moons for a long time.’

He cupped my face, easing my worries with that one touch. ‘It will be harder, but nothing is impossible. I just have to figure out how to destroy them without bringing Death into our midst.’

Examining his features, I knew that nothing I said would deter him, and if he made this a path in his life, I would stand by his side. From here on out, we were as one.

A twinge in my chest distracted me as I pressed a hand there, delving into the bond.

‘Mera is in some discomfort,’ I said in a rush. ‘We should head back to the library.’

He didn’t argue, wrapping his sands around us again so we could head to an area for an easy doorway. “Is the baby coming now?” he asked as we lifted.

Probing the bond again, I shook my head. “Not yet, but it’s close.”

Which reminded me of our own child. “Any guesses on the gestation period of our Silver one?” There was no precedent for a Desertlandian god and transcendent hybrid. It could be weeks, months, or years, and in the end… it really didn’t matter.

We were eternal, so this child was free to come when it was ready. But I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to a twinge of impatience over wanting to meet them.

‘If the growing strength of their energy is any indication,’ Reece said with a soft smile, ‘it’s not going to be too long. The library might have two children destroying it very soon.’

My laughter was freer than it had been in centuries, just like my heart. ‘Even with all of us, we’re going to be in over our heads.’

Mera and Shadow’s child would be powerful, born of two Nexus gods, and now Reece’s and mine, conceived in the silver sands.

New powers coming into the world.

New futures for all of us.