Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

MANY CENTURIES LATER…

The air in the Library of Knowledge felt cooler than usual as I walked in from the Honor Meadows. Or maybe it was simply that the meadows were going through their warm transitional months, heading toward the wet season. My birth world was not like Earth, where the wet season consisted of literal rain for days or months. In the meadows, it was about the energy flow. The hotter it was, the less the free power disbursed, and when it cooled down, we all got a boost.

It had been a long time since I’d had to care about such things, thanks to being the last in a very powerful family of transcendents, but after the battle in the Shadow Realm, where I’d expended a decent chunk of my energy in an attempt to help my best friend Mera Callahan defeat the Danamain, I could use a boost.

A few cooler days to replenish my base would be welcomed right now.

I had no regrets about using my power; I’d been willing to throw as much as I could at the Danamain—to the point of death—to ensure my new family and the rest of the worlds survived. The fact that I’d been reborn, without the scars of the past dragging me down, was a bonus I hadn’t seen coming.

Every day now was a new experience, especially with a best friend like Mera. She was turning all our lives upside down and bringing us together for some of her favorite Earth customs. I could feel her excitement this day thrumming through the bond we had. It was a fairly new bond—so new that we should barely even sense the other at this stage—but thanks to both of our unusual powerbases, we were forging new ground.

We’d even managed to mentally connect and talk in the realm, at the point of my death when a ton of power spanned between us. We hadn’t been able to replicate that again, but I knew eventually we would. We had all the time in the world now.

As I hurried farther into the great library, my usual sense of awe filled me. This room contained all the knowledge of the worlds, and as a lover of knowledge, I’d never get enough of this place. It had been a solace to my soul for most of my very long life.

Probably why I felt almost the same sense of ownership over it that Mera did.

Speaking of, as I passed the shelves on Faerie, I came to what used to be a central reading area but was now a snowfield… Hence the new chill in the air.

“Angel! There you are!” Mera, the goddess in question, snapped as she appeared between some shelves about twenty feet away.

I hadn’t seen her for a few days, and I took a second to note that there was a decidedly festive, and a little crazed, look about her. Her red hair was messier than usual, piled on top of her head with green tinsel threaded through the strands. She also wore a bright red Christmas dress stretched over her rounded stomach. Santa was on the front with the words Ho Ho Ho… what the fuck did you just call me? stitched underneath.

Glancing down at my simple, tan shift dress made from a light silk of Faerie—perfect for the meadow’s hot season, it was clear that I’d underdressed for this occasion. Oh well, if I was a betting transcendent, I’d wager that Mera already had an outfit set out for me—a thought that was strengthened when Gaster, the goblin who ran this library, hurried past with a red hat perched jauntily on his head.

Trying not to chuckle, I moved forward to meet my friend, who was dashing toward me. It was a mystery to all of us how she managed to move so fast for someone in her very pregnant state, but one thing I’d learned was to never underestimate this particular being. She’d started life as a shifter before evolving into a goddess. A goddess who’d tamed one of the most formidable and scary “gods” in our worlds: Shadow Beast.

Truth be told, no one could ever truly tame him, but Mera had definitely softened some of his harder edges. The beast and I had always had a tenuous relationship, but thanks to Mera, we considered ourselves more friends than frenemies now. She was also the reason I used words such as “frenemy” and all the curse words, because why the hell not? Those of us long-lived either stayed with the times or we retreated from the worlds. At one point I’d chosen retreat, but now that I’d been reborn, I was embracing this new side of myself that did not carry the burdens of the ancients. The memories remained, but the pain was muted.

“Yo!” Mera was in my face now. “It’s been days. I’ve missed you. Also, are you here to help me set up for Christmas or what?”

I laughed, shaking my head—since her pregnancy, she’d been extra fiery. “Are you actually getting crankier? How long until the baby is due?”

Mera sighed, all but sagging against me, her frame far too fragile for someone who was technically indestructible. “Fucked if I know. Shadow keeps telling me it’s best if we don’t discuss how long and just enjoy the experience.” She trailed off into a ton of curses and colorful phrases regarding the Shadow Bastard, finishing with, “Which is easy for him to say since he’s not the one growing a beast spawn or experiencing these insane cravings. Or”—her face screwed up into angrier lines—“dealing with my ridiculous mate. You know that today is the first time in months he’s left my side? He keeps growling at anyone who steps near me like the caveman beast he is, but today he had to head to the Shadow Realm because it just couldn’t wait. And he left me with five fucking bodyguards. Five!”

The moment she said “five,” I was hit with an urge to spin on the spot and return to the meadows. There wasn’t much in the worlds that scared me, not after everything I’d seen and done, but one of Mera’s five bodyguards was a male I’d rather not be in the same room as.

Reece of the Desert Lands.

I’d known him for what felt like forever, and once, very long ago, we’d been best friends. Now we were bitter enemies, and for some reason, recently, that bitterness had grown near out of control. After all of these centuries, I wasn’t sure why he’d once again started acting like a royal dick, and I didn’t have the energy or inclination to explore his newfound hatred for me. In truth, it was only a matter of time before we had no choice but to sort our shit out the old-fashioned way: battle.

My rebirth might have changed much of who I was, but my fighting skills were as strong as ever. It would do him well to remember whom he was constantly challenging.

“Come on,” Mera said, tugging my arm as she led me deeper into the great library, dodging shelves and other world’s inhabitants, all of whom bowed respectfully to both of us. Mera barely noticed, though, her focus on the winter wonderland she was establishing.

“My Christmas event is in two days,” she said in a rush. “Two freaking days. My baby’s first Christmas. I’m just not ready.”

“Your baby is not exactly born yet,” I said tentatively because her moods were supremely unpredictable right now. “I don’t think they’ll mind if it’s not quite the perfect Christmas.”

She paused, and I braced myself for yelling. But instead, she sighed. “I’m being overbearing, aren’t I? Shadow told me I was, but I just thought it was his usual asshole personality rising to the surface.”

She rubbed a hand over her stomach, and despite the way she frequently and loudly complained about the trials of pregnancy, she already loved her child with a ferocity that should warn anyone meaning it harm to stay far away. She wasn’t the only one, either. Shadow was downright scary these days, and when this baby was born, I had a sense that he might turn into the literal beast he was named after.

This child would be the most protected being in the Solaris System, and I’d be the first in line if any came at us with ill intent. For Mera, Shadow, and the baby—my family—I would fight the gods themselves… and even put up with a sand-weaving asshole.

An asshole who looked really good tonight, his huge warrior body clothed in a black shirt and pants. He wore his usual scowl as he watched us approach, but it didn’t take away from his beauty. Reece’s skin shone dark bronze in the low, twinkling lights strung around the snow-tipped Christmas tree. The blue of his eyes was searing, and what had once been my favorite color was now my least, no matter how pretty those dark lashes framing pools of cobalt were.

“Mera, you’re not supposed to run off like that,” he admonished, removing his glare from me to glare a touch less at her. “Sticking us with stringing up the lights was a terrible distraction, but lucky for you, I knew you didn’t leave the library.”

She poked out her tongue, hip-checking him gently. Their relationship was so easy and caring, and I had no idea how she’d achieved that with this dick. But that was Mera’s way, her superpower. Taming angry souls.

It was a power I did not possess, but that was okay. I made up for my lack of people skills with exceptional blade skills, and I had no doubts about which were more important. Only one would protect my family when the time arose. And it would arise.

There was always something evil lurking in the wings.

“Angel, come on,” Mera called, dragging me further into her winter wonderland.

She’d gone all out for the library’s first Christmas. A huge fir tree dominated the space with its glistening, dark green, needlelike leaves liberally coated with snow on the higher branches. There was nothing below since we had a strict no-present policy for this event. This Christmas was about coming together as a family and celebrating the fact that we were all still alive, and oddly enough, I even felt some swirls of anticipation about experiencing this Earth holiday.

Around the time Mera started to hand out “ugly Christmas sweaters,” as she dubbed them, Shadow’s energy entered the library. He was back from the Shadow Realm, the world he was supposed to be ruling but instead was training and overseeing the new rulers. The realm had been corrupted for thousands of years, and while they were on the path to a brighter future, their issues could not be fixed overnight.

It would take decades to mend the scars, but the new Supreme Being was already bringing life and prosperity to her people. Shadow had chosen his successor well… or should I say Mera had, since it had been her wish to appoint one of the leaders from the Samsan Grove outlier island as the Supreme Being. And what Mera wanted, Shadow made happen.

Such was the power of a true mate bond and the obsessive nature of their relationship.

A second after I felt his energy, Mera’s head snapped in the direction of her mate. When he appeared, her face lit up, and she was moving at her too-fast-for-pregnancy speed again. They came together in a way that was hard to watch—not because I wasn’t happy for them but because their pure love was the same sort of love my parents had shared.

The Honor Meadows was famous for its warriors, but what many didn’t know was that it was also built on true-love bonds. Soul bonds.

A bond I knew nothing of and, after this many years, doubted I ever would.

“You weren’t long,” Mera said to her mate when he was done kissing her senseless. She dragged him back toward the snow-covered tree. “Where’re Inky and Midnight?”

“They’re still in the realm, keeping an eye out for us and frolicking in the mists,” Shadow said, somewhat distracted as he looked around. “I wasn’t gone long, and somehow you found the time to completely redecorate the library.”

Mera lifted an eyebrow at him. “You don’t like it?”

Shadow’s lips twitched. “It’s perfect, Sunshine.”

Her face lit up, and as she was leaning in to hug him, she paused. Tilting her head back, she started to sniff, then snarled. “Hand it over,” she snapped, and this time, Shadow actually laughed out loud.

To see that stoic bastard tip his head back and rumble his mirth was super unsettling. Sometimes I wondered if Mera was the fabled witch of the Solaris System.

“Shadow,” Mera growled. “You do not want to fuck with a pregnant woman.”

“You really don’t,” Len said from where he’d wedged his huge body into a small corner to hang more lights. He was dressed in his usual silver, duster jacket and all, and he was wearing a strand of red tinsel that Mera had clearly strung around his collar. His white hair was kept short and styled these days, the only length falling across his forehead, and his silvery eyes looked wilder than usual. “Can someone seriously tell us how much longer she’ll be pregnant?”

Mera, who was too focused on her mate to bother with the fae, was all but wrestling Shadow in an attempt to search his pockets. The beast could have broken free, of course, but he was occupied with staring at her in a way that was dangerous to any of us standing nearby. Finally, she found what her nose had sniffed out, pulling a white paper bag from inside his jacket.

Her hands trembled as she hugged it to her chest. “You found one,” she sniffed. “Aw, mate, I love you.”

Shadow pulled her close as she opened the bag and removed a weird green… stick? “What the hell is that?” Reece asked in his usual tactless way.

“Deep fried pickle,” Mera said, still sounding tearful. “I swear to fuck I’ve been desperately craving these, and no one in the dining hall has a clue what I’m talking about.”

She took a bite and then moaned, and as flames sprang into Shadow’s eyes, I knew my friend was about to disappear from the room. Sure enough, after Mera’s second bite and moan, Shadow’s energy whipped through the space, and by the time I blinked again, he was gone, taking his Sunshine with him.

“The only surprise there,” Alistair said, letting out a warm laugh before he ran a hand through his blue and green curls, “is that she didn’t get pregnant the first day they met.” His blue eyes, which were a few shades darker than his skin, softened as he stared after his friends. Alistair was one of the only ones so far to pull on a sweater, and he’d chosen a green one with a sequined tree and the words Merry Treemas on it.

“Those two stubborn souls had a lot of shit to sort out,” Len said, shifting around to twirl more of the lights across the tree using fae energy. “But, damn, it makes me happy to see them like that. I think Shadow’s turning us all soft.”

Lucien, moving at vampire speed, punched Len on his shoulder, his green gaze piercing as he scowled. “Speak for yourself. Nothing soft about me.” He dropped his gold sweater and ran a hand through his blond hair, sending the smooth strands into attractive tousles. He was wearing all black, as he often did, perpetuating the human’s take on vampires as creatures of the night. His species did have some similarities, hence where the original myth came from, but they also had tons of differences as well.

“Simone,” Len coughed out between laughter, not even remotely annoyed by the punch. “Softie.”

Simone was Mera’s shifter best friend, who was currently on Earth. Something had happened between Lucien and her, but none of us knew the details. Mera had asked, of course, but Simone had said that most of it she’d been compelled to keep secret—a gift only the most powerful of vamps could use—and that the rest wasn’t worth mentioning.

Mera hadn’t been too happy with the secrecy, but for now she was trying to “respect the stupid decisions people made” and had stopped asking.

“I’ve told you all before, Simone was under my protection, but that was it.”

Lucien was the epitome of “he doth protest too much,” but before Len could push him until war broke out, Reece moved out of the shadows. “I know we’re here for this celebration,” he said, looking like he wished he was anywhere else, “but I also need to talk to you about… well, I don’t even really know, but I think something is going down in the Desert Lands.”

What is it? Galleli asked as he lowered himself from where he’d been stringing lights and tinsel up high and tucked his gold wings behind him. Galleli, who’d also chosen not to wear his sweater, was a transcendent from the Honor Meadows. But unlike the rest of us, he never spoke out loud. I didn’t know the exact reason why, but there was talk that his voice had, at one time, been a weapon that the weaker would succumb to.

Reece shook his head. “The deserts are uneasy; their sands of time drift through my energy. I’m being called into the depths of the Delfora.”

“Have you spoken to the other dynasties?” Lucien asked turning more serious.

Reece nodded, stance strong and sure even if his words were not. “Yes, but none of them have noticed anything, which doesn’t surprise me. I have the strongest connection to the sacred lands, and if trouble is starting there again, then I’d be the first to know.”

“When is your next meeting of the dynasties?” Len queried, and I was grateful that many of the questions running through my mind were being asked without me having to say a word. Wouldn’t want him to think I had any cares left for him.

“It’s in six new-moons,” he said shortly. “Which is also odd because we weren’t due for at least another thousand or so moons. Someone has pushed up the timeline, and that in itself is suspicious.”

The room fell silent, outside of another two or three goblins in Santa hats chatting as they hurried past.

“The Desert Lands is one of the oldest worlds,” I finally had to say. “There are many powers there that cannot be disturbed, especially in the Delfora.”

I knew that better than any; the powers under those sands had cost me my sister. Reece didn’t look at me, but he also didn’t sneer, which was an improvement.

“Yes, and with that in mind,” he said stiffly, “I have a favor to ask. Will you all accompany me to this meeting? If my senses are correct, this could be a huge issue, and it’s best if we deal with it straight away. We must ensure there’s never another dynasty war.” His eyes, blue embers of fury, met mine briefly. “The last one nearly destroyed us all.”

“Of course, you don’t even have to ask,” Len said, slapping a hand on Reece’s shoulder. “As Mera said, we’re a pack now, and packmates stick together.”

Reece let out a short laugh. “Yeah, she used that emotional blackmail to get us to hang up her damn Christmas lights, but I’ll take it. I know Shadow won’t want to bring her while she’s pregnant, but with all of us there, she’ll be safe. I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”

That had me standing a little taller.

Truth of the matter, I was curious about this meeting of the dynasties, especially if there was trouble afoot in their ancient and sacred Delfora. But curiosity wasn’t enough to get me to voluntarily spend time with Reece in the world where I’d lost it all…

Unless Mera was going to be there. Where Mera went, so did I.

This time when my eyes met Reece’s, there was a moment of understanding between us. I would go to the Desert Lands in six new-moons, back to the place where our friendship ended. The place that held our past hurts and losses. The place my heart remained buried from more than just the loss of Leka.

Maybe, this time, I would exorcise the ghosts of the past, dig up the fragments of my heart, and finally let our feud go.

For good.