Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

With Angel up to speed and the countdown clock still ticking, we decided to head back to the library. “I’ll take some energy from the layers of my ancestral power,” Angel said as we left her cabin. “I don’t need as many levels of protection as I have, and if we all die because we lack the power to best Dannie, it’ll be useless anyway.”

She had all of my attention now because I really wanted to know how she planned on taking energy from a “layer” of her world.

She didn’t touch the forest level, leading us back to the spot we’d first entered it. “This is a main connective point,” she explained, motioning to the exact area Shadow had used to step through. “From here, I can take as many layers as I need.”

A blade appeared in her hand, shimmery and gold, with small spirals of smoke wafting from it even though nothing burned. Angel lowered the blade and sliced it into the ground. It parted the same way it had for Shadow, but there was one difference. For Angel, every layer appeared like pages in a book, allowing her to rifle through and select from them.

“Holy shit.” I gasped. “How many layers do you have?”

We’d crossed three to get to her, and I’d assumed that there weren’t many more than that, but from what I was seeing…

“Eight hundred and seventy-four,” she said succinctly. “Varying in worth and power.”

She reached out then, grasping on to a level of water that existed below her forest land. “This level is a good start,” Angel said, pulling that water page up toward her until there was a grating sound of her tearing the page free.

“What the fuckery?” I muttered, staring at the shimmering piece of “land” she held, no larger than a piece of printer paper.

Angel winked at me, and then she opened her mouth and… ate the freaking page.

I mean, sure, I expected a lot of humans and shifters had eaten some paper before, but this was taking “eating paper” to an entirely new level.

“What does it taste like?” I asked.

Was that a weird question? It felt like it might have been a weird question.

Angel paused in the process of ripping out the next shimmering layer of land, tilting her head to meet my gaze. “There’s only one way to find out.”

She tore a small corner from the glowing level and handed it to me. “We’re bonded, Mera. This won’t hurt you, and the best way to learn is by doing.”

Holy shit. Excitement shot me forward, and I didn’t hesitate to take the corner from her. When it hit my hand, it felt like I held a boiling stone. The texture was smooth, and it sizzled against my hands but didn’t hurt me. And the power… it filled me with heat, like that of my fire, but also different. Ancient and heady, it pushed and pulled at my essence, and I swallowed roughly in an attempt to pull myself together.

Shadow leaned closer, drawn in by my power, just as I always was with his. His eyes were flaming orbs, eating me up, and I ended up both weak at the knees and horny like no one’s fucking business. “Eat it, Sunshine,” he said in that deep rumble of his voice. “Swallow that power down.”

Motherfucker. His words were saying one thing, while his eyes reminded me of our last dance in the bedroom when he’d come in my mouth and I’d felt a burst of power from tasting him like that.

Clearly, our few times together since our memories had returned were not enough to make up for our time apart. Of course, we had that small matter of saving the worlds to deal with, but if we couldn’t manage to fit in at least six to ten more quickies during this mission, the world might just be on its own.

Never taking my eyes from Shadow’s, I lifted the section of power Angel had torn off, and pushed it toward my mouth. It slid down my throat, like a thick, hot cocoa, as sweet and delicious as anything I’d ever tasted.

The heat that followed spread and bloomed throughout my body until I felt like I’d swallowed a drop of sunlight. “Your power will take a minute to accept the offering,” Angel said from the side, and no lie, I’d almost forgotten she was there. Between the heat and Shadow, my mind was consumed and occupied to its fullest degree.

Her advice was solid, though. Within seconds, the warmth faded everywhere except right in my center, where my own flaming power existed alongside my wolf. My wolf wasn’t too sure about this new power, to be honest, but she didn’t fight it, either, nudging against it with curiosity before resuming her position of calm watchfulness inside.

When the power settled, I shook myself in an attempt to put everything back in its place. “That was… interesting,” I said, energy threading my words. “I’ve never felt anything quite like that.”

Shadow and Angel both watched me closely, in that unblinking way I was coming to see all immortals had. “You don’t feel odd?” Angel pressed.

Ominous words, but deciding to humor her, I pushed deeper into my power, examining the new drop of sunlight in there. “Not really,” I said. “Just lots of heat, but it’s always hot in my energy, so no huge difference.”

Shadow and Angel exchanged a look, and I didn’t like it when they did that. It was very hard to take these ancient beings by surprise. When a surprise happened, it usually wasn’t a good one.

“What were you expecting the power would do to me?” I asked, looking between them. “Since that was clearly an experiment.”

Angel wrapped an arm around me, her wings shooting out behind us. “No, seriously, it was definitely not an experiment. Neither of us would ever allow you to try anything that could harm you. It’s just… the lock on your power. I keep waiting for the moment you burst free and become everything you are capable of. You’re born of the Nexus. Your power is about as raw as it comes, as are the layers of my land here. The two together…”

Ah, I understood what they’d been waiting for. “I think because I was reborn as a hybrid shifter, there’s a part of me that can never be awoken again. I’m not pure, but I’m okay with that. My shifter side is what allowed me to leave the Shadow Realm and be part of the other worlds.”

Angel nodded a few times. “Yes, yes. You’re right, and with that in mind, I best fill my well of energy so we can be on our way.”

She went back to the layers of her land, continuing to eat through them like she was a starving shifter who’d just finished her first change. I’d never actually seen her eat before, but this she definitely enjoyed.

“Where are you storing it all?” I knew she filled her regular strength through meditating with the land itself, but this had to be so much more than normal. So where was the extra going?

“I’m layering it upon my skin,” she rumbled, tilting her head back as a burst of light expelled from her mouth. “I’ll take as much as I can.”

“Until now, Angel refused to power herself using the extra energy,” Shadow said dryly, “for fear that others would consider it an act of war.”

She scoffed. “They’d have stood no chance against me, but you are correct. I can no longer tolerate war. It was easy to allow the power to rest here, providing me with a safe haven that none could infiltrate.”

No wonder she’d been so shocked at our arrival. The thought that her sanctuary was so easily infiltrated must have filled her with a level of fear that would have felled a lesser being.

When Angel took her final layer of power, she was literally glowing, sparkles of gold falling off her skin like glitter. “We must return now,” Shadow said, and he wrapped me up before Angel could touch me. “Mine,” he added for good measure, nailing the angel-faced beauty with a glare. “Even as powered up as you are, I will destroy you if you claim Mera again. The first bond is bad enough. Don’t make it any worse.”

I was missing something here, but there was no time to ask. Angel’s eyes flashed to a deep molten gold. “Don’t push me, Shadow Beast,” she snapped. “You cannot lay full claim to Mera, since there’s more than one bond connected to her energy. Mine, Midnight’s, Torin’s, and now yours.”

I cleared my throat. “Look, I fully intend to murder Torin, so you can scratch his ass off that list. If I’d had my memories in Torma, he’d already be dead.”

Shadow was pissed, flames sliding up and across his body as he pulled me tighter into his chest. “Mine, Melalekin. Last damn warning.”

Because I was messed up, his words had me purring like a damn kitten. Shadow had always been possessive, but it used to be in the way of an object he didn’t want others to play with. Now it was the possessiveness of a shifter with his true mate. The sort that spoke of a deep-seated need to protect his heart and soul to the bitter end, destroying any who got in the way.

I was into it, no lie, but now wasn’t the time. We had bigger enemies to fry.

“Guys, we really don’t have time for another clash of the immortals,” I said, looking between them. “Figure out how to divide me up later.”

I understood their stance—I’d literally kill any who tried to remove our bonds. But our best chance at defeating Dannie before she destroyed the world was to be united. “We have one chance to take Dannie out before she realizes what we’re doing,” I reminded them. “There’s no time for any other battles.”

Angel and Shadow exchanged a long, power-filled stare-off, and I could tell that there were “words” being spoken, just not out loud. The tension that filled the space was thick and heavy, and as much as I wanted to interfere again, I allowed them this moment to mentally duke it out.

“It is done,” Angel finally said, her voice deeper but still musical in nature.

“Let’s return to the library,” Shadow said in reply to her obscure statement. “We have a battle to plan.”

And just like that, it was done. Apparently.