Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

The food showed up soon after, and even with everything on the platter being my favorite—speaking love without the words was apparently Shadow’s specialty—I couldn’t enjoy it like I normally would.

None of us enjoyed it; instead, we were a sober bunch of beings as we attempted to concoct a plan to beat an unstable goddess.

“Would the physical stone be gone now?” Sam asked after we’d thrown questions around for an hour or so. “Absorbed into her energy completely?”

Len shook his head. “Absolutely no chance. It’ll have settled inside, finding and forming its own base within Dannie’s energy, but it’s still whole and complete.”

“Could we cut it from her?” I asked. “Like… open heart surgery, but the god version.”

The fae took a beat to consider this because clearly that very “human” way of thinking had not been forefront in his mind. “I guess, hypothetically speaking, if we could capture Dannie and subdue her energy long enough to pierce her skin… Yeah, probably not.”

I glared at him. “Not helpful. There must be a way to remove the stone. How do you bond them to your family? Or is it to a single fae? I’m assuming not in the same manner Dannie used.”

“Absolutely not,” he said in a hard voice. “It’s forbidden to take one into your energy as she did. It more often than not ends in death through an overload of power. If any try it and succeed, the family come together to kill them.”

“Why aren’t they coming together to kill Dannie then?” I pressed quickly, wondering if we’d overlooked a powerful ally in this war.

Len shook his head. “Fae deal with Faerie business. The stone is now the Shadow Realm’s problem, and in that regard, they’ll have nothing to do with it.”

“It’s everyone’s damn problem,” I replied with a huff. It was the end of the worlds. Plural.

Shadow’s chest swelled against my back. “Forget the Fae,” he said harshly, “they’re too caught in their own politics. We’ll be the ones to deal with this. The ones to kill her to save the worlds. Let’s focus on building up our power base so that we have a chance at containing her in a cage of energy… a prison. If we’re strong enough, we can bind it to her and then it will drain her power so we can remove the stone.”

“Remove it as Mera suggested?” This was from Alistair, who leaned back all calm and collected, oozing serenity despite the current topic of conversation. His blue green curls were shorter as well, in the friendship-bro haircut thing they had going on.

“If the cage siphons enough of her power,” Shadow said gruffly. “Then yes, we can physically remove the stone. We’ll have to act swiftly with no hesitation.”

“I can give us some extra protections,” Len said, rising to his feet. “My family is in possession of the largest collection of elotran stones, which will protect minds from any manipulations. If Dannie tries to remove memories or plant false ones again, these stones would counter her magic.”

Right, fuck. That was good thinking on his behalf, and it was fitting that the fae would unknowingly be helping us anyway.

“Thank you,” Shadow said, looking between his friends. “There are no greater warriors I’d want at my back.”

“All for one and one for all, right?” Len said with a wink. “And on that note, I’m off to gather the stones, and whatever other power I think might help.”

The others got to their feet as well, a few of them dropping a kiss on my cheek—ignoring the beast’s rumbles when they did so. Lucien even chuckled as he slapped a friendly hand on Shadow’s shoulder before he joined the others in heading toward their respective doorways. “We’ll meet back here in two days,” Reece called, as swirls of dust and the scent of an electrical storm rose up around him. “Bring every weapon in your arsenal.”

The others saluted to confirm before they faded out of the library as stealthily as they’d arrived. Leaning back against Shadow, I forced my breathing to calm, hoping that the power and strength I felt in our pack would be enough to beat the ultimate goddess.

“You feel stronger,” I said, shifting to see him a little better. “What should we do to prepare while they’re gone? Oh, and when is the official ceremony to induct me into the group? Because I think we’re all in agreement that I’m basically the leader now.”

Shadow’s hands, which had been on my waist, slowly slid up my body, over my breasts, leaving behind aching nipples. He closed those long fingers around my throat to tilt my head back. “Mine, Sunshine. You belong to none of them, no matter how badly you love the pack life. Do you need a lesson in remembering?”

I wanted to moan, but this was not the time or place. “Promises, promises,” I whispered, lifting myself so my lips could reach his. “Always with the promises, beast.”

His chest rumbled, hands moving back to my tits, but before he could drive me completely crazy, I all but threw myself out of his lap.

Ignoring the dark flames in his eyes, I straightened my clothing. “We have no time for that,” I reminded him, wishing I didn’t sound like I was panting. “We need to do our part in this war.”

The flames around him grew, but he didn’t argue with me. “I’ll have Gaster organize from this end,” he said with a nod, on his feet in the next instant. “While he’s doing that, we should head to the Honor Meadows and see if we can track Angel down.”

I wasn’t sure I could have loved him more until he’d said that. Until he’d made my needs a priority, even with all the other bullshit we had going on.

“What can we do to help?” Simone piped up, reminding me that we weren’t alone. Damn Shadow and his ability to eclipse everything else in the room, even my best friends.

“Yes, I want to help!” Sam added, leaning forward. “I’m too far into this journey to stop now.”

Giving them my full attention, because they deserved nothing less, I focused on Simone first because she looked upset.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, ignoring her previous question.

Her jaw was rigid, but she managed a smile. “Just a stupid vampire, nothing to worry about.”

Ah, Lucien. My friend was feeling all the things about his sudden departure, especially since he hadn’t acknowledged her before he left.

“Talk to me,” I said.

She shook her head. “Girl, there’s nothing to talk about; it’s not even worth our next breath. Let’s discuss how Sam and I can help you.”

Sam nodded, looking far too relaxed for someone who’d just stumbled into this insane fantasy world mere days ago.

Before I could figure out what their role would be, Shadow cleared his throat. “You both need to go back to Torma,” he said bluntly. “War is about to go down, and neither of you is equipped to fight in it. Mera would be devastated to lose a friend, and in that regard, I want to send you where you’re safest.”

The moment he said that, I knew it was the right decision.

Simone disagreed. “Yeah, nope.”

Shadow stared down at her, and I almost laughed. My poor beast was so unused to being defied that it took him by surprise when it happened. Unlike when I did it, though, he might kill Simone.

I stepped between them. “Simone,” I said softly, “I can’t have you in danger. Seriously, I would lose my brains. And while I know you’re a total badass, you can’t bring claws to a god fight—it just won’t work.” Her lips trembled, and I reached out to take her hand. “I promise I’ll come to Earth as soon as we handle Dannie.”

“What if you don’t?” she whispered. “What if I never see any of you again and I just have to assume the damn worst happened? Again, Mera! I’ve already done that once this year.”

“I agree,” Sam added. “You’re already important to me, Mera. I’m going to be worried as hell if I don’t hear anything.”

Shadow laughed dryly. “If we fail, the worlds will fall. Even Earth.” The Shadow Bastard was nothing if not blunt. “So I wouldn’t worry too much. We’re the only chance anyone has, and we can’t effectively do our jobs when we’re worrying about those weak and vulnerable.”

Both of the ladies were offended by that, and I couldn’t blame them. Weak and vulnerable were not admirable shifter traits, but in this sort of “god fight,” Shadow wasn’t wrong.

“I concede to this with one stipulation,” Simone finally said. “That if you get a chance to send me and Sam a message or smoke signal or misty communication, you do it. Let us know you’re okay.”

Shadow paused, and it was clear he was thinking about the best way to grant this request. “I have an idea,” he finally said. “I’ll be right back.”

He strode off into the library, and all of us watched silently until he disappeared from sight.

“Phew,” Sam said, letting out a long breath. “He’s intense.”

Simone snorted. “Mera doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Yeah, not even a little,” I said with a laugh, shaking my head at my obsession with that beast. “I keep having to pinch myself to believe this is even real. Just wish there wasn’t war hanging over our heads.”

Simone’s joking smile disappeared in an instant as she hugged me hard. “I’m so scared for you,” she said against my shoulder. “I think I’d rather be here and die, than stuck in Torma imagining the worst.”

I shook my head. “Girl, your death is my worst nightmare. I couldn’t do this knowing you were in danger. Just go to Torma, and… be careful there. You need a good cover story because they think you took off without permission. Be wary around Torin as well; he’s still the same evil dickhead pretending to be an alpha.” I looked between Simone and Sam. “Stick together.”

“I’ve got her back,” Sam said. “I know how to escape from a pack without detection, so if we need to run, we will.”

I had to hug her as well, my new friend who was already starting to feel like one of the pack. “I’m sorry to have dragged you into this, even if I’m not sorry to have met you,” I told her when I pulled away, “and if we all survive this, I promise to make it up to you.”

She waved me off. “Are you kidding me? Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. There’s this whole damn world that I never knew existed, not to mention all of these new supernatural creatures to learn about. Before I met you, I was lonely and sad all the time. I’d take the risk of death over an empty life any damn day.”

“See,” Simone said smugly. “We both feel the same, and I think you should let us stay.”

I didn’t bother to argue; she already knew it was a done deal, but it was in her nature to fight until the bitter end. Before she could try again, Shadow stepped into view, holding what looked like a piece of parchment in his hand.

When he got closer, it was clear how ancient the parchment was, made from a material far thicker and sturdier than normal paper. “Here,” he said, handing one sheet of it to Simone and the second sheet to me. “These are magically-connected parchments. It’s fae magic, and Len left these in my care. If you write on one, it will appear on the other, until such a time that the words are read. Then it disappears. Keep it on you at all times.”

Simone looked down at the parchment, her eyes wide and glassy as she clutched it to her chest. “Old school texting. I love it.”

“Yes, it’s perfect,” I said. “I’ll send messages through the parchment and you can pass it on to Sam.”

A tear spilled down Simone’s cheek, sliding along the smooth skin. “I love you, Meers. Please don’t die. I honestly can’t live in this fucked-up world without you.”

Dammit, now I was about to cry too. “I promise to do my very best to remain alive so we can bitch about men and eat junk food.”

Shadow rumbled, sounding pissed off. At first I thought it was my comment about bitching, but then he said, “Mera’s life is the most valuable life in any of the worlds. I will die for her, as will our pack.”

Simone looked relieved by this, and I could understand why. Shadow was scary and intimidating at the best of times, but when he was like this, he literally sent shivers down my spine.

With one more hug for them both, I followed them into the white hallway, waving as they were led to Earth by my beast.

“They’re going to be okay, right?” I asked Shadow when he returned to me, sans two shifters. “With those assholes in Torma? What if they get hurt there?”

Shadow’s smile was darkly evil. “Torin is about to learn a lesson about touching my wolves without permission. If he oversteps at all, he will suffer. Rest assured, Sunshine, your friends are safe.”

I hugged myself into his side, holding on as tightly as I could. “Thank you. For everything. For you.”

It was a weird thing to say, but I just felt this overwhelming gratitude to know Shadow. To have him in my life. To share parts of him that no one else did. My need to express that burst from me, but he handled it smoothly.

“You’re my Sunshine, and I protect that with all of my power.”

Swoon again. My mate had moves today.

As we strolled along the white hall, my eyes were drawn to the doorways. “Are my shadow creatures still here?” I asked, slowing. “The ones I pulled to Earth?”

“They are,” he said, “safe from my mother’s wrath.”

A terrible thought occurred to me and I had to ask it. “Can we use their energy in this fight?”

Shadow’s eyes darkened to a deep, burning ember, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like his response. But then again, what else was new?