Thank fuck.It legitimately felt like a ten-ton weight had been lifted from my soul in that moment.
“I had nothing to do with her disappearance, Mera, and I will explain everything as soon as we deal with the creatures.”
Right, that little issue.
“I have an idea,” I said wearily, “and like most of my ideas, it’ll probably be a lesson in disaster, but fuck, what other options do we have with this many of them here?”
Three sets of ancient, powerful, perfectly unique eyes locked on me. Red and gold, deep blue, and a forest green so striking it was almost mesmerizing. Fancy fuckers.
“What’s your idea?” Shadow asked, reminding me that we were running out of time here.
“For some reason, I’m able to command these creatures,” I said. “If I open a path again, I can send them back through to the realm.”
I stumbled forward, a cough bursting from me as I struggled to catch my breath.
“You’re tapped out with energy,” Reece said softly, and he nudged Lucien out of the way so he could scoop me up into his arms. I wanted to protest, but he caught me just as my legs were about to give way. “Let Shadow do his thing. He can work with the hold you already have.”
“This hold is going to kill her if she keeps it up,” Shadow muttered. “How the fuck is she even doing this? I’ve not heard of any able to control creatures like this, except maybe aDanamain, the true Mist Born. Which is a damn myth.”
Reece and Lucien shook their heads. “I have no idea,” the vampire breathed, his eyes on me.
Exhausted, I had to close my own eyes, and as I rested my head against Reece’s firm chest, I struggled to keep control of the creatures.
“Give her to me,” Shadow demanded, and I was fairly certain I’d missed parts of the conversation, fatigue sending my hearing all wonky. Exhaustion could shut down regular bodily functions, apparently. Who knew?
“You’re the only one with a shot at getting these creatures out of here before Earth becomes their hunting ground,” Reece bit back. “You can handle me holding her for ten fucking minutes.”
Shadow’s familiar rumbling growl was actually comforting. It was nice that I didn’t have to murder him when this was all over. Not fighting every battle alone made a big difference, and I wasn’t sure I could ever go back to doing it all by myself.
That would be another death. One of the soul.
3
Holding on to the control of the creatures as we left Torma was almost the end of me. I’d just about reached my limit by the time we arrived at the long, white hallway that connected Earth to the Library of Knowledge.
Between the three musketeers and me, we dragged the hundreds along the hall, while Shadow spent what felt like forever, searching the rooms until he found one he was satisfied would hold them.
“It’ll have to do for now, until Mera gets her strength back,” he said. “Then we can try her plan of returning them through whatever path connects her to the realm.”
At this point, I had all but passed out, my brain only coming back online when Shadow growled at Reece.
“Give her to me.” Those words were low and dark. “I need to warm her up and get some energy flowing into her again.”
Reece let out a low chuckle, and since my eyes were all but glued shut, I couldn’t see their expressions. I hated that, but for now, their words would have to tell me everything.
“Ican warm her up,” Lucien said from the side. “It’s my specialty.”
There was movement and a heavy thud, followed by Lucien’s groan. “Just kidding, brother. You know how I roll.”
I didn’t know how he rolled, but it really didn’t matter because I was now in Shadow’s arms, and it was here that I felt far too fucking comfortable. “Walk,” I managed to choke out. I couldn’t lose myself to the beast. At least not until I knew more about him. I might believe he didn’t have anything to do with Dannie’s death, but he still knew way more than he was letting on. Until I knew it as well, it was best to be cautious.
He just held me closer, his arms strong bands under my ass and across my back. “Release them, Mera,” he said, the mild Scottish burr in his voice deepening for a moment. “You need to let go, or they’ll take you into the mists with them.”
That was too terrifying an idea after everything I’d seen tonight.
“They’re definitely contained in the prison?” I managed to choke out, my exhaustion complete.
“They are,” he confirmed.
