Well, fuck me sideways.“I understood you perfectly.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You just replied in Greek.”
I tilted my head, my eyes narrowing. “Are you sure?”
He smirked, but not in humor. “Are you questioning me, Sunshine?”
I knew better than to answer him.
“Your energy has adapted,” he continued, “and for now, you should be able to both understand and reply in the native language of whoever you’re conversing with. Not bad work, if I do say so myself.”
Arrogant beast.
“Here’s hoping there are no weird side effects,” I said shortly, “since you just jumped right in and rearranged my brain. I already had enough problems with the weirdness in there, thank you very much, and now I have to be on alert for all its new shenanigans.”
Shadow shot me a deadpan stare. “You’ll be fine.”
Resisting the urge to punch him because I still knew there was a limit to how far I could go with Shadow, I just rolled my eyes at his not-so-subtle way of calling me a drama queen. And even if he wasn’t wrong about that, it was rude to point it out.
“Are you able to leave now?” Cat-man was done waiting, his hands on his hips, tufts of blue fur peeking through where his shirt had lifted. I had a sudden thought that maybe the beings here were furred and feathered to protect them from the icy temperatures. What we were seeing here, might all be a form of evolution.
“You will shut the fuck up and not question us again,” Shadow rumbled at the cat-man. “We’ll move when we’re ready to move.”
I heard it in English, but the lyrical words told me it was a language from the realm.
“I’ll just be over here,” Cat-man said, spinning on a furred foot and taking off toward the snowflakes castle.
It was a nice change to have Shadow’s annoyance directed elsewhere. I could get used to that, and as long as this ruler we were off to meet didn’t try to kill us, I was interested to see what we’d find when we arrived inside the castle.
28
Since I had to be careful with my translated words, I refrained from asking Shadow if the mists were close. I did reach out through the mental connection for Midnight, but there was no answer; it was too far away still for us to chat. Shadow and Inky’s bond, though, was way more established, and I really hoped he had an updated timeline for their arrival.
I’d just have to wait for a private moment to ask for an update.
Shadow whistled as he walked beside me, and I shook my head at how damn calm he looked.
Did nothing bother this dude?
I mean, since today he was on my side, I couldn’t really complain. It was a comfort to have Shadow here, not to mention Angel and the mists on the way.
Our backup. Who I really hoped we didn’t need.
The coldest section of the land so far was right at the front entrance of this palace, or at least where I thought the entrance was. There was no visible doorway, and as icy winds whipped through us, I rubbed my hands on my arms and bounced up and down to keep warm.
My wolf whined lightly in my chest, but she wasn’t pushing for freedom. She was happy to settle in and be my backup if needed.
“Follow in my exact steps,” Cat-man said and then he was moving.
I had a moment of déjà vu, remembering Kristoff saying the same thing. Kristoff, who was missing, and might have possibly been the one who’d directed this queen toward us. Was it an illusion here as well, just as it had been with Shadow’s friend?
Cat-man approached the first huge snowflake, which stood twenty feet in the air, and as he slipped around the side, I knew this place was no different. A trick of the mind, a façade to cover the truth within.
When I reached the spot at which he’d disappeared, I was briefly mesmerized by the beauty of the building. The walls were so glittery and silver up close, and I loved the multifaceted pigments of their material.
By the time I tore my eyes away, it was to find myself alone, with no actual idea where the entrance was. Running my hands along the icy wall, I couldn’t feel an opening, and all I could see was a distorted view of my own reflection splashed back at me.
Speaking of, my hair actually hadn’t fared too badly considering I’d been thoroughly fucked, had washed up under a waterfall, and then had been attacked while shifting back and forth—
