Glamoured (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 6)

When Samantha collapsed in my arms, the rationality I’d cultivated for centuries vanished. The civility I wore as a cloak over the monster inside was destroyed, and as my roar filled the room, glass shattered around us.

A sliver of control remained, as I ensured she was safe from my rage. All the while I desperately ran the scenarios of What the fuck just happened? and How do I save her? through my mind. All I knew was that this did not come from sex or breaking of the memory block. It had been an outside attack, but there was no way anyone should have been able to infiltrate my royal land.

Our bodies remained joined even as she collapsed, and it was only the pulse of her power through every place we touched that told me she was still able to be saved.

But I had to get supplies.

I had a fuck-ton of energy inside me, more than the usual fae, but in this case I couldn’t take any chances. I’d have one shot, and I had to throw everything at it.

Gathering Samantha into my arms, she felt way too fucking frail, and I scanned her quickly to try and discern the specific attack. She was barely breathing, her skin paler than it should be, while her heart stuttered in clear arrhythmia.

As I moved across the room, glass bit into my feet but didn’t break the skin. Reaching my main shelf, I used my power to rip off the door, shifting Samantha in my arms so I could reach for the four stones I needed—two silver and two red brafeta stones, used in healing rituals.

Moving to one of the only spots not littered with glass, I placed Samantha down gently, before all four stones went around her, one in each corner of her body. As the last red crystal clicked into place near her right foot, I sent energy into the first, activating it. It then signaled to the others, until a rectangular dome of white light surrounded Sam.

A protective shield.

Roars ripped from my chest as I lost contact with her, but putting her into stasis was the only way to hold off death. “You can’t fucking have her,” I snarled to the unseen entity. “I will keep her from your clutches, and if you dare to try me I’ll march into the underworld and destroy every fucking part of it to get her back. She’s not yours.”

She was mine. I would kill any who tried to take her from me.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the heavy cloak that had been coating this room since she was hurt eased a touch. Even Death knew that I was dead fucking serious. Pun intended.

Pulling myself to my feet, I called up my silver energy to cloak me in my usual outfit, including my jacket. The stones contained in it might come in handy as I tracked these fuckers down.

Sending out a message to Mother, I sensed she was already on her way. A fact that would have concerned me if I wasn’t half out of my mind.

As I waited, I probed across the Silver Lands to see if there were any disturbances, before sending my scope out farther into the rest of Faerie.

There was nothing. No indication of what had happened. Not even a spark of energy that spoke of someone dabbling in power that they shouldn’t.

When Mother’s energy entered my house, I lifted Sam using my power. The stones protected her from touch, even mine, but I could keep her close in this way. The sparks of energy from the brafeta stones were opaque, so no one could see what precious cargo lay within.

“Len!” There was a frantic note in Mother’s voice, and the sense of dread streaking down my spine heightened. I hurried out—with Sam floating behind me—to meet her in the front hall. She raced in, arms waving in my direction, face fallen and distressed. Empty waving arms. “Where’s Tabitha!” I roared, beyond respect and reason.

A beat later, a much smaller brafeta box of light entered the space.

Fuck.

No! Not my baby too!

“She cried out and collapsed,” the queen sobbed, her face streaked in silver tears, power leaking from her. “I didn’t know what to do but try and keep her alive until I could determine who attacked.” We’d taken the same action, and in doing so had slowed the march of death. But until we figured out who attacked, we were only delaying the inevitable.

“Oh, Great Queen,” my mother cried, peering past me for the first time. “Samantha too?”

Her gaze returned to me, and as the tears dried on her cheeks it was as if we both had the same realization.

“It’s their bloodline,” I said, as she whispered, “Their bloodline.”

I nodded. “Yes, and it happened here in Faerie. An attack from another fae.”

Like the ancient, powerful being she was, Mother drew her rage, fear, and pain deep inside, before straightening. Her crown appeared across her head a beat later. “I will call an immediate gathering of the royal houses.” Her crown glowed brightly as power channeled around her. “Whoever did this is going to wish they’d chosen a different family to hurt. They will pay with their eternal souls.”

She reached out and grasped my hand briefly, squeezing and offering comfort. “Just hold on to our girls, Len. Bring them to the Capital. I will do the rest.” She released Tabitha to me as well and was gone in the next second.

Almost immediately, the gong of the trumpets echoed through my house and out into the Silver Lands. It would be sounding across Faerie, and with that I moved from my home, bringing the two precious light-encased beings with me.

Two beings that were the key to my existence.

With rage driving me faster, we reached the edge of the Silver Lands in a heartbeat, and I called on the stones embedded in the sky. I had enough of my own energy to power our journey to the Capital myself, but it was best to save it, in case it was needed to destroy whoever did this.

When the power of the reven stones wrapped around us, I felt Tyrin join me in my rage. He didn’t ask what happened—he didn’t have to. After a thousand years of friendship, he knew exactly what I battled, and like a true brother stood silently at my back.

We’d been through so much, and no matter what happened, he would fight by my side. Tyrin would have fit in well with my other brothers in the library, but he was tied to this world and had no plans to leave.

A concept I understood, even if I didn’t feel the same way.

As the Capital came into sight, I slammed onto the main platform with a crash. So much energy rode along with me that I made more of an entrance than usual with Samantha and Tabitha floating in on either side.

Tyrin landed a second later, and behind him the rest of the Silver Land’s warriors. General Terese moved to my side, none of her usual humor visible. She wore the face of a warrior. The others fanned out around us in a show of strength and support. Most of them probably had no idea what had happened, but they were loyal to a fault, and if needed would be there to fight and protect.

When we reached the door to Parliament House, the stones reacted to Samantha and Tabitha, blocking them from entrance, which I overruled with a flick of my hand.

There were gasps from some of the other royal houses who’d witnessed my act, but I didn’t turn to acknowledge them. It wasn’t general knowledge that I had power beyond most fae, thanks in part to strong Faerie genetics, but also my association with Shadow.

They’d lose their minds if they knew I was held to almost none of the normal rules that governed Faerie—not that I’d ever taken advantage of it. In my old age, it wasn’t power I craved, so I kept the peace for the greater good.

But now that cloak of civility was gone.

For all intents and purposes, I was a final and true death, tracking down whoever hurt my family.

I’d be the last being they ever saw.