Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

Their fortress of binding power was half done by the time we reached the castle. Dannie’s power was the strongest here, a veritable itch under our skin we couldn’t scratch. Unlike with Ixana, though, who had rushed into creating the final parts of her Nexus through a mass sacrifice of creatures, Dannie appeared to be doing it the old-fashioned way. A slow build of energy.

Had she started her Nexus the moment she’d messed with our memories and expelled us from the realm? Maybe that had been her plan all along, and she’d simply pretended it had been about the balance. If that was the truth, letting her go would be far easier… She was already lost.

When we rounded the largest side of the castle, heading toward the entrance that led into the lower chambers, I was hit with all the memories. Within those chambers, with its deep pool of lava from the chasm, was where I’d lost my creatures.

“Is she in the lower chamber?” I whispered, hoping I wasn’t about to alert an angry Nexus goddess to our presence.

“I don’t think so,” Shadow rasped, sounding more strained than he had the last time he’d spoken. It was definitely clear that the larger the fortress grew, the harder it was to control the energy. “Her power essence is closer to the main chasm.”

“Her energy is strong,” Lucien said, forcing the words out. “She’s taking on the full power of the leicher mists as she weaves herself into a power source with no equal.”

My next breath escaped in a defeated manner. “She was way more resentful of those mists than the ether. The mists who spat out the royals.” Royals who had taken her creatures and fucked up the realm. “I bet she’ll find it fitting that they’ll form part of her Nexus, which she’ll completely control.”

“She’s missing the entire point of balance,” Angel stated, and no one was going to argue with truth.

“Has the true Nexus been destroyed?” Alistair asked, sounding less serene than usual. “Was that her first step? I swore I felt it in The Depths, but… can there be two Nexuses?”

“One cannot be destroyed until the other is born,” Shadow said without hesitation. “Otherwise, there’d be no realm left for us to stand upon.”

“He’s right,” I said quickly. “I feel the other Nexus still thrumming within my power, but it’s weakened. Its power is bleeding out of the cracks Dannie left within it.”

We were moving slower now, the fortress nearing completion. When we finally made it to the side of the castle with the chasm, the red of the lava came into view, and… What the fuck?

There had been no real warning about what we were going to see, and to my shame, I found myself captivated in a way I never remembered being before. Not even with Shadow.

“How did we miss that from above?” I choked out.

Stunning ribbons of gold and red had shattered across the sky, filling it with the sort of beauty that could make grown men cry. Wherever I looked was another pattern and shape, sparkling in the low light of the new realm sky. The one true illumination left in this world.

“She hid it from us,” Shadow said, emotion finally threading his tone.

The “she” became apparent as we got closer, her body in the center of the kaleidoscope of power and light that had fragmented across the chasm. Dannie. Only it wasn’t the Dannie I’d known from Torma. Or the phoenix hybrid Dannie who had stolen our memories and changed the course of the realm and all the worlds.

She had changed again. Evolved one last time.

It was hard to truly understand this evolution while she was covered in swirling tendrils of power, the red and gold shooting off her body in a thousand swirling arcs and beams. So bright and mesmerizing. I wasn’t the only one staring like we’d just found the first oasis.

“She’s literally becoming a Nexus,” Angel breathed. “The metamorphosis is almost complete.”

Like a damn caterpillar, Dannie was about to become the Nexus butterfly, and if that happened, it would be too late. We couldn’t defeat the power of creation.

I took a step closer, and even though Shadow growled, he couldn’t break the fortress to stop me. Inky wrapped around the front of me, as if to halt my forward progress, but neither of them needed to worry. I wasn’t going to do anything stupid; I just wanted to get a better look at what we were facing.

Hello, Mera.

I froze, my hands trembling as I pressed them to my head. It wasn’t like when Galleli or Midnight spoke in my mind. Dannie’s voice erupted as a vibration of power within my own, and with that zap of energy came the knowledge that she could destroy me with a single thought.

I see you have proven stronger than ever expected, breaking through my memory spell.

I swallowed roughly. You should have known I’d pick at every little inconsistency. I don’t settle, Dannie. I never have. My fight might be small, but it’s consistent.

She sorted through my words, mulling over them, all the while continuing her journey to the next stage of power enlightenment.

“The power is growing,” someone shouted from behind me, but I couldn’t turn away to see who. I was too busy not succumbing to the seductive lure of the goddess before me.

Stop it, I said with force. I do not belong to you, Dannie. You cannot drag my power into this.

The chuckle that followed was low and heady, and not in my head. She was speaking out loud now, and it seemed that was for everyone’s benefit. “You should not have come here today,” she said slowly, swirling and swirling on the spot until the magnificent light of her power twirled back inside of her, and then it was just Dannie there, floating and glowing in the sky above. “I’ve already set everything in motion, and none of you are strong enough to stand against me.”

The others couldn’t move, still weaving their fortress, which seemed to be of no concern to this version of Dannie. A version that was now a complete hybrid of human and phoenix. Dannie was red and gold, covered in both flesh and feathers, with huge wings extending from behind her back. She was naked, but you couldn’t see anything around the feathers that trailed down her chest and over her middle, flowing out into a long tail. Her face was hybridized, with human eyes, a beak-like nose and mouth, and a high-reaching plume that stretched across her head and down her spine, forming part of the tail.

The phoenix lady.

It wasn’t weird to see her looking this stunningly powerful; it felt natural to me, and I wondered if she could have changed into this version of herself even before swallowing the stone.

When she drifted closer, Shadow’s power whipped up behind me, and I knew he was about to do something stupid. No doubt because he was pissed about me being a few steps in front of their group. With that in mind, I gave into Inky’s nudging, backing up a few paces to stop just before I touched Shadow—the fortress was almost complete, and I wouldn’t be the reason they had to start all over again.

“My memories of you are fond,” Dannie continued, “but I’m no longer the Dannie you knew. I have a mission now, one that is essential in controlling the balance on a larger scale. A scale that will ensure the yin and yang of the universes are never in jeopardy again. In that regard, no fond memories will save you.”

Len sighed dramatically. “I really miss the days when the bad guys just tried to kill you without pretty speeches. If you’ve heard one, you’ve heard them all.”

For some reason—probably stress—that struck me as extra funny, and I barely managed not to laugh out loud and make the situation worse.

Dannie’s eyes flashed, and when they filled with red and gold flames, it was a reminder that this was Shadow’s mother. Not that he appeared to care as he wove a prison to steal her strength. Dannie also had zero fucks to give about her son, since she was clearly about to attack him.

Her timing was excellent, with the seven only a few strands away from having a complete fortress. If she shattered it now, they’d be destroyed.

I couldn’t let that happen.

In a split-second decision, I decided that it was on me to be the distraction.

Stripping off my clothes, I allowed my wolf to surge up, and with her change came the flames of Nexus power. This burst of energy drew Dannie’s full attention, just as I’d hoped.

Shadow roared my name, but we were fighting to win here, and that required all of us to play our parts. This was mine. Cage her, I shot back at him, hoping those words would get through our bond.

“Thread faster,” he shouted. “Reinforce it for the final transition.”

Since I’d heard him, so had Dannie, who immediately lost interest in my flaming wolf, focusing her attention once again on the circle of power. She went for them, ribbons of energy building around her as she prepared to attack.

Nice try, bitch, but not on my watch. My wolf shifted direction, and when Dannie floated over the land, I launched myself at her. If I could give them a few seconds of time, it might be the chance they needed to take her down.

Come on, wolf. Let’s do this.