We stopped moving, the beast turning as flames licked up and across his arms, the heat so intense that I actually wondered if I was going to burn alive. Those flames obeyed the will of their creator, flinging from his fingertips and engulfing Victor completely.
“Only a weak alpha sends his pack out to do his job,” Shadow Beast murmured. “Torma is too strong for one such as you to control it any longer.”
Victor’s screams as he burned to death would be heard across Torma, followed by his son’s howls as he lost control and shifted into his wolf, trying to get to his father. Jaxson held his clawing, fighting best friend back, and the pair of them were the last thing I saw as the Shadow Beast stepped into darkness—or…shadows?And we both disappeared.
16
Ihadn’t really thought my bravado through. At some point, I fell in with the Shadow Beast being the lesser of two evils.
The. Motherfucking. Shadow. Beast!
What was wrong with me?
“I can walk, you know,” I said, sick of hanging over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
There was no reply as he continued moving through darkness… darkness that faded as we ended up in a white hall. Like, one minute it was dark and then there was light.
I blinked a few times, adjusting my sight, only to find this hall was basically empty of anything interesting. “What do you want from me?” I pushed.
“Just shut the fuck up,” he growled. “You’re already a problem I don’t want to deal with, but a creature like you can’t be left to its own devices.”
Rude.“Most women don’t like to be referred to as acreature,” I told him huffily.
His chest rumbled, but he didn’t respond, and I had a strong feeling that his whole silent brooding thing was going to continue for a while. But, on the plus side, he wasn’t killing or torturing me. Yet.
“Can I call you ‘Shadow’?” I asked a few minutes later. The silence was getting to me, and apparently, I was a lunatic with a death wish. “‘Shadow Beast’ is such a mouthful.” I paused, but he made no response. “Do you have another name you go by? Or was momma beast really into… uh, darkness.”
Still no response.
“Okay great,” I chirped, having gone too far to stop now. “‘Shadow it is!”
Chest rumble. No response.
Great. We were making some real progress.
After some time, I started to notice that this hall wasn’t as devoid of life as I’d expected. Or at least not life, but doors. They were quite well hidden, with each one almost seamlessly blending into the wall. They were as white as their surroundings, dozens scattered on each side.
Weirdly, the more attention I paid to the doors, the stronger they felt, until I was completely enthralled with the heady feeling seeping from beneath them.
“What is this place?” I whispered.
This time, he answered. “It’s a pathway between Earth and the other worlds.”
I blinked. “Literally?”
Chest rumble. Okay, great. I was annoying him again. “I mean, you don’t have to smite me and go all grumbly beast. It’s a perfectly normal question for someone to ask.”
“Shut up, pup,” he snapped.
This time I decided to obey, all the while hoping I’d be alive long enough to learn about this secret new world I’d found myself in. He was back to his eight-feet height at this point, marching us along the endless white hallway, light below our feet and above our heads, and all the while, the smoky shadows continued to surround their master.
“Each of these doorways leads to a place of power and worth,” he said, surprising me. “Some of them are on the Earthly plane; others are in realms that connect to Earth. Deities can walk these halls, and many of their homes are behind these doors.”
Well, well, look who was Chatty Cathy now. Maybe I could ask him another question and actually get an answer.
“So—”
“Shut up.”
