Shadow didn't bend an inch. His mate might be able to get what she wanted out of him most of the time, but now that we knew how dangerous it could end up being, he was unmovable. "Ancient and dangerous power and spells are in play here,” he told her in his low rumble. “We have a child on the way, a powerful child, and the ancients might be able to utilize that pure energy for the final stages of their awakening."
Mera opened her mouth, eyes spitting flames, but no words emerged. She wanted to argue, that much was clear, but she couldn’t. Finally, she turned to me. "Is that true?" Her trust in me was unparalleled. I hated the thought that we were about to be separated, but the truth was, I had to agree with Shadow.
"There is a good possibility,” I told her. “Doing the calculations, I’d say there’s a seventy percent chance they would take you and your baby. A growing god-child is filled with the energy of creation. An energy that fades as we age, but in those first few years, it’s a remarkable power."
Mera's face crumpled, and I barely held myself together as I pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I don't want you out of my sight, but if anything happened to you or the baby, it would destroy us all."
A single sob escaped before she drew on her strength, pulling away from me and looking perfectly calm. “If it was only my safety, nothing would stop me from being with you on this mission. But I'm a mom now, and I have a responsibility to this baby."
Shadow wrapped her up from behind, and my hands fell away as he pulled her closer. "I will take you to the library, reinforce the security, and bring Inky and Midnight back. Along with Gaster, you will be as safe there as anywhere in the Solaris System."
Mera nodded, her face still set. "As long as you keep me updated as many times a damn day as you can."
"All day, Sunshine," Shadow said in that tone he reserved just for her. "I will also close down the doorways to the library to ramp up the protections. It should all be over before you know it."
"Doubt that," I heard her mutter, but she didn't argue again.
This fight was not to be hers, but for the rest of us, it was a different story.
We were now in a race against time, once again set to save the worlds or die trying. The odds of that were ones I refused to calculate, even though deep in my heart I knew the truth.
There was a possibility that not all of us would survive this mission.
27
None of us did goodbyes well, but we all took the few extra seconds to hug Mera. Lucien, Len, and Reece all whispered their goodbyes. Galleli was a silent exchange, and Alistair went last. I didn’t like the look on his face as he held her tight.
Fuck the statistics. I could not lose anyone to these lands… not again.
When I was the only one left for a goodbye, Mera threw herself at me. "Please don't die,” she said into my shoulder. “Promise me. The Nexus is too temperamental for us to trust that we’d return that way again.”
"I promise," I replied without hesitation. No part of me was leaving this world again. "I'll be back. I've got a baby to spoil and eventually win over with chocolate."
Mera chuckled through her tears. "Yes, remember that. You're going to be the favorite aunt who lets my beast-baby get away with everything."
It was a future I was desperate to have. "You know it."
Shadow stepped in then. "I'll return her to the library, get everything in place, and then meet you wherever you are on the journey," he told Reece as he wrapped Mera in his arms.
“Can you just doorway everyone to the Delfora now?” Mera asked him.
He shook his head. “No, it would take all of my power and more to open a doorway close to the Delfora and transport others. I could take myself there, but no one else.”
And we all knew the beast couldn’t defeat Tsuma and the others without Reece.
“There’s no rush,” Reece reminded her. “We can’t stop them until they arrive in the sacred lands, which could be no earlier than the approximate day of the power moon. Best we save all of our energy and not fight the deserts on our way to the Delfora.”
He turned to Shadow then. “We would understand if you decided to stay with Mera. I can call for you if it looks like we need the help."
That offer was very tempting to Shadow, as was obvious by the dark burst of power that shot around us. If there was one thing this beast hated, it was not being close to his mate.
"I need to be here," he finally said. "I need to make sure that this danger to our family does not come to pass."
Reece nodded once, and in the same beat, dropped the sands that had been forming the wall between us and the others. They were all in the same spot, held down with more of his energy.
"While Shadow is gone," Reece said, voice much colder now that we had an audience. "We will gather supplies and find the fastest vessel. We need to get onto the eastern stream before this new-moon."
Mera all but pouted. "I wanted to see the sand rivers the most. There’s not even any danger this far out from the Delfora. You said you can take yourself closer, right?"
