Glamoured (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 6)

Waking me from the stasis took only seconds. Len withdrew the stones’ energy, and whatever had been holding me was released. His strong arms wrapped around me as I collapsed into them, and on this side, in the land of consciousness, pain hit me hard.

A whimper escaped, and I had to briefly close my eyes to reinforce my barrier from the darkness trying to drag me into the next world. The world of the dead.

Not yet, I whispered in my head. It’s not my time yet.

I still had too much shit to do.

“Storm,” Len murmured, the minty scent of his breath washing over me. I forced my eyes open, needing to see him. “Winter,” I whispered back.

The heat of his power traced across my body, and I glanced down to see that I was no longer naked from our sex session. It was somewhat ironic that at the time I’d wondered if he was going to orgasm me to death, only to almost die at the end of one. The timing was less than desirable, that was for sure.

I could definitely use a little less of that irony thank you very much.

“You dressed me?” I rasped. He’d covered me in jeans and white shirt, simple, but with material lighter and silkier than I’d ever felt on Earth. “Thank you.”

He pressed his lips to my cheek, tendrils of his power sliding inside to buff up more of my barrier. “I take care of what’s mine,” he said, with a hint of a smile. My body reacted in a way that suggested it had forgotten we were actively dying. Apparently, there was no moment in time I wouldn’t be into this sexy fae prince.

Mera pushed forward and hugged me hard, uncaring that Len was wrapped around me as well. “You are not allowed to almost die,” she said, with a low growl at the end. “I don’t even care if it was in the middle of sex. That’s no excuse.”

I opened my mouth, before slamming it shut again as I shook my head in shock. “How the hell did you know?”

Her responding grin was huge. “I’m an expert in just fucked hair and you’re sporting it in spades.”

Shadow snorted. “Maybe it’s I almost died hair. Did you even consider that, Sunshine?”

Mera paused, looking closer at me. “Nope. I’ve been fucked and almost died quite close together, and there’s a distinct difference in the final hairdo.”

There was some laughter around us, and even the fae abandoned their stoic expressions to smile. Mera had that way about her, breaking the tension in times of stress. It was a nice facet to her personality. “To be fair,” I said, my voice a little stronger. “In this situation the hair is from both. So…”

She shrugged before nodding. “True.”

Len lifted me up to my feet, continuing to keep a hold on me as my legs found their strength. “Were you aware of anything in stasis?”

I nodded. “I heard everything. We need to go into the Deep to save the worlds and restore the line.”

“We do,” he confirmed. “It’s going to be dangerous, but you are from the Great Queen’s line, and should be able to handle whatever comes your way.”

I waved a hand over my chest. “I’ve always had this light near my shifter side,” I said quickly. “Now I finally understand why. It was my connection to the Great Line and Faerie.” My voice broke before I cleared my throat. “Now, though, it’s all darkness. The only reason I can be out of the stasis is due to my shifter side forming a barrier. But it’s weak, so we have to hurry.”

“I’ll share my energy with you,” Len promised. “And when the line’s repaired, your light will return.”

His confidence fueled my own, and I was sure that we’d succeed. Not just for our daughter, but for all the worlds.

“I’ll keep Tabitha safe,” Glendriel promised, moving closer from where she’d been in the middle of the platform. A small bundle of light followed her. “The Silver Lands, along with our greatest allies, will protect her with the full force of our royal houses.”

My heart swelled with warmth, and more of the darkness receded—it didn’t like the power of love and happiness. Walking on unsteady legs, I reached Tabitha’s cocoon. Running my hands a few inches above the surface—the closest I could get—I sent all my love into my daughter.

“Mommy loves you, little one,” I whispered. “We’re going to repair what was broken. Stay safe and keep fighting until we return.”

Len joined me a beat later. “Daddy is here too,” he said, which sent an additional surge of warmth into my chest. “We will not fail, sweet one. You keep holding on.”

His hand landed over mine on the crystal case, and we just breathed for a moment, hearts aching. But there was no more time to spend here. We had to move on to the task of saving the worlds.

“How do we get to the Deep?” Shadow asked, his form growing larger as he readied himself for this battle. Flames filled his eyes, and he looked very beast god. Mera, at his side, had flames dancing in her long red hair. The ombre colors shifted faster, and I loved how strong and powerful she looked. All our pack was rocking their badass power, filling the room with energy that actually made the fae appear quite weak. Even the ancient royal ones.

“Thank you,” I said to them all. “I know you risk a lot… everything… by being here, and I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

We don’t work like that.

Galleli’s voice had me jumping. I was the only one. We save the worlds together and no one ever owes anyone. This is family. Pack. Our treasora.

They were destroying me but there was no time to cry. We had worlds to save.

“To answer Shadow’s question,” Len said, “we can reach the Deep from this land. It’s what exists below the Capital. We will just need to follow the beams of light that connect below, and after that I have no idea. Since the Great Queen vanished, there’s been no one that entered and returned alive.”

Ominous, but it wasn’t as if we were unaware of this fact.

“Sounds like we’re about to be the first,” Lucien called with a whoop. “Let’s fucking do it.”

We pushed closer, and I was grateful that with Len’s power adding to mine, the pain was minimal, and I could move more freely. As we headed toward the exit, the fae shifted in unison, forming lines on either side of us, and then one by one they bowed their heads.

My breath caught in my chest, the air rattling around for a beat before I managed to exhale deeply. “What are they doing?” I whispered to Len, who was on my left.

“Honoring us,” he murmured back. “We’re risking a lot to try and save their world. A world that’s in danger thanks to Fredrick’s general love of power and disregard for rules.”

“Fredrick,” I said, my voice hardening. His actions almost cost me everything, including my daughter. Bastard would get what was coming to him.

“He will face the royal trial when we return,” Len assured me. “For now, they’re keeping him contained while they search out who else was involved.”

There was no time today to punish him, and the council had better make the right decision when it came to the trial. Darkness swirled as my anger took over, and I forced myself to take a couple of deep breaths. As if he’d felt that shift inside me, Len reached out and captured my hand, lacing his fingers through mine to infuse more of his power into my being.

The darkness calmed almost instantly. “Thank you,” I said, feeling more grateful than ever to not be alone.

Len didn’t release me then as expected. Instead his grip remained firm as we exited the building. Shadow continued at the front of his pack, leading us toward the edge of this land. Like with the garden, there was a sharp drop-off, with the sky spanning out beyond us, and I almost stopped moving as awe took me aback.

It felt as if we were standing on the edge of a solar system, endless sky spread around us. It wasn’t dark, but it also wasn’t bright like morning. I’d call it twilight with a touch of early dawn as visible lights twinkled in various colors above us.

“The crystals and gems from the royal houses are particularly dense here,” Len said, noticing as I tilted my head back to take it all in. “They help to power our lands and the world.”

“It’s incredible,” Simone said with a shake of her head, which was craned back like mine. Mera was in a similar position. The only ones not wearing looks of shock and awe were Angel and the guys. They’d all clearly been here before.

“I saw this world from Shadow’s house,” Mera said softly, “but there’s something about standing out in the open like this, with what feels like a damn universe whizzing around you… I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it.”

“You will,” Shadow said with a growl. “You’re going to live forever, as per my damn wishes, and in that time you’ll see every facet of the universes. You’ll see the worlds so often that eventually you’ll be well used to it.”

“Mera will live forever,” Angel agreed. “As will the rest of us, and we’ll never stop exploring.”

This was the sort of pep talk we needed before heading into a life and death situation.

Len, hand still wrapped around mine, led us toward the edge of the platform. It was here that he released me, and I tried not to mourn the loss of his energy sending tingles across my skin. When he leaned out, most of us did the same.

“Well, fuck,” Simone said. “I’d have never thought to look out over the edge.”

Beams of light were connected to the underside of the platform, dropping down farther than we could see from where we stood. Hundreds, if not thousands of them, all in a range of colors. Colors very similar to the gems that littered the sky above.

“How do we use them to take us into the Deep?” I asked.

“We just grab hold,” Len replied, leaning more of himself over the edge, his hand wrapping around a purple beam. “Use the beam as your anchor and guide. Our gravity here is lighter, so you’re not going to plummet like you would in other worlds. It’ll be a slow fall.”

I hadn’t noticed the gravity thing at all, which was odd. Almost as if my body had adjusted the moment we arrived… Maybe I had more fae in me than expected.

Leaning over with Len, I was about to grab onto a turquoise line near his, when he shifted his strand closer to me. “You’ll fall with me,” he said simply. “Together.”

I couldn’t look away from his gaze. The truth was, I was falling for him.

Again.

My fragmented memories told me I’d been fully in love with this caring, enigmatic, powerful fae prince the last time. Kind of felt like I’d never not been in love with him.

Who knew love was as scary as taking a plunge into the Origin of Faerie.

On the precipice of doing both, I could confirm.

Completely terrifying.