Everyone nodded, falling into a circle around me as I drew the creatures toward me, before directing them to cross toward the exit. Shadow dropped his hand on my shoulder.
“I have a quicker way.”
His energy surged up, and I blinked at how strong it was. The stone was already making a huge difference to his base power. A portal formed, The Grey Lands visible on the other side. “Thanks, Shadow,” I said softly, sending my creatures through the six-feet-wide opening.
It was clearly going to take a few hours to get them all through, so I shooed the others away. “I’ll stay here and make sure they get back safely,” I said. “You all need to deal with the fallout upstairs.”
Angel gave me a hug as she left, as did the other guys. Reece bound Ixana to him, dragging her up the stairs, since she was clearly their new prisoner, and would be dealt with later.
Shadow, the last to leave, hesitated. His eyes burned as his new stronger power hit me like a lightning bolt. One huge hand wrapped around the back of my head, and he lifted me so our lips could meet.
Desperation had me pulling him closer, and the fear I’d been holding deep inside during the entire battle turned up the intensity of the kiss. “We need to talk, Sunshine,” he told me.
I nodded, my head spinning. “Yes, talk. Yes.”
His laugh was a low, deep rumble. “Flustered Sunshine is one of my favorites.”
He released me.
“Go,” I whispered, not really meaning it. “You’re the Supreme Being and you need to sort out the world of royals, guards, and freilds. Save your people.”
He kissed me again, one more hard, perfect press of our lips. “I’ll send any creatures I find down here,” he murmured against my mouth. “Keeping my promise to you.”
He brushed his fingers across my face, leaving behind a spark of power that had my knees buckling. I caught myself, possibly drooling a little as he left the room, his broad shoulders and perfect ass the last thing I saw before he disappeared up the stairs.
49
Asense of accomplishment settled deep in my chest as my creatures found their freedom. More joined the ones who had been down here, stolen from the royals above, and sent into my protective embrace by Shadow and our friends.
He was absolutely honoring his promise to me.
As the adrenaline wore off, I expected to feel exhausted, but I didn’t. Whatever Ixana had been doing, draining the energy from the mists and land, had been hurting me. Hurting every being here.
But now I had a new lease on life. A new surge of energy.
Angel popped her head in a few times to check on me, and apparently, it was going well upstairs. It was going well down here as well, and when the last of the creatures had finally filed through Shadow’s doorway some hours later, I knew my work was only beginning.
Shadow Realm had been screwed over for thousands of years, and it would take more than a minute to fix that.
Knowing his doorway would remain open until Shadow was done, I decided to step through myself, following the last of the tiny grekins, their chattering comforting now, when it had at one time been terrifying.
Not that I didn’t miss “fuck ours,” but it was nice to feel the real essence of their character. My heart overflowing at the bond I felt to them all. Just call me “Crazy Creature Lady” because I was ready to have a dozen or more of them in my life. My new pack.
Family.
The chick with no family suddenly had thousands.
Shadow’s doorway had dropped the creatures near the Nexus, and as I stepped closer, I was relieved to feel the strong thrum of that power there. Not only that, but already I could see signs of life spreading across the land, and I felt like that would only be possible if…
“Dannie?” I called.
My creatures brayed at the sound of my voice, the thousands of them setting off into the land. This was their goodbye, and I loved that, but my focus was on the Nexus.
Is the phoenix there?
Running up the hill, I dodged creatures, keeping my eyes locked on the stone entrance. It seemed like the Nexus itself was growing in size, the mountaintop spreading to make room for it. Life was returning and Dannie was here, I knew it.
When I hit the entrance, I stepped through the energy, and it wrapped around me like an old friend. There was no immediate sign of the phoenix, so I began to search. “Dannie!” I shouted as I went. “Are you here?”
