Page 56 of Monsters of Desire and Nightmares of Passion

“I agree,” says Khal. “But there’s no other solution, and you know that.”

“Traveling with a flesh human all the way to our realm is dangerous.”

“I know, but the others need to see her. We need to stop The Church of Light from whatever they’re planning to do. If they raise the Dark Church and bring back The Dark Lord, they can erase us, all of us. It’s not just an issue that concerns us and the fact we want to protect our mate. It’ll be a problem for all Shadows. Every one of them needs to think seriously about joining the fight. The moment they see there are still women with the sight, they’ll step out of the darkness.”

I hate that Khal is right. All I can do is nod.

“But will they join us? They lost so much after our last defeat. And since then, The Light has been spreading, hiding, and waiting for time to pass.”

“They’ll have to fight whether they want to or not. Draw, you have noble blood. You’re the leader who can rally us all. I know you don’t want that position. I honestly get it. But you have to take a deep breath and do what must be done. If you don’t care about the future of our species, then at least do it for our mate.”

I should discipline Khal. He should not talk this way to his alpha. But he’ right. I need to step up and think about my kind.

“The Church of Light has killed so many because of me. I should have known.”

“You couldn’t know.”

“I should have felt something. I was complacent, allowing the Shadows to enjoy feeling happy and satiated with their girls instead of keeping them feral.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Khal snaps at me. “All these years, we would have been wandering into nothingness if not for Ivy and you. You kept us strong and sane. We love her, and that kept us all going. We held on to her with all our might and refused to give up on her. That is what we fight for. Every Shadow needs to know that there’s someone who can see them the way Ivy sees us, and that they have purpose. We are born out of nightmares,. We need to have this power over our realm again.”

“When did you became so damn smart?”

“It’s contagious. I hang out with you too much.”

Ivy moves in her sleep. We both stop talking to catch a glimpse of her.

“I love her. I can’t stop myself. My heart bursts with love for this woman.”

Khal doesn’t say anything, but I know he feels the same way I do.

We’ll have to walk through The Valley to bring a flesh and bone creature into our realm. The Valley is not a safe spot for anyone.

“What entrance will we take?” Khal asks, even though I know he already had figured out the answer. The boy is smart like that.

I hate my reply. “The one in the subway.”

“Are you crazy? That spot is so dangerous.”

“It’s the shortcut. We’re out of time. We can’t take the safe route. Between the three of us, we should be able to protect her.”

“What about Lisa?”

I see the darkness taking over Khal. He still feels guilty for Lisa’s death, even though they hadn’t connected yet. Guilt is not in our nature. However, the closer we get to our anchor, the more we connect and fall deeper in love. Once we are mated, we feel everything so much more intensely. It’s something humans can never experience because they’re not like us. Guilt is a human emotion. Lisa was his girl even if it was only for a short time, and now she’s in limbo. Ghosts are not as common as humans want to believe. Ghosts are an anomaly and a transitional state. We still don’t know where Lisa will go. For now, she floats around the house, watching Netflix and waiting. That’s all she can do.

“We’ll head out first thing in the morning. When we show up to confront The Church of Light bastards, I want to have an army behind us that’ll break them into small pieces.”

“Yes, brother.”

Ivy opens her eyes and looks at us. “What are you guys talking about?”

“We need to get moving, Ivy. We need to get to our realm.”

Ivy wraps her arms around me and kisses me, deeply and sweetly. “First, I need tea and some toast. Wait, what about Powder?”

“We can’t take him. Lisa can look after him.”

Ivy nods.

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