Angel huffed in closer, her wings springing free in an attempt to block us from Dannie’s view. “We’re bleeding energy, Shadow. I estimate we have one more shot in all of us.”

“That’s all we need,” Shadow said fiercely. “We’re fast learners.”

“One last time,” Lucien said.

“We’ve got this,” Len added, pulling more of his crystals free.

Galleli was on board as well. Let us begin.

With no time to waste, they formed a circle, preparing to weave another fortress. A stronger one.

Dannie, who was still floating nearby, seemingly none the worse for wear after exploding from her cage, tilted her head back and laughed. “My Darkor, you never used to be so stupid. You cannot best me.”

Her power rose up above her, and I knew she was going to destroy them before they had a chance to build a cage to fight her again. There was no way I could distract her for long enough to stop that.

Just as she sent her energy toward us, Shadow reached out and grasped on to my hand, tugging me into him. The world tilted out from under me, and then we were somewhere else. Shadow had moved our location, which had used power we probably couldn’t afford to lose, but at the same time, if he hadn’t moved us, we’d have been blasted to pieces by an angry goddess.

“Will she follow?” Angel gasped, her wings looking duller than they had been earlier, the gold of her skin all but gone.

Shadow didn’t answer, too busy zapping us through to another location, this one above the water somewhere.

“She’s clearly following,” Reece said dryly. “Maybe you should focus on using some of your family power to speed the process along versus asking inane questions.”

Angel’s body was vibrating, whatever gold power had been left in her briefly puffing off her skin before she got herself under control. Reece’s words were mean and unfair—we were all in a shitty situation—but Angel didn’t bite back.

Which bothered me. “You need to chill with that, Reece,” I said shortly. “These are unprecedented times, and we can’t all be expected to act how you think we should. Let’s just focus on staying ahead of Dannie and weaving the cage again.”

His eyes flashed, and as he opened his mouth to hit back at me, a raging beast appeared over my shoulder. Even though I couldn’t see Shadow’s face, I knew he was warning his friend to be very careful about what he said next.

This was the second time Shadow had stepped in when I really didn’t need him to. I appreciated the support, and the way he spoke love without saying the words, but we’d be having a chat about me fighting my own battles one day very soon.

If we made it out of the realm alive.

“You’re right, Mera,” Reece finally bit out, some of his rage fading. “It’s neither the time nor place, and it’s best to focu—”

His words were cut off as Shadow zipped us away again, and I was starting to worry that my mate was going to run out of energy soon. Through our joined hands, I sent as much of my power as I could into him, and Inky pressing into his other side was hopefully doing the same.

“I heard your words when you were in your wolf form,” Shadow murmured near my ear, his gaze on our joined hands. “And I feel the beat of our true mate bond in my chest. Stronger than ever.”

The sort of warmth that could only be described as near orgasmic flooded my body, and I sighed, wishing I could just wrap myself around him, kiss those decadent lips, and never come up for air. Before I lost myself any further into that fantasy, Shadow used the energy I’d shared and zapped us to another location. One with land.

“It’s the outlier islands,” he said shortly.

This had me looking around with more interest since I’d only ever seen them on a rough Inky map.

Shadow pulled us away from the edge of the sand and water, and farther into the mainland. Unlike the Concordes, there were no visible lava fields here; it was very jungle-like, with a thick and dense foliage, humidity sending moisture across my skin within seconds of walking.

“She’ll hopefully have some trouble tracking us here,” Shadow said, sounding strong and sure, but I felt his fatigue through our bond. “Inky, can you form a barrier around us as well? We need to finish this final cage. No mistakes.”

The mist rose up, bursting into a huge covering, which would hopefully block some of our energy from being traced. As soon as Inky was in place, Shadow released my hand, gesturing for the others to form a circle again.

“I’ll be the lookout,” I said softly, stepping away. “I’ll warn you the moment I feel her power closing in.”

“Don’t try to tap into her power, though,” Alistair warned me. “She’s bonded to you, through your Nexus origins, and she will feel it if you search for her.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to jeopardize us.”

Behind me, their power settled into the land as they started to weave their second fortress. A quick glance was all it took to see that this time each strand was thicker and brighter. As Shadow had said, they’d learned from their mistakes, and if this was our last shot at stopping a war, they were giving it everything they had.

Taking my part of the whole process seriously, I strolled around the perimeter, tamping down my energy so that I didn’t inadvertently give us away. My senses were on high alert, and I felt the moment a foreign spark of power drifted closer to the circle.

I didn’t panic and neither did Inky, so it was clear we’d both felt the same thing. This power wasn’t the Nexus goddess; it was the locals of this outlier island. Their jab of energy was both curious and a touch hostile as they attempted to understand who had invaded their territory.

When they moved closer, I positioned myself so they’d have to go through me first. A flicker of unease thrummed along my bond from both Shadow and Angel, but there wasn’t much they could do except trust in me. In the power I contained.

Trust me to be a contributing member of this pack.

I’d been excluded from the fortress due to my youth and inexperience, and while that stung, I understood their reasons. But it didn’t mean I was helpless.

The locals were close now, hiding in the trees, and while I couldn’t see them, I felt their power. When one finally stepped into view, I understood why they’d been able to hide so well. They were camouflaged, and not just in the way that their clothing had been designed to blend into this landscape, but also their skin, hair, and other features.