“Uh…” I looked down. “Illusion or not, my brain is telling me I’ll fall to my death, and it’s insisting we stay right here on solid ground.”
Angel chuckled, the musical sound ringing out and echoing through the gully below, and now I knew how Kristoff threw his voice and made it sound so powerful.
“You got this, Mera,” she said, nudging me forward.
“Easy for you to say, chick with wings,” I hissed back, dragging my heels as I was continually pushed toward the edge.
She laughed again. “I’ll catch you if you fall.”
That did make me feel marginally better and confident enough to relax my stiff stance and take a step forward. Forcing myself not to look down, I followed the same path Shadow had, keeping my eyes locked on his enigmatic face. Most of the time I couldn’t read the beast, his thoughts shrouded and hidden from view.
Today was no different, but at least his stoic look was comforting in its familiarity, as he became my anchor point to walk toward.
“Not many have taken that first step,” Kristoff said, the smallest of smiles gracing his lips. “Especially a mortal.”
“She’s no normal mortal,” Shadow added drily.
Kristoff peered closer. “So I can see.”
Angel strolled along behind me, Inky and Midnight nearby. The mists also received a very close inspection from Shadow’s friend. “How is it that you have competing mists here?” he asked. “Whom are they bonded to?”
I raised my hand, and Midnight dashed closer, large enough that the purple tones in it shimmered in the light. Inky wrapped around Shadow, both of them answering Kristoff’s question.
“A mist bonded to a mortal,” he mused. “You, my dear, are a mystery I’d like to unravel.”
Flames appeared in Shadow’s eyes, and I wasn’t sure of the reason, but he did shift to block Kristoff’s view of me. “We do need to find out her secrets,” he said, “but she’s mine. You cannot claim her.”
My mouth and throat were dry, unlike other… parts of me. When he went all possessive alpha on me, it fucked me up mentally and physically. Shadow was my trauma and I didn’t even care.
“Noted,” Kristoff said, eyeing Shadow closer. “What about Ixana?”
Ixana.The mate.
I knew that was whom he’d just referred to, and the white-hot rage I felt didn’t surprise me—shifters were possessive, just like the beast who’d created us. Not that I wanted to think too closely about that, since Shadow was about as far from a parent figure to me as one could be.
I also had no right to feel possessive of the beast, and Shadow’s mate would probably murder me when she found out my plan oflosing my virginity to the Shadow Beast.
“I haven’t seen her in thousands of years,” Shadow said quietly. “For all I know, she’s moved on.”
I paused. Why hadn’t he just explained that we weren’t a couple? It would have been easy to tell his friend that I was mostly a possession he’d kept captive for the last year.
“As far as I know, she’s never moved on,” Kristoff said softly, and I could tell this surprised Shadow.
The silence was awkward then, and without thinking, I moved closer to the beast, wanting to comfort him. As I dropped my forehead against his back, my hand lifted to rest on his firm muscles.
His breath paused for a beat.
I’d taken him by surprise.
He didn’t zap or push me away, both of us remaining like that for a moment. A moment of comfort and support. It honestly felt like a hundred years since he used to zap me when I’d accidentally touched him. We’d come so far, and that was all going to be dashed the moment his true mate walked into his life again. I’d felt the bond of a true mate before, and it was strong and all-encompassing.
If Shadow’s wasn’t a complete cuntosaurus, then I could see no reason why they wouldn’t fall back into each other’s arms.
From what he’d indicated, they’d liked each other well enough before he’d been exiled. And why the hell would anyone not want to be with Shadow? He was the ultimate prize as a true mate, despite his occasional asshole moments.
Fuck.I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t lean on him any longer; that time was done, and even if we managed to get that one round of fucking in before we were torn apart, it would change nothing.
I straightened and stepped back, needing to breathe in air that wasn’t tainted by his scent and power. I had to get my head on straight.
