He looked like a man who’d been sitting there for many hours, patiently waiting.
“What actually happened?” I asked, relieved to feel a slight decrease in the pounding in my head.
“What happened is you’re weaker than I expected, and when you had a chance to break through a very powerful spell on the Shadow Realm door, you only managed to almost die.”
Right. “I’m good at almost dying,” I said conversationally, choosing not to bother being angry about him acting like a piece of shit. “But maybe, if you’d been a little more forthcoming about the Shadow Realm and what sort of spell is on the door, we wouldn’t be in this position.”
Shadow shook his head, leaning forward to draw me in with his intense stare. “You see, there was no reason you needed to know that information to do what was needed. You just had to be strong enough to break the spell without it consuming your soul.”
Consuming my soul.Well, that didn’t sound like fun. Running my hands across my body, as if I could check if everything was still intact, I felt only naked skin. Blinking down at the silky sheets pooled around my waist, my tits hanging out for the world to see, I shook my head. “Well, damn. Why didn’t you tell me I was butt-ass naked?”
Shadow’s chest rumbled as he actually laughed. “You act nothing like any virgin I’ve ever met.”
I snorted, still not attempting to cover myself. At this point, I’d been sitting here for who-knew-how-long and covering up now would just be redundant. “Had a few sacrificed to you over the years, I’d guess.”
With a shake of his head, he stood, unfolding his long length from the chair and stalking closer to me. I swallowed at the dryness in my throat. How one could go from near death to horny as fuck in a few minutes was beyond me, but, hey, at least I wasn’t boring.
When he stood above me, I tilted my head back. “Mera,” he said, his voice not giving anything away.
“Shadow,” I replied.
“You need to get the fuck out of my bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, and find the damn path back to the Shadow Realm. Before it’s too late.”
Ouch. Well, okay then.
Avoiding the vomit, I dropped my legs off the side of his massive bed while taking a moment to look around, since this would probably be the only time I’d be invited into his secret chambers.
The room was darkly masculine, of course—king of darkness wouldn’t be caught dead with anything else—and appeared to be mostly dominated by the huge bed. Outside of that, there was a television, and I stared longingly at it. It had been months since I’d indulged in my love of old movies and cheesy sitcoms, and to know Shadow had one just chilling here was such a jolt of reality.
I felt homesick.
“How many channels do you get down here?” I said half-jokingly, jerking my head toward the massive flat screen.
Shadow’s expression was deadpan. “All of them.”
All. Of. Them?
“Jealous,” I cried, in a poor Napoleon Dynamite mimic, and what do you freaking know… he actually smiled.
“Maybe, if you can figure out how to do the one task I’ve set for you, then I’ll give you some screen time.”
“Like a toddler,” I drawled. “Should I call you ‘Daddy’ too?”
The red and gold in his eyes shimmied to black, and I didn’t even try to pretend I’d misunderstood the double entendre of what I’d just said. I had not forgotten Angel’s plan, andalmostdying wasn’t going to stop me from fulfilling my part.
“Get the fuck out before I take you over my knee,” Shadow rumbled, his voice deeper than ever. “Calling me ‘Daddy’ will be the least of your worries.”
Of course, that jolted through my chest like an arrow shot from a magical blade, one that would never miss its target.My father.He was what had started all of this and almost gotten me killed by a dark realm. Was this the last time I’d sidle close to my final breaths for that man? Should I just say “fuck it” and let him go now? Kind of felt like I’d fought for my dad as much as possible, and yet I couldn’t quite release my last shred of hope for answers. My last hope to see him one more time.
My head was a mess of father drama as I stumbled from the room, only to realize I hadn’t paid attention to where I’d exited, and when I looked around for Shadow’s door, there was nothing to be found. Just a set of familiar shelves near the fire. Well, apparently, his room was like the hallway to Earth: only Shadow could find it.
My bedroom, thankfully, wasn’t playing musical rooms, and when I entered, I sank against the door, wishing that the weakness in my body would fade. My wolf felt like a shell of herself today, and it was so out of the norm that I was genuinely worried.
Sucking up as much strength as I had, I pushed off from the door and made my way into the bathroom, where I half-drowned myself in an attempt to get clean and clear my head. By the time I was done—never-ending hot water, bitches—I felt much more like my usual self. My usual self with a lot of questions and a new burning desire to discover what had caused that door to the Shadow Realm to react like that.
Why was it closed off to everyone?
I pulled on the clothing that I liked to think of as my “get the fuck out of my face or I’ll kick your ass” style, including black leather pants, thigh-high leather boots with a decent heel, and a white tank that I tucked into the pants. I braided my hair—poor attempt but better than Simone’s—and headed out to get some answers.
