Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

The circle of camouflage pushed us closer together until I was basically standing at Shadow’s back. Inky drifted up above us one more time, adding its own protections, layering what the locals had started.

I wanted to shout my thanks to them, not to mention hug them all, but with Dannie closing in, my sole focus was on not drawing any attention our way. Tamping down my energy was number one, followed by shutting the hell up.

Dannie would find Shadow and me easier than any others, and while Shadow couldn’t do much to hide himself, still painstakingly threading energy through the fortress of binding power, I could make myself as close to human as possible.

As if to prove me wrong, I heard, “You can’t hide from me,” as Dannie flew into sight, the shining light of her phoenix form washing over us. “I know you’re here, and I promise that if you come out, I’ll make your deaths fast. I’ll also ensure your energy is distributed to the right worlds. You’ll rest peacefully within your ancestral magic.”

Got to love the reasoning of a morally corrupted being. I’m going to kill you no matter what, but if you don’t resist, I’ll ensure that it’s fast and your energy returns to its rightful place. It’s the least I can do.

Really fucking big of you, Dannie.

She glided closer, the flame-covered wings flapping slowly, holding her aloft. “There’s really no need to fight me. You can’t win, and I think you all know that. You should have just stayed away and enjoyed the lives I so graciously granted you. But you didn’t. And I cannot manipulate your minds again, as you’ve protected yourself enough that I don’t care to try to get around it.”

Fuck yes. Threats aside, it was beyond exciting that Len’s stones were working. Faerie stones for the win, finally, since it was kind of what had gotten us into this mess. But I would not blame the victim here—this was all on Ixana and Dannie.

Dannie, who’d apparently had enough at this point, sent out a strong burst of magic, decimating the camouflage shield like it was nothing. The locals went flying, which had my temper exploding, my vision turning red.

Flames sprung up around me as my fury grew over Dannie tossing innocent beings around like they were pieces of trash.

I lashed out, and a strand of my power hit the phoenix, sending her back a few paces. She recovered in an instant, rising up again, her flames larger than ever. My power, still thrumming strongly through my veins, allowed me to rise up as well, flames coating my skin in the familiar dance of magic.

Dannie and I faced off against each other, and I was certain that the others were screaming at me from the ground, but there was no time to worry about that. My head was in the game, all other distractions blocked from my mind as I dragged from the depths of my being as much power as I could.

“I wanted to save you,” I roared at Dannie. “I fought the others, who wanted to kill you straight up!” My voice grew louder and deeper. “I told them you were a good person deep down, and that the stone was the corruption. Not you. I fought for you and your life, and this is how you repay me?”

She drifted closer, and maybe it was wishful thinking, but I could have sworn she was displaying a touch less hostility. “Give up the stone, Dannie,” I begged, hoping that name would remind her of who she was to me. “Release it and allow it to return to the Fae Realm, where it belongs. You’re already amazing and powerful. You already keep the balance. You don’t need anything else.”

There was no way for her to truly frown, not with the beak that made up a large part of her face, but her eyes were definitely frowning. “I failed before,” she said. “I tried to protect everyone, and I almost lost my son and… you. I almost lost myself. Fighting the stone brought me close to the sort of true death that not even a Nexus born can recover from. If that happened, the Nexus would have fallen. You’re no longer a being able to bring the balance, since your soul is shared with a shifter soul. It’s only me, Mera, and I must take this responsibility seriously.”

“You can do it without the stone,” I said, putting every iota of my belief in her into those words. “Trust me, you don’t need it or the boost of power it gives you. You’re now the one throwing the balance off, and deep down, you know that.”

I’d been doing so well, but of course, foot-in-mouth disease had to kick in as I’d said the exact words she didn’t want to hear. Maybe it was her own guilt, or maybe I’d reminded her of her mission, but either way, that was the moment I lost her. The moment she stopped listening to my reasoning. The moment her resolve grew.

She spread her wings wide, the flames bursting out of her from all angles, near engulfing the entire forest area around us. The heat scorched me as it blasted past, but it was a fire built of my own power, so I wasn’t burned to a cinder, unlike the rest of the foliage. It crumbled in an instant, leaving behind a land that finally held a resemblance to the lava fields.

The forest blackened, ash crumbling all around us, even filling the sky until the only light that remained was the golden glow of the fortress. Shadow, despite his exhaustion, managed to shoot a blast of energy at his mother, knocking her back. I joined him, sending my power into Dannie, and between the two of us, we forced her across the clearing.

We knew there was no way to best her, not like this, but that hadn’t been our aim. Our aim, once again, was to give the others the extra minute they needed to finish the fortress.

By the time Dannie flew back toward us, the flames around her the largest I’d ever seen, Shadow was ready and waiting. Gathering up the finished golden strands, he flung them at his mother using every last ounce of his power and strength.

When Dannie was almost coated, she let out a cynical laugh. “You’ll never win,” she squawked, the vibration of her power felt for a brief moment before the last strand of the golden spell locked into place.

I hurried to Shadow’s side, just as he collapsed to his knees, barely able to hold himself up.

“It’s got to work this time,” Angel murmured, bringing to my attention the fact that all of them were on their asses, having given everything they had, and then maybe a little more.

I hated to see them so broken and defeated, but it would be worth it if this cage worked. We needed it to work.

Wrapping myself around Shadow, I shared as much of my energy as I could, all the while keeping my gaze firmly locked on Dannie in the golden fortress. So far, it was holding, with no slivers of light breaking free.

For many minutes, we watched the prison, the eight of us still and silent in our blackened section of forest. I wondered at what point we could relax and expect that this time it had worked.

“I think we did it,” Len rasped out, managing to pull himself to stand so he could straighten and clean his silver jacket. Lucien stood as well, wiping ash from his face, exhaustion pulling at his perfect features. Even Shadow turned to the others, preparing for the next step.

I was the only one still staring at Dannie. The only one who refused to be lulled into a sense of false success. Not until there was not a shred of doubt.

Just when I was satisfied and about to turn away, the tiniest speck of light caught my eye as it crept out of a sliver of the prison, right near her left hand. My blood iced in my veins as I took a staggered step toward her.

No! No, no, no, no, no, no! Fuck.

It hadn’t worked.

Our last effort was about to fail, and none of them had an ounce of strength to try to prevent it from happening. Except me.

I had no idea if it was possible, but I’d learned from watching them weave this cage multiple times, and this was my chance to prove that I was strong enough to do this. Darting forward, I pulled up the deepest, strongest parts of my energy. The parts that burned like the center of a volcano, molten and intense, and when it filled my hand, I pressed it against the sliver of light that had already started to spread as Dannie poured her energy into the weak spot.

Shadow’s roar shook the land, and with that one guttural, broken sound, I understood that what I’d done… the choice I’d made… was not going to end well for me.

Clearly, there was a reason none of them had tried to reinforce the fortress last time when she’d broken through with her fire energy. A reason they knew and I did not.

“Mera! Stop!”

“It will drain your energy!”

They were all shouting, but it was too late. There was no way to prevent this from happening; my palm was already fused to the golden light, the power that had been in my hold now a tether linking me to the fortress itself. A fortress sucking my power into itself, draining me in an instant.

It took from me what it needed to secure the prison, and I was helpless, unable to pull away or resist its strength. By the time Shadow got to me, there was barely even a shred of conscious thought in my head.

Exhaustion forced my eyes closed as the fortress of binding power did its job, binding my powers and using them to bolster itself. It stole the essence of my being, sucking it down greedily and without remorse for the life it stole.

In my desperation not to die, I clung to the bonds in my chest. Shadow. Angel. Midnight. The creatures. My connection to them was the one thing still tethering me to this world, but even with their immense power, it wasn’t enough to stop the inevitable.

I dragged them down as far as I could before understanding that this was killing them too.

Maybe under normal circumstances, the bonds would have saved me, but Shadow and Angel were weaker than they’d ever been, Midnight was no longer my mist, and the creatures were too far away. So, facing the risk of destroying us all, I found the strength to let them go. The strength to accept my fate.

Contentment flooded through me at the thought that at least Dannie would be stopped. My wolf howled one final time in my chest, and I hugged her soul to me so that we wouldn’t leave this world alone. Always together, I whispered. I love you.

She whimpered but didn’t fight. We knew that our energy, as it turned out, was exactly what they’d needed in their cage to truly secure Dannie. It was the last gift we could give the worlds. The last gift we could give our loved ones.

We could die for them, and I would hold no resentment in my soul for it.

When the power was gone, my heartbeats slowed, and as they finally faltered, I was released from the cage, falling back into Shadow’s arms. His hands and power were the last touch on my body, and the last breath I took was mingled with his as he pulled me close, desperately trying to save me with whatever strength he had left inside.

It was too late, though. Love…

My heart stopped before I could finish.

My time was done.