“Come, take a seat,” he said. “I’ll find some sustenance for the one who requires food as fuel.”
I didn’t even want to know what he was going to get, but I did sink into one of the thick, golden, puffy chairs. It would be nice to have a decent night’s sleep at some point, and real food, and a shower, and…
“What do you eat here?” I asked, needing a distraction. I’d never seen Shadow eat food, and while I knew how Angel got her energy, I wasn’t sure about the royals, freilds, creatures, or any other in this realm.
“We don’t really have to eat,” Shadow said. “Like Angel, we have evolved to take our energy from a transference with the land and mists. But we can eat if we enjoy it.”
“Do you ever eat?”
He didn’t answer, moving to sit in a chair on the opposite side of me, both of us close to the fire. I’d noticed that the pair of us were naturally drawn to the warmth, sparking embers, and power of the flames.
We were both clearly pyromaniacs—and okay with that.
“I’ve been known to indulge on occasion,” he admitted. “Humans are obsessed with their love of food, and I’ve craved the same feeling.”
And that was all I got out of him. One day, I might figure out what food tempted him to try it, but it was not this day.
“I’ll just stick with my way of loving food,” Angel said, taking one of the chairs farther back in the room.
I snorted out some laughter. “Your creepy apple-sniffing habit.”
She wrinkled her nose at me. “You smell your food too. I’ve seen it.”
I shrugged; she definitely had me there. “Often the smell is better than the taste, which is a fatal flaw in someone’s plan.”
We relaxed while our host did his thing, and I found myself sinking further into the soft surface—it was hugging me like the best weighted blanket. Midnight drifted closer to me, adding its energy to my own.
Sleep. I will keep watch over you.
“Thank you,” I murmured, reaching out to brush through it. This was the sort of sleep I desperately needed: one that was rejuvenating, healing, renewing.
My wolf nosed out from where she’d been since we’d shifted, but I collared her immediately. She’d had her only taste of freedom here, at least until I could figure out what it was that made her go crazy in the realm.I love you, wolfie,I told her.You’re part of my soul, and I hate to do this, but we can’t let loose like that again. We almost got everyone caught, and you and I almost died.
She couldn’t answer me, but it felt like she understood, and thankfully didn’t continue to whine and paw at me. She sank down again, and then I was sleeping.
It was nice that even with a mysterious redhead stranger in our midst, I felt safe enough to go to sleep. Thanks to Midnight, Inky, Shadow, and Angel.
My pack.
22
When consciousness returned an unknown time later, I shifted in my cushion, loving how relaxed my limbs felt. It took me a few minutes to really wake, and when I did, I opened my eyes to find the fire was the same size it had been when I’d gone to sleep, and the… the room was silent. Unnaturally silent.
Rubbing a hand across my face, I looked around; even Midnight wasn’t drifting in its usual spot up high.
“They’re hunting for you.” His low, deep voice near sent me sprawling from the cushion. How, in the fuck, had I missed the Shadow in the room?
He straightened from the wall where he’d been leaning, silent like a stalking jungle cat. “You’re always watching me when I sleep,” I said, a touch breathless as I pushed myself higher. “What’s up with that?”
He didn’t deny it, just strode closer, and when he stood at the edge of my cushion chair, I jerked my head all the way back so I wouldn’t miss a single one of his expressions. It was only in his minute facial changes, that I could tell what he was feeling.
He never gave much away, but I occasionally found a gem.
Right now, his eyes were burning, his brows drawn together. “You’re a mystery I need to unravel,” he told me, and I was surprised when he crouched before me. Shadow never came down to my level, always dragging me to his height. “I’m drawn to your energy. I’m feeling…” He paused. “I’m feeling, Sunshine. It’s an issue because any sort of weakness could stand between me and my need for revenge.”
I sucked in a deep breath, the dryness in my throat annoying. “You give me whiplash,” I bit out. “You’re so back and forth, up and down, treating me like a pet one second and a friend the next. A person or a possession? What am I to you, Shadow?”
Flames sprang to life in his eyes, and he was closer than ever…and was it getting super hot in here?
