It really did feel like that was the safest place to leave them.

“You will not go without me,” Shadow said shortly, his tone brooking no argument.

Midnight wrapped around me as I smiled at my stubborn mate. “I know you’re exhausted, Shadow. You can recharge; I’m just going to have a sneaky look around. I’ll be fine.”

Leaving us to it, the others settled in around the Dannie-fortress, doing their best to recharge and boost their energy in the short amount of time allowed for it. Len pulled out some gems, while Lucien drank down small vials of… let’s call it wine. Wine was good.

I wished I had wine.

“Mera,” Shadow rumbled, drawing my full attention back to him. “The last fucking time I left you alone, you were stolen out from under me. Then you died. It’s cute that you think I’m ever letting you out of my sight again.”

He wasn’t joking. There was no ounce of give in his voice or tilt to his lips to indicate that he was mostly kidding. Now normally, that sort of attitude would freak me out and I’d start a fight for a little distance. I’d never craved a codependent style of relationship, valuing my independence above all else. But it wasn’t the same with Shadow. I wanted to be around him all the time. I wanted us to be a team and protect each other. Eventually, no matter his stance today, we wouldn’t always be literally attached, but maybe a small part of me wouldn’t mind if we were. Until death stole us or whatever.

You cannot die, Midnight reminded me.

As far as we know, I agreed, but there’s always someone inventing a new way to break shit. Not to mention, Shadow can die, and where he goes, I go.

There was a moment’s pause. Technically, Shadow is born of the Nexus energy as well. There’s a possibility that he would also be able to be reborn.

It hurt my chest and throat and… every damn part of my body thinking of him dying, even with a possibility of his rebirth. Let’s not test the theory, I finally murmured.

Midnight wrapped around me once more before sailing up higher, drifting with Inky in a comforting cloud above. “You two stay here and keep an eye on Dannie,” Shadow said to our mists. “Alert us if she shows any signs of breaking free.”

The pair ducked down to weave around and hug us before they once again resumed their watch from above. The bursts of warmth in my chest at having Midnight back in my life were comforting. That niggling unease of our damaged bond was finally gone.

Shadow reached for my hand, and as we started to walk, our bond thrummed between our joined palms. I wondered how I could feel so joyous when there was still so much shit that could go wrong. It seemed I was embracing the moment, and in that moment, I decided to not feel guilty about it.

“This is nice,” I said, swinging our hands. “And I’m almost tall enough now that it’s not too uncomfortable.”

As I had that thought, I managed to shoot up another few inches, nearly reaching my wolfie-phoenix height. The rest of me hadn’t changed, though, so that meant… “I can shift my height,” I choked out, blinking in stunned silence.

Shadow’s low laughter wrapped around me in the same warming comfort that Midnight gave me. “You can change into a phoenix wolf and used to shift into a literal wolf pup,” he said, pulling me closer. “This is the same concept.”

Yeah, I knew that in theory, but the height shift felt so much weirder.

“I think I prefer my regular height,” I decided, and as I had that thought, I returned to five-feet-eight.

“You’re perfect at any height,” he told me, “but in truth, I’d prefer to be the one who reaches the high shelves for you.”

Aw, fuck, that was almost romantic. Pushing myself up on my toes, I allowed him to drag me up so we could kiss. “You got it, babe,” I whispered.

“‘Babe’ is only just better than ‘dude,’” he grumbled before he took control of my mouth, and I forgot my own name until we pulled apart.

Then I remembered what he’d said. “You don’t love ‘babe?’ What about ‘snookums?’ ‘Honey bunch?’ ‘Sweetie pie?’ ‘Cutie face?’ ‘Buttercu—’”

“Sunshine,” he warned. “We might be true mates, but that doesn’t mean I won’t punish you.”

“Yes, please,” I said, nodding enthusiastically. “I’ll take two.”

A firm slap on my ass, and my body was covered in goosebumps as I involuntarily jerked against him, craving everything we didn’t have time for right now. “We better freaking survive.” I was the one grumbling now.

Shadow pressed his lips to my neck, breathing me in, and I had to close my eyes and take this one last moment with him. “Shadowshine,” I whispered. “I was always rooting for us to win.”

“And win we did, Sunshine,” he said, breath brushing over my skin.

Dammit, there he went again. Who would have guessed that my Shadow Beast was a secret romantic? Very, very deep down.

53

We were on a countdown clock, and since I wasn’t too keen on Dannie busting out of her prison before I found the creatures and could wrest control of them back to me, I moved forward with a laser focus.

Shadow, true to his word, remained as a giant ball of fun at my side, silent and deadly, his attention on what lay ahead as well. The fact that he would soon take part in destroying his mother was not an ideal situation, but he would not hesitate or shirk his duties. He never had.

“Can you feel them?” he asked as we got closer to the castle entrance.

I hadn’t been inside this part of his home before, and I was curious to see what was on the other side. “I feel something. There’s a huge gathering of energy behind here,” I said as we paused at the massive entrance doors. They looked to be barred on our side with long, metal planks, and I wondered if the other side was the same, or if Dannie had just done this to tie the creatures in.

Shadow flicked his hands and the planks, which no doubt weighed a damn ton each, were jerked out of their cross-barred placement and flung into the fire-razed land behind us.

The doors opened easily, making it clear that the intention had been to lock them in, not keep someone out. Definitely the work of a Danamain.

When it was open, we stepped into a dark, dank room.