“You have my word.”
He understood—better than most, thanks to the reason for his existence standing a few paces away from us.
My power returned to me as I withdrew the ice. The stones embedded in the hard ground returned as well. They were drained and in need of recharge, and I hoped I had enough power to do what was needed for Sam. For my little Storm, who’d blown into my world and leveled that fucker to the ground.
Shadow remained between me and the others as we started back across the black expanse, the rest of our pack shooting me worried stares, but no one said anything directly.
“Is he okay?” I heard Mera ask her mate.
His reply was immediate. “Not even remotely. Stay on the other side of me. I’m the only one who’ll survive the fallout.”
At least Shadow was aware of my capabilities, and how close I was teetering to the edge. This fucking universe had to stop attempting to take my mate from me. That was the simple truth.
When we reached the end of the black plain, we were once again facing the edge of a cliff, and on the other side was a garden. Usually, flora calmed me, but this time there was no easing the raging swirls of ice in my chest.
Leaping across the final twenty-foot gap, I landed on the edge of the garden. From here, a chill attempted to encase me, but it was nothing compared to the chill raging inside.
“I’m guessing none of these plants are the friendly types?” Lucien said, his tone forcibly light. The loss of one in our pack was a raw wound that hadn’t healed from the last time. Alistair had been a death that almost broke us, but Samantha… hers would shatter me.
I wasn’t just fighting for her life now, but for both of ours.
“We should approach with caution,” I replied flatly. “Everything is a threat.”
Actually… before the others got close to the first tree, I sent out my rage, knowing it was better to ice the garden than my family. A thin sheet settled over everything, slowing their attack.
“He’s killing plants,” Mera said in an urgent whisper. “This is really bad.”
“Not yet,” I replied. “I hold a small hope that she’s waiting for us at the end. If that hope fades, so will my control.”
The silence was heavy, and I pushed on, needing to finish this task to know whether Faerie was about to fall. Truth be told, even if the balance wasn’t out of line, I’d level this world and all the rest until I found my mate.
End of story.
43
SAMANTHA
The moment the shadows closed over me and took me down into the depths, my ability to breathe was gone. There was no air below, and I struggled against the beast, which was plummeting like it wanted to slam into the floor of his black stone ocean.
Had that been its plan all along? Just take me down to drown?
There was no light under here, and yet somehow my wolf could still make out some shadowy creatures in the distance. More of them than I would ever be able to fight, obviously, since I couldn’t even fight the one holding me.
Sending more feral power into my wolf, we clawed and bit at whatever we could reach, but the shadow didn’t even react. I had a strange feeling that it had been hit by energy as it took us down, and now it was injured… maybe dead. Not that it mattered. Dead or not, it was still trapping me with its bulk, sending us both to the depths.
Deciding to shift out of my wolf form before a lack of oxygen stole my ability to fight, I drew on my change, allowing it to wash over me until I was back in my two-legged form. The change did free me from the shadow, and as it fell away I attempted to kick my heavy legs in the hope of slowing my descent. Even better if I actually headed back for the surface.
Only nothing changed. It was so dense under here that there was no way to travel up, only left or right, if I kicked in that direction. And all the while, I continued to drop.
Panic flashed in the corners of my oxygen-deprived brain.Think, Sam. Fucking think.
I had a daughter and a mate to get back to. I couldn’t just roll over and let this land take me. There had to be a way to best this trap.
Which was, of course, easier thought than done, because no matter what I tried, down was the only direction I’d go.
After struggling for too many precious seconds, I finally gave up fighting and decided to go with the flow. Down is where they wanted me, and I was probably closer to the bottom than the top at this point. Maybe the exit was down there… somehow.
Once I stopped fighting, I plunged like there was no resistance at all. It was odd to be surrounded like this, as if underwater without air, only it was dry and cold. A sliver of light caught my eye as I descended, and I hoped that meant I’d made the right decision to drop.
